First of all‚ a huge ‘muchas gracias’ on behalf of all of us to Steve, Barry and our captain for organising another great trip, with all the hassle of booking, chasing, nagging, chivvying etc that goes with it – thanks guys.
And how impressive was Clarkey‘s pre-championship ‘runners and riders’ assessment? – a regular column on the Racing Post awaits.
A second visit to El Rompido for FFGS and it didn’t disappoint – 2 varied and challenging courses, great practice facilities, unlimited drink from 5pm-midnight, good food – perhaps the only downside compared with 2014 was the distinct lack of karaoke – no ‘Yellow Ribbon’, no ‘Bat out of Hell’….. did I say ‘downside’??
So, 21 golfers arriving with hopes, dreams, ambitions, expectations, aspirations. From a personal point of view, given my injury track record in this event, and a dodgy shoulder (cue violins) my only ambition was to actually complete 54 holes.
Memories are blurred already for some reason, but some ‘highlights’ include:
* good to see the Brother Dreaves (the Bee Dreaves) re-united for the occasion, resplendent in matching headgear, presumably thoughts of “You Win Again” uppermost;
* carnage on Hole 5 on Day1, as Dave Whitaker (from deep in the trees hard to believe I know) felled Mike Bower (seeking safety in the middle of the fairway), a nasty bruise on the knee resulting, giving rise to accusations that Dave had money on somebody else;
* the resulting ‘trial’ in the bar that night under the direction of ‘Judge’ John Aylward (although tbh John seemed to struggle with the boundary between Judge and Prosecution Counsel). Things turned nasty as claim was met with counter claim, Dave arguing that Mike had diverted his ball away from the green. The sharks circled, scenting a share of a payout. In the end an out-of-court settlement was reached, though Dave seemed unimpressed with his Defence Counsel’s principal line of reasoning – that if he’d deliberately aimed at someone he couldn’t possibly have hit them;
* Mike wasn’t the only one to sustain an injury that day, Les taking a nasty blow on the wrist on the Practice Chipping Green (yep);
* Keith Dreaves proved to be the undisputed Buggy-Meister of the trip: on his way to the first tee on Day 2 Keith swerved to avoid a lizard (a lizard ffs), found himself hurtling towards some rocks, decided he could take the rocks, couldn’t, and ended up with the buggy jammed on said rocks, freed only thanks to the strength and willingness of Dan Witterick. Not so much “You Win Again”, closer to “Tragedy”;
* Les’s ‘party-piece’ demonstration of unmatched strength – lifting a wine bottle using only the tips of his thumbs.
Oh yeah, there was a golf championship too. A low-scoring affair which obviously can only be attributed to the toughness of the courses, and the windy conditions.
Mike Bower’s Day1 win with 29 points had the society statisticians burrowing through the archives – Col won at Esker Hills 2003 with 28 – did Dave Watson once win with a 27??
Still, a low-scoring Day1 meant that Day2 arrived with no-one out of the running.
Lee complained that he’d been forced to drink with the captain from 5pm onwards after the first round, then proceeded to win the second day with a score of 32 – go figure. So going into the final day, Lee led by 2 from some rank outsider who’d surely fall away before long, closely followed by Mike B and Josh, with Dan lurking dangerously in 5th.
Fair to say that the leading group played some decent golf for the first 12-13 holes, and then didn’t. Josh drained a 30-foot putt for birdie at the 3rd, Lee peppered the Par-3s with his usual pinpoint accuracy. As the round progressed it became clear that Mike had more to deal with than a round of golf – an unscheduled visit to the clubhouse after the 9th, followed by a return visit after the 11th were clear signs that all was not well. A dodgy crayfish the night before perhaps? Or a delayed reaction to being hit on the first day? Who knows. A visit to the reeds on the 15th, when his ball was clearly visible on the fairway, and Mike reluctantly retired from the fray, though tbf he did rejoin us on the 18th (by which time not many more points had been scored!!).
Meanwhile…as the leading 2 groups congregated on the 16th tee, a quick totting up had yours truly and Dan (who would go on to win the last day with 31 points) tied for the lead, one point ahead of Lee. Come the 18th, and it all came down to a nervy 8-foot putt for the victory. Nobody more surprised than me when it dropped in.
I have no explanation, though I can say with some certainty that the single-room option worked better for me than the ‘sleep in the bath’ experience from the previous year.
Congrats to all the prizewinners, congrats (but some commiserations too) to Lee and Dan, and congrats to Mark who snuck into 4th. And to Mark and Lee for winning the pairs competition (after a stewards inquiry – they only won it by 9 points tbf).
During 3 very enjoyable rounds I was witness to some awesome hitting by Dan, Josh and Lee – always a joy to watch you guys in action.
In the aftermath, reporters were keen to ask Mike Kirkland how much he felt he’d benefited from arriving 2 days early to practise, but as yet he’s been unavailable for comment.
Financially I owe a debt of gratitude to Mike for deciding to change his bet at the last minute from me to himself. A pint awaits at S&A Mike as a token of my appreciation.
And while nobody predicted the winner, some other predictions did come true eg Mark shanking it off the first tee.
Special thanks also to Col for being drawn with me in the pairs, thus leaving me free to concentrate on my own game.
I know it would be unkind to describe my good fortune at the start of the final round and would only rub salt in to some wounds. So here goes. 1st Tee – wild hook into the middle of the lake; take a drop tee-side; skull it into the lake, then watch in disbelief as it skims 50 yards across the water, up the bank, and into the middle of the fairway. Surely the longest ‘Barnes Wallis’ since records began.
And it definitely wouldn’t be right to mention the 3-foot putt I sank with my 3-wood on Day1, having left my putter on the previous hole.
Must say we did miss our entertainer-in-chief from last year, though obviously there were no bus journeys this time – looking at the itinerary for next year there should be ample opportunity to make up for this.
So it only remains to say ‘Salud y hasta la vista!!’
Thanks and congrats to our winner, Steve Waddelove
For full schedule see; Society Championship – el Rompido
Long Drive – Dan Witterick, Josh Hadden, Paul Foode
NP – Josh Hadden, Steve Waddelove, Mark Campbell, Lee Hardy
NP2 – Dan Witterick, Lee Hardy
2’s – Lee Hardy
For current League and Helix standings see Current Season.
See you all in June at Whitefield Golf Club
FORMBY AND FRESHFIELD GOLF SOCIETY 