Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp. Round 4 Barnham Broom Hill

Today saw the 4th round of the Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp on a sticky humid day at Barnham Broom golf course. It also saw Ian make his debt in this years competition. 

John's teeshot on the first and the first OOB of the day

The front 9 probably saw the worst collective golf ever seen on the tour with blobs aplenty and pars a few.

Ian teeing off on forth. Despite visiting a hazard he managed a 7 for 1. 

Kevin was particularly grumpy and whinny seeing a number of seemingly good shots end up in difficult bunker lies or catching out of bounds. He only had 4 pts after 6 holes and had played his best shots of the day, he continued to struggle getting only 22pts overall before stomping off home for a lie down.

Kevin missing yet another putt.
This was one of ten photos Bob took of the putt (some including his finger some not).
Apparently he had got confused as the phone was in silent mode so didn't make a camera noise.

Meanwhile the other 3 players all managed 13 pts on the front 9 getting one par each. So it was all to play for on the back 9.

Bob missing a par putt on the par 3 6th

On the short par 5 12th John hit an average tee shot then 3 putted from 250 yrds to secure a fortunate birdie and claim, not only the lead but he meant to chip it along the ground. The golf gods didn't like this and he blobed the next two to give up the lead. It was good to see some fine swearing before another birdie with a monster putt on the 16th put John back in contention.

John's teeshot on the 13th just after his all along the ground birdie.
Justice was done as he blobed this and the next hole.

Ian suddenly came to the fore and with the help of 3 successive 2 shot holes and good golf storming into the lead. 

Teeshot from Ian during his surge into the lead.

Bob, with a new handicap of just 21, was keeping in touch and then manage to get his game together with a Bob type run of good holes.

Good recovery bunk shot from Bob at the start of the back 9

So coming down the last it was all to play for with Ian on 29, Bob on 27 and John on 27. 

John had the advantage of the honour on the last but before he had his club out of his bag Bob had barged his way on to the tee hitting a perfect tee shot. It was pointed out it was not his turn but he claimed he was trying to speed us along, John was still muttering about pots and kettles as carved his tee shot under a bush. A couple of duffs, some good swearing and 2 putts got John only a single point and out of the running.

Bobs approach shot to the last to help secure him second place.

Meanwhile Ian hit an enormous slice on to the wrong fairway before recovoring with a fine second shot and got down in 3 to secure the win by a single point.

Ian needed to get down in 3 from here to win, which he did.

Not the best golf we have seen but an exciting finish as the tour moves on to Diss next Tuesday.
Current standings

	Kevin	John	Bob	Chris	Sean	Ian		Prize fund
Average pts	25.25	28.5	32.75	31	20	31		£3.75
Most pts	31	34	35	32	20	31		£3.75
Eclectic	1.5	-3.5	-4.9	8.5	28	17		£3.75
Order Merit	2	6.5	8.5	4	0	3		£3.75
Aug & Sept best front & back 9								One off TBA
Average blobs	4	4.8	3.3	2.5	6	2
Number rounds	4	4	4	2	1	1

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp. Round 3, Weston Park

Yesterday was round 3 of this years Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp at Weston Park. There was a bumper entry of 5 with Sean making his Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp debt. Five entry fees made golf pig very happy.

Golf Pig  looking very happy with 5 new entry fees inside

Due to the Weston Park Ladies invitational start was de-laid by 15 mins allowing plenty of extra time for practice.

Bob getting in last minute putting practice.
Hard to see how he missed the first practice ball by that much.

There were two groups today with Kevin, John and Chris out first followed by Bob and Sean.
As in the first two rounds Kevin's short game let him down on the first few holes and left him with only 4 pts after 5 holes. A poor drive on the 6th led to a foul mouthed outburst which turned out to be a little embarrassing as he parred the hole and from there his game picked up.

Chris started solidly. On the short 8th she was entitled to 2 shots whilst Kevin had none. This sent Kevin into a handicap rant and he did well to calm down to par the hole for 2 POINTS. However when Chris parred the hole for 4 POINTS he once again needed a little out burst. The 4 points helped Chris to a level handicap 18 point front 9.

Chris Putting for Par on the first. She made it

Kevin putting for Birdie on the 8th. He missed

 Meanwhile John had been going along very steadily and if it hadn't been for an unfortunate blob on the 7th, when distract be the last group in the Weston Park Ladies invitational, he too would have played to handicap but in the end mustered 16 pts.

John teeing off on the 4th for another 2pts.

In the group behind the score card was littered with blobs and 1 pts but Bob managed 5 pts over holes 8 and 9 to end with a respectable 15pts while Sean didn't quite get to the point a hole mark with 8 pts over the first 9.

Chris's drive from the distance ladies tee,
unfortunately the zoom on the carmera couldn't get any closer

The back 9 proved better for most. There was some controversy on the 12th where both Kevin and John hit trees. John's ball bounced back on to the fairway but despite Kevin demanding a finger tip search of the area his ball could not be found. Using Bob's penalty drop rules he placed his drop on a nice patch of short rough before hitting his ball, all the way along the ground, for a 5 and 2 pts. John's luck ran out as he shanked the ball across the fairway for a blob whilst Chris 3 putted for a single point. 

John tee shot on 15th

Apart form the 12th John once again was very solid and with pars on the last two holes got 18 pts on the back 9 and 34 overall. It was a disappointing day for fans of club and rake throwing.
Kevin parred the last 4 for 19 back 9 pts and broke into the 30's for the first time with 31 pts.

Kevin teeing off on 18th for his 4th par in a row. 

Chris struggled on the greens with a number of 3 putts and had a run of 4 successive single points. But as she scored on all the back 9 holes she finished with 32 pts overall. 

Bob and Sean also improved on the back 9 but a poor finish saw Sean gain only 1 point in the last 3 holes for an overall total of 20 pts. Not the best start to his Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp but hopefully we will see him later in the year to help boost the prize fund further. 

Bob needed a par on the last if he was to get any order of merit points and he managed this to share the final OM point with Kevin by getting 31 stableford pts in total.

Final result
1. John 34
2. Chris 32
3=. Kevin 31
3=. Bob 31
5. Sean 20
Standings after 3 rounds

	Kevin	John	Bob	Chris	Sean			Prize fund
Average pts	26.3	28.7	33.7	31	20			£3.00
Most pts	31	34	35	32	20			£3.00
Eclectic	4.5	-0.5	-2	8.5	28			£3.00
Order Merit	2	5.5	6.5	4	0			£3.00
Aug & Sept best front & back 9								One off TBA
Average blobs	3.3	4.7	3	2.5	6
Number rounds	3	3	3	2	1

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp. Round 2, Cromer

Friday saw the second round of the Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp which took place at Cromer. The day also included the NUGS annual medal competition. That was all to take place in the afternoon after a better ball warm up in the morning.

View of Cromer Golf course

Chris and Kevin teamed up as did John and Bob but neither team really got going and coming down the last both were tied on 32 pts. Unfortunately Chris sliced her tee shot never to be seen again and Kevin, who had just smugly announced that he hadn't lost a ball, proceeded to do so with his second shot and a team blob. John and Bob collected 3 pts on the hole but neither team threatened the prizes.

Johns approach to second green which he shanked over Chris's head (and swore loudly)

John and Bob hacking through the trees on the third

Kevin about to tee off on to the wrong fairway

Bob about to start going through his pre tee shot routine giving
Kevin and John plenty of time to discuss the crisis in the middle east

Kevin teeing off and amazingly not putting it on the beach

Bob tee shot into the bunker on the 8th

Chris teeing off on the 12th from the ladies tee which is just in front of the green

In the main event in the afternoon the pairs were separated into different groups. Golf pig was very happy to receive 4 entry fees for the competition. Chris and Kevin only played 3 holes before Tony, their 3rd member felt too ill to continue and went home. 

John and Bob preparing to tee off on the first
 with Mark who was only playing the NUGS comp

Disaster soon struck Chris who had spent all day whining about the NUGS comp being a medal. Thanks to going in the same bunker twice she score 14 on the second and thanks to tree issues a 10 on the 3rd. This meant she could stop worrying about the medal comp and just concentrate on the Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp, which is stableford. 

Kevin teeing off on the 4th before a bunker ended his medal hopes too

Kevin got off to a solid start over the first three holes and was looking good on the 4th until catching the lip of the bunker and taking 4 to get out. Despite some excellent ground thumping with his clubs he never recovered and his round got worse and worse mustering a pitiful 22 pts, although he still managed to post a net 94 medal score to secure last place of the completed NUGS rounds.

Chris putting for points as the shadows lengthened

Chris got her game back together and after getting only 4 pts on the first 5 holes played to her handicap from there on in for 30 pts.

Mean while up ahead both John and Bob had given up on the medal competition and John was having a particularly difficult timing scoring only 7 pts on the front 9. The highlight was a masterful display of rake throwing after getting into difficulty on the bunkers on the 9th. He recover well on the back 9 to also get a total of 22 pts for a share of last place.

As normal Bob got out his huge handicap to have a run of 25 pts in just 8 holes and again score 35 pts. As at Bungay he failed to score on the last in order to claim he wasn't playing to his handicap.

The competition moves to Weston Park were it is rumoured there maybe 5 entrants which will make golf pig very happy.
Latest competition standings with Bob leading all categories.

	Kevin	John	Bob	Chris	Current prize Fund
Average Stableford pts	24	26	35	30	£1.75
Most Stableford pts	26	30	35	30	£1.75
Eclectic	11.5	5.5	4	39	£1.75
Order Merit (1st/2nd/3rd pts)	1.5	2.5	6	2	£1.75
Aug & Sept best front and back 9					One off entry fee
Average blobs per round	4	6	3.5	4
Number of rounds	2	2	2	1