A rather overcast sky greeted the competitors at this week’s
Round Norfolk Golf Competition taking place at Swaffham Golf Club. The Frazers
are still pursuing their Round Europe Café Tour holiday in Slovenia leaving
John Herring, Ian Bishop and Bob Spanner once again to compete for the
available points in the ‘race to Sheringham’. Ian and Bob turned up at the
pre-arranged time whereas ‘just in time’ Herring turned up with 10 minutes to
spare and still managed to visit the toilet and have a chip and a putt.
In order to prove we really did find our way to Swaffham it was decided to take a group selfie with the score card. We probably should have taken a picture of the clubhouse as well but we didn’t think of that at the time.
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| Team Selfie! |
Play commenced on the par 5 1st hole with Bob
having the best of the drives but failing to capitalise on it (a consistent
theme throughout) and finishing with a bogey 6. John recovered well to card a 6
and Ian started in style with a well deserved par 5 which earned him 4 points (editors note: inflated by his very
large handicap). Ian demonstrated great sportsmanship as all three
players walked towards the 2nd hole, pointing out to Bob that not
only had he left a club behind he had in fact left his golf trolley and bag
behind as well. Well done Ian. That could have been a costly mistake for Bob!!
Bob Fought back on the 2nd to get a par 4 with
Ian and John both recovering from some ‘off-piste’ activity to scramble a 6.
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| John doing some gardening on the second. |
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| Ian looking for his shot off the tee. It’s behind you! |
The par 3 3rd witnessed a full range of shots.
Bob ended up left of the green, John to the right of the green and Ian decided
to lay up 150 yards short of the pin! However, after the next round of shots,
everyone had reached the green. Chaos then ensued, and some strong language was
directed at the greenkeepers as everyone discovered how fast the greens really
were. Bob managed a 4 with a longish putt while John and Ian kept going a bit
longer for a 5 each.
After 3 holes, Bob held a 1 point lead over Ian with John in
third place.
The par 4 4th saw Bob strike a very long drive
and then hit his follow up shot into a greenside bunker which he struggled to
get out of and then 3 putted for no points. Ian had a collection of errors and
scored no points. John managed to get home with a 6 and pull back a point.
The par 4 5th saw John hit a superb straight
drive. Ian followed up with a slightly shorter drive and Bob decided he liked
the adjacent fairway better and ended up nearly back on the tee box for the
previous hole. John played a superb
second shot leaving him with a birdie chance which he raced past the hole
(accompanied once again by some severe criticism of the greenkeepers) after
which he sank the 10 foot return putt for a very good par. Ian and Bob (despite
his unusual tactics) finished with a 5 each although Ian scored 3 points
curtesy of his Very Large Handicap (editors capitals).
Your correspondent is not too sure what happened at the par
3 6th as his shot was just right of the green by the trees and while
he searched unsuccessfully for it, Ian recorded a very good par and John a
further 2 points from a bogey. After 6 holes, Ian had taken the lead with John close behind and Bob in third place following his two blobs.
The par 4 7th proved difficult for everyone
(Stroke Index 1) with Bob getting the best result with a double bogey 6.
The par 4 dog leg 8th proved an old maxim to be
true that longest isn’t always the best. Bob managed to draw the ball (might
have been a controlled hook) all of 300 yds leaving his ball 40 yards short of
the pin. Not to be outdone, Ian hit his ball nearly as far (about 260 yds).
However, Bob managed to then take 4 shots to sink his putt while Ian chipped
and putted in for a very good par. John discovered bunkers and failed to score
again.
John fought back on the par 4 9th with a very
tidy 4 despite hitting his second shot into a greenside bunker (clearly his
practise on the previous hole was paying dividends). Ian decided it was his
turn to practise his bunker play and ended up with no score. Bob hit his first
poor drive and had to take a penalty drop finishing with a 6.
Scores at the halfway stage were: Ian 16, Bob 14 and John
13.
The par 4 10th followed a familiar pattern with
Bob hitting a long drive within a sand wedge of the green. Ian hit to the left
of the fairway with a low straight runner and John decided to go right. All 3
second shots then managed to find greenside bunkers. Bob surprisingly sunk a
longish putt to grab a 5 when a birdie had looked on the cards. Ian and John
missed easier putts to score 6.
The par 4 11th proved difficult for everyone. Bob
and Ian failed to score and John two putted to take a point.
The par 3 12th saw the usual spread of shots, a
string of invective from John (I had my fingers in my ears so not sure what he
actually said), followed by a superb chip and putt from John to salvage a par.
Ian and Bob chipped and two putted for a 4 each.
The par 5 13th was unlucky for Ian as he managed
to hit a tree about 70 yds from the tee and lose his ball. Despite this he
recovered to save a point. John hit a long tee shot into a fairway bunker and
then need three shots to get out. However, a very good pitch and two putts
rescued a 7 and two points. Bob hit a superb drive round the corner of the
right handed dog leg and a good follow up shot within 50 yds of the green. He
then took five shots to find the hole (story of his life).
This turned out to be a critical stage of the game as all
three players now had 20 points!
John now started to take a grip on the lead. He was the only
player to score on the par 4 14th and took a 2 shot lead to the par
5 15th hole. All 3 players reached the green in 3 shots but putting
proved difficult on a very fast and sloping green. Ian and John scored 6 each
and Bob 4 putted for a 7.The par 3 16th saw a variety of approaches with Bob choosing to proceed via the front bunker. All three players ended with a 4. John retained his two shot lead with two holes to play but Ian (because of his very large handicap J) was still threatening as he would receive two shots more than John and Bob over the next two holes.
The par 4 17th saw John maintain his lead with a very tidy par. Ian started with a good drive, hit a wayward second shot but recovered superbly to card a 5 (and three points). Bob failed to make an impact on the others with a bogey 5 for two points.
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| Ian and John admiring their tee shots on the 17th. |
Going into the long final par 4 18th (431 yds), John led with 29 points, Ian was second with 27 and Bob was trailing 3rd with 25. No-one was prepared for the dramatic events that were about to take place!!!!
John hit his drive down the fairway but without his usual distance. Ian pulled his drive left and hit a tree. Bob smashed his drive 280 yds straight down the middle of the fairway. At this stage Ian’s second place looked under threat. Ian however, found his ball and played a superb shot out of the woods onto the fairway just short of Bob’s drive. John managed to pull his second shot left and then a catalogue of errors resulted in him failing to score (chance for Ian?). Ian in the meantime failed to hit the green with his third shot. Bob meanwhile, landed his second shot 20 foot from the pin and then somehow managed to talk his ball into the hole for a birdie and 4 points. Not surprisingly John and Ian did not share Bob’s euphoria. Ian 3 putted from the edge of the green to rescue 1 point.
Those of you who have been following this will have realised that the final scores were now: John 29, Bob 29 and Ian 28. John suggested using countback to find an outright winner, but Bob pointed out that Kevin had never adopted this approach previously (and he was also worried that John might win!).
The Round Norfolk Golf Tour moves to Bawburgh next week, the
home of Norfolk Golf (well at least for Kevin, Bob and Ian), when ‘Kuch’ Frazer
will be back competing for points and restoring sanity to the blog.
