Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 11at Eaton

Yesterday saw Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 round 11 take place at Eaton. After last years debacle when the scheduled Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2015 event at Eaton had to be moved on the day, due to a double booking with ladies captains day, Eaton had pulled out all the stops to keep their place on this years course list by offering free golf. It also attracted a large field of 6 to the event.

Groupings were selected in traditional style meaning Andrew, Mike and, hot favourite on his home course, Phil were first to set off. Phil quickly lived up to his billing by parring the first three holes. Only a blob on the par 3 9th slowed down progress with a tidy 18 on the front 9.

Hot favourite Phil on way to first of 3 pars

Mike also started well with a birdie par opening before a blob on the tricky par 4 third. However he continued to play well to share the halfway lead on 18 pts.

Mike's opening teeshot and a birdie

Andrew didn't start so well as his partners with only 1 point scored in the first two holes but 4 pars over the next 7 holes got him back in contention on 16 pts.

Andrew gets the days proceedings started

Meanwhile the group behind were getting underway. As Ian had not played the course Kevin advised Ian to keep left on the first and to demonstrate the point hooked the ball into a big tree leading to an opening blob. With another blob on the 3rd he only had 2 pts from 3 holes and in last place however he parred both the par 3s to have a more respectable 15 pts on the way out.

Kevin missing par putt on 6th

Chris had not been happy to find her ball alongside Kevin's in the selection process claiming that having had to watch his latest endurance event was bad enough and she didn't see why she had to play golf with him as well. Sadly this seemed to impact her game as some untidy play round the greens left her in last place on 12 pts.

Chris scrambling a point on the 7th

Thanks mainly to Kevin's excellent course advice Ian started well with two opening pars, before blobs on 3 and 6 reeled him back and he finished on 16.

Ians approach to 4th green

So with only 3 pts separating five players it was all to play for on back 9 where any little advantage could prove critical. Chris started to get her game together and sunk a couple of monster putts to put in a much better finish. However her total of 28 pts still left her in last place.

Chris tee shot on 2nd

Andrews mixed form continued on the back 9. One minute an excellent par but followed up with too many double bogeys and his 30 pts left him out of the prizes.

Ian was still in the mix but after hitting his ball into the tree just in front of him on the 10th, which led to a lost ball, and no points. He then cleverly decided to change tac tics and fearing Phil was his main threat decided to aim for him rather than the green on the 12th. Little did he know that his approach was misplaced as Phil had just come off back to back blobs and would only score 13 more points to finish on 31.

Chris chipping to 12th green as Ian discovers his plan had failed as he had just missed Phil 

Mike, the other halfway leader, also fell away. He claimed it was due to having to share most of his jelly babies although his partners claimed they only got one each so it was probably more because of getting only 2 points over the last 3 holes. He also had 31 pts at the end to share the 50p 3rd place purse with Phil.

After a double bogey on the 10th Kevin looked out of the running until he found the remains of the Banana chips that Sandie had given him during last weeks round when he had a funny turn. He quickly finished them off and his game was transformed playing the last 8 holes under handicap to finish on 33 pts.

Kevin teeshot to 13th and a Par thanks to the power of Banana chips

Only Ian could now catch him and after parring 16 and 17 held a one shot lead coming down the last. Sadly a poor teeshot was followed by a mishit and Ian found himself in the woods. Kevin sensibly kept himself out of range and Ian was unable to hit him or the green so failed to score finishing on 32 pts and second place.

Ian teeing off on 15

The result further increased Kevin's lead on the money list and eclectic (although some players unfairly pointed out this is because he has played in the most rounds). However the average stableford points comp is looking very close with a number of players in contention.

Golf Pig congratulates Kevin on his win and hands over the large (£2.50) cash prize

Next week it's off to Thorpeness where the official start of this years best front and back nine in July, August and September will be launched. Later in the month there are back to back majors so the excitement is certainly being ratcheted up.

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 10 at Weston Park.

Yesterday saw Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 Round 10 take place at Weston Park. Two new players (Mike and Sandie) had recently earned their tour cards (by correctly responding to Bobs emails) so joined a massive field of 6 players for today's event. After the excitement of last weeks US Open at Woodbridge it was back to normal this week. Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 treasurer (golf pig) was very excited by both the extra entry fees and 2 more tour subscriptions. This swelled the end of year competition prize funds to over £12 meaning it would be all to play for to become this years tour earnings winner on the race to Sheringham.

It was balls in the air to decide the groupings meaning Mike, Ian and Chris headed off first.

First group setting off to get teeshots behind the big tree

All 3 players surprisingly choose to lay up behind the big tree blocking out the green Chris going on to hit it and start off with a disappointing blob. From here normal service was resumed with some tidy golf and playing the next 8 holes to her handicap and 16 at half way.

Chris tee shot on the stupid short eighth with no sand in its ridiculous bunker 

Ian was playing the course for the first time and took the first 3 holes to work out that it was best to stay away from the trees rather than put the ball behind him. This held back early progress but he still score on every front 9 hole. An excellent birdie on the stupid short eighth with no sand in its ridiculous bunker meant he had the half way lead on 17 pts.

Ian with tree trouble on the 3rd

Mike was struggling getting his putts up to the hole as the greens were playing slow after last nights heavy rain. This meant no pars were achieved and only 13 pts. 

Mike failing to make it to the hole

In the group behind they had also decided to hit their opening drives behind the big tree but all managed to secure 2 pts. Kevin had left his putting boots at Woodbridge, where he informed his group (on every hole) he had won last week, with a number of 3 putts. Over the round he hit 4 greens from over 180 yards but only parred one of them. He was still doing ok until a blob on the stupid short eighth with no sand in its ridiculous bunker meant he shared last place with only 13 pts.

Kevins tee shot on 5th coming up short

Andrew was playing some good golf with several front 9 pars but he hit 3 trees on the 3rd and took 4 shots to get down on the 5th to blob both these and restrict his score to 15 at the turn.

Excellent up and down from Andrew on par 3 2nd hole

Sandie was driving exceptionally well with taking the tiger line on the 4th leading to an excellent par. However just as she looked like taking the lead she had to field some urgent phone calls which distracted her and she finished with 14 pts.

Sandie getting things underway on the first

As the phone action continued over the next few holes Sandie not surprisingly lost focus and started with 3 blobs. In amongst this there were still a number of good shots and she added another 13 pts on the last 6 holes to finish on 27 pts but well out of the prizes. However her generosity with the wine gums and banana chips made her a popular partner.

Sandie on the way to another Blob on the 1tth

Kevin seemed to be living in the past still taking every opportunity to mention that he won at Woodbridge last week. On the 12th he invented a new game of seeing how many times you can bounce the ball off the trees into the middle of the fairway. After successfully managing it twice he ran out of trees to aim for in securing his point. He was less successful when trying to play the game on the 17th ending up with a blob. A good par on the last meant he secured joint last with 27 pts.

Kevin missing bogey putt after playing hit the tree on the 12th

Meanwhile it was all to play for with the remaining players especially after some generous gimmes on the 10th put Chris into an early back 9 lead. However her progress stalled when picking up just one point in the middle 3 holes and with no further pars she finished out of the prizes on 30 pts.

Chris putting on the 17th

Mike got back in contention chipping in for a birdie on the 12th and scoring on every hole with the best back 9 of 18. However his 31 point total only secured him 3rd place. He did win 50p getting him onto the money list so a promising debut.

Mikes tee shot on 13

It was left to Ian and Andrew to battle it out and with both players on 30 pts after 16 holes but they missed the opportunity to secure the win as neither scored a point on the 17th. 

Andrew chiping on way to par on 10th

Ian regained his composure to bogey the last and with 32 points was the leader on the bench under the tree by be 18th green.

Ians putt not dropping on 16.

With no shot to play with Andrew would need a birdie for the outright win. Three good shots on the closing par 5 meant he just had to sink a 6 foot putt for the win. But he completely bottled it meaning the round was tiedwith both players adding £1.75 to their tour winnings.

Andrew missing birdie putt on 18 to tie with Ian

With only 5 pts separating all the players today and the top 3 on the money list out of the prizes then there was little movement on the overall standings. Next week the tour moves to Eaton where (due to the attraction of free golf) a record equaling 7 players have entered (although last time there were 7 starters there were only 6 finishers so hopefully a record number of completed rounds too). 

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 9 at Woodbridge

Today saw Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 round 9, the US Open, take place at Woodbridge. It was disappointing that only 4 players had signed up for this prestigious event but as heavy rain was forecast maybe they had made the right choice. Kevin, the defending US Open Champion had turned up to try and defend his title.

Chris and Bob prepare for tricky down hill putts on the 11th hole at Woodridge during the US Open

Due to some old ladies just ahead Chris opted to get things underway on the first tee and started off with a useful par. Sadly this was quickly followed by a visit to the pond on the second and gorse bush on the 4th leading to 4 successive 1 pointers before a strong finish left her on 16 points at half way.

Chris teeiig off up the first

John had the opposite start by parring 2 of the first 4 holes before falling away thanks to a few wayward tee shots. On the par 3 9th he hit his teeshot and said "well it's not perfect....." as it flew towards the woods and gorse and he was proved right as the ball was never seen again. He finished on 14 pts.

A nice chip by John over the bunker on the 5th

Bob was playing well and was proving a dab hand at hitting the ball out of the rough and still scoring highly with some excellent recovery shots. He managed to rack up an impressive 20 pts at the turn.

Bob hitting out of short rough into long rough on 2nd hole before getting up
and down for 5

Kevin was obviously keen to retain his title as he started with 3 straight pars. As someone who doesn't use his own Golf GPS he decided to take the yardage off the sprinkler heads on the 4th only to find the distances shown were completely random as he hit a good wedge into a green side bunker. The GPS users told him the real distance (after he hit his ball) which was 20 yards further. Despite this a birdie on the 8th left him in the lead on 22pts.

Kevin admiring his wedge on the 4th before being surprised it was in a bunker
as the sprinkler head distances were wrong (or so he says)

As the back 9 got underway John's game started to fade as his 'always reliable 19 degree rescue' proved to be anything but. The 17th proved particularly painful as after looking for his teeshot for sometime it was found in the middle of the fairway only for him to plonk it from there straight into a ditch. After much more searching, 2 hacks and a good chip he had a makable putt for an unlikely point. So unlikely in fact that he missed the putt and it was all for nothing. He finished the day on 25 points and therefore out the prizes.

John carting his second shot into the woods and lost forever, on the 11th

Bob's challenge also started to fall away as his teeshots found the rough and he left several balls on the course for other golfers to find and use (as long as they are called Bob). When the rain did arrive for a brief shower during the 12th hole Bob was the only player to leave the green with any points but normal service resumed once the rain had stopped. He could only muster another 11 points over the back 9 to finish on 31. 

Bob in trouble on the 10th, apparently the presence of the paparazzi was why he shanked it
and not the fact he was in long rough behind a gorse bush

With Bobs challenge fading  Kevin took control with 4 pars (and a blob) in the opening 5 back 9 holes, despite blobbing again on the par 3 15th he still managed 18 on the back 9 and 40pts in all to retain his title and collect the big £5 first prize. It was also a course record for Woodbridge.

Kevin putting for Birdie on 13, he missed

The main event now was to see if Chris could overhaul Bob and claim second place. Looking on the scorecard the ladies card had 3 back 9 par 5s compared to none on the men's card. There was much outrage and to add insult to injury Chris went on to par all 3 of these mini par 5 holes for 9 pts compared with the 4 pts Bob got on these long par 4's. This was enough to make all difference as Chris got 18 on the back 9 and 34 in all to win the £2 second place prize.

Tee shot on 9 came up a bit short but still secured 2 points

It's all change at the top of the leader boards as Kevin has headed to the front of all but average blobs per round competition, where Chris's inability to hit it far enough into the trees means she has a commanding lead on the lack of blobs front.

Next week the tour moves onto Weston Park where 7 entrants have signed up before the players then take on Eaton the follow week and a record entry of 8. Winnings will be hard to come by on these days so the tour earnings leaderboard could be set to change.

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 8 at Barnham Broom Hill course

Today saw Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016  Round 8 take place at Barnham Broom Hill course. Sadly the last two fixtures were abandoned. First at Richmond park where traffic issues meant that only two players managed to tee off on time which did not meet the 3 player minimum. Then heavy rain and strong winds meant that the players for the scheduled round at Swafham didn't make it out if the bar. It was therefore good that 4 players turned up on time under clear blue sky's on the 1st tee and the competition got back on track.

But not for Kevin who clearly had forgotten how to play in the gap scoring only 5 points in the opening 7 holes. His fellow players did there best to ignore the inevitable associated tantrums but they were hard to miss. A par on the 8th seemed to calm him down as he finished the front 9 with a point a hole total.

Chris was playing solid if not spectacular golf and only occasionally (about once a hole) talking about how she should have won the ladies county division 2 championship at Hunstanton on Monday. A pair of 7's on the closing two par 5s kept her score down to 15 pts.

Chris getting things underway on the 1st

 Ian was playing well with some exceptionally straight driving. 9 points over the middle 3 holes meant he was going along nicely until he chipped into a green side bunker on the 8th leading to his first blob of the day but he still had 18 points at half way.

Another excellent teeshot from Ian on the 4th.

 Meanwhile Bob had gone points crazy including birdies on both the 4th and 6th as he racked up 22 pts on the opening holes. Dispute his driving not always at its best his putter was red hot.

Bob getting up and down from Bunker on 2nd

 The current highest number of stableford points in a round (currently 38 by Chris at the Suffolk) looked like it would be destroyed by Bob when he got another birdie on the par 5 12th but 3 blobs in the last 6 holes held him back and he could only equal the total but 38 pts made him a comfortable winner. It was also a new course record beating previous best of 35 shared by Bob and Kevin.

Bob putting for par on 11th hole (he missed, just)

 Ian tried his best to catch Bob but could never get within less than 3 points. He had a solid back 9, only spoiled by a poor drive and blob on the 16th, to finish second on 35.

Ian 3 wood approach to par 5 12th which just found the green side bunker

 Chris continued to score on every hole without making the most of her opportunities which was apparently what happened when she should have won the ladies county division 2 championship at Hunstanton on Monday. She finished on 32 points which was 4 over and exactly the same score as when she should have won the ladies county division 2 championship at Hunstanton on Monday. 

Chris approach to 12th

 Kevin had stopped being cross with himself about his poor golf and was now cross with himself about getting cross with himself about his poor golf. As a result his golf improved and he in fact got 18pts on the back 9 which was the most of anyone but still left him well a drift in last place on 27 points.

Kevin successfully clearing the ditch on 15th

As a result of the days action things have really tightened at the top of the average points leader board with only a quarter point separating the top 3. 

Next week is the US open at Woodbridge where it is double prize money. The following two weeks, at Weston Park and Eaton, promise to have record entrances so golf pig is very excited about the amount of extra prize money he will be gobbling up. 

Golf pig looking forward to receiving some more prize money

It's certainly an exciting period on this years tour and all to play for.