Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 18 at Ufford Park

A brilliant, cloudless blue sky greeted members of the Round Norfolk Golf Tour as they arrived at the Ufford Park Hotel for the latest round of the Race to Sheringham. 

John Herring had dropped out citing a date with his dentist. Kevin was cycling (or hoping to cycle) in Italy and everyone else not attending had made their apologies leaving just four taking part: Chris Fraser, Mike Hammond, Ian Bishop and Bob Spanner. The staff at golf reception managed to hide their disappointment well when the group claimed 2 free courtesy rounds and used 2 county cards to slash the cost of the round. 

Chris and Bob arrived first. Mike decided to take the long route to avoid traffic and Ian didn't really have a good excuse which meant they both missed out on a pre-round practise putt. As Mike never does this anyway it didn't make any difference.

 Chris quickly getting into her warm up routine.  

With Kevin out of the money this week, everyone was really excited at the prospect of getting closer to him on the leader board (really!).

Front 9

Mike (playing off 13) started very well (pars on the 1^st and 3^rd) before failing to score on the 4^th. He then came back strongly with a par and a bogey before fading slightly over the last 3 holes. His halfway score of 16 reflected the effect of only scoring on 7 of the first 9 holes.

Mike getting the round underway with a fine drive

Chris (playing off her new handicap of 16) started slowly (5 points over the first 4 holes), but 3 pars on the next 5 saw her finish the front nine holes strongly with 16 points. Her tendency to play on the adjacent fairway didn't seem to affect her ability to recover and sneak a par (Fraser family trait). 

Chris getting off to her usual tidy start.

                                                           

Mike and Chris heading off into the distance as they look for the red tee on the 9th hole (picture taken from the yellow tee!).

Ian (playing off his new handicap of 17) started solidly over the first 3 holes before also failing to score on the 4^th hole. He then struck back with 11 points over the next 5 holes (2 pars) leaving him with 17 points at the halfway stage.

Ian starting his round with a tidy drive up the fairway.

Bob (playing off his new handicap of 19) started badly, hooking his first tee shot into the trees. However some good recovery work saw him sink a 6 foot putt to start with 2 points. 

Bob teeing off on the first and successfully finding the trees. There's a surprise.

His driving picked up after this and by the end of the 7^th he had collected 16 points. However, after listening to Chris explain how lots of the ladies were nervous of playing over the water at the 8^th, Bob proceeded to put his drive in the water and ended up not scoring. A good bogey on the 9^th saw him finish the front nine with 18 points, just hanging on to the lead.

Body language!! The 4 ball in front are not really making an effort to buck up and move on.

Back 9

Mike started like he meant business, making 2 pars on the first 3 holes before hitting the buffers when he put his tee shot out of bounds on the short 13^th (why did I use my driver!!). Despite making a par on the next hole, he seemed to lose his momentum, hitting double bogeys on the next 3 holes. A good par on the par 5 18^th saw him finish with 33 points.

Ian started the back 9 strongly and 2 pars in the first 5 holes saw him make 11 points. However, his tee shot into the water at the short 15^th saw him collect only 5 points over the last 4 holes. Ian also finished with 33 points!

Ian, playing nicely off the fairway somewhere on the back 9!

Chris also started the back 9 strongly with 2 pars on the first 3 holes. However, she then failed to score for the first time in her round on the next 2 holes. A strong finish saw her collect 9 points over the last 4 holes, also finishing with 33 points!!

Chris trying to get her shot away before the sprinkler gets her!

Like the others, Bob started strongly but kept it going for longer scoring an outrageous par on the 14th after topping his tee shot. He  followed this with a strategically played birdie around the water on the 15th which meant he collected 19 points over the first 7 holes. At this point the possibility of beating Kevin’s 40 point season high score seemed to hit home and he managed only 1 more point on the last 2 holes, finishing with 38 points.

No-one seemed to know how the £4 ‘pig’ money should be distributed so that was left for Kevin to sort out.

Everyone reflected on how well the course had played with a lot less tree action than previous weeks and isn't it strange how often the scorer wins!

Anyway, Kevin's gamble to miss this round doesn't seem to have affected his lead at the top of the prize money table. 

Next week the tour heads off to Caister and Yarmouth with a good turnout likely. 

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 17 at Barnham Broom Valley course

Wednesday saw Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 round 17 take place at Barnham Broom Valley course. The day started with controversy when the 5 players balls were sent into the air but no clear groupings emerged. After much discussion and video playbacks the officials ruled that a rethrow would be required which this time was successful. Bob and Ian were placed in the first group and headed off to the opening tee.

Ian getting the competition underway on the first

Ian started with a solid teeshot before the hole petered out ending in a point. The excitement of playing his first round off a new handicap of 17 seemed to be effecting his play as a couple of blobs and a single par restricted him to 14 pts on the front 9.

Bob was confused on the first hole as he appeared to think it was a par 12 only to discover his 12 shots didn't qualify him for any points. He soon put this disappointment behind him as he followed up with a birdie and par. The birdie took him to the top of the eclectic leader board. Progress then slowed and a blob on number 8, when he found the river kept him to 16 pts at half way and a 3 way share of the lead.

Bobs approach to hole 6

Meanwhile there was more pre round drama in the group behind when on the way to the first tee Mike rammed his trolley into the back of Sandies leg causing both a yelp and some skin breakage. Sandie was making a welcome return to the tour but may have been affected by the trolley incident as she failed to score over the first two holes. She seemed to have recovered her composure over the next three holes before spotting that Mike had marched on ahead of her as she prepared for her shot. Spotting her chance for revenge she smacked her ball at Mike but only managed to hit his bag. However this was a start of 3 more blobs and only 9 points at half way.

Sandie putting for a point on 2nd hole, she missed

As usual Mike had started strongly before surprisingly slipping up with a few mishits and 3 successive one point holes put him on 16 pts.

Mikes approach to the 1st leading to a par

Kevin had been playing poorly recently and seemed most interested in winning today's most balls in the water comp going on the 2nd and 7th however some good recovery play kept him up with the leaders on 16 as well. 

Kevins teeshot on 5

As the back 9 started any comeback from Ian soon disappeared as he only got 3 points in the first 4 holes and despite a solid finish it wasn't going to be his day as he finished out of the money with 27 pts.

Bob was being a bit inconsistent on the back 9 with 2 blobs and 4 pars as he came down the last and found him facing a short down hill putt for another par which he sadly fluffed to finish on 32 pts.

Sandie was now focusing on setting a new tour record of most blobs in one round, currently standing at 7, and she left nothing to chance by securing 4 more blobs and a new record of 9 for the round. On the 9 holes she could be bothered to score points on she managed 20.

Sandie on the way to a record breaking number of blobs

Mike started the back 9 badly when he tried to hit his second shot on the 10th hole through a tree trunk just in front of him with the ball bouncing away never to be seen again and letting Kevin into a 2 point lead.

Great shot from Mike onto the green and the long 11th leading to a par

The gap remained until on the par 5 13th  Kevin once again found the river from the tee. His second ball was in a bunker after 5 shots only, for the second week running, Kevin holed the bunker shot for 2 pts. Mike played the hole properly for a 2 pt par but the injustice of it all impacted his game and he fell away to finish on 29 and 3rd place.

Kevin made sure the most balls in the river prize was his with a 4th entry on 17 but again scrambled a point meaning he needed a par on the last for an unexpected win. He soon found himself with the same downhill putt as Bob but this time it was a successful effort for a win as he stretched his lead at top of the earnings list.

Kevin chips close on 15 to secure his par

Next week it is off to Ufford Park where even more water can be found. Will anyone be able to go in on more than 4 occasions, will anyone hit it further into the woods than Bob has done this year and can anyone get 10 blobs in a round. All this plus chances to close the gaps in the season competitions will make it a fascinating day.

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 16 at Kings Lynn

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 round 16 took place at Kings Lynn yesterday.  A field of 4 had entered all of which wanted to add to their seasons earnings as the road to Sheringham heads towards its climax. After a few weeks away from the tour Chris made a welcome return with her handicap having recently been cut by two.

In a Carbon copy of the US PGA at Purdis Heath Ian charged into an early lead with 4 pars in the opening 6 holes before In-explicitly getting into trouble off the tee on seven and failing to score on the next two holes, ending the 9 on 18 pts.

Another par for Ian early on the opening holes

Kevin was still struggling off the tee but was scrambling well to stay in touch before a run of 5 1 pts in 6 holes restricted him to 14 pts.

Kevin putting up short on the 4th

Whereas Kevin's driving may have been a little wonky, as he skirted the edge of the woods on several occassions, then Bob was taking no risks in his mission to win, who can hit the ball furthest into the trees, for the second week running as he buried his opening drive (and then several more) into the woods however when he did keep it on the fairway he scored well and had a respectable 15 at the turn.

Bobs opening drive on the first was straight into the left hand woods never to be seen again

Chris's reduced handicap didn't seem to be impacting her as she got off to a flying start including back to back birdies on 5 and 6. Her putter was red hot and she had a clear half way lead on 21 pts.

Good approach to awkward second green

As he saw today's title slip away Ian decided his best chance for glory was to make sure he retained his, who can go in the most bunkers, title with a magnificent display going in bunkers on virtually every back 9 hole and on the 17th even managed a fairway and green side double. This tactic restricted his points total to 34 and left Kevin and Bob a chance to catch up.

Oh look, Ian's in the bunker on 11.
 (note the same one Kevin was to hole out from moments later)

Chris started the back 9 as she played on the front with two more pars. It looked like this years current 'most points in a round' comp of 40 pts would be shattered until a poor teeshot on the easy par 3 12th bounced off a tree into a small pond followed by another blob on the next as well, which stalled her progress. However with 36 points after 17 holes she could not be caught so decided to put in two entries to the 'who can hit the ball furthest into the woods' comp which were good, as they were never seen again, but the judges felt the consistency Bob had shown hitting into the woods made him the winner.

Another good tee shot on 10 led to a par

Bob fell away at the start of the back 9, including back to back blobs on 13 and 14, before a birdie on 15 put him back in the hunt for 2nd place. However only 5 pts over the final 3 holes left him just outside the money on 30 pts.

Bobs tee shot to the par 3 12th.

Kevin put an end to his long run of single points when he holed his bunker shot at 11 for a birdie. This seemed to spur him on as he was only player to score on all back 9 holes but some untidy play over the last 3 holes restricted him to 32 points and 3rd place as Ian's final hole par meant he collected the second place pound.

Kevin cant believe his teeshot on 13 has bounced back off a tree and not in the woods.
 Bob then showed him the proper way by burring his ball deep in the woods never to be seen again. To prove it wasn't a fluke as he repeated the trick with his second shot with his second ball on the hole.

There were no changes on the competition leader boards so it's on to round 17 at Barnham Broom next week where a bumper entrance is expected. Mike returns to see if he can keep his lead at the top of the average stableford points and lowest blobs tables.

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 15 at Bury St Edmunds

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 round 15 took place at an overcast and drizzly Bury St Edmunds on Tuesday. After the excitement of back to back majors it was back to a normal comp this week but despite this a high class field, featuring 4 of the top 5 money earners this year, had elected to play.

Mike got things under way with a solid par on the opening hole. He then had a wobble over the next two holes getting only one point. It looked like the tours most consistent player, and leader of the average stableford points comp, might eventually be about to crack but normal service was soon resumed with some excellent play finishing with a birdie on the 9th and 19 pts at half way. There was some controversy when, on the 6th hole, he placed his ball behind Ian's marker, which was 3 foot closer than his, but his eagle eyed playing partners were having none of it and stopped him before he tried to sneak in the putt, nice try though.

Mikes opening drive leading to a par on the 1st

Ian had another flying start with 10 pts from the opening 4 holes as he shot into the lead before, in-explicitly, muffing up the next 3 holes for a single point. A 3 putt on the 9th didn't help matters as he returned 15 pts and was far from happy.

Ian's birdie putt on the second, he missed

Bob and Kevin were having their own game of 'who could hit the balls into the trees the most often. However despite this they still managed to scramble points on every front 9 hole.

Kevin about to slice another ball into the trees on the 5th

However Bobs putting was much the better as Kevin missed a number of short putts leaving him trailing on 13 pts (and in the trees 6 times) to Bobs 17pts (and in the trees 7 times).

Bob hitting out of the trees on the third hole

Kevin's driving didn't improve much on the back 9 going into the trees on the first 3 holes before somehow rescuing 2 pts on each. A silly blob on 16, with a short chip into the bunker, and a couple more missed little putts stopped him from getting back in the hunt but his 17 points on the back 9 meant his 30 pts overall was in line with his season average.

Kevin missing a par putt after good recovery out of the trees on 14

Ian again starts strongly with 17 points in the first 7 holes and shot into a two point lead. He then missed a short putt on 17 before getting stuck in long grass under trees on 18. He clearly hadn't had the tree practice of both Kevin and Bob as he failed to get the ball back in play and failed to register a point. He finished on 33 pts but would it be enough.

Ians approach chip to the 12th

Bob was still duffing the ball off the tee allow not into as much trouble as the front 9 as he continued to score points on most holes. On the last he had a short putt for 2 pts which Kevin insisted he took. Bob, not realising it was a par 5 missed the putt before hitting the ball away in frustration thinking he had failed to score. Unfortunately for Kevin, Bob claimed Mike had conceded him the putt and claimed his point for 3rd place and the 50p prize. 

Bob driving the ball into the left hand trees on the 11th

Mike had been going about his business solidly but uncharacteristic blobs on 12 and 16, where his reliable fairway wood let him down, meant he had fallen from the lead. However the fat lady had not yet sung and with Ian's poor finish the door was still open as its never over until it's over etc etc. So he only needed a bogey on the last to claim first prize. But he did better than that with a tasty par and 35 points overall to take the £2.50 purse.

Mike on the 11th tee, unfortunately he still had to finish the 10th hole first

So Mike keeps his lead at the top of the average stableford points table, while Kevin still leads the money list although with nothing to show for today's effort the other players are closing in.

Next week the tour heads north to Kings Lynn, where in form player Chris returns to the fold.