Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2017. Round 15 at Sprowston Manor

North Norwich Open at Sprowston Manor

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2017 round 15 took place at Sprowston Manor on Wednesday. Four tour members had signed up, each with a different objective for the day. 

Conditions looked perfect with hard fairways, fast greens and little wind so the course appeared ready to be taken apart.

Mike, got things underway and looked pretty solid over the front 9. Only a clumsy tee shot on the 3rd, which led to his only blob of the nine, kept his front 9 over handicap with 16 pts. 

Mike Chipping up from behind 4th green for excellent up and down and 2pts

Kevin was looking in similar form but after two good early putts his putter deserted him as he failed to hole anything else from more than a couple of feet. This restricted him to 14 pts with lots of muttering.

Kevin misses birdie putt on 5th (mutter, mutter, whine, whine, whinge, whinge etc)

Jo was making only her second appearance of the season but was determined to lift herself off the bottom of the money list by adding to her 50p winnings to date. It was therefore strange to see her playing a game of 'how many bunkers can I go in'. After finding several she announced she would start to aim at the bunkers as due to some twisted logic it apparently meant she was less likely to go in them that way. Unsurprisingly this approach made little difference as the sand continued to be found. It transpired that Jo was a very good bunker player (maybe this was a regular tactic) as she got out of each one with ease while racking up 18 half way pts.

Not a putting exercise but Jo trying to putt through the line of balls on the 5th

Call the fire brigade as Bob was on fire over the opening holes. With solid approach work and a red hot putter he raced to 20 pts after 8 holes and it looked like he would be not only winning today but set a new high points score for the season. But as we all know golf is a funny game and after hitting his drive into tree on the 9th then the fire brigade was dismissed and a breakdown truck called instead as the wheels fell off, big time.

Bob ripping the course up in his new sunglasses. But things were about to change

The second 9 kicked off with birdie controversy. Kevin had been enjoying his halfway cheese sandwich as he headed to the 10th green ready to miss a short par putt. On returning to his trolley he found his roll had been stolen by a greedy crow. With his finely balanced nutrition plan now in tatters in was no surprise that Kevin failed to fight back and finished last with 29 points.

Straight after Crowgate Kevin did manage a good teeshot on 12t but with another 3 putts his game fell away

After his first bad drive then Bob started to struggle off the tee but he still scrambled some points so found himself in the lead on 33 pts with one to play.

Bob in bunker leading to the first of 3 closing blobs 

Jo continued her sand based strategy but kept scoring well and with a good par on the 17th, when spookily the other 3 players went in the bunkers, she was 2 behind on 31 pts coming down the last.

Jo continuing to demonstrate her bunker skills

Mike had also come to the party and a run of 5 pars in 7 holes left him 1 shot behind Bob as he stood on the 18th tee.

Mikes tee shot on 10 puts him in trouble but a 30 foot putt then saves the day for an unlikely par

In was all to play for (unless you were Kevin), but a wild teeshot from Bob followed by hitting his 3rd shot out of bounds meant he failed to score. Mike too was having some difficulty in the trees but both him and Jo found themselves on the green with a putt to win it. Neither holed it so all 3 players ended on 33pts and had to split the prize pot 3 ways to earn £1.33 each. Jo's objective had been met as she moved from bottom to 7th on the money list.

Bob remains on top of the money list but with an enforced hospital break coming up there is a chance for someone to close the gap at Ufford Park next week. The RNSG tour wishes Bob a speedy recovery and tour members are already eagerly awaiting plumbing updates on his return.