Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2017. Round 21 at Swaffham (USPGA)

The USPGA at Swaffham

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2017 round 21, the USPGA took place at Swaffham on Wednesday. It was exciting times for Swaffham golf course as they had the honour of hosting this years USPGA after the wash out at Purdis Heath. It was also a record entry for an RNSG event of 9 golfers, including a tour debut for Tracey.

Sandie had requested if she could be in the opening group as she had urgent God based business (GBB) back in Norwich in only 4.5 hours time. After the balls went in the air RNSG officials, in a surprise high risk move, allowed John to join her and Mike in the opening group.

The balls also had Chris, Jill and Tracey paired together but they had to promise no giggling on the course before they were allowed out.

Jo, Kevin and Bob made up the final group.

With GBB calling Mike got things underway with an unfortunate slice but he still got his 2 points. 2 blobs on his non shot holes cost him as he finished on 14 pts after 9.

Mike about to slice his opening drive

John was next off and also sliced his tee shot in the same way before securing his 2 points. Like Mike he also followed it up with two front 9 blobs but for only12 pts.

John just after slicing his opening drive

Sandie started slowly with a pair of 7's but then got going with 3 pts on the next 2 holes and 17 at halfway.

Sandies straight drive on the first but only led to a 7 for 1.

In group 2 Kevin followed Mike and John out wide before going on to par the hole. However in a mirror of Mikes opening 9 he also blobbed his 2 non shot holes for 14 pts.

Another wide drive from Kevin but this time to the left

Jo and Bob were currently leading 3 of the 6 RNSG competitions each so there was obviously some tension with them being in the same group. As Jo got off to a flying start, with 14 pts after 7 holes Bob decided it was time for mind games telling Jo how well she was playing and the smoothness of her swing. This soon had the desired effect as she only managed 15 pts in the remaining 12 holes.

Excellent tee shot on to the green on the par 3 and 3 pts

It also gave Bob the chance to take the halfway lead as an outrageous 30 foot putt on the 9th hole gave him a par and 19 pts.

Bob planning his next set of Jedi mind tricks before playing his shot

There was clearly too much chatting and not enough golfing in the final group as it was the least successful. New girl Tracey was having a typical tour debut over the opening 9 with 3 blobs restricting her to a point a hole. But 9 pts is far from being a low 9 RNSG record.

Tracey failing to get a point on the 5th

Chris was playing solidly if not spectacularly and scored on every hole to have a good 17 pts foundation.

Chris teeshot on the second

Jill was getting used to her newly reduced handicap of 10 which makes 3 point holes much harder to come by and with none on the first half she finished on 15.

Jill teeing off on the 4th and failing for the 12th time to par a 4th hole this year

Most people had better back 9's, especially Tracey who doubled her front 9 effort to finish on 27, and John who also got 18 more points in his last round before returning to the European tour. His 30pts is his best this season.

Tracey launching herself back into contention on the 11th.

Jo never recovered from Bobs ongoing psychological warfare and finished on 29. However Bob says she still remains the bookies favourite in the most points, least blobs and highest average stableford points comps (or is this just more mind games).

Jo putting up for two points on the 11th

Two back 9 blobs for both Chris and Jill kept them out of the running as they finished on 31 and 28 pts respectively and in the chasing pack.

Jill putting up to the 12th for 1 point

That left 4 players in contention for the big USPGA prize. Mike stormed into action with back to back pars and continued in that vain having 19 back 9 pts as he stood on the 18th tee. However the tricky hole restricted him to just one point and 34 overall.

Kevin had an even better back 8 having 20 pts as he stood on the 18th tee. There had been real tension all the way round the closing holes as he had started to claw back Bob's 5 pt halfway lead and was now in with a chance. When his wildly hooked tee shot hit a tree and landed back in the middle of the fairway he though his luck was in, only to shank his next shot into the trees on the other side and fail to score a point so also finished on 34 and shared the £1 third place prize with Mike.

Good up and down for par on the 10th kick started Kevin's back 9

Even for Bob his tree based luck (TBL) reached a new level. On the 14th hole his tee shot was bouncing out of bounds before hitting a tree and coming back into the perfect position. This was followed on the 15th with a sliced drive straight into the woods only to find it had gone all the way through many trees and made it out the other side. He had 35 pts as he stood on the 18th tee.

A tree like the one Bob bounced off on the 14th
and the many he missed when going through the woods on the 15th

Up front Sandie had started to fade as it looked like she would not make it back for her deadline. Then the slow fourball ahead let them through. With renewed energy she picked up 11 pts in the final 4 holes giving her the clubhouse lead with 36 as she leapt into Mike's fast car and hopefully got to her GBB on time.

This meant Bob only needed to Bogey the last hole to win the USPGA but for once the trees were not on his side as his well struck 2nd shot hit a stray branch and he could only muster a single point. This left him on 36pts so he shared the prize money with Sandie but RNSG rules say that you can't share the title so Sandie becomes the 2017 USPGA champion on count back (Ha).

Bob sinks his putt on the 12th for 2pts

With only 4 rounds left then Jo (assuming she plays twice more) and Bob look well placed to clean up with Bob's £6 lead on the money list looking unassailable. However the fat lady hasn't sung yet in the other competitions, so there is still much to play for at Thetford next week.