Round Norfolk summer golf round 15 at Wensum Valley

Outer Norwich Cup

Round Norfolk summer golf round 15 took place at the Valley course at Wensum Valley on Tuesday. After the recent small turnouts then this round attracted a bumper field of 9 to play. Conditions were exceptionally dry rewarding players prepared to thin their ball along the ground rather than bother to hit it in the air.

The groupings were picked in the traditional way then, with so many players entered RNSG chief executive, Golf Dinosaur Monster, was on hand to make sure all entry fees were collected before kick off.

Greg got things underway with a typically smooth drive to start with a par on the way to a solid 18 Pts at halfway. This included a birdie on the short par 4 7th but sadly this is the 3rd time he has birdied the 7th this year so didn’t improve his eclectic (shame).

Bob has missed the last two rounds as he played on the US tour. However it was if he had never been away as he blobbed 3 of the first 4 holes including a 200 yard tee shot that never left the ground. Things didn’t improve much on the back 9 and with 6 blobs in the round he did well to get 23 pts.

Final group member Jo was playing off her new handicap of 15 for the first time. However before she started it was pointed out that there must had been a printing error on the ladies card as it showed 7 par 5s compared to the 3 on the men’s card. Jo had a solid opening 9 but despite the 4 par 5 holes her lack of pars restricted her to 14 pts. The round seemed to be slipping away until 4 pars over the closing holes elevated her score to 30 pts or as we shall find out later was it really only 27?

It was in group 2 where all the action was and the battle for first place was fought out. It wasn’t to involve Kevin who had come with a safety first approach of keeping his driver in the bag as his opening safe shot went straight in the bunker. His round stalled on the 4th as he 4 putted with his first effort going downhill past the flag and 10 foot off the green (so strictly speaking a 3 putt). His chances were finally extinguished when finding water twice on the back 9 for 28 pts.

However Robert (returning to the tour after a long lay off since winning the Masters on the opening round) was on fire as he hit a series of excellent tee and approach shots to rack up 11 pts in the first four holes. He then demonstrated a very poor mental attitude by saying he needed to get the points early as he would need them later. Not surprisingly he needed them on the next hole as he found a green side bunker and then cacked about trying to get it into the hole for a blob. He soon steadied the ship for 19 pts at halfway.

Vince also got off to a flyer parring the opening 3 holes although fortunately he didn’t get two shots on any. Then, despite seeing Kevin putt off the green on the 4th he managed to do the same but from a third the distance for a 3/4 putt and blob. It didn’t seem to put him off as 2 more pars and with his enormous handicap kicking in he got to 21 points at the turn. As today saw the start of the best 3 front and back 9s in July, August and September comp it has already put him in a strong position.

The final grouping of Ian, Tracey and David were never really at the races. For once Tracey decided to play 2 solid 9’s rather than the one good and one bad approach she normally adopts as she cut her blob count down to 2 for the round. Her 30 pt total (16 and 14) keeping her just out of the prizes.

David had an almost mirror image of Tracey’s score. He is known for his excellent putting but possibly took it to extremes with some putts from 70 yards down the fairway. His 30 pt total (14 and 16) keeping him just out of the prizes but still at the top of 3 of the leaderboards.

Ian hadn’t played on the tour for a few weeks and found today a bit of a struggle. Like Bob he recorded 6 blobs and 23 pts for a share of last place.

So it left Greg, Robert and Vince to battle it out. Greg looked like he might get his first win of the season as he started the back 9 strongly before successive blobs on the water rich 13th and 14th took him out of contention as he finished in 3rd and 31pts to once again be the bridesmaid.

Vince looked invincible (pardon the pun) as he had 31 pts after 13 holes. Including a par on the 13th, a hole he had failed to do better than a double bogey on all season putting him clear at the top of the eclectic. Kevin decided it was a good time to remind Vince that he currently held the course record at 37 pts and with 5 holes to play Vince only need 7 more points to beat it. By expertly reminding him of this at key moments over the closing holes Vince fell apart and could only manage 4 more points for 35 in total. He did break one record as he searched for his ball about 200 yards further on from where it was found by the group behind.

This just left Robert to see if he could reel Vince in but when he found the water 3 times in 4 holes his challenge was over as he ended in second place on 33pts.

There was just time for Ballgate as Robert found one of Jo’s balls on the fairway to the left of the 18th. When Jo was presented it in the bar afterwards she realised that her ball and the provisional were marked in the same way (a school girl error) and now wasn’t sure if she had played the right one so her score was reduced to 27. However that evening she wrote to RNSG chief executive, GDM, saying further evidence had come to light and she believed she had played the right ball. Her written appeal and evindece were immediately sent to the court for sports arbitration which ruled in her favour and the 3 points were returned making absolutely no difference to the result but restoring harmony in the Barnard household.

With Vince and David leading 3 competitions each the tour heads South to Bury st Edmunds (where it always rains) to see if anyone can start making inroads into their leads.