Round Norfolk summer golf round 22 at Stowmarket

The Stowmarket Saucer at Stowmarket

Round Norfolk summer golf round 22 took place at Stowmarket on Thursday. None of the contenders for average blobs or points were playing today so it was all about the eclectic and best front and back 9's.

There were 8 players having their balls chucked today and it was particularly good to see John B back on tour after a season of injury.

The first group was led off by Kevin who was soon grumbling after hitting what he thought was a good opening tee shot into a hidden bunker. After complaining about 'typical bad luck' he had to eat his words as he had nothing but good fortune for the rest of the round. His key moment came when he hit his second shot on the 5th (see photo) to six foot and made the birdie to potentially go top of the eclectic leaderboard. This helped him to 20 points at half way and a big improvement to his best 9's score.

Kevin hits 7 iron to 6 foot for a birdie

Bob was next off and started well with a very tidy 10 pts over the first 5 holes before inexplicitly messing up with 4 blobs in the next 5 holes. From here he decided to see how many bunkers he could go in, which turned out to be a lot as he managed to enter at least one (and sometimes two) on  every hole on the back 9. His 25 points were well short of the golf prizes but he did win the best sandcastle award.

Bob gets his round underway

Chris was excited to be playing off a lower handicap than Kevin for the first time but took time to adapt as she had a few early challenges and could only manage 3 pts over the first 4 holes.  However she then pulled up her proverbial socks with a string of pars and got to halfway on 15 pts.

Chris trying to get out of bunker on the 9th

The final member of the group, Tracey, was determined to score on more holes than the 9 or 10 she normally manages and certainly did on the front 9 ending on 16 pts. Her back 9 only added another 12 points but at least she had completed 15 holes. However by parring the 9th and 13th she removed her final two eclectic missing pars and put herself into 3rd place on the eclectic only 0.03 behind second place.

Tracey hitting to the par 3 2nd

In the group behind the players were shocked to find the Vince's handicap had gone up (yes you read that right, UP) to 28. To add salt to the wound he got a 6 for 3 points on the opening hole which was the one he got his extra shot on, he continued in this way to get his score up to 16 at the turn. After going in another bunker on the 6th he surprisingly suggested that there weren't enough bunkers on the course.

John B felt there was plenty of sand as on 4 occasions his ball ended in some never to escape. It wasn't until the 4th hole that he registered his first points but in the end his return to the tour ended in a disappointing 23 points and today's wooden spoon. Still he had provided a money off voucher for everyone's green fees so not altogether a wasted trip.

John on his way to 2 points on the 10th

Jill had a slow start on the front 9 and couldn't get any momentum with just 11 points. This all changed when a birdie on the 10th set her on a run of 15 points in the next 6 holes before falling away at the end to finish on 29 points and out the prizes.

Jills approach shot on the 10th ends with a birdie

Sandie had her game face on today and made sure she scored on every hole. Her back 9 was particularly impressive until a double bogey on the 18th left her on 19pts and 34 in total but she would be in the prizes.

Sandie chips over bunker on first as Vince prepares to exit his first of many sandy visits

Meanwhile upfront Kevin was still going well and foolishly started to think about the possibility of the best score of the season, at which point his putting got tentative and drives got wider. He had a few bits of luck finding gaps in the trees and managed another 19 pts for 39 in total and a comfortable win. It was also a course record beating Jo's 38 from 2017 (which many remember for the "through the hedge" shot on the 16th).

Kevin just misses birdie on the 11th

Chris was having a strong back 9 and a par on the last would give her a share of second place but a mishit drive into the bunker ended in a blob with 32 points and 3rd place.

Chris hits out of the rough as her fans look on

The only thing left of interest was to see if Vince could finally par a 10th hole on the 18th attempt and retake the lead in the eclectic. Sadly on this occasion it was not to be (shame) and he finally relinquished his lead in this comp.

Vince on his way to not parring the 10th (again)

Next week the tour moves back to Norwich at Eaton where Vince has his first change to seal the moneylist prize if he was to win.