Round Norfolk summer golf round 26 at Thetford

The South Norfolk Swindle at Thetford

Round Norfolk summer golf round 26 took place at Thetford on Tuesday. Due to injury and illness the field was reduced to 5 with the last chance for players to position themselves before the Grand Finale at Sheringham next week. At the bottom of this post is the exciting 'who can win what and how' feature which only Kevin can understand or is interested in.

Todays competitors all had something to play for.

• Could Bob make up the £2 lead Vince has on the money list. 
• Could Vince par the 10th hole (at the 21st time of asking). 
• Could Mike put pressure on David in the average points and blobs comp. 
• Could Kevin extend his lead at top eclectic with a birdie. 
• Oh, and could Chris shoot a gross 5 over to take lead in the most points in a round comp.

To cover the last one first, no she couldn't.

Mike was first off and played tidily but was having some putting issues including a 3 putt from about 10 foot on the 5th. In fact his 3rd putt was a good one from a couple of feet so imagine how bad putts one and two were. It was also good of Mike to remind us that he was a member here in the 1930's and tell us all about the old layout before the bypass was built. If anyone wants to hear about it too then i'm sure he will be sharing the same stories next year if you get to play with him. He had 15 pts at half way.

Good tee shot by Mike on 2nd

Kevin started well off the tee but had some trouble with his short game on the opening holes. This all changed on the short par 5 6th when two three woods and a chip set up a short putt and he had the desired birdie. He kindly only mentioned the birdie to Vince once, on each hole, up to the infamous 10th. He had a share of the lead on 16 after 9.

Despite the weird putting follow through Kevin sinks his putt on the 5th

Vince was having an indifferent round with some poor shots mixed in with some really dreadful ones. He did demonstrate his ability to shape the ball both ways although not necessarily corresponding to the shape of the course and spent much of  his time in the woods. Things improved over the last 3 holes on the front 9 to finish on 14 points.

Vince hitting out of some brambles on the 5th

However it was his nemesis, the 10th hole, next. It is a tricky par 5 dogleg which requires a good driver down the left side so it was a bit of a surprise that he choose to hit his tee shot 50 yards along the ground.

Vince putting off the 10th tee

Two shots later he was in the woods before a good whack over a gorse bush left him in chipping range.

Vince hits out of woods for his 4th shot on the 10th

Kevin almost had to eat his words as his chip bounced over the hole but another par opportunity had gone. The disappointment was clear as normal service was resumed with visits to the woods on the next two holes. He finished the round on 26 points and out the prizes so if Bob was to win he would top the money list.

In the group behind Bob was up for the challenge with 8 points in the first 3 holes. However then the wheels unexpectedly fell off as Bob kept hitting his second shots into bunkers and only picked up 6 more points on the front 9 to have 14.

Bobs tee shot on 3rd

Things got worse on the back 9. His tee shots were good but Bob prefers hitting off weeds and putting on slow bumpy greens so the beautiful true and fast greens here were not to his liking. He managed just 11 more points and finished in last place on 25 points. So it's as you were at top money list.

Bob looks nervously at his most recent tee shot work

Chris also started well and was on handicap after 7 but a couple of double bogeys stalled her progress. She had a share of the lead on 16 at the turn.

Chris driving on the front 9

Up ahead Kevin had his game face off as he parred 6 of the next 7 holes to put himself into a strong position although an untidy finish left him with 35 points. He didn't mind as it was only the birdie he really cared about which he mentioned a few more times before the round was out.

Kevin on his way to another par on 13 despite some idiot photo bombing the picture

Mike wasn't giving up the chase and was just two points behind with 2 to play. When Kevin hit his drive into the woods and his tee shot was in position A1 he must have felt he was going to at least draw level, but Kevin then scrambled his bogey where as Mikes putting problems returned as he 3 putted for a blob and it was all over as he finished on 32 points.

Great up and down from bunker on 11

Chris was also having a good back 9 and was still in the hunt. She hadn't had a blob all day but 5 doubles meant she was just off the pace. However with 32 points after 17 a single point on the last would be enough for second place. She made hard work of it by getting down in 2 with an excellent long putt from the back of the green.

Chris putting for birdie on 13th, she missed

It had been another exciting day of golf on a very windy day but how does that leave things going into the grand finale next week.

To answer here is the who can win what and how feature you have been waiting for.

Money list. Vince is £2 ahead of Bob with no one else in touch. Vince will win unless Bob wins next week. If Bob is second and Vince out the prizes then they will be tied. In which case the player with most 2018 wins wins. They have both had 6 wins but Bob has had 5 second places to Vinces 3 so will win in this scenario.

Eclectic. Kevin is in the lead. Vince needs to make up two shots so a par on the 10th (ha, ha, ha) and a birdie or two birdies are needed. Tracey needs 3 birdies and Bob 4 to win.

Average Points. David has a big lead with only Mike that can possibly catch him but he needs to score about 16 more points than David manages next week.

Average Blobs. Again David has a big lead but if he was to make 5 blobs he would be in a tie with Greg. Greg would win as he would have had the least blobs on his last round. If David had 5 blobs and Mike no blobs then Mike would beat both David and Greg on blob countback.

Best 3 front and back 9's in July, August and September. Bob has a two point lead over Vince. If Vince gets 19 points on the back 9 at Sheringham it would be a tie. However Bob would win on count back from his 20 points at West Suffolk so Vince needs 20 points on back 9 to win. As an outsider Kevin would win with 20 points on front 9 and 21 on back.

For everyone else there is always the most points in a round which Bob is leading on with 43 points so good luck with that.

Hope to see as many of you as possible at Sheringham next Thursday