Round Norfolk Summer Golf Tour. Round 5 at Gainsborough Lakes course

The Gainsborough Goblet

Before I start the report for round 5 of the round Norfolk Summer Golf Tour I must report that a mistake has been uncovered on day 1's scoring which has affected the prizes. You may recall there was the first ever 4 way tie for 3rd place. However according to the card for Tim he was awarded a 4 for 3 points on the 10th hole which is stroke index 11 so with his impressive 10 handicap he should have only had 2 points for a total of 35 and out of the prizes. The money list has been adjusted but more importantly Tim needs to urgently repay 4p to each of Chris, Mike and Greg. Golf Dinosaur Monster suggests a bank transfer would probably be the quickest solution so if the above can provide Tim with their bank details at the earliest possibility I'm sure this matter can be quickly rectified.

Anyway with important admin out of the way let's catch up with the second days action from Gainsborough, this time on the Lakes course, which was in surprisingly tatty condition.

The players gathering at the start of the contest

With heavy rain forecast Sandie was put in charge of sorting out weather conditions as she has a contact in that department and this resulted in a surprising, virtual rain free round, at least until her group had nearly finished leaving the last group to get a proper soaking.

The first group off was Robert, Tim and Jill but frankly none of them threatened to get involved in the prizes managing no more than 16 pts on either 9 getting 32, 31 and 28 pts respectively.

Robert on the way to a solid 32 pts but out of  the prizes

Jill did manage a good shot on to the 17th, it wasn't her only good shot, which was enough to win the big nearest the pin jackpot prize which was at least some consolation for her efforts.

Jill gets her round underway

As their rounds came to an end Tim felt a spot of rain on the 18th tee. As normal Tim then deliberately hit his ball into trouble so he could pack up early and walk in to avoid any water damage. However on this occasion his plan failed as his ball was found behind a tree. His next attempt was to lose it by whacking it across the fairway into the woods on the other side, but he had forgotten his tendency to bend the ball and a huge banana slice ended with the ball on the green. He quickly sunk the putt for an outrages birdie as he dashed off in order to get into the dry. He late claimed it was all skillful play but I think we all better.

Tim practicing his banana bend (the ball not him) early in the round

Group 2 was where most of the action was as yesterday's winner (Andrew), Runner up (Bob) and third placer (Mike) were drawn together.

They didn't disappoint as the points were racked up over the opening holes with Mike being the most productive with 19 points on the way out. 

Bob had the only Blob of any players on the front 9 but made up for it with a birdie for 18 points.

Bandit Bob hits it straight again. Yawn Yawn

Andrew had a slow start with a run of 4 one pointers but picked up the pace and was back on handicap by birding the short par 5 13th. He couldn't keep up the momentum to finish on 33 pts but it was still good enough for the 3rd place 50p.

Andrew got off to a slow start on the Lakes

Up ahead Greg was again showing some remarkable consistency with his 3rd blob free round on tour this year as he constructed an excellent round of 35 points and second place. 

Greg gets it out a fairway bunker

Fortunately Sandie was making up for lack of blobs in the group by getting 4 in 5 holes as she finished on 24 points. To be fair she had been doing her challenge of playing 27 holes a day so it wasn't surprising she had began to fade. Maybe she should try eating more bananas to keep her strength up. 

Sandy showing great stamina as she kicked off yet another hole on her challenge

Chris had a solid round although no one was sure what the penalty was for grounding your whole body in a bunker when she fell into one. 31 pts wasn't enough for a prize today.

Chris drives off from a rather tatty tee box

The last group had the worst of the conditions and, probably, golf. But they did take the most photos for you all to enjoy.

Tracey never really got going with a mixed round of great shots and miscued ones. One such was a topped drive straight along the ground at a group of geese. A young gosling wasn't expecting that as it watch the the ball bounce straight onto its head and was out for the count. The geese went mental as the circled the young bird like a group of emperor penguins keeping warm in the Antarctic. With geese now all in a small area it gave Tracey the opportunity to sneak round the group and whack the ball into the long rough.

Tracey hits it OOB on the par 5 13th to sum up her day

I'm afraid I don't know what happened to the chick but noted the specials board had baby goose on it when we got back to the bar. 

After John and Kevin had tied on 33 points the day before then all that mattered in this round was to see who would come out on top today as they descended into match play after quickly becoming off the pace for any prizes.

Johns game was a little off today

There was never more than a couple of points between them as the tension racked up.

John and Kevin suggest Jo should play quicker so they can get on with the important matter of the day

Kevin was also looking at completing his 3rd blob free round of the season when the Heavens opened on the 16th fairway. Kevin could not see anything through his glasses but still opted to take a wild swing at roughly where he thought the ball might be and was nearly right as he toed it across a stream into a wooded area never to be seen again and his only Blob of the day.

Kevin about to shank his ball as it rained down with toads and newts

As a result John held a one point lead coming down the last. After Kevin had secured his 2 pts John needed a 2 foot putt for the win but with pressure building he pushed it past the hole (shame) as both players finished on 27 pts and another tie (although strictly speaking Kevin had won on countback, although he pretended it didn't matter).

Sandie, Chris and Greg looking smug sheltering after their round as Sandies contact
had kept it dry for them but not the last group

The only player in contention in the group was Jo who had 18 pts at half way and was 2 under handicap after 11. 

Jo sunk some good long putts today
as Tracey eyes up some baby rabbits to target with her next drive.

However with the weather deteriorating, dead birds littering the fairways and two of the group playing their own match her concentration was broken and with a couple of blobs she faded to finish on 32 points.

Jo eventually cracked at the end of her round

It was just left to see who out of Bob and Mike would win. Sadly for Mike it appeared that playing and caddying 27 holes a day was tiring him out too as he faded badly over the back 9 to collect only 12 more points and out the running (have you thought about eating more bananas?)

Mike regretting not having a banana to keep up his strength

Bob On the other hand, looked like he was going to get another 40 points as he had 34 after 15 holes but when he blobed the next 2 it looked like he may have thrown away the win until he sealed the deal with a final par and 37 points (with 3 blobs!! and much muttering about handicaps in the bar).

Sandie completed her 27 holes in the afternoon with another 14 points for a total of 38 pts for the day which just eclipsed Bobs winning total although despite her protests GDM confirmed that didn't count as a win.

It was a great couple of days golf so thanks to Chris for organising the trip, Golf Dinosaur Monster for admistarting prizes etc and Sandie for the bananas.

The tour moves back to the seaside for the next couple of weeks, staring at Cromer on Wednesday where we will see if Bob the Bandit can maintain his form.

If anyone is lucky enough to be drawn in Mike's group then do ask him about when his uncle was a caddie boy there many years ago, although you probably won't need to request the story.

Round Norfolk Summer Golf Tour. Round 4 at Gainsborough Thonock Park

RECORDS GALORE AT GLORIOUS GAINSBOROUGH FOR THE THONOCK TROPHY

As the RSNG Tour rolled into Lincolnshire at the famed Ping Fitting Centre in Gainsborough spirits were high for the first day of the RSNG Tour travels. With fine sunshine, and a bone dry Thornock Park course (the easier of 2 courses we were told) a new record (*1) attendance of 13 emerged.

Things had kicked off even before we started as Sandy played 9 holes for her 27 x 7 charity bash in the morning  (getting 17 points)  and Greg picked up a pre match playing code violation from the Dinosaur Committee for trying to stress competitors and delay their start times with incorrect traffic advice.

With groupings drawn excitement was high as Kevin being Executive Tour President, CEO, Treasurer, Founder, Captain, and good egg kicked us off.

Kevin gets the action underway with an opening par on the first

Yet more records tumbled as we had more than 50% of the group having been proper Club Captains at some stage (record *2). Alas Robert who has not yet been a Captain was to later pick up a code violation too for getting nearest the pin from the wrong hole and worrying competitors with waywardness and no shout of fore.

Robert trying to blame John for his wayward teeshot

Sandie managed to raise more money for her charity (the most raised at a RSNG Tour Event (record *3) although some had raised eyebrows when she pulled at male heartstrings mentioning prostitution as a benefactor. The days of cuddly kittens and knitting talk could not have been countered better as the ladies saw a weak spot in the mens wallets to exploit.

Sandie was in fine form as she also offered the entire field a supply of bananas (record *4), and was voted Best Turned Out Golfer for her stylish colour co-ordination and retro use of the beak type head gear. Alas Sandie started with 2 blobs and managed 5 points less than her practice round on the first 9 holes so her goose was cooked (well chicken as it proved at the meal later).

Sandie starting yet another round of golf this week

The males in the field were less optimistic with 3 bad backs, 1 healing calf and 1 sore Achilles (record *5). Andrew rubbed salt into the many wounds claiming he could never get injured as he never exercised and had a poor diet – the Golfing Gods duly noted this for future reference.

Andrew was one of the few golfers not complaining about injuries today

The first group of Kevin, Jill and Greg had an early sign of things to come as 3 x 2^nd shots into the green failed to grip the hard surface and trundled through to the back of the green. This proved to be a common challenge for the 18 holes ahead.

Gill chipping onto the second green

Their first 9 holes were made up of Jill being her normal consistent self, Kevin mixing brilliance with blobs, and Greg going off like a train with 21 points including 2 birdies.

Greg comes up short with his eagle attempt on the 6th

In Group 2 Andrew, Tim and Sandie made it a close half-way lead with Andrew (21 points) and Tim (20 points) faring well. Andrew mixed good shots with a loss of phone on the course, and despite making his yearly debut picked up a code violation for use of phone combined with being overly forgetful and disrupting 2 groups in the search.

Tim once again showing the benefit of his banana shots

Group 3 saw Bob join the mayhem with 20 points.

Bob on a Bob charge through the field

Alas Tracey and Chris managed 1 point between them in the first 2 holes (although it should be noted Chris had a fine chip in mid round and Tracey played holes 3 – 17 to her handicap on her way to 31 points). Indeed Chris recovered and finished with 19 points on the front 9 to be in on the fringe of contending.

Tracey playing out of a bunker

The final cluster of enthusiasts saw Robert, Jo, Mike and John coming in with a close but not good enough points score of 15, 14, 17 and 14 respectively. Robert bravely walked with a healing leg as did John (RSNG Tours first England International record *6) with his Achilles.

John gets his round going

The big talking point in this group was the Barnard families tactical approach to wearing shorts with impending rain ahead. Dinosaur Committee made it a PC correct tie in the best looking legs award section.

Jo is one of the few players choosing shorts today

So onto the 2^nd 9 holes where suddenly super quick greens became inconsistent and woolly, 3 short but heavy rain showers intervened and with 4 people on 20 points or better (record *7) it was all to play for.

Alas Kevin had selected the wrong ball. His K2 cataloguing code had worked well on the hilly front 9 but was not fit for flat holes although K2 had remarkably survived the entire round ready to take on the Lakes Course the next day. Kevin’s back 9 of 16 points gave him 33 points overall and a mid table finish.  

Kevin putting from off the green and surprisingly coming up close

Jill maintained her steady-eddie approach with 16 points 2 for a mid table 31 points.

Jill gets safely over the water

Greg meantime was still in Winter Tour mode where he thought 1 x 9 hole score was enough. A run of 5 single pointers saw him with only 15 points on the back 9 and out of the top prize chase on a creditable 36 points.

Gregs back 9 was a bit wilder

Tim in Group 2 fared little better than Greg, his back 9 total of 16 points giving him a 36 point haul as well.

Tim surprisingly sends his teeshot off to the right

Sandie meantime got a little tired and faded after her early morning exertions and the onset of banana binging lethargy. The injury free Andrew kept it going nicely though. With adrenalin running through his veins at forthcoming retirement he found yet another birdie (3 in total) for 19 points and an impressive 41 points total. That proved to be enough to win. Not bad for a debutant who was reminded another win tomorrow would get him a code violation too – just because new boys can’t win twice!

Back in Group 3 Tracey and Chris kept plugging away with their points scores. Tracey made it into a crowded mid table and Chris had 17 points for yet another 36 point finisher.

Chris going along nicely.

Tracey in par 3 action

Bob meantime maintained his calm demeanour and added another 20 points including one Bob-Blob to get to 40 overall. 

Bob drove well all day

The excitement was not yet over as in the last group the Barnard’s waned in the rain with wet and cold legs debatedly having an impact. Both John and Mike scored 19 points on the back 9 which gave Mike a 36 point total creating a log jam of 4 players tied for 3^rd place (record *8). The winnings of 12.5 pence for a 4 way 3^rd place tie may be an all time low prize money record, and a first 4 way tie,  our researchers are still working on that detail.

Mike was one of the four players in a 4 way tie for third place and 12p

The record fest was not over – Andrew had a course record (*9) and Bob and Andrew made it onto the all time high points RSNG leaderboard (*10). 5 players - Chris, Greg, Andrew, Tim and Mike all recorded no blobs (record *11) in an unprecedented show of consistency for the Tour.

So a successful Day 1 all round. Onto Day 2 – a different proposition with water galore, potential rain and lots of players in good form feeling optimistic of a decent finish. Buoyed by full English breakfasts joints will be well lubricated with grease to help those injured bodies be on top form.

Round Norfolk summer golf tour round 3 at Bungay

The South Norfolk North Suffolk Classic at Bungay

Tuesday saw round 3 of this years RNSG summer tour take place at Bungay with one of the closest competitions in tour history. Sadly the field had been decimated by the withdrawal of all the lady tour members who had had a better offer. This made for a very different atmosphere as talk of kittens and knitting was replaced by football and cars with the golf being more highly charged, in your face and pumped up than normal.

The field was therefore down to 6 and with Vince and Greg also unavailable there was no clear favourite as the groups were selected for the off. As it turned out no one wanted to win it as 4 players threw away a winning position and in the end only 4 points separated the 6 players.

However let's start with the two players who were never in the running.

John was in celebratory mood having been called up to the over 75's England Hockey team for a match against Wale's finest old blokes on Thursday. However in the excitement of the call up he had obviously forgotten to have any weetabix for breakfast as he left virtually every chip and putt short of the hole. Despite a very straight game this restricted his scoring until a par/par finish for 29 points and last place.

A rare chip good chip from John leading to an opening par.
(Incredibly all 6 players opened up with a par today)

Tim was also having a solid if not spectacular round and with 16 points at half way was still in the hunt. But an erratic back 9 featuring a birdie and 3 blobs made sure he was never in the running finishing with 30 points.

Robert was the first player to throw it away as he set off in style with 20 front 9 points including a birdie on the 9th (the same hole as he birdied last year which everyone was 'sad' to hear). However after hitting a bad drive down the 10th he announced his game had gone to pieces which as it turned out it had with only 7  points over the first 7 back 9 holes and 31 points to finish shy of the prizes.

Robert, Bob and Tim all making par on the first

Bob's front 9 had been a sloppy affair with 2 pars and 14 points. However after finding a gorse bush on the 10th his round took off with 10 points over the next 3 holes including a 20 foot putt for birdie. This meant that after 16 holes he had a two point lead. However after blobbing the 17th he dumped his approach shot in the bunker in front of the 18th for another blob and a 32 point total. The drama didn't stop there as without the ladies calming influence Bob nearly got into a fight as post round bunker controversy came out in the bar. Fortunately golf dinosaur monster (GDM) was there to make a final ruling on the following.

There were a number of bunkers on the course that had new turf , a white line round them and had not been raked. When Ian went in one (and failed to get out) his group said it looked like GUR so allowed him to take a drop and ignore his earlier effort as it didn't seem fair to play from such a position. As it turned out the bunker at front of 18th was in a similar state but Bob's group had not taken the same approach and he had played from it and failed to get out. GDM used his diplomatic skills telling Bob it was tough and to get over it.

Meanwhile Kevin and Ian were having a ding dong battle. Kevin took the early advantage with a solid front 9 of 19 pts with no blobs or single pointers. 

Kevin preparing to tee off sometime in the next 5 minutes

Ian also had a blob free front 9 but a couple of scrambled points kept him to 16 pts (including bunker gate).

Ina drives off down the second

Ian then took the initiative on the back 9 with a number of pars meaning he had a 1 point lead after 17 holes.

Ian chips on to 12th for 2 points

Meanwhile Kevin had slipped away from a very strong position with a run of 4 single pointers over holes 14 to 17 (although it did include winning nearest the pin). So it was all to play for down the 18th.

The first of 3 putts for the first of a run of 4 one pointers

After good drives Kevin found the right level of the green leaving a 12 foot putt for birdie while Ian chunked it into what is now known as Bobs Bunker. However once again the GUR rule was applied for Ian although maybe the golfing gods looked badly on this as he thinned off the back of the green and 3 putted for a single point.

However it was now Kevin's turn to snatch defeat as a very tame first putt left him a missable two footer which he did indeed miss to tie on 33 pts.

It had been a day of high drama and much controversy so lets hope things are calmer as the tour goes on tour with 13 tour members heading off for two rounds at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire.

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2019. Round 2 The Masters at Hunstanton

The Masters at Hunstanton

With Easter beng late this year then for the first time in tour history the Masters wasn't the season opener. This meant that several of today's field had already got a round under their belt last week. However the drama started several hours before the round had even started. Several of todays potential lady players had  decided to tune their game up with some warm weather golf in Portugal (where it rained). Unfortunately due to a delayed flight then they didn't get home to 5am with only Chris feeling she was up to playing after so little sleep although as it turned out she wasn't.

Kevin was desperate for the course record of just 32 (held jointly by Robert, Jill and David) to be broken as having a 3 way share mucks up the formatting on the course records page.

Due to the call offs the field had been reduced down to just 6 with conditions looking tough due to a strong and cold wind.

Reigning Masters champion, Robert, got things underway but failed to open his account on the first hole.

As reigning Champion then Robert had the honour of today's opening drive

With most of the outward 9 into the wind Robert was doing well scoring on the rest of the holes but without any 3 pointers. Then on the 9th we turned for home and with wind behind he hit two great shots onto the par 5 9th. His eagle putt just pulled up short for a rare 5 pointer but his 4 for 4 put him onto 15 pts.

Robert taps in for a birdie after just failing to hold his Eagle putt

Despite leaving a shot in his bag and ONLY playing off 28 Vince was making good use of his handicap and was 2 under after 6. However with just a single point in the next 3 holes he also found himself on 15 at halfway.

Vince was chipping well in today's windy conditions (or so he told me)

Unfortunately Chris was suffering from sleep deprivation and with a fuddled brain could only get to 7 pts on the front 9. Unfortunately things didn't improve over the back 9 although a rare par on the 13th at least boosted her back 9 score. She ended with 15 pts which lead to the question of as to if this score had ever been worsened. Well the research has now been done and you can see the answer at the end of the post. Her 7 blobs were not good enough to qualify for the most blobs in a round as 8 is needed to get on that all time leaderboard.

Chris stuck in the fairway bunker on 15.

Talking of blob records Kevin looked like he was easily going to set a new one when he kicked off his round with 4 no pointers. He celebrate his single point on the 5th although John B told him that he was disappointed as he had never seen 18 blobs in a round and would have liked to (thanks). Much to his and his playing partners surprise then out of the blue he birdied the 7th to triple his points score. He ended the 9 with a good par and 10 pts.

Kevin tees off on the 6th to record leading to a point and doubling his total at that point to 2.

Bob wasn't fairing much better after 4 putting the first (for a point) he too blobbed the next three to be only a point better off than Kevin after 4 holes on 1. From this point Kevin (with his dream of completing the career grand slam abandoned for another year) and Bob decided to have their own match as Bob also had 10 pts at the turn.

Bob hits a good teeshot on the second but ended with a blob
after visiting both sand and water but never the green

Bob soon pulled into a 3 point lead but thanks to some more 4 putt action then Kevin pegged him back.

Kevin's teeshot to 16 would have been a contender for nearest the green
as the nearest the pin competition was abandoned

Coming down the last Kevin got an unexpected par while Bob found a deep greenside bunker from which his ball failed to reappear and Kevin had won by a point 25 to 26. Surprisingly no one else seemed to care and were more worried about the RNSG Masters title. John certainly was and backed this up with solid golf and some excellent putting leading at halfway on 16 pts.

John plays an excellent bunker shot leading to two points on the second

So it was a three way battle for the title but Robert was the first to fall away with an opening blob, he failed to make the most of the helping wind and it was only thanks to a par on the last that he managed to get to 27 pts just beating Kevin into the prizes.

Robert also in bunker trouble on 15 but went on to get a par for 2 pts

Vince stormed the opening holes on the back 9 and quickly racked up 14 more points in the first 6 holes before taking his foot of the gas in finishing on 32 pts, but would it be enough.

Vince chipping on to the par 3 14 after laying up.

John was hanging in there but then a slightly thin chipped on 15 mysteriously disappeared into the rough and after a long search (it was 3 minutes as long as you were playing on the edge of a black hole observed from earth) John admitted it was lost and set off muttering to the the next tee.

Unfortunately his shot into the 17th green disappeared in the same fashion as Johns muttering turned into a full scale rant. With the masters title now lost he still needed at least a point on the last to get in the prizes and despite taking two to extract himself from a greenside bunker he sunk a good ten foot put to tie in second place and £1.50 prize.

John tees off while in the lead on the 10th before throwing his lead away

Therefore Vince became theis years masters champion and for the third year running equalled the course record of 32 which has really stuffed up the formatting. Hopefully that total will be finally beaten next year.

For Stats fans here are all rounds of less than a point a hole on the summer tour. And yes Chris's 15 was indeed a new record beating the 16 points scored by Bob at Caldecott Hall back in 2013 it also explains why John H refuses to play at Caister every year.

Chris 15 Hunstanton 2019
Bob   16 Caldecott Hall 2013
Andrew Aickin (who only made one tour appearance) 17 Weston Park 2013
John H 17 Caister 2013
John H 17 Caister 2016
Chris  17 Stoke By Naylands Constable 2018

Next week we head inland to the Bungay which should present a very different challenge.