Round Norfolk summer golf tour round 1 at Diss

The South Norfolk Classic at Diss

Its back! Yes this year Round Norfolk summer golf tour has kicked off again with nearly 50% of current tour members turning up for the season opener at Diss. Despite the forecast suggesting a possibility of rain everyone was both pleased and surprised that Tim had made it and was going to take the risk of a soaking.

Kevin was late arriving as he had decided to have his eyes tested just before the round. This was in the hope he would be able to spot more of his balls as he now only had 3 minutes to find them as opposed to the 15-20 minutes he liked to take.

For the 2019 season RNSG Executive chairman (Golf Monster Dinosaur) had clarified that all holes need to be holed out (until the point a player couldn't score) and Bob's lost ball rules would be replaced by the new local rule for lost balls and OOB where you can drop your ball where you thought it should be but for a 2 shot penalty. The advice is that if in doubt take a provisional and try to hit your ball straighter.

With rules clarified and tour fees paid it was time to get things underway. Robert had asked if he and Jo could tee off first as they need to get away, although as it turned out he had got his dates mixed up and their urgent engagement wasn't actually until 1st May. They still went off first giving them nearly a month to get ready.

Despite the threat of rain Bob and Vince were also in the first group meaning that there was a risk of too much chatting and not enough golf increasing the chances of the rain arriving before the end of the round. Sadly it was more of an inevitability as, much to Tim's disgust, everyone got wet over the closing holes.

Vince's handicap had just gone up to 29 but as everyone thought that wasn't a real golf handicap he agreed to play of 28. He was, however allowed to get proceedings underway with a reasonable tee shot on the opening par 3 and a 4 for 3 (no comment). After a solid start he faded away with 3 points on the last four back 9 holes for just 13 at halfway. However with the round running out he gave himself a mini lesson and got 3 points on 4 of the last 5 holes to save his round and get to a respectable 32 points.

Opening action on the 1st Tee

Robert was next off but couldn't repeat his winning start to the 2018 season where he won the Masters and led all the leaderboards for the opening weeks. 

In fact it was the exact opposite as he only manage 12 points on the front 9. Then it looked like his luck had turned as he twisted something by falling down a badly placed rabbit hole, and you know what they say "beware the Injured golfer". Not sure why they say this as Robert only managed 6 more points in the last 7 holes before limping off to the clubhouse.

Jo seemed to think it was funny to take a photo of Robert hacking out of the trees,
but I feel your pain.

Jo did have her game face on as she got off to a solid start being right on handicap after a third of the round. However from here things started to slip away and in a touching display of affection  she came out in sympathy with Robert by getting only 8 points in the last 7 holes. The 29 points she did get left her short of the prizes.

Bob was the final member of the group and when he wasn't dawdling down the fairway chatting to Vince he was producing some fine golf. A strong finish on the front 9 gave him 18 points. Things started to slip away on the back 9 and with 3 holes to play he gave himself a talking to and announced that he was going to par the last 3 holes in order to play to his handicap (he didn't). In fact he ended on 34 points but was leader in the clubhouse.

Bobs opening tee shot

In the second group there was only ever one winner as Greg continued his excellent form from the winter tour with some fine golf. With 10 pars over the round he quickly built a commanding lead and was never really challenged.

Greg's third to the 3rd was, for once, off target but his following thinned chipped thwacked into the flag
leading to a tap in for two points and he never looked back

As the rain moved in over the last few holes (thanks Bob and Vince) Greg couldn't quite keep it going but still finished with an impressive 37 points and his first summer tour win.

Greg had to don his waterproofs as he approached the end of his round.

Not used to playing in anything but shorts and a t shirt and only in full sun then Tim found conditions perplexing and had an up and down round. The highlight being a superb birdie on the tricky 5th after his approach shot left him a short putt.

Tim struggling to come to terms with wearing a waterproof jacket and trousers

However he found pars hard to come by and a run of single pointers either side of the turn restricted his scoring. As the rain started to fall more heavily on the 18th Tim had had enough of these conditions and some might suggest he deliberately carted his ball into a gorse bush off the tee just to avoid having to get his clubs wet as he called it a day early with 28 pts in the bag.

A damp Tim plays into the 16th but only manages the 1 point

Kevin's eye test proved to have been a waste of time as much to everyone's surprise he kept the ball fairly straight. However his real problems were on the putting green where the majority of his putts rarely got halfway to the hole from whatever distance they started. 

Kevin sinks his longest putt of the day 

To counteract this he avoided putting on the green by chipping in on the 7th and holing a putt from off the green on 14 for a couple of birdies that kept him in the game and enabled him to share the 50p 3rd prize with Vince on 32 pts.

Chris was the final member in the group and was also playing solidly but in another touching display of affection came out in sympathy with Kevin in leaving all her putts short. However just to trump him she left all her chips short too.

Chris's chip on to the 2nd green only just reached the putting surface

With 4 holes to play it was time for nearest the pin on the short 15th at which point Chris's game suddenly picked up as she hit a fine shot to within a few feet to claim the £4 prize (although Kevin still had to buy the teas and coffees).

This seemed to perk her game up and she completed a strong finish to double her points over the last 6 holes with a respectable 28 points for a tie with Tim.

Spot the difference.
In the second photo Chris had manged to get the ball 6 inches closer to the hole after her first attempt

Sadly no course record today which is jointly held by 3 players (Vince, Bob and Ian) on 39 pts and mucks up the formatting of my course records report so I was rather hoping Greg could finish the job and get 40 pts today.

Another note of interest was that 3 players had no blobs today which I can't remember happening before although I can't be bothered to check it out so lets just say it hasn't.

Next week is the first Major of the season as we return to Hunstanton known over the world as the home of the RNSG Masters. With a big field it's an opportunity for someone to make an impact on this seasons money list with £5 first prize at stake.