Round Norfolk summer golf round 13 at Saffron Walden

The Scenic Salver

Round Norfolk summer golf round 13 took place at Saffron Walden on Thursday. After last weeks bumper turn out for the US Open then it was a much reduced, by very high quality, field for this round. Saffron Walden was making its tour debut so had worked hard to have everything in tip top condition. 

Saffron Walden looked in top nick with view of 18th green from club house

Excellent weather had also been laid on and during the round the players enjoyed fine views of a big churchy thing and a large stately home that no one knew the name of.

Stately home from 5th tee, that no one knew the name of

But enough of the tour guide what about the golf?

With a small field the balls in the air method was used to select groupings with the ladies and gents drawn in separate groups. There was much mumbling from the men’s group when it was announced that, for the first time since the introduction of the new ruling, the ladies SSS would give them 3 courtesy shots. They then strolled off into the distance to find their first tee.

Both Jill and Chris had untidy front 9s with Jill missing a few fairways and chipping through a some greens.

Jill gets proceedings underway on the first

While Chris also found chipping a bit tricky leaving plenty of 3 putt opportunities.

Chris teeing off on the 8th

Both players finishing with 13 front 9 points.

In the group behind Andrew told his partners that he had actually played the course before, with his aunt when he was a young lad. As Saffron Walden celebrates its centenary this year he must have played it in its first few years so couldn’t remember much about it as the then recently planted saplings were now mighty trees. 

Although he scored on every front 9 hole it was a bit of a scramble and with no pars only 14 points had been secured.

Andrew playing down the second with the large churchy thing in view

Money list leader, Bob, was having a strange day. He started with 3 successive blobs as he duffed a number of shots sideways but then recovered with a couple of pars and if he hadn’t missed a some short putts would have had more than the 11 points he did manage.

Bob putting for par on the 4th to secure his first points of the day.
Unfortunately it took him 3 putts so only the 1 point

After spending most of last week looking for balls in the woods Kevin had decided to use his driver only in emergencies which proved a sensible approach as he was involved in every hole and only an untidy 3 putt stopped him having a blob free opening. However he was clear leader at halfway on 17 points.

Kevin's tee shot to the 5th with the mystery stately home in the background.
There was real drama for him at this hole although not until he reached the 10th ????

Jill started the back 9 with 3 pars in the opening 4 holes with only a blob on the straight forward par 3 11th slowing down her progress. However her progress was not the only slow thing as the pair had to wait on every hole for the group ahead to finish. She did hit the nearest the pin 18th green to make a final par and record 29 points plus win todays nearest the pin prize.

Jill waiting on one of many holes for the group ahead to finish

Chris was also having a better back 9 but still chipped poorly. Being a show pony she did produce an excellent chip when the course Marshall was watching so she suggested he watched all her chips from then on. Clearly thinking he had pulled he did and reappear for all her chips shots for the rest of the round as she started to rack up the points. She was just one point behind Jill standing on the 18th tee but a good tee shot and 2 putts secured her 3 points and a tie but for what place?

Chris deciding what club to pick for her next tee shot
before surprisingly picking her driver (again)

The group behind were never able to catch the group ahead as most holes now included a ball search in the woods although for a change not for Kevin’s ball. With 6 to play Bob and Andrew were tied on 19 points, 4 behind Kevin but then Bobs duffs returned as he blobbed the next 3 holes. His back 9 had 3 blobs and 3 pars as he finished in last place on 24 points.

Bob working out how far to the nearest tree

Andrew was doing his best to keep Bob in it as his normal straight driver deserted him and he had to chip out of the woods and trees on several occasions. However an excellent up and down out of the bunker on the last kept him a point clear of Bob on 25 points.

Where do you think Andrew is playing from on this photo

This just left Kevin to see if he could keep his half way lead but disaster was soon to strike. As he reached for his favourite 7 iron for a simple chip and run on the 10th he couldn’t find it and realised he had left it on the 5th green. With the group behind (who probably had his club) a long way back he would just have to go on without. It is amazing how many times he found you need a 7 iron when you don’t have one. Despite this and some rather short tee shots with his 3 rescue he continued to score well and just needed a par on the last for 36 points. After hitting a green and a good putt he only had a 6 inch putt and the job was done but he yipped at it and saw it trickle by, although he did make the 2 inch putt back for 35 for a comprehensive win and course record.

Kevin misses putt on last which would have given him 36 points. Grrrrrrr

The course was probably in best condition of any played on tour this year to date so will hopefully be selected for next year so a larger number of players can enjoy it.

It’s back to Norwich next week as the tour moves on to Barnham Broom and the start of the best 3 front an back 9's in July, August, September (and October).

Round Norfolk summer golf round 12. The US Open at Purdis Heath

The US Open

After the enforced mid-season break, the RNSG returned to action for the US Open at the very popular, and difficult, Ipswich Golf Club at Purdis Heath.

The year's third major saw just 9 players in attendance (Vince being a very late call-off), several returning from competing tours in far away places - Turkey, South Africa and Sussex!

The draw was made in the lavish surroundings of the recently redecorated (presumably for our visit) clubhouse and, after a couple of adjustments to fit people's schedules, we were off.

David, Chris and Jo got things under way. For David, the reigning US Open Champion, it was going to be a tough defence of his title as he scored just four 1-pointers on the first 4 holes and could only muster 11 points by the turn. 

David gets things underway on the first for a disappointing defence of his tittle

Chris started more solidly with four 2-pointers and, despite a blob on the 5th (SI 1), she scored a very impressive 16 points on the front 9. Jo was steady, but the fast start of a par and 3 points on the first was the highlight; however, a blob-free 9 of 14 points was more than respectable.

Jo in early action on the front 9

The all male, testosterone-fuelled group of Robert, Tim and Bob set off next. This was going to be a tough, gruelling encounter but, with current money list and eclectic leader Bob striking the ball down the middle of the first, much was expected. 

Bob looked the part on the first but flattered to deceive during the round

Sadly, the crowds who had flocked out to follow this group would have been very disappointed if the had actually flocked! They managed just 1 3-pointer between them (Robert's par on the 5th) and Bob's 11 points left him 2 behind the other two at the halfway stage.

 

Robert in early action

Out last were Andrew and Jill (a battle within a war) and Kevin, who won the last major to be held here, the 2016 US PGA, and held the course record of 36 points.This group looked like it meant things with 7 points between them on the first, and Kevin finding more fairways from the tee than he'd found all season. However, the boys started to struggle, especially Kevin. The last remaining yellow (or was it green) volvic was lost, clubs were gently thrown and the air became more colourful as the round, though not the scores, progressed finishing on 12.

Kevin made every hole an adventure, this time in a bunker on the second

 Andrew's round fell away at the turn, 13 points after 7 ending up as 14 after 9.

Andrew started the front 9 well with, on this occasion, a great shot out of the rough

Jill saw the opportunity to pounce with 8 of her 15 points coming on the very well-played 7, 8 and 9. 

 Unfortunately even with a very powerful zoom
 this is the closest the camera could get of Jill on the 4th ladies tee from the mens tee

As the groups entered the back 9, conversations turned more about how great the course had been presented for this event, rather than course records which, thankfully for Kevin, were unlikely to be broken today. David tried to recover his round; 12 points in 6 holes was good but the 3 blobs amongst the others left him on just 23.

David finding more trouble during his round

A sad defence but, remarkably, not last as later scores were to prove. Jo upped her game with six 2-pointers from the 10th. Some great recovery shots from the bunkers and the only blob-free round of the day saw her score rise to 30 points and, potentially, in the prizes. 

Jo on her way to a blob free round

Despite a blob on the 10th, Chris also found some form and also scored 16 points for a total of 32; she later commented, in a post-match interview, that greed out of the difficult rough had cost her the 2 blobs. (sadly no photos of Chris in action today so here is one from last time we played Purdis Heath instead) 

The boys in the middle group decided it was time to be men and all upped their game accordingly - well, just a little. 3-pointers were rare. In fact, Tim never saw one all day but he only had one blob; a steady round of ones and twos saw him amass just 27 points, leaving him sad but in love with the course.

Tim finishing up on 18 with another 2 pointer

Robert managed just one more 3 pointer in a blob-free back 9 and, with a good 15 points, clawed his way back up to 28 in total. 

Bob started to show signs of why he is leading the Tour with two 3-pointers on the back 9. His 17 points meant he managed to draw level with Robert's 28, though he did "try" to remove his playing partner from the event with a bunker shot that hit the lip and went 90 degrees left, causing evasive action from Robert; poor form Bob! 

As tour leader Bob is taking things rather seriously with his new laser distance to the flag machine.
 Just wait until he learns how to use it

So, with the girls from the first group leading, what challenge could the final 3-ball provide? Well, for Kevin, the rough, trees, bunkers and more rough were too much. A few more balls, 5 blobs and a 4-putt left him with just 9 points for a total of just 21. Gracious in defeat as always, Kevin seemed to spend much of the back 9 on his own, planning for his prize-giving speech to be as sincere as possible.

A rare moment sees Kevins ball actually on a green

Meanwhile, Andrew's poor form at the turn continued down 10 and 11 and then, from somewhere deep in his bag, he found his game. The joy of 11 points in 5 holes was soon lost, however, as another lack-lustre finish left him with just 14 points. However, his total of 28 did qualify him for joint 4th place, leaving him to compliment the course on its obvious difficulty. 

Andrew leaves himself a very long putt which he surprisingly didn't make

Jill, on the other hand, was finding it much easier, mainly due to fact, that she was playing good golf! A blob on the 12th could not put her off and the par / birdie finish for 6 points saw her climb the table and tie Chris at the top with 32 points. 

Jill tees off on the nearest the pin for one of 8 pars the field managed on that hole today
(for stats fans David Blobbed it)

And so the players returned to the clubhouse for tea, cake and the awards ceremony. Winner of the roll-over nearest-the-pin was Bob, though he missed the birdie opportunity! Jo was third on the day, whilst Chris and Jill shared the first prize. However, being a major, there can only be one title winner and Jill's 17 points on the back 9 secured her 3rd (different) major; congratulations, and she now only needs the British Open for the career Grand Slam, a feat not yet achieved by anyone on tour. Bob and Jill could do it if either win at Felixstow Ferry in the British Open next month.

Saffron Waldon next week - good luck everyone!

Round Norfolk summer golf round 11 at Great Yarmouth and Caister

The Gold Cup at Great Yarmouth and Caister

Round Norfolk summer golf round 11 took place at Great Yarmouth and Caister on Tuesday. It is considered a bit of a marmite course with some players loving it and some not enjoying the gorse and bumpy fairway lottery. Therefore only 6 players had lined up to play. They were however greeted with good news that a lot of the gorse had been hacked back and those areas should be considered as GUR.

With a small field then the traditional balls in the air method was used to select groupings meaning Kevin, Chris and David would set off first.

Kevin got off to a slow start with a couple of 1 points before slicing his ball into the bushes on the 3rd. However when his ball could be located he implemented the new local rule the RNSG tour has adopted for OOB and lost balls. To the shock of the other players he marched to the edge of the fairway to drop his ball for a two shot penalty. He explained that thanks to recent research by Greg this was the correct procedure. Please refer to the ruling explanation at end of post to know what you should do in these circumstances as everyday's a school day on the RNSG tour. Much to the disgust of his playing partners Kevin managed to get down from there in 3 to rescue his point.

He did not enamour himself further when on the next hole he demonstrated the full range of his game when he hooked his tee shot through where the gorse used to be, hit his second shot even further left on to the 6th fairway before finding the edge of the green in 3 and making his 5. Meanwhile Chris had played the hole down the fairway, failed to clear the bunkers and ended with a 7 and much grumbling.

Kevin putting for outrageous par on the 4th after never getting within 100 yards of fairway.
 He missed but still got a5.

After using the local rule again on the 8th (losing his shining red ball) for another outrageous point he had somehow got 15 points on the front 9. As a bonus Greg had found his shinny red ball when hunting for his and returned it to him on the 10th tee box. (Btw it’s now somewhere in a hedge on the 4th at Bawburgh if I could have it back, prefably with out a nail hammered through it).

Chris was trying her best to play proper golf but found the front 9 was not here friend as she found a number of bunkers and the hardness of the greens and fairways not to her liking as she could only garner 10 points and last place.

Chris tees off down the 4th

David was having the opposite experience with his bad shots bouncing down the fairways on to the green. After hitting an average but straight tee shot on the short 6th everyone was surprised to see his ball on the green for an Eagle opportunity. WIth cameras poised to capture the moment he proceeded to 3 putt for a disappointing par. Kevin, on the other hand, made his birde putt but was furious that the moment had not been recorded.

Davids Eagle putt on 6th. No photo of missed birdie putt

Meanwhile in the group behind Vince had got off to a solid if not spectacular start when he too hit a tee shot onto the 6th green leaving an even shorter Eagle putt. However he also missed it but did manage the birdie. The 4 points gained helped him on the way to 18 at the turn.

Vince missing his birdie putt

Greg had not played the course for many years but found the front 9 to his liking as he scored well on every hole and was another player to birdie the 6th. He had an impressive 20 pts.

Bob continued with his fine run of form and was once again on fire as he had the halfway lead on 21 points.

Bob tees off on the 8th.

However Golf is a game of two halves and as the first few drops of rain started to fall (thank goodness Tim wasn't here) it all started to change.

For Chris this was in a good way as she found some form with a good par on the 10th and 6 points in the last 3 holes when the conditions were at their worst. However a total of 26 points still left her with the wooden spoon.

Chris misses rare birdie chance on 10th

Kevin was the only other player to improve on the back 9 as his tee shots straightened up and he scored well. Unfortunately he had to play the last two holes with his glasses covered in water and used this as an excuse for only getting 1 point on each of them. But his 32 points put him back in the mix. More surprisingly he had somehow had a blob free round.

Kevin Tees off on par 5 13th as his round improved

David was well placed with 32 points after 15 holes with an outside chance of a course record (currently 38 points by Chris in 2015) but then the rain started to come down heavily. And David hates the rain as much as Tim so quickly lost interest getting only 2 more points for 34.

David has to stand in rabbit hole on edge of 11th green when he was incorrectly refused relief.

Vince started the back 9 strongly with 6 points on the first two holes but then faded in the deteriorating conditions. On the 16th his hands were so slippery his 8 iron went 100 yards down the fairway and ball into the nearby bushes. As Vince and Greg searched, unsuccessfully, for the ball Vince told Bob about the club flying out of his hand. This confused Bob who thought they were looking for the club and was surprised when Vince stopped looking for it after 3 minutes. He proceeded to tell everyone in the clubhouse that Vince had lost his club in the bushes until Vince had to explain to him he hadn't, which confused Bob even more.
Vince could only manage a point a hole over the last 7 for only 31 pts and out the prizes.

Vince putting on 10th, he missed

Bob was still leading as he approached the par 5 13th. He hit a reasonable good teeshot and the front group then watched in awe as his ball landed just short of pin and rolled up for a simple tap in. What a shame it was on to the 14th green and not 13th or it would have been the 3rd Eagle opportunity of the day. From here he fell apart and manged just 4 more points for a disappointing 32 and share of 3rd place with Kevin.

Bobs second shot to par 5 13th, unfortunately this is 14th green.

This just left Greg who also had a good start to the back 9 being one point ahead of David after 15 but he too struggled in the rain holes but scraped home  with 3 points over the last 3 and a winning total of 36 for his third tour win of the season and second place on the money list.

Greg kept his game together until the rain holes

No one won the nearest pin so a £2 rollover moves on to next weeks venue at Eaton.

For stats fans here are some interesting eclectic facts from this year’s competition:

Bob is already on -16 which would be enough to win the eclectic in every year apart form 2015.

Bob, Kevin, Robert and Greg are only players to have a par or better on every hole.

In 6 attempts Tim is yet to par a 6th hole

in 7 attempts Vince has yet to do better than double bogey on the 5th

in 10 attempts Chris is still to par a 3rd hole.

If Vince could par the 8 holes he hasn't yet he would be in the joint lead with Bob

Local rule for out of bounds, lost ball

If a player hits a ball out of bounds or loses a ball, the general rules still require the player to return to the spot of the previous stroke and take a one-stroke penalty - a standard stroke-and-distance scenario. For example, if a player sends a tee ball past the white stakes and out of bounds, he must play another ball from the tee, which becomes the third shot after the penalty. It's the same scenario for a lost ball.

But the ruling bodies have added the option of a local rule that provides time-saving relief in such a scenario. Instead of the player returning to the spot of the previous shot in the event of a lost ball or a ball out of bounds, the player can take a drop in the nearest spot of the fairway (within two club-lengths of the edge of the fairway), no nearer the hole than where the ball crossed the OB line, with a two-stroke penalty.

The same local rule applies to a lost ball, with the player able to drop in the fairway across from where the previous ball is estimated to have come to rest.

This is only a local rule, and the course's rules committee must deem its use. This rule is not intended for high-level competitions, where the standard stroke-and-distance penalties will be in play. Consider it a gift to typical amateurs that will speed up play but not force somebody to march 200 yards or more back to a teeing area after learning that a ball is out of bounds.

Keep in mind, it's a two-stroke penalty under the local rule. If a player sends a tee shot out of bounds and proceeds under this local rule, they will play their fourth shot after dropping near the edge of the fairway (many amateurs casually throw down a ball and say they are playing their third from the new location, ignoring rules about stroke and distance). This is equitable to a player taking a stroke-and-distance penalty, then finding the fairway with the third shot from the tee. The next shot from the fairway would be the fourth.