Round Norfolk summer golf round 24 at Kings Lynn

The Kings Lynn Classic

As the 2019 Tour nears its conclusion, and thoughts turn toward some much needed prize money in the absence of current leader Greg, nine keen players ventured to the excellent King's Lynn. For some - specifically Robert, Kevin and Andrew - this was an opportunity to bury the ghosts of disappointing results in last weekend's Bawburgh Club Championship. For David and Vince, it was a first-time visit to one of the Tour's favourite venues, whilst for Bob it was a welcome return to Tour following his recent back problems. Bob announced before we started that his back is worse when sitting down, so there would be no excuses for him today as golf is a "stand up" sport!

 

Players gather on first tee as Bob demonstrates his standing up skills

A complicated, but fair, draw was made and it was Vince, Andrew and Jo who were first away. Vince's lessons look like they were paying dividend as his opening tee shot headed down the middle of the fairway. 

Vinces club head speed is so fast its just a blur or was it taking the photo into the sun

A short time later, Jo followed him down the middle once, of course, she had alighted from the taxi that took her to the advanced ladies tee. It was Jo who got off to the steadiest start with six 2-pointers in a row. 

Jo scores more points as Vince tries to hide behind the flag stick (i'm afraid it will take several more boot camps to pull that trick off)

Andrew's mixed fortunes scored him 10 points in the same six holes whilst a bogey 5 for 3 points and a Spanish par (4 for 4) saw Vince creep into an early lead on 13. However, Jo was to leave her playing partners well behind with 3 points on the next two holes, whilst the boys failed to score on either. At the end of the front nine, Jo was on 19 points with Vince on 14 and Andrew 12.

The second 3-ball decided to play different varieties of golf. Tim was "Mr Consistent" and, despite a blob on the ninth, he accumulated four nett birdies and four nett pars for an impressive 20 at the turn. 

Tim was in imperious form opening up with 7 straight pars

Chris, who had agreed with Andrew at the start of the day that consistent golf was the key to success, through this philosophy went out of the window early and, much like Andrew, found the going tough, struggling to just 11 points.

Chris found the going tough today

Bob, despite his recent injury, had not lost the knack of using tree-ricochets to find the middle of the fairways or greens. Back-to-back birdies, both for 4 points, on the fourth and fifth holes made up half of his total of 16 at halfway.

 

Bob in bunker action on a typically up and down round

In the final group, Robert got off to a very slow start and had to thank a nett birdie on the fourth hole to help him reach 10 points after nine holes. As consolation he need set a new RNSG tour woodland record hitting 4 trees and one pine cone in 5 successive shots!

Roberts tee shot heads for the trees, probably

An internal competition soon developed between his playing partners, Kevin and David, as they exchanged proverbial blows. 

David was a model of consistency over the opening holes

David was the more consistent, with eight 2-pointers and a blob for 16 points at the turn, whilst Kevin's usual variation of shots and scores, including three nett birdies, was the key to his halfway score of 17.

 

Aided by his shinny green (not yellow!) balls Kevin had his short game working well today

All the players did have to contend with a family of geese who decided the lush grass on the approach to the par-5 ninth hole was the best feeding ground. They seem unfazed by golfers and their balls; in fact, they knew the safest place was directly in line with the middle of fairway and the flag!

By now, the leading group was well into it's back nine and, Andrew was finding a little more consistency. A nett eagle on the par-5 thirteenth hole was the highlight of his round but his final score of 26 did nothing to repair the pain from last weekend. 

Andrew practicing his putting before attempting to sink a tricky 2 incher

Vince had four more 3-pointers and was keeping the ball straight. Only one provisional ball was hit all day and despite a blob on the difficult par-3 twelfth, he scored 18 points on the back nine for a total of 32. 

Vince played better on the back 9 (Eagle eyed readers may notice this is actually the 4th green but I can only work with the photos i've got)

Jo, meanwhile, was continuing with the "hit it long and straight" method not often seen on Tour and which, not unsurprisingly, was proving successful. Another 18 points gave her an excellent total of 37 in a blob-free round, and her tee shot on the par-3 16th to 10 feet looked sure to win her the roll-over jackpot nearest the pin prize to boot.

Jo hits it long and straight (Yawn,Yawn)

Chris was doing her best to rediscover the consistent form of late but, despite a couple of 3-pointers, could only score 14 points on the inward nine for a total of 25. 

Chris's game started to improve on back 9  as dark clouds, or someones finger, started to gather

Bob started the back nine well but, despite some more tree-to-fairway assistance, his lack of recent play saw him also toil to 14 points; all agreed 30 points on his return was not bad. 

Bob chips back to his fairway in fading conditions or someone had accidently set his camera to vivid setting

Tim was the very model of controlled, consistent golf as his perfectly judged fade and solid approach game saw him score another 18 points on the back nine despite, as on the front, a blob on the last. His score of 38 points gave him the clubhouse lead and, just to annoy Jo a little more, he had also snuck his tee-shot inside hers on the nearest-the-pin 16th.

 

Tim putts out with his red hot wand

The final 3-ball were having a battle-royale, well at least two of them were. Robert, like others, was finding it difficult find his form and could only score 13 on the back nine; perhaps he and Andrew will have better fortune when the re-visit King's Lynn next week as members of a rival tour.

Robert looks nervously to see if his latest tee shot has avoided the trees (it hadn't)

Kevin and David were like a couple of gladiators, inspiring each other to better and better scores.

David piles on the points with a tap in par on 11.

Both had a blob-free back nine, and a fair selection of one, two and three-pointers. As they stood on the eighteenth tee, David had levelled his score with Kevin, thanks to a Spanish birdie (see earlier for translation) on the par-5 thirteenth, and he was excited to see Kevin's tee shot head into the trees on the right. To most, this would be it and David scored a solid 2-pointer to score 19 and 35 overall. As regular Tour members and blog followers know, trees are just one of Kevin's many nemeses but, keeping his cool he cleverly chipped out back onto the fairway. 

Kevin chips out of trees on 18

A fine approach shot gave him a par opportunity, which he didn't fail to take, and his 19 points gave him 36 points in total. The joy on his face compared to David's despair was clear for all to see.

So, Kevin was third on 36, Jo second with 37 and Tim the winner with 38 points, and he won the nearest-the-pin prize. A small field are heading to The Suffolk next week for the penultimate event but, as things stand, six members can still win the title at the Tour Championship at Sheringham in October.

Meanwhile, the family of geese had made their way serenely back towards the ninth tee and over to the 17th green. A letter will be sent to King's Lynn Golf Club asking them to ensure that geese play the course in the correct order in future.

As a small post-script, Chris, Vince, Kevin and Andrew all returned to Bawburgh to play in the midweek stableford on Wednesday; scores of 35, 37, 39 and 40 respectively left all of them wondering why does the better game always come one day too late!!