Autumn tour round 3 at Kings Lynn

Low Scoring Classic

For the third instalment of the Autumn Tour, eight players headed west to one of the county’s favourite courses, King’s Lynn. With Tim, winner of the last event at Royal Cromer and joint money-list leader, unavailable, this looked to be the perfect opportunity for Kevin to put some distance between himself and the chasing pack. A shortened season means every penny is worth …… well, about a penny …. in the chase for the title.

The day got off to an unexpected start when the pre-tournament press conference was cancelled due to this week’s press officer being unavoidably delayed. He did have the opportunity to interview Jill in the car on the journey to the course, but both were distracted by Pop-Master on Radio 2!

Under bright blue skies, and with the course in perfect condition, the first group of Robert, Vince, Chris and Jo set off. 

First group enthusiastically gather at start of rouns

Perhaps it was the calm weather that confused them, but the front 9 proved to be difficult. Jo was the most consistent, scoring on every hole for 15 points, mainly thanks to her only par (and 3 pointer) coming on the 9^th. Chris was similar, only parring the 8^th hole but, due to a blob on short par-3 5^th, scored 13.

Jo prepares to hit another straight drive

Robert, meanwhile, was doing his best to avoid the dangerous sunshine and remained in the trees for much of the round. He did venture out on the 1^st and 9^th holes, helping him to 11 points. 

Robert about to visit the woods again

Vince, on the other hand, saw no reason to come out into the sunshine unless it was really worth it, scoring 3 points on the 4^th and 8^th; for 6 of the other 7 holes, he felt it best to remain under cover and made the turn with just 7 points.

Vince looks on in despair as another ball misses the fairway and rough 

The second group of Andrew, Kevin, Bob and Jill all avoided the first fairway, but good recoveries from Jill and Andrew saw them make a 5 and 4 respectively. Bob, who has been having some more lessons, found it difficult to put all what has been taught into practice, failing to score on the first 3 holes. Some improvement was found for the rest of the front 9, but he struggled to just 8 points; he was excited at the end when he realised it wasn’t the lowest score of the day at that stage. 

Jill prepares to tee off whilst Bobs provisional nestles by the side of the ladies tee (and it was one of his longest drives over the opening holes)

Jill, maybe suffering from the lengthy walk to some of the ladies’ tees, was also finding it difficult to locate her swing and reached just 12 at the turn.

Kevin, who’s driving had recently been the strength of his game, seemed to have reverted to the old motto of “hit it hard and play it where you find it”! Unfortunately, some of the places he found it where not very playable and, on some holes, the lovely green colour of the ball made it impossible to find it in the …. well, green countryside! He did, however, manage to score 13 despite the 3 blobs in a row on 3, 4 and 5. 

This is the last sighting of this ball as Kevin thins it into a nettle patch

Andrew was going for consistency, not a term usually associated with his golf. Some straight driving – always helpful at King’s Lynn – and six 4’s in the first 7 holes saw him reach the turn with 17 points and in first place.

Andrew misses his birdie putt but still got his 2nd of 6 4's in the opening 7 holes.

Having understood that the sun was supposed to shine, and that the light winds were okay for golf, the back nine was an improvement for most players. Robert obviously didn’t believe this and remained safely in the trees while scoring just 10 points for a total of 21. 

Robert demonstrates to Vince how to escape from the trees

Vince saw the light – quite literally – and scored a respectable 14 on the back 9 for an overall 21; however, his 8 blobs for the round did have the statisticians reaching for the record books but, fortunately for Vince, there have been worse.

Vince excitingly prepares to play his approach shot as it wasn't actually in the trees

Chris and Jo decided that it was time to show everyone how to play golf. In a remarkable display of consistency, Chris scored 2 points on every hole on the back 9 for a total of 31 and 3^rd place.

Chris on her way to another back 9 two pointer

Jo’s day just got better and better as she ensured a blob-free round. Four more 3 pointers on the back 9 helped her to a fabulous 21 and a clubhouse leading total of 36. In the post-round interview, she put much of her success down to the chipping lesson that she and Robert had attended; Robert was not convinced that he’d been at the same lesson!

Jo on her way to a commanding lead

The second group had mixed fortunes. Bob’s game seemed to have improved when he hit an excellent tee-shot into the par-3 12^th and scored his first 3 pointer of the day. However, this was a false dawn and only 6 other points meant that Bob’s total of 17 would be last on the day. 

Bob misses his birdie putt after an excellent shot to the 12th green

Jill’s game was still hiding from her but, as the round progressed, there were glimpses that it was returning. She found points hard to come by and another 12 gave her 24 overall; amazingly, as was announced at the prize ceremony afterwards, this gave her 5^th place and 50p! 

Kevin and Andrew were having their own back 9 battle, both keeping the ball in play and staying blob-free. Despite the improvement in direction, Kevin’s 15 points was only enough for a total of 28 and 4^th place. Andrew had glory in his sights and, after 14 holes was only 1 over handicap. But he visited 3 bunkers on 15 and 16 for a point on each, and the trees on 18. His 15 points left him on 32 overall. 

Andrew prepares to play first of the 3 players to all find the same greenside bunker

So, it was Jo’s day and the third different winner of the season. Her £7.00 first prize saw her leap to the top of the prize money table just ahead of Kevin but, with 3 events remaining, anyone can still win the coveted title. Woodbridge is the next venue and all players were excited by this, mainly due to there being less trees!

 As the players enjoyed drinks on the terrace, the benefit of golf lessons and the glorious weather were the main talking points during the after-round press conference. With the sun shining brightly down the 18^th hole, and with the fairways in such good condition, many were left wondering why they had spent so much time in the shade; perhaps avoiding the trees should be the subject of the next lesson!

 RNSG Autumn Tour – Wednesday 2^nd September2020 – Royal Cromer

As the dreadful Bank Holiday weather cleared into autumn sunshine and a light breeze 8 good folk met at Cromer for round 2 of the one-off Autumn Tour.

Mike reminding everyone how he used to caddy for his Granddad in 1908 (or something like that)

Jo and Robert Barnard were grouped with Tim Simms and Bob Spanner, followed by Chris and Kevin Frazer with Greg Gladwell and Mike Hammond.

Tim gets proceedings underway

Vince has yet to bring his 20% reduced handicap to the RNSG tour and was sadly missed. The Gooch clan were testing themselves further afield, feeling the allure of Premiership level competition on the national Mixed Pairs circuit preferable to the cut and thrust of Championship level RNSG golf.

Political matters were dealt with early on. No competitors opted to take “the knee” at the start due to some confusion over the Black Wives Natter campaign. No migrants were noted off the coast.  No campaigners were present on the course.

In the pre-match fitness bulletins Greg reported back twinges, Chris limped with blisters, Kevin reported he was now around 80% of his ultra athlete fitness levels. Sandy had run so fast the G force had ripped tendons from muscles and she was out of action. Bob and Tim both passed imaginary random drug tests.

Excellent clothing selections were noted from the well co-ordinated Robert, Jo, Greg and Tim in blue, and Chris in mauve. Bob and Kevin went for the Tiger Woods type final round red shirts. Mike without Sandy’s advice dressed himself and had an interesting beige and lime green combo going on. No golf major has ever been one by a beige and lime combo player apparently, the chances of that ever happening seem remote. 

Mike in his lime green kit

The course was in a good condition with a fair bit of green grass on display for a change. The sanded greens made short game skills a little more tricky to master. It is always good to find one reason to blame conditions for poor play I find!

Greg missing his putt on the tricky greens

Tim was fast out of the traps with 3 x 3 pointers in the first 4 holes, confidence buoyed by his decision to forego shorts in case a rogue shower should strike. He kept it steady for a front 9 of 16 points. The rest of his group took on the challenge of looking for the lost ball as many times as they could and with 9, 10 and 11 points their goose was cooked somewhat too early for Xmas, but early enough for a few baguettes to be filled back at Glen Lodge.

Group 1 finishing their front 9

The second group were more consistent. Chris had a creditable 18 points with a blob. Greg, only participating after a 7.30 am C19 all clear decision, had off the tee woes and scrambled to 15. Kevin 14 with his normal driving display of great and grate, and steady Eddie Mike ,16 points, were in close attendance.

Kevin hitting one of his good drives on the 4th

On the homeward 9 the course pace slowed down. However, Tim continued to rack up the points playing well and headed into the last hole 1 over handicap on 33 points. Robert found 4 good holes for 13 points, and 5 mediocre ones for 6 more to have a very respectable 19 on the way home.  Robert’s total of 30 points was enough for a podium finish.

 Bob, current Cromer record holder, had sadly left his A game at home, as well as his B and C games. It was really a D level performance from Bob but to be consistent the government upgraded him to a C just for today and then got criticised for it. Jo was the bookies favourite before tee off but downgraded her playing too, scoring 8 points as well to give Bob some support.

Consolation for Bob has he made it on to the lowest RNSG scores record list in equal 3rd place. 

Close behind the last group hit a moment of shame on the Stroke Index 16 12^th hole with every one achieving nil points.  As both Mike and Kevin went up and down the slope in front of the green the You’ve Been Framed team filled their content boots. Enthusiasm dipped for the male contingent but Chris had the mental fortitude to hold it together and recovered well so she also limped down the last on 33 points and festering blisters.

Chris tees off on the back 9 at the start of her challenge for the title

Kevin tried to rally waning interest by relaying scoreboard updates as the he Greg and Mike came to the last… and then wished he hadn’t as Greg and Mike surged past him. Greg who had finally found his game on the last 4 holes, and Mike, who had been a caddy at Cromer when Noah was a boy, tied on 29 points. 3 blobs and 4 blobs respectively had curtailed Greg and Mike’s aspirations.

Two missed short putts from Kevin cost him the chance of any prize money today

And so it came to pass, that Chris and Tim would battle it out down the last hole (without being aware of it). Two titans of the RNSG tour, legends in their own families, each with a trophy cabinet full of empty shelves, set off with great hope in their hearts.

Decent drives from each made it 15 all as the commentators confused their sports.

Tim using all those many, many, many years of experience, reached the green in 2. Chris found the front bunker for 2. 30- 15 to Tim.

Chris then played a smart shot to 10 feet.  30 all.

Chris drained that putt into the hole dreaming of her first outright individual win since June 2018, leapt like a salmon and simultaneously punched the air. 40 – 30 to Chris.

Chris putting during an exciting battle with Tim on the back 9

Tim steadied himself, focused, and launched his 30 foot long putt towards the hole. Chris prayed for rain. The crowd, featuring a couple of bees and a grasshopper stayed behind the ropes, gasped as Tim made a complete mockery of tennis scoring in golf.  Tim nailed it for a birdie and took the win by a single point. Cometh the hour, cometh the Tim.

“Bravo” shouted the grass hopper. “Zzzzzzz” murmured the bees. Tim turned, smiled and strode off for the TV interview which you can download from Friday night. Onwards to Purdis for round 3.