Border Battle
Autumn seemed to have arrived early as a new Magnificent Seven crossed the southern border into the untamed wilderness of Suffolk. Jumpers and trousers, rather than ponchos and chaps, were the order of the day and, based on the scores, there wasn't a bandit in sight! The course looked (and, in fact, was) in excellent condition for our arrival and pre-match discussion was about how golf is trying to ensure the now not-so-new 3-minute search time is adhered to by players. It was agreed that everyone has a responsibility, and a stop-watch on their phone, so there was no excuse.
The not-so-randomizer continued to pair tour members with those they had been randomly selected to play with previously, though no-one really complained, and Jill, Kevin & Andrew headed out first. Diss opens with a gentle par-3, at which the all three made double bogeys! The use of the stop-watch was immediately put into use after Kevin's tee-shot at the 1st, and again at the 2nd and 4th.
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Andrew and Kevin having fun in bunkers and rough while scoring nil points while Jill
waits to make a birdie |
There were very few highlights during the first group's front-9. Jill made an excellent birdie-2 at the 4th, having waited patiently for Andrew & Kevin to spend far too much time (playing not looking) in the rough and/or bunker. Kevin made good 3-point pars and the 5th and 9th,
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| Kevin about to duff the ball off 7th tee |
whilst Andrew did likewise on the 7th and 9th,
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| Andrew struggling in rough on 8th as Jill looks on |
but too many mistakes led them both to only 13 points; Jill led the way in the group with 14 points having blobbed the open two holes.
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| Jill had a few early issues getting her round going |
The second group of Chris, Jo, Bob & Robert appeared to fare better. Chris and Jo both got a 3-point par on the 1st, and Chris followed this up with more of the same on the 5th and 6th whilst heading towards an impressive 18 on the front-9.
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| Jill slaps away another good drive |
Bob was not far behind and, despite a couple of blobs, scored 16 thanks to an excellent birdie-2 and 4 points on the 7th.
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| Bob confronts his golf trolley in a stand-off over what club to use |
Jo's good start was followed by another 3-point par at the 3rd, but she fell away to score just 15. Robert's score of 14 was impressive, bearing in mind the blobs at the 1st, 8th and 9th and, although disappointed, he was unaware that this would have been a competitive score in the other group!
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| Robert tees off on 4th |
The back-9 started well for the first group - 5 points for each of them on the 10th and 11th - but poor shots, inconsistent swings and some unlucky lies would make the closing holes a struggle. Andrew blobbed the par-3 12th and failed to make any further progress, finishing on just 28 points. Jill could not find a 3-pointer after the 10th and her 16 points on the back-9 gave her a total of 30. Kevin's excellent pars on the 14th and 18th (including an up and down from the bunker) helped him amass a credible 18 points and 31 overall.
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| Jill photobombs Kevin’s tee shot |
In the group behind, Jo's struggles continued and, despite only blobbing the 18th, she could only score 13 points and join Andrew in joint 6th place on 28. Robert did manage to score on every hole on the back-9, but with only a 3-point par on the 12th, his 15 points left him in 5th place on 29.
As Kevin waited patiently to see if his score would be good enough for the main prizes, Bob was making good progress, despite 5 1-pointers; the 3-point pars on the 12th, 15th and 16th helped him score 16 points for a total of 32. Bob's par-3 record was excellent - 14 points over 5 holes - made him suggest afterwards that a new par-3 competition should be introduced, but there was little support from the others!
Meanwhile, it was becoming a comfortable and almost emphatic tour win for Chris. No blobs all day and three more 3-point pars on the back-9 saw her score 17 and a winning total of 35. Not even Kevin's mention on the 18th green that he had got up and down from the bunker could put her off - she just repeated the feat with a putt from off the green!
A fun, but tough, round for all the players and congratulations to Chris on her victory. The Tour heads to the Wild West next, and to a new venue - Gog Magog. Will the weather be warmer? Will the bandits reappear? Tune in next time!
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