Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2017. Round 20 at Halesworth

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2017. Round 20 at Halesworth

Hurricane at Peacock Hollow

Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2017 round 20, took place at Halesworth on Thursday. Tour rookie Greg came out for his third event of the year, which was just as well as this turned out to be the least well attended event of the year. Greg obviously saw his opportunity to move up the money list! John (Herring) and Bob made up the numbers. Sandie had been expected to play but she was snaffled by Danny in the clubhouse on Wednesday to play in a club friendly.

Bob struggling to master the art of taking a selfie. The other two seem to have got the hang of it!

Since no balls needed to be thrown in the air, the round got under way 5 minutes early. However, the smug smiles soon disappeared when it was realised that the group was following a women's invitational event made up of groups of 4 that were already starting to back up on each other.

The course looked in superb condition, especially the greens. Everyone teed off successfully. John delivered an elegant shot to the green and followed this with a two putt for a par. Bob missed the green but pitched in close to the pin and sank his putt for a par. Greg placed his second in a good position just off the green but 3 putted for a bogey.

After this Greg upped his game and parred the next two holes but after running just off the green with his tee shot on the par 3 4th, he took 4 shots to reach the hole and no points. A further two pars and 3 double bogeys meant that Greg, despite having the Tour's lowest handicap (9), ended up with 15 points at the half way stage.

Greg showing good form on the fairway.

John's first hole par turned out to be his only par of the front 9. His strategy of hitting his three wood off the tee seemed to be working as he struck some lovely drives. However, he failed to capitalise on some good positions and made the halfway stage with 14 points.

One of the famous Halesworth peacocks

Bob started well with two pars and then drove his tee shot on the 3rd out of bounds. He recovered to claim a point and went on to hit two further pars. Despite a no score on the 9th he finished the front 9 with a healthy 19 points.

Up until the 8th hole the play had been largely with the wind. However, it soon became apparent that all of the low stroke index holes were playing directly into the wind which definitely felt like a 2 to 3 club wind at times.

Greg started the back 9 strongly and over the next 5 holes gradually reduced Bob's lead. However, a no score on the 15th after a strong drive and a no score on the par 3 16th effectively ended his challenge and he finished with 30 points in total.

John continued the back 9 with mainly good drives but mixed fortune with his second shot and not many highlights (very unlike John) to finish with a total of 26 points.

John showing a clean pair of heels at the 16th

Bob started his back 9 strongly with two pars and then attempted to sabotage his round when he drove into the rough on the 12th and subsequently scored no points. However, despite a further blob later on he held his round together with some good recovery shots and putts to make a total of 36 to take first place.

Next week is the final major of the year, the US PGA, which has been rearranged at Swaffham on Wednesday 23rd Aug, with a bumper entry of 10.