Round Norfolk Golf Summer Comp. Round 11. Royal Norwich

Round Norfolk Golf Summer Comp round 11 took place at Royal Norwich on Tuesday. With only a few rounds to go most competitions seem to be a 2 way fight between Bob and Ian but there could still be some surprises.

The field today finally settled on 4 players who teed off under sunny skies. Chris was trying out her brand new clubs for the second day having had driver issues the day before. However she started with three solid 2 point holes before the driver once again packed up and she struggled to get to 11 points at halfway.

Chris duffying her new driver on the 2nd hole

Ian also got off to an uncharacteristic shaky start with only 7 pts from the first 6 holes but he more than doubled this over the next 3 to have 15 pts on the front 9.

Ian's Tee shot on the first leading to a blob.

Meanwhile Bob was also having problems with his driver with tee shots disappearing into several of the wooded areas on the course as he only averaged 1 pt per hole for the first 8. This would have been worse if a two point penalty had been handed out for playing Chris's ball on the 3rd with Chris then playing Bob's ball. However they had such sad faces the other players couldn't bring themselves to enforce the penalty and John 'rulesworth' Herring wasn't there to act as referee.
Then from no where Bob birdied the 9th hole to end with 12 pts at the turn.

Bob sheepishly playing the correct ball on the 3rd after originally playing Chris's ball

For once Kevin had not only got off to a decent start but maintained it over the front 9 ending it in the lead with 17 pts.

Kevin's not exactly text book drive

The back 9 proved better for everyone but the round split into two matches. Chris and Bob were fighting for the final OOM point and were both on 25 pts coming down the last. However with Bob losing his drive in the trees and Chris playing a solid hole she was the final winner by two points with 27.

Chris teeing off and getting a point on the long par 3 12th.

Bobs approach to the hardest hole on the course, par 4 13th,  were he got a 5 and 3 points

Meanwhile Kevin and Ian were both going along nicely. With 3 to play Kevin was 2 points clear but tragically got his only blob of the day on the 16th while a par from Ian took him into a one point lead. Roles were reversed on the par 5 17 with a blob from Ian and Par for Kevin. Kevin also pared the last to give him a comfortable 3 point win in the end with 36 pts. This was the first time he had played to his handicap in two years on the round Norfolk tour.

Ian putting out on the par 4 11th for a 5 for 3 points.

Kevin putting out on the par 4 13th stroke index 1 for a 5 for 2 points

 A reduced field of 3 will be at the next round at Caldecott Hall next Wednesday.
Current standings

	Kevin	John	Bob	Chris	Sean	Ian		Prize fund
Average pts	26.11	27.40	32.45	30.67	20	33.00		£11.25
Most pts	36	34	37	37	20	39		£11.25
Eclectic	-7.5	-12.5	-15.5	-5.5	28	-11		£11.25
Order Merit	6	11	22	8	0	18		£11.25
Aug & Sept best front & back 9	36	29	37	35		40		£25
Average blobs	4.2	4.3	3.3	3.0	6	2.5		cup
Number rounds	9	10	11	6	1	8

Round Norfolk Golf Summer Comp. Round 10. Thetford

Wednesday saw Round Norfolk Golf Summer Comp round 10 take place at Thetford. Due to an urgent Pilates class Chris and Kevin set off in the first group followed by Ian, Bob and John.

Bob putting practice. He missed them all

They got off to a fast start not only with scoring but pace of the game. Kevin started unusually well with 4 straight pars while Chris parred four of the first 6. Kevin's 3 putt troubles then returned and thanks to this and a visit into the woods his front 9 stalled ending on 17 pts. 

Kevin returning from 5th tee with putter which he had mistakenly taken to drive off with

Chris's scoring had also slowed down but she still had 19 pts at half way.

Chris on way to a blob on 5th hole

Meanwhile Ian had got off to a flyer getting 4 pts on each of the first two holes. In fact the 2nd hole proved a winner for all 5 players as they all secured a par on it. Ian's front 9 continued well and he finished with a massive 20 pts. Adding this to the 20 pts he got on the back 9 at Bawburgh already puts him in a strong position, with 40 pts, for the best front and back 9 in August and September (including 1st October) comp.

With points flying in Bob and John also started well with 18 and 17 pts. This meant at the half way stage all 5 players were seperated by just 3 points and it looked like an exciting finish was in store.

However things soon started to fall apart in the leading group as a series of poor drives and hitting a few too many trees saw Kevin get only 12 back 9 points and Chris only 8.

Kevin heading for yet another 3 putt

The same problems were also affecting John and Ian who only mustered a further 9 and 12 pts respectively.

Chris approach shot leading to some rare back 9 points

At this point Bob claimed he used his powers of concentration to get into his golfing bubble. Ignoring the chaos all around him he kept his focusing scoring 19 pts on the back 9 and becoming the clear winner for the day. His 3 OOM pts stretching his lead in that comp..

Sadly at the end of the round John, like Tiger Woods (but not in a golfing way) announced he would have to take a break from the game to fully regain his fitness. The tour hopes to see him back very soon.

Next round moves on to Royal Norwich on Tuesday with hopefully a new player joining.
Current standings

	Kevin	John	Bob	Chris	Sean	Ian		Prize fund
Average pts	24.88	27.40	33.10	31.4	20	33.00		£10.25
Most pts	31	34	37	37	20	39		£10.25
Eclectic	-5.5	-12.5	-14.5	-5.5	28	-10		£10.25
Order Merit	3	11	22	8	0	16		£10.25
Aug & Sept best front & back 9	30	29	37	26		40		£25
Average blobs	4.6	4.3	3.1	2.6	6	2.4		cup
Number rounds	8	10	10	5	1	7

Round Norfolk Golf Summer Comp. Round 9. Bawburgh

There was, or will be, controversy at Round 9 of the Round Norfolk Golf Summer Comp at Bawburgh today. As the official scorer made a mistake in his adding up. But more of that to come.

With Golf Pig near full to bursting after payments of debts and entry fees for the best front and back 9 in August and September (including October 1st) competition the round got under way.

Poor putting on the first (12 putts between the 4 players) got things off to a poor start but Bob was soon into his stride scoring consistently through the front 9. Only a thinned approach into thick grass on the 6th cost him the chance of  playing to his handicap. However he didn't thank Ian for finding his ball after he had popped his provisional on to the green which would have secured some points. He had 15 of them after 9.

Bob hits good drive on 2nd

Meanwhile Kevin was having his normal inconsistent round parring the two hardest holes on the front 9 but mixing this up with a lot of putts and a few duffs. However he was happy to secure 14 pts at halfway.

Kevin teeing off on 8th

Ian had got off to a terrible start having only two points after 4 holes. However remembering he still had his outrageous handicap on his side he strung together a series of three pointers to get to the turn on 14 pts.

Ians approach to 6th securing him a good par

John had also started badly but suddenly found his a game including a good birdie on the par 5 5th which took him into the lead on 17 pts as the players headed for home

John getting down in two from edge of 3rd green to save a point.

As the back 9 started Kevin quickly slipped out of contention with some tree and more putting issues. However he was cheered up when he birdied the par 5 13th and followed it up with a par on the hardest hole (where unlike everyone else he only gets one shot). He finished with 27 points.

Kevin putting for par on last, he missed

John's bionic knee seemed to be malfunctioning on the back 9 and he stared to fall away getting only another 12 points to finish with 29 pts. He was not helped on the 14th when Bob decided to leap up and down on the green in Johns eye-line as he was about to chip. Bob claimed he was marking his ball but it was the final nail in John's figurative coffin.

John and Bob chipping out of the trees that all 4 players went into on the par 5 13th

Ian and Bob then had another ding dong battle as they were scoring 3 pts a hole for fun. With never more than a point between them it looked like it was advantage Bob as Ian put his 2nd to the 17th into the trees. However Bob decided to play a rather ambitious shot and chipped into the green-side bunker, where he spent a few minutes before getting only 1 point. Ian, on the other hand made a great recovery for a par 4, 3 points and a one shot lead.

View of Ian's drive on 14 from the Round Norfolk golf tour blimp

Going down the last Bob, in a show of unbelievable hypocrisy,  complained that Ian had two shots to his one. Kevin was quick to welcome Bob to his world. However the shot proved critical as both players gained 2 points and Ian won 35 to 34.

Bobs teeshot into the trees on 13

But all was not over as when the official scorer entered the scores into the computerised leader board he realised he had added up Ian's back 9 wrong and had awarded him too many points so it was 34 point draw.

But all was still not over as on further checking he had also forgotten to take into account one of Ian's many 2 shot holes and awarded him 1 point too few on the front 9 so Ian had won after all.

The excitement, plus calculator, moves on to Thetford next week with a bumper field expected.

Current standings

	Kevin	John	Bob	Chris	Sean	Ian		Prize fund
Average pts	24.29	27.56	32.67	32.5	20	33.17		£9
Most pts	31	34	37	37	20	39		£9
Eclectic	-4.5	-12.5	-14.5	-3.5	28	-9		£9
Order Merit	2	11	19	8	0	14		£9
Aug & Sept best front & back 9	27	29	34			35		£20
Average blobs	4.7	4.2	3.2	2.3	6	2.2
Number rounds	7	9	9	4	1	6