However there are some notable pluses
- We're raising money for such a great cause
- I got 39 points including two blobbed (no point) holes in the first round (starting as the sun began to put in an appearance)
- I played the last 6 holes of round one in level par gross
- I had three birdies in one round
- I only had 26 putts in the first round
- I played the last 6 holes of the last round (after 63 holes) in level par
- I only lost 5 balls all day
There is still time if you want to donate http://www.justgiving.com/Hywel-Lloyd
It's amazing what the body can do. Standing on the 1st tee at 4.30 am with barely five hours sleep and a 229 yard opening hole (and 72 holes) in front of you is not what most coaching manuals say is conducive to good golf. A few swooshes of the club and I pegged up the five wood. 4.30am should be the new starting time for all club competitions as I hit the green and made par. Add in a birdie 4 at the 2nd and everything in the world was good.
Sunrise over the 9th
I was playing the challenge with fellow Royal Ascot member Hywel Lloyd and two intrepid members of the Golf Monthly Forum, Mike Stannard and Paul Little. Hywel and I had done the challenge as a pair last year so knew what we were letting ourselves in for but I'm not sure the other two did.
I raided the birdie bank at the par 4 9th and the par 5 15th as well in the first round. I had started pretty well and rattled out in two shots better than my handicap which had included a lost ball on the 4th. I came back even better with 20 points and again that had included not scoring at the 11th where I had a horrid lie in a bunker under the back lip and could only move it into an even poorer lie under the front bank.
We had paired off to have a friendly match as well as keeping a points tally and Paul and I took on the others and had coasted into a five hole lead as we completed the first round. We went straight past the clubhouse and back onto the first tee again to start round two at just before 8.00am.
If I was happy with a par to start, a monster birdie putt for birdie was the greatest way of forgetting about fatigue and the golf bag I was carrying which was getting heavier hole by hole. By now, the others had woken up and everyone was playing great golf in patches. Paul in particular was in awesome form with the driver and was getting longer and longer. Hywel seemed determined to match him shot for shot and it became a private duel throughout the remainder of the day.
My front nine of the second round (you following this) was another impressive one and I'd gone round in 19 points or one better than my handicap. I fell away on the back nine as tiredness and the lure of the clubhouse and food, drink and a chance to sit down beckoned. By the time we'd holed out on the 18th green and stopped for the large 18 hole breakfast (full English with all the trimmings), it was humid, we were hot and tired and glad to get the shoes off for a while.
We only had an hour for lunch and it seemed to fly by. A quick change into fresh clothes, especially dry socks and shoes and we were ready to start gain. We were on a tight schedule as we knew we had to complete the front nine of the final round before 5.45pm as the club had a Social Scramble organised and it was a shotgun start.
Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the break but my game in the third round was patchy. I had hit the first for the third consecutive time (bet that won't happen in the next competition) but I couldn't string any shots together. I failed to score at the ninth courtesy of a tired shot that sliced, hit the path and bounced onto the putting green out of bounds. The match situation was beginning to fluctuate. Mike was perhaps playing the best golf. Paul in particular was having a hard time, especially playing off a 4 handicap and not having any margin for error. In the end my 32 points was a good return. I'd failed to score on the 16th when I hooked my drive out of bounds and I was starting to feel the pace despite swapping from carrying my bag to using an electric trolley for the last two rounds.
The urge to stop for a cool beer was so tempting but we were tight for time and wanted to make sure we had played the first nine before the Ascot members flocked onto the course. I think because of the rush none of us were particularly careful with our pre-shot routines but Hywel and Mike were still scoring brilliantly as a pair. Mike had chipped in at the par 3 6th for a birdie 2 and the deficit was down to two and by the time we stood on the 10th ready for the final push the match was all square
I'd slumped to my lowest score on any nine of the day with a measly 11 points to my name. I made par at the 10th but had watched as both Paul and Hywel boomed drives to within 50 yards of the green on the 371 yard hole. I'm not sure how they managed it after 63 holes of sapping golf. I lost the plot a bit as fatigue kicked in and the call of the clubhouse got louder but I did mange a good up and down from twelve feet at the 13th to rescue a half.
It's wonderous what a good shot can do so when I hit the green from the rough at the next and made par I was ready to rumble and had a spring back in my step. OK it wasn't the biggest spring by this stage but you get the drift. By the time I'd knocked a wedge to 10 feet and canned a slippery downhiller for a birdie at the next (the 15th or 69th of the day depending on your viewpoint) I was ready for buzzing and the tiredness had evaporated. It also got the score back to all square as Hywel and Mike had steadily gone about whittling the lead and for the first time all day gone into a lead on the 65th.
Paul swapped his driver at the 16th, having already hit one 320 yarder in the second round (and measured by GPS) for a 3 wood and still managed to smack it miles down the fairway. I'm not sure if it was all technique, one final effort before the tank emptied or what but it was impressive to watch. We won the hole to go one up. Mike and Hywel both regrouped to hit the green at our penultimate hole but I got up and down to salvage a half and ensure we went down the last hole of the day one up. I made a surprisingly solid par. I hit the fairway with a 3 wood and hit a tired but straight fairway wood to about 125 yards out (my battery in my GPS device dying on the very last hole when I really needed it). I had water to the right and a crowded patio watching. I trusted my swing and hit the middle of the green about 15 feet way from the pin. It wasn't until we did the mathematics that I realised that despite all that had gone before, I'd played the last six holes in level par again. HAPPY DAYS.
We all got a great reception from everyone on the patio and plenty of plaudits as we sat outside with a well deserved drink and our shoes and socks in a sweaty pile. Had it been worth it? Of course. Would I do it again? Well I had said "never again" last year but do you know what, if you are blessed with a dry day (it doesn't have to even be sunny) decent course and three guys that know how to play the game (technically and spiritually) and have a laugh then I think the answer would be a definite yes. I'll have to see if Paul, Mike and Hywel are up for it.
I did take the camera with me and took a few shots of the day.
That said, I can hardly move today and dedicated as I am, I've not looked at my clubs. My back is sore, my legs ache and I could really do with a rub down with the Sporting Life. I'm off to try and get the body into some sort of working order as I'm back on the tee tomorrow at 8.50 am (some of us have done a full round by then) for the monthly stableford. Anything could happen!
Total number of lost balls in 2010 = 48
Total number of lost balls in 2010 = 48
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