Longhurst Cup Second Round - More Good Than Bad

The Longhurst Cup was presented to Joseph Longhurst in 1912 as a leaving gift from the club. He was originally a greenkeeper and then club professional for twenty five years, teaching some of the young members of the Royal family to play the game and was then head-hunted by the Duke of Hess to supervise the building of a new course in Frankfurt. It is one of the Ascot "majors" and I was lucky enough to win it in 2000. With an opening round of 70, I was handily placed for a good second round and another chance of glory.

It started off reasonably well apart from a sloppy three putt on the 3rd although that was rectified with a birdie at the next. I was moving along very steadily until I stood on the 7th tee. I don't understand why this hole is presenting so many problems in recent times but yet again it made a big dent in my card. I hit a huge hook off the tee onto the adjoining 3rd fairway and so had no chance of reaching the green. However it should have been easy to hit a recovery to leave a simple pitch in but somehow I manged to pull it left. It left a third shot from heavy rough with the ball above my feet and I pulled the shot left of the green into the bunker and eventually walked off with a double bogey. By the time I finished the 9th I was out in 41 (+6) which although on track with my handicap could have been so much better.

The back nine started so well with a par at the 11th and the 12th which is a rarity. It's stroke index 1 and a sharp left to right dog-leg and measures 409 yards. I found the fairway and hit a lovely 4 iron approach which held up on the stiffish breeze to finish just off the green. However a good chip and a putt salvaged my par. Things were going great and standing on the 15th tee I was a couple under my handicap and ready for a final push towards a sub-par round and possible glory.

That is where my quest ended. My tee shot on the 15th was a horror. It's one of the widest fairway on the course and there is even room to bale out left but the one place not to be is right. I hit a huge slice at least thirty yards off line into thick rough. I found it and it was lying pretty well considering but my swing was impaired by a staked tree. I took relief under the local rule but the drop found a shocker of a lie and I could barely move it forward. I eventually got onto the fairway for three and proceeded to hit my next against a tree and saw it rebound back towards me. Even once I got to the green my misery wasn't over as I three putted for a show stopping 9. Game over.

To be honest the double bogey down the 17th was academic and even though I parred the last I knew I was out of contention. In the end my nett 73 (+3) was quite pleasing. It hit the buffer zone so there was no handicap increase and it told a tale of much more consistency than of late. I think the fact that the short game was much sharper helped and my game was steady if not spectacular.

In the end, one of the real good guys in the club Dave Andrews won with a total of 136 (-4 nett). Being an Arsenal fan it may have been some consolation for their 8-2 drubbing by Manchester United. In the end my score of 143 (+3) was good enough for 12th place. I was more than happy with that (out of 72) and over the course of the two rounds there was definitely much to be pleased about and to build upon.