Ham And Eggs

Another Bank Holiday and more rain forecast. I'd been selected to play for the club in their friendly match at home to Caversham Heath Golf Club on Sunday (May 6th) and the forecast wasn't looking great. However as we tucked into the pre-match brunch of ham, egg and chips the sun came out and things were looking good.

I was paired with Paul Hadden, a 13 handicapper. I'd not played with Paul in one of these club matches before and we were drawn against a 7 and 16 handicapper and were second match out. The club had been doing extensive work on the greens this week and so the putting surfaces were not at their best but aside from that the rest of the course was looking a picture. The wet weather meant the rough had suddenly become lush and thick and was to be avoided at all costs and the fairways had been cut and provided some fine definition on each hole.

As a pairing Paul and I were gelling well and if either one of us had a bad hole, the other seemed to be there to carry the load and we managed to get our noses two up early on. I was playing reasonably, but I wasn't happy with the quality of the ball striking although I was for the most part finding a way to get it round. To be honest we weren't being overly exerted as the opposition were struggling as a pair and were often struggling to scramble a half on the holes.

When I found the par four 9th in two, and converted for a par we reached the turn 3 up. A par at the next was followed by a solid par at the 11th by Paul to keep the advantage and when I made a nett par at the 409 yard par 4 12th we had nicked another and extended the lead. I hit a decent tee shot at the 13th and was the only one of the quartet to find the putting surface and the par put Paul and I dormie five up. We duly did enough at the next to secure a convincing 5&4 victory.

In the end the match was tied overall 3-3 so it was good to get a point on the board. Paul and I "ham and egged" well as a team. He is a very consistent player and was rarely in trouble. I was my usual cavalier self and had some good holes and the odd wayward moment. Although the match was over, the 15th hole illustrated the point perfectly.

It's a short par 5 of 478 yards but I'd found the lush rough left off the tee. Despite the game being finished I tried to play safe and took an 8 iron to carry the ditch that crosses the fairway and failed miserable sticking the ball straight in. Having retrieved the ball from the ditch I took a penalty drop and was left with 187 yards of a slight downhill lie. I took the 3 hybrid and although I caught it a little thin it was arrow straight at the flag. It pitched short of the green and rolled and rolled towards the pin stopping a matter of inches away for a tap in par 5. When it's your day, it's your day.

The opposition were very sporting and to be fair caught the two of us on a day when it just clicked. I hit a few good shots, but a lot of mediocre ones too in terms of the quality of the swing and the strike. It was a day that I managed to fashion a respectable performance out of an average swing. There is a lot going on that isn't right but fortunately I'm off to see my teaching professional Rhys ap Iolo this week and so we can sort the problems out and hopefully get me back on track. I was happy to gain a modicum of revenge by winning because it was the away fixture last season where I finally lost my unbeaten record in club matches after a run of seventeen games. I knew it had to go eventually but I got turned over 5&4 with former club captain Pat Quaid. That's a ghost laid to rest and the new unbeaten streak is up to two and counting.