Chaos At Camberley

Despite heavy overnight rain, the day dawned bright and sunny. Fortunate as the Golf Monthly Forum meet at Camberley Heath was an all day event over twenty seven holes. These are superbly organised days, often at hugely discounted prices and give members the chance to play some very good courses (http://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/).

I'd had a shocker at Tylney Park on Saturday and had retired to the practise field on Sunday to fathom the root cause. I left there feeling confident and felt I was striking the ball much better. In fact there was a cautious air of anticipation and optimism. Established in 1913 Camberley Heath Golf Club was designed by the legendary H. S. (Harry Shapland) Colt. His legacy is an outstanding heathland course, where natural contours have been used to enhance the "strategic golf experience". Camberley Heath has a rich golfing heritage. The Duke of York, later to become King George VI, was an honorary member and the Prince of Wales followed as patron of the club.

In truth the optimism lasted as long as the first pulled drive. Actually I managed to hit a good hybrid from 192 yards and found the green and made an opening par. I pulled the five iron tee shot to the elevated second and the ball ended up on the third tee box. With the flag on the left hand side, there was no shot. I hit a chip and run with the intention of just finding the putting surface. It pitched on the tee box, ran down the slope and disappeared from sight. It had slowed in the fringe and rolled stone dead. Level par after two. From there the wheels came off. I couldn't hit a drive and the swing had deserted me. I was too quick, technically incorrect and the ball was going anywhere but straight.

In the end I was glad it was a nine hole competition, a pre-cursor to the main event. It gave me time after a wonderful brunch to hit some balls and look for something, anything I could work with in the afternoon.

I managed to scramble two net pars to open my afternoon round. I was still unhappy with everything about my game and not in control. My luck was to run out on the third. I actually hit a decent drive but pushed it right. It hit a large pine tree, shot left and dropped down close to the second hole. I was left with no shot as there was a tree five feet in front and nowhere to drop or aim for. I tried to hit a nine iron to just clear the rough. It hit the tree, threatened to castrate my playing partners and left me in the heather. I didn't score on that hole

The 3rd was to prove the beginning of the end

After this, the round disintegrated. There was the odd good shot, but mainly a mix of thins, pushes, mis-hits and even the odd shank thrown in for good measure. Tempo was an alien word, everything I'd worked on with my teaching pro seemed to evaporate in the warm sun. I melted quicker than a Cornetto in the sun.

The back nine was marginally better. I managed a birdie two at the 160 yard par three fourteenth. I finally managed to put a good swing on a five iron to put the ball to twelve feet and sunk the putt. Naturally it wasn't a hole I got a shot on.

By the time we came to the uphill par four, with the clubhouse perched at the top I was drained physically and mentally and wanted the humiliation to end. Even then I couldn't find a last hurrah. The tee shot was off the neck and left a long uphill second. That found the bunkers short and I made a horlicks of the bunker shot and eventually scrambled a closing six for a solitary point.

The view from the 18th with the sanctuary of the clubhouse at the top of the hill

Despite my own trials and tribulations, the day was great fun. It's always good to meet other members of the Golf Monthly Forum and the day really isn't all about winning anyway. The weather had been kind, the partners I played with in both the morning and the afternoon were great company and we were able to laugh at our own fallibility's. Dinner was good and there was some savage banter from the usual suspects at these events. I didn't even register in the prize giving. I didn't come last but was well down the list.

So what went wrong? I didn't swing great at Tylney Park even if you take away the difficulty of the course set up. I managed to swing well in practise on Sunday and played a few holes and hit it well enough not to have a sleepless night before the Camberley meet. In truth I don't know what is going wrong but with my own course inaccessible courtesy of the Royal Ascot racing this week, I have a lesson booked for Thursday. I'm hoping Rhys ap Iolo will rub the magic sponge on the injured swing and resurrect it in time for the first round match in the Volvo Matchplay with my usual partner Mike Stannard.

All in all, not what I was looking for at all but I'm realistic to know you can't play well all of the time. Consistency is one of the keys I'm looking to introduce to my game and to a large degree have managed it. Even when I've not been playing well I've found a way to get it round. The weekend and yesterday were a horrid throwback to the days when once it goes the wheels fall of followed by the axle and the exhaust.

Time to take stock, let Rhys have a look at where I'm at with my swing and start again towards the second half of the season. There's another Golf Monthly Forum day in aid of Help for Heroes in October and it'll be nice to show those attending that I can actually play the game a bit. We'll consign this to the "Oh Dear" files and move on. Nothing to see here