Two's Company

I played in a club match yesterday against Caversham Heath and was partnered by Derek Williams. He and I have played together in these affairs before and were putting our extensive 100% record, played one, won one, on the line. I love these club matches. Whilst they are competitive, the winning isn't the be all and end all and it is all about having some fun, meeting new people and enjoying the game. Yes, the club does play in other types of matches where the result is the crucial thing and those games have a part to play in our golfing calendar and it is always great when the club does well. However as one who will never be good enough for selection for any of these sides on current form at least, I'll content myself with these friendly encounters.

I had arrived early primarily to get some practice in. I'd had to miss the stableford on Saturday for domestic reasons and so hadn't hit a ball in anger since the Jubilee Cup on Bank Holiday Monday. Whilst I was on the practice ground (or Bedborough Field as it's known) a junior sauntered on and started to hit shots. Every one was high, long and straight and with minimal effort unlike the contorted body shapes I was throwing to try and make reasonable contact. He wandered off and I thought nothing more about it. I'm sure many of you are already ahead of me but this whippersnapper was one of the opposition pair that Derek and I would face. He was a 15 year old off 11 handicap which meant he had to give me two shots and Derek six. He was partnered by a great Liverpudlian guy and I knew that while the golf would be tough, the atmosphere would be cracking.

I started off pretty well making a chip and putt for a par. I knew it could be a long day when this youngster stood on the 1st, all 229 yards of it, into the wind, with a 3 iron in his hand. He came up about ten yards short but chipped stone dead. I chipped to about six feet and my putt dropped with the last ounce of strength left on it. One more revolution and it wouldn't have got there. I hit the 2nd in regulation but then three putted to gift them the hole. A solid par from the youngster at the next put them two up. However, I made a birdie at the 4th to reduce the deficit and Derek won the next to get it back to all square.

Both Jim the Scouser from Caversham and I hit the front edge of the 6th. Derek carved it wide and faced a tricky chip from rough over the bunker and the James the wunderkid found sand. Both Jim and I three putted from 25 feet and James couldn't get up and down from the bunker. Derek set up to hit a high lob which was a high tariff shot but pulled it off and the ball landed eight feet away. He duly holed for the only par. Hitting the green in regulation is clearly overrated.

It was all square at the turn and we all made par at the 10th. Derek hit the green for Team Ascot at the 11th but three putted to let the opposition escape with a half. However he won the next and began a golden spell of golf for him and us as a pairing. He hit his drive into the trees on the corner of the dogleg on the 12th. The only way he could make progress was to play the shot left handed. It was the kind of shot my icon Seve would have played and it seemed fitting after the news of his death that Derek took the shot on and pulled it off with such aplomb. He then hit the green and made a nett par which was enough to steal the hole. Daylight robbery. He won the 13th with another improbable chip and putt from the wilderness way right of the green and then took the 14th with a shot and by the time we halved the par five 15th we were dormie three up. My partner managed to close the game out when James could only make a par four (impressive at it was) and his five (nett four) got the half we needed.

It was a cracking game played in the right spirit and although Royal Ascot ran out comfortable winners, the return at Caversham Heath in September promises to be no easy ride. On a personal level my golf was very patchy although a few times I had taken on the risky shot while Derek had taken the pragmatic line. Given that it was matchplay and the individual score really didn't matter, I probably shouldn't be overly critical. I came in when needed especially on the front nine. My driving was poor although my iron play was pretty good especially as the wind was making club selection very tricky. My putting was streaky but I only had 30 putts in total and there were two three putts in that number. I'll put some work in on my swing this week and see what happens going forward. However I'm happy to bask in my new playing record with Derek, played two, won two. I can't wait to do it again soon.

Seve Ballesteros

Once in every generation a man comes along that dominates the game of golf. For me that was Seve Ballesteros and it was he alone that made me take up golf. Raven haired, lean, with dark brooding eyes, he had a burning desire to win every time he teed it up, I watched on TV, captivated as a youngster, as he came a brilliant 2nd to Johnny Miller in 1976 and then three years later finally won the Open for the first time.

By then I was already playing myself and in my own mind would always be Seve. No matter how hard the shot or how desperate the match situation, like him I always thought I could triumph. The only difference was he had the talent to deliver. No other golfer was responsible for catapulting European golf onto the world stage. He became the first European to win the Masters in 1980 and then repeated it with another win in 1983 at the start of reign of dominance of that event by the best Europe could offer.

However perhaps the most iconic victory was his 1984 triumph at St Andrews and that jig of delight on the 18th green after making a birdie which ultimately was enough for victory. It became a trademark of Seve's and he even had a tattoo of the picture on his arm.

By then Seve was in his pomp. He was the one golfer the Americans truly feared and had become a byword for talent, flair and doggedness. Like most geniuses he was a bit of a maverick and courted controversy, particularly with tournament rules officials and the media with his forthright views. However with a club in his hand he was mercurial.

It wasn't just his individual playing career that was sensational. His refusal to know when he was beaten transferred to the Ryder Cup and he was the fuse that blew the US domination away. As a player he formed a terrific partner with Jose Maria Olazabal who looked upon him as an older brother and arguably saved his own best golf for when he partnered Seve. It wasn't just on the course though, Seve was also a leader in the team room. He was part of the team that won for the first time since 1957 at the Belfry under Tony Jacklin's guidance in 1985 and again two years later when they won on American soil for the first time. He famously said "I look into their eyes, shake their hand, pat their back, and wish them luck, but I am thinking, 'I am going to bury you " and he usually did.

As a Ryder Cup captain he was every bit as determined to win as he had been when he played and he led the team to victory on Spanish soil in 1997. It seemed there had to be Seve clones as he was here, there and everywhere always in the heart of the action. The tears in the eyes of the great man as Europe triumphed showed exactly what it meant to him.

As a huge Seve fan it was agonising to see him struggle with his game in the latter part of his career and like a boxer taking on one too many fights I wish he had quit at the top rather than becoming a caricature of the golfer we all knew.

It was a huge shock when the news of his illness came out and typically he fought it with tenacity, grit and a lot of humour. Even as he battled the disease, he still found the strength to set up the Seve Foundation in connection with Cancer Research UK to raise money for research into brain tumours. I was saddened to wake up to the news this morning that he had finally lost his fight but will always remember him as THE golfer of my generation. Without him I wouldn't have been touched by this magical game and all it has given me. The word legend is bandied about way too often these days but Seve really was a true legend as well as a fine gentleman and inspiration. RIP Seve.

A Brave Defence

In the end it wasn't to be, and the Jubilee Cup won't be coming home to Homer. Subject to ratification, it looks like the Sundance Kid  (Matt Davis) has ridden in to town again and saddled up with Wyatt Earp (Colin Osborn) to take the spoils. Playing off three quarter handicaps (meaning Matt was off 14 and Colin was off 9) and given the wind was as strong and gusty as it had been all weekend, their 44 point total was mightily impressive.

With only a few groups left to come in by the time I left, it will take something very special for Matt and Colin to be beaten. They recently one the Winter League competition too and so they are forming THE pairing to beat.

I was playing with Mike Stannard, a fellow Fulham fan and a man in a rich vein of form having recently enjoyed a handicap cut to 11. My game was showing signs of life and I was cautiously optimistic of a reasonable showing. The first at Royal Ascot is tough. If you want to know how tough check out the "Hackers Guide to Royal Ascot - Hole 1" for all the pitfalls. Suffice to say at 229 yard and with out of bounds, bunkers and a pond to contend with it, is not an appetising first shot. Did I mention the wind? It was blowing straight into our faces and with Mike not getting a shot off the 3/4 handicap format the pressure was on me to make sure I used mine wisely. Lo, I only went and drove the green. That doesn't happen often even in calm conditions. I even made par and the boys were off and running.

When I got up and down for a par from a bunker on the second, chipped and putted for a par at the third we were already three points up on our handicap. I was level par. It must be a dream. Reality kicked in on the relatively easy 4th and we both dropped a shot. Schoolboy error in this format. However I got that straight back at the 5th with a great pitch from left of the green and two solid putts for par. I even hit the heart of the green at my nemesis hole the 6th. I was only one over par. Mike came to the party on the last three holes of the front nine and we had gone out in a whopping 22 points. Game on.

I carried it on on the 10th with another par although I didn't get a shot. Damn this 3/4 handicap lark. And then the wheels came off. I lost my ball after the tee shot on the par 3 11th missed left. It didn't look in any danger but could we find it? Not a sniff. Mike had a horror show in the bunker and we didn't score a point. I made a brave ten footer for a nett par on the next to keep some momentum and found the heart of the green on the 13th for another par. Mike stepped in at the 14th for another two points. On the 15th he smoked a drive and only had an iron into the par 5. A birdie or better and we were back in it. I had hooked my drive and was faced with a shot from the 14th fairway between two trees.

Mike's approach was well struck but missed the target pin high. I was going to play it conservatively but decided he'd be good for a par at worse and so gambled on going for it. Big mistake. A rubbish swing saw my 4 iron slice to the right, hit one of the two trees and disappear. Another lost ball but Mike made par so it was worth the risk. I got another solid two points at the next and on the 17th I was short of the green off the tee. I hit a decent chip, given the pressure, to within two feet. Unfortunately the putting bubble burst and I missed it for another dropped point. I hooked my 3 wood off the last tee trying too hard to make a par for three points which we desperately needed to have any realistic chance. In the end I had to lay up short of the green, and although Mike made a par five, he didn't get a shot so it was another two points. I had a shot from 15 feet to save par and clinch the three points but in the end it missed right.

In the end, 37 points was a fair defence but after such a blistering start, it was a little bit of a whimper on the back nine. However I am delighted at the way I played. After so many false dawns, so many "it is coming" comments and so much hard work it was great to get the reward scoring wise for way I hit it. I've got a lesson on Wednesday evening and so we'll attack the short game again. After that it is the monthly stableford on Saturday and for the first time in a while I actually feel confident. It'll probably be the kiss of death now but I feel I've turned a corner. Bring it on.

WInd Of Change

It's been a great long weekend and I've finally played some decent golf. I took the opportunity on Friday to play golf rather than watch the Royal nuptials (that'll be the OBE gone then) and it seemed like every other male had the same idea. I played with my old mate Paul "Buddly" Sweetman and fortunately we got on the 1st tee just before the hoards. It was heaving.

It's always fun when we play. It's always serious as there is always lunch on the outcome but there is always a lot of enjoyable banter too. Paul is a very capable 12 handicapper and with his legendary buttery soft hands, he is a short game wizard and so can make up for a lot of errors with his chipping and putting. It was a nip and tuck game and I pulled away in the middle of the back nine with a rare birdie two at the 186 yard 13th and followed it up with a chip and putt par. I let it slip on the last two holes and I was holding a slender one point advantage going down the last. Paul played three good shots to make the green. I responded in kind. Paul two putted for a par and I hit my first putt two feet past and couldn't hole the return and so honours were even. I got the drinks and Paul got the food. Happy days.

I was due to go out with the normal suspects on Saturday but felt decidedly unwell and so didn't play. Given how strong the wind was blowing it wasn't the worse decision I've ever made. I decided Sunday morning was short game time and spent a useful couple of hours working on my chipping and putting. The Linear method for chipping I'm using is better than the error strewn short game I had before but still isn't great. Fortunately I've a lesson on Wednesday so we'll make some progress.

I decided to brave the wind on Sunday afternoon to get some valuable practice in before trying to defend the Jubilee Cup (four ball better ball event) with my partner Mike Stannard who has been playing great recently. I thought I owed it to him to at least contribute somewhere along the line. Boy it was hard. The wind made club selection a mockery and scoring was difficult. The good news was that the putting practice seemed to work and I one putted the first four greens. I struck the ball well in places but also had some poor shots. Playing on your own is always tricky as there isn't the banter or competitive spark to feed off. Mind you the course was empty and so I got to play a few practice shots around the greens too.

Being a relatively short hitter, the wind can make my life very hard but the good news is the ball striking is coming on. With the practice in the tank, I felt ready to defend my title. The bad news was the winds were forecast to be as strong if not stronger. Maybe they would blow in a change of fortune scoring wise and finally I could realise some of the promise recent rounds have shown. We shall see.

Where in the World?

One of the great things you get when you do these blogs is the ability to track how many people look at your work and where abouts in the world they come from. It seems to biggest source of  traffic is from my home club which is refreshing and however you come to my humble efforts charting the incompetence of an enthusiastic "Chopper" and golf in general you are very welcome.

However looking at the stats for this week alone, I've attracted interest from around the world. Not withstanding big golfing hotspots like the UK, Ireland and the US, there have been hits from Iran, Slovenia, Italy etc. I seem to be "big" in Poland and down under in Australia too. G'day. Wherever you are from, it'll be great if you could leave some feedback on the posts I make. Maybe you empathise with the way I lurch from one golfing disaster to another. Maybe you disagree with the way I approach the game. Maybe you could even help this "almost" lost cause. Either way, I'd love to get some comments and dialogue going and who knows maybe some more followers. I've added a Twitter link too so if there is something on here you want to share with your golfing Tweeps just click and post. It's so simple to use and so there is really no excuse now not to get involved. Wherever in the world you are, it's good to see you here. Don't be shy and say hello.

Field Of Dreams

There are some people out there that really cheese me off. You know the type. They play any number of different sports and are extremely proficient if not downright good at them all. I've dabbled with a few in my time. I was a reasonable goalkeeper in my youth,  and a game if not particularly skilled full back later in my career. I kept wicket well enough to maintain a regular second XI berth but usually batted at number 12 (club average around 4). As a kid I was a solid team member for my local athletics club and would do a job in cross country and 800 and 1500 meters and get some valuable points in team matches. I've was even a half decent pub league darts player with a few 180's and a 155 finish to my name. The point is whilst I was "reasonable" I was never really good at any of these. The main reason was I was too lazy or distracted to practice or train properly or efficiently.

To a certain degree it has always the same with golf. Granted I had much more natural aptitude for it and got down quite quickly as a junior until I got to those halcyon days (almost thirty years ago) of being a low single figure player and an assistant pro. However even then, the only way I could maintain that level was to practice and play daily. Once I realised I couldn't make a living from the game and found women and beer I stopped practicing. My golf became worse and I lost even more interest and so a cycle emerged. I'd not practice, play badly and lose interest. Repeat until a point where I gave up altogether.

The point of this "This is your life" reminisce is simple. Whilst I have no pretension of getting down to low single figures I'd love to get down to a 9 or 10 handicap again. The only way I can do that is to work on my game A LOT, and work on the right things. I have regular lessons which are helping keep the bad faults in check and my short game is in post-op recovery at the moment but has come off the life support. It is getting better.

One of the best things about my club is the members. There is a big group of regulars and their humour is savage. I've acquired the moniker of "The Pro" for the amount of time I spend on the practice ground as opposed to playing. It's been said that I am always out there. There has been much comment on whether I spend too much time tinkering and looking for something I'll never find. How much is too much practice?

Some of the wags, ok, some of the smart-arses have even started to dub the practice ground "The Martin Bedborough Practice Field" and are joshing that I should charge other members to use my private facility. Maybe they have a point. I could make a tidy profit. The point is, the clubs practice facility is important to me especially in the summer. It is my "Field of Dreams" and although I don't see images of dead golfers talking to me, it does inspire me to find my best game. To that degree it is working. I am getting close to producing some quality golf for 18 holes and not just one nine or a run of holes.

A lot of those given me a ribbing are those annoying people I mentioned at the start. They play golf well (many are low teen or single figures) and although they play regularly, and some a lot, they never seem to suffer big dips in form or need to work at their games. Sadly I was and never will be with work and family life to deal with as well, one of those. Golf has never come easy. I do believe you get out what you put in and so thankfully I should be getting the just rewards soon. It has been a solid winter's work and the ball strike is so much better now. Get a short game and stop making errors and this time next year Rodders I could be a contender. Mange Tout. 

In the meantime, if you feel the need to practice and "The Pro" is in residence don't forget your fee to use my facility. I'll see you on the "Field of Dreams" soon.

Things Are Getting Right Up My Nose

I'm enjoying the nice long weekend to and the decent weather to boot. What more can a golfer ask for? I actually managed to slip out of work on Thursday afternoon (thank you flexi time) and hooked up with Anthony "Kerching" Ayres from our Saturday swindle for a game. I didn't play great but used the round for some good on course practice. Anthony however had a sterling game and shot a personal best 89.

This weekend is the Haig Cup at Royal Ascot. It is a two round event but you can pick which two days of the four days (Good Friday to Bank Holiday Monday) you want to play on. It is a bogey competition. Apart from that word being a source of classroom merriment as a child, a bogey event is basically a matchplay game against the course. If you get a nett birdie, for example making a par on a hole you get a shot on, you win the hole. A nett par (after any shots received) is classed as a half and anything more than that the course is deemed to have won that hole.

I played my first round yesterday morning. Getting to the first tee about 7.45 it was swamped with golfers looking to get out in the coolest part of the day and get their first card in. I was playing with my great golfing pals, Mike Stannard (12 handicap) Colin Osborn (also off 12) and Matt Davis or "Sundance" as we know him who has been cut after a stellar April (and now off 20).

I have to say there is a certain pattern emerging in competitions and it is getting right up my nose. I am hitting the ball pretty well and the early stages yesterday were no exception. No drama down the 1st and a fairway piercing drive down the 2nd. I then pulled my second shot into the fairway bunker left. A hanging lie saw me find the greenside bunker right and I walk off with a six, admittedly a halved hole, having wasted a shot. I compounded that on the next. I hit a great drive to only leave 99 yards in. I'm standing there with just a wedge in my hand and manage to hoick it left of the green and into the bunker. I then try and get too smart with the recovery and leave the first escape in there. I walk off with a 6 and a loss from nowhere. The pattern continued when I three putted the 4th for another defeat. The course is 2 up on me and sniggering itself silly.

I then managed to get one back with a good par at the 5th and stole a rare par at the par 3 6th which regular readers know is a real nemesis hole. I hit a good 4 iron into the heart of the green and two putted. Standing on the 9th I'm back to just one down. I hit a good drive a little right which missed the large fairway bunker but left me with just a 6 iron in from a slightly downhill lie. Now admittedly I didn't put a great swing on the shot and it was pushed right but I didn't deserve what happened next. It landed on the trolley path and shot 45 degrees straight right and flew across the putting green and was well and truly out of bounds. Another hole lost but one errant shot harshly punished. I'm beginning to think if it wasn't for the bad luck I seem to be getting lately in competitions I'd have no luck at all.

Mr Angry was beginning to rise again and was simmering on a low heat by the time I reached the 12th tee. I'd found both the 10th and 11th green in regulation and then managed to three putt both times to snatch a half from the jaws of a win. However I did redeem myself with a rare par 4 at the 12th with a good chip and a single putt. The good mood wasn't to last and a defeat at the next and a lost ball courtesy of a wild slice off the 14th meant I was suddenly three down. I managed to steady the ship but finished the round three down to the course. Coming back in,  we found playing with me must have paid off in some fashion as "Kerching" had played a career round. He'd played the first nine holes in one over gross and finished the whole round in 80 off a 24 handicap and was sitting there at +9.

To be fair to him, he's one of these guys that has wanted to get cut for a while but never managed to do it when it mattered in a club competition. It never stopped him taking the money on a Saturday morning although to give him his dues he always got the chips in with his winnings. However such a performance will give his handicap a serious nose bleed after it has been calculated and whether he goes on and wins the overall prize or not it was still a super round.

And so what did the new dawn bring today. Well apart from the weather being even hotter than yesterday not much from me really. I played my second round of the Haig Cup with the same group as yesterday. To be honest I wasn't really that focused and knew I couldn't win and that the best I was playing for was a decent score today and a bit of pride.

The mood wasn't improved by a loss at the first when my tee shot went right and I could only hack short of the green in two. It takes a rare kind of idiot to repeat such basic errors as missing the 3rd green from 100 yards but I did so today. Granted it went into the right hand bunker this time but a miss is a miss. I wasn't helped that there was hardly any sand in the bunker and my club skidded on the hard base of the trap and the ball shot over the green. I made two solid pars at the 4th and 5th and despite putting my tee shot at the 6th into a bunker felt cautiously optimistic I could get it out and give myself a putt for a half. It came out well. Too well and over the green. By the time I'd duffed the chip coming back I'd lost another hole. I lost another at the 8th. I hit the ball flush with a seven iron to a 143 yard flag which is a 7 iron all day long for me. Not today though and it waved at the green as it flew over it. Bugger.

With absolutely nothing riding on the back nine and not even battered pride at stake I found it hard to get any competitive juices running. I did make a lovely par at the 10th finally hitting an approach shot straight to within 8 feet but failing to convert the putt. I got a half at the next and then yet again I got punished for only a slight error in judgement. I tried to take a fraction too much off the dog-leg from the tee and it came down perilously close to the tree line guarding the right edge of the fairway. Of course when I got there it had landed right at the base of a tree with hardly any room to make a swing. I moved it about five yards forward and then put my next in the bunker. I hit a good recovery to 6 feet and finally, finally made a putt for a battling five, nett four and a half. I lost the next three holes through a mixture of even more bad fortune, two poor swings and a general dis-interest in proceedings by this stage.

My misery was compounded when I hooked a tee shot out of bounds on the 17th tee with a hook and then proceeded to put two out of bounds off the 18th tee with a slice. In the end I finished a miserable 6 down on the day and 9 down overall. I won't know where that puts me until Tuesday at the earliest but it I'll be looking a long way down the results sheet to find my name. Mike Stannard had a great round today and managed a personal best in competition play at Royal Ascot of 79 with a great birdie four at the last. The downside to that is that he's likely to get a handicap cut and so be off a lower handicap when he partners me for the Jubilee Cup next weekend which I am currently holder of (although not with Mike as my partner)

So what can I take away from my two rounds apart from a glowing red face and arms. Well on the face of it very little. However I have to believe that sooner rather than later, I am going to get some reward for the ball striking I'm producing and get away with some loose shots so that I can finally string a score together. Don't get me wrong, if I'm slicing, topping it, hitting fat or generally playing rubbish golf I'd hold my hand up and admit I'm not  playing well enough. The annoying thing is I'm driving it much better of late, my new short game is finally emerging from the darkness and I am making good contact with 90% of my shots. It is schoolboy errors and a lack of focus and concentration that is holding me back. I need to get the putter warmed up (and decide which one I want to keep in the bag) and work on the chipping and putting.

I think I might need to give this book another read. I need to try and alter the mindset away from worrying too much about how well (or not) I'm playing in a competition and try and relax more. The problem is I seem to make the same basic errors in social rounds as well and so it isn't a case of trying too hard or putting too much pressure on myself. I do feel lady luck hasn't shone down on me either but I firmly believe you make your own luck sometimes. Get rid of the mistakes and maybe the putts will start to fall instead. We can but hope.

However it isn't all doom and gloom. There are two more days before work beckons again and another round is booked for Monday. Therefore in summary and in honour of the bogey competition this weekend and my schoolboy humour, it's snot as bad as it could be!