blonde poker forum

A really pleasing amount of interaction on my Diary about golf so I think it makes sense to start a Golf thread & see if it gets any traction.

We seem to have quite a few golfers here, some long-term, others quite new. We also have a Golf "Pro" of sorts - MANTIS is in the Golf Business, think he's a junior greenkeeper or something.

Use this thread to report on golf rounds, reports on different Courses, anecdotes, clubs you want to buy or sell, & of course bandits. Oh, & especially any 'photos of yourselves & your golf pals.

PS - Chirping is allowed.  

Starter for 10....


Biggest golf "peeve"?

Was wondering the other day why you hadn't done this already, it's gonna be like a poker thread though full of posts with bad beats and thinly veiled brags :)

Here's a couple from recent holiday.

Slow play, playing a new course behind a 3 ball 2 guys and a lady. We were a 2 ball and my brother in law doesn't carry the ball that far I had looked at the course and we decided to play off the blues in between normal yellows and ladies reds. This 3 ball carried the ball a lot less than my BOL and were playing off the tips. Waiting all day in soaring heat was bad enough but watching them hit at least 2 balls of every tee as they couldn't carry it to play got to me and when we caught them at the next tee I politely informed them they were playing off the wrong tees. They said it was a comp (not an official one but between a bunch of expats) and they had to play off the 'Rocks' which were rocks with the hole info on. Didn't think to offer us through and stood on every green visibly counting the 12 shots they had each taken then walking back across the green as they had forgotten a club at the other side.

Last game with Swiss guy and his grandson - no etiquette - young lad would regularly just play when he felt like it. We would both have similar puts on a line I was further away and he just strode in and played then both would walk right over your line when at the hole. We just looked at each other and had a laugh but did wonder as I know golfers in Switzerland have to pay to get a licence and pass a test on etiquette etc. Guess there isn't a don't be a dick section to it.

Anyway great idea will probably get me posting a bit again. When's the next 'Blonde Golf Bash ^TM '?

 When's the next 'Blonde Golf Bash'?


Monday (weather permitting)

I’ve only played Golf twice, once in England and once in Vegas. I was terrible both times.

I’ve always felt golf is an expensive sport, am I wrong? Can you hire clubs, or do you have to have your own? How much is 18 holes roughly?

Pet peeves are slow play and bad etiquette. Oh and my driver at present. 🤣

Had one of my best rounds last Weds playing with Chris "Sleazy" Keyworth. So did he BTW. Played Onneley Golf club which I joined the day before.

(https://i.ibb.co/LmY9dLm/20250716-114151.jpg) (https://ibb.co/pcb4jtc)

In thread! present golf hate - insects - got bitten by clegs last saturday now big red marks near the sockline. 

I hate it when the people in your four ball invite the two  ball behind to play through without telling you, which could lead to an embarrassing situation.

Huge golfer and fan here! Will enjoy the thread for sure

Fave type of course?

Links golf for me can’t be beaten.

Day 4 of The Open.


Anyone notice that Nicolai Højgaard & his twin brother Rasmus Højgaard are tied going into Day 4, both on -6?

What are the chances of that? Some proud parents there. 

Sadly, due to starting time protocol, & 5 players all tied on -6, they are in separate pairings, 10 minutes apart. Would have been rather lovely if they went out together today. 

My bets for The Open (all EW) were....

Harry Hall (-5)

Henrik Stenson (-1)

Justin Rose (-5)

Russell Henley (-6)

Tyrrell Hatton (-8)



So, realistically, I have a squeak of an EW place with the cool, calm & collected Tyrrell, and so I'll be rooting for him.

Hall, Rose & Henley all need a minor miracle, & Stenson is out of it.

Pretty pleased to get all 5 through to Day 4, but still every chance of coming up dry.

Moderately flat Parkland.

Links golf, generally speaking, is way too hard for me, with bunkers & gorse galore. I did play Seacroft (Skegness) which is Links, & Woodhall Spa (Heathland) on a 2 day sortie recently, & just about got it round both with semi-respectable cards, but if I only had one round left to play in my life it'd be a flattish Parkland.

I don't really know where to start with that...


We were a 4 ball (Red, JAKALLY, bookiebasher & me) & JAKALLY was searching for his tee shot in the spinach on the other side of the Fairway, while the other 3 of us were a few yards apart on the opposite side. A good 2 ball were waiting on the tee, so we shouted "PLAY THROUGH GUYS". They were 200 yards away & heard us clearly, as they snap prepared to drive off.

The first guy bombs it down the middle, it lands 10 yards past us & bounds along another 50 yards.

Whereupon Mr Red suddenly turns to face them, cups his hands & roars at the top of his voice WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK ARE YOU DOING, CAN'T YOU SEE US?

Apologies & red faces all round. Tom blamed us, obv.   

Never heard of "clegs" before, apparently normal people refer to them as horseflies. Still, google informs us that only the female bites humans, so there's that. 

Indeed, & looking good so far.

It's a re-match between Karabiner, Red & myself, following the initial 3-ball a couple of weeks ago. I can't recall who won on that occasion but we can be pretty sure who didn't. Tomorrow I will play better. Maybe. 

It's touch & go on the weather front, but as of Sunday morning it's looking maybe 60-40.

Hi Vinni.

Hiring clubs can be done occasionally, but generally I don't think it's an option.

You can buy a set dirt cheap on Facebook, e-Bay or at a Car Boot though. I think Red paid about £80 for his starter set & they don't stop him hitting the ball a mile. Some of my Clubs are 30 years old from my Golf 1.0 adventures. As a golf newbie, any old clubs will do for starters.

Cost of a round of golf varies enormously, but as a general rule, on a half-decent Course you are talking anywhere between £25 & £50 per round as a Guest or Visitor. Might be able to get on a Muni a bit cheaper I guess.  

If you get the bug, then it's best to join a Club. A regular Course will charge between £1,000 & £1,500 per year, (some have a joining fee too) but for that you can play every day of the year, so it becomes great value the more you play.

Need a few other bits & bobs too - golf shoes, balls & sundry bits & bobs, but mostly cheap, except for the shoes.

I think you'd do just fine, but some Courses are a tough walk so ideally you need to lose 3 or 4 stone first.  

A cleg is a type of horsefly, specifically the Haematopota species, known for its painful bite and tendency to be stealthy. While "horsefly" is a general term for various flies in the Tabanidae family, "cleg" often refers to the Haematopota species known for its sneaky approach and painful bite

also from google and the last phrase describes my assailants perfectly.


 

There are three, "No membership required" golf courses near me. The cheapest is Enderby, £9.60 for 9 holes or 13.60 for 18.
The next is Whetstone, £18.50 for 18.
Then there is Leicester Golf Center. I think that's £14 for 9 ans £25 for 18.

I imagine there are similar places everywhere.

FYI Vincent, it's cheaper to fly back to the UK for a round of golf than it is to play in Malta

They had promised to wear identical clothes had they been drawn together which would have been fun for the commentators.

In my golfing days I made the same trip with a pal. Woodhall Spa (Hotchkin the original course not the abominable Bracken) followed by Seacroft.
A different friend used to organise a game for his birthday. Players would gather from around the country and the course was always in the Top 100 list (UK).
In truth i was never good enough to play courses like Woodhall Spa, nor St Andrews, Birkdake, Lindrick, Ganton etc but managed to get a memory from each of them. Took the trophy twice through the wonders of inconsistency and the handicap system.

I don’t play these days, and hadn’t really missed it till you lot started chirping on about it. Starting to wish I hadn’t sold the clubs now.

Speaking of the wonders of inconsistency and the handicap system...

you tube golf vids.

Anyone got favs? There are so many and unfortunately a lot of them have either very little content or don't actually cover the topic billed. One I watched the other day claimed to show the difference between good putters and bad putters and then prattled on about the most common error of good putters until I gave up with it.

This is an ok one for content and somewhat on topic with thread readers.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TlX5CByq7Y

I have been using my neighbours spare electric trolley to see how I go on. Game changer for us mature golfers so I've purchased one complete with brolly holder and phone holder.


(https://i.ibb.co/mCP2f0Qy/Messenger-creation-EF66565-A-7188-42-A1-BFF3-4-FC135-A2-BA6-E.jpg) (https://ibb.co/FbdyRXGY)

(https://i.ibb.co/1GhsLyfF/Messenger-creation-CDB6-D042-81-BA-4606-8-B41-BE5-D4-CADFF6-A.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fdB826Yj)

(https://i.ibb.co/8g8Bp8n2/Messenger-creation-BCD6-EAB8-12-EB-4-D25-9-C1-C-330-B23029-D19.jpg) (https://ibb.co/60sZxscb)

Game changer

FFS don't let Red see that

Will look at bit tattier when I put my 20 year old bag and clubs on it.

🤣🤣🤣

I've had one for a while and they do make life easier. I was playing a course on an island in the River Tay a couple of weeks ago (pic below) and it is accessed by a walkway alongside the bridge that carries the aberdeen train. Obv I it wasn't really practical to get my trolley and clubs up a stairway etc so I just hired a push trolley. I lost count of the number of times I tried to press the button to get the push trolley moving.... 

I might get one when I get old.

Golf life with Jimmy Bullard
Had spome decent stuff recently with him getting coaching, including from Faldo

Good round today. Best I've shot in years.

(https://i.ibb.co/KjdKxdL1/Screenshot-20250723-173103-Outlook.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HD6hT6xJ)

(https://i.ibb.co/fj1mb07/20250723-130430.jpg) (https://ibb.co/81KFJ8V)

Is that mini digger searching for your golf ball

Mizuno bag, at a guess circa turn of the millennium ?

Good call, bought in 2004 along with the irons I'm still using. Will get round to getting another bag soon. Playing 6 times a year until recently didn't justify a new one. It's very tired now isn't it.

As long as you get out be competitive and have fun that’s all that matters,

Doesn’t matter  what sent up you have

Indeed. The bag is getting a bit of wear and tear though. I feel a birthday present coming on .😁

You only have to miss one of your many holidays out and you can have a new everything

Life balance Trev, it's tricky. 😁

I don't blame you, enjoy

I suspect that Golf Stories are a bit like poker "flop stories" & bore everyone to tears, but I promised to keep you informed, & I said that I WOULD do better.

Well it's been a busy week of golf, so here goes...

(bear with me, I type slowly).

MONDAY


Wollaton Park with karabiner (Ralph) & Red, plus one of Ralph's friends.

I'll write further in due course about Wollaton itself, for now, suffice to say it's just wonderful.

 It sits just off the Nottingham Ring Road but the moment you go through the gates it's a different world. The entrance driveway goes through an avenue of majestic trees, very old & beautiful beyond words. I was curious as to their age, so researched Wollaton Hall & it appears to have been built in around 1580, so those trees in that avenue of trees may well be 450 years old. I wonder if the man who decided to plant those trees (probably Sir Francis Willoughby) ever realised how beautiful they'd look in a few centuries time?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wollaton_Hall

The Course is populated by all sorts of wildlife, but principally Deer, of which there are two distinct types, Red Deer & Fallow Deer, all of which are surprisingly tame, & you can get right up close to them. (Though NOT during the rutting season). Red Deer are rather plain, about the size of ponies or small horses. Fallow Deer are much smaller, with swishy tails, & are sort of mottled, they are what, I suppose, the cartoon "Bambi" Deer are modelled on.

Anyway, to the golf.

The final scores were 29, 30, 31 & 32, & I was the 32. Aided, I must add by fluking a 20 foot putt from the fringe on the last hole, & of course I was the highest handicapper by some way. So I never really won as such, but thanks to Golf's clever handicapping system, I get the win. And pay for the drinks. (Pot of tea).

Having played even worse than usual since Vegas, I was quite encouraged by that. I'll always be hopeless, but I can do better than I have of late. So I was actually quite pleased.

I've always been hopeless at all ball sports - football, cricket, snooker, golf, but it's never stopped me enjoying them.

TUESDAY


Tuesday we played Breadsall Moorlands, the (relatively) easiest Course on my roster. Opponents were Jamie Moult, Red, & the local Jacket Potato King, aka Bozz.

Played better again, & as we stood on the Par 4 18th Tee, Tom & I were tied for the lead, with Jamie 2 points behind. Think I had 30 points at this stage.

Tom pulled his drive miles left, way OOB, landing in the GreenKeeper's compound with a satisfying thud as it hit the roof of the Maintenance Shed.

Pinged my drive into A1 position. What could possibly go wrong? A perfect 2nd shot too- well almost perfect -  which landed just shy of the Green & then oh-so-slowly trickled into the run-off area & then into the bunker. 4 increasingly agitated thrashes later it was still there.

Golf is hard.

WEDNESDAY

Rushcliffe, just Tom & I. This will be the venue for our Golf Day with the lads next week.

The improvement continued, it's a tough track but I hit my tee-shots as good as I ever have, all straight, no shape, no duffs, though still woefully short, as always.

And mainly thanks to that I scored 35 Stabbo points - my best in yonks - & went round in 99, my first sub 100 round since pre-Vegas, when I had been regularly in the low 90's. I even shot 3 shots lower than Tom GROSS (he shot 102) & in Stabbos I shot 35 against his 23. (His handicap is 9 shots lower than mine). And to cap it off, I finished Par - Bogey - Birdie, & I doubt that's ever happened before. Bet I've not had more than 3 or 4 Birdies in the last 12 months.

Golf is easy.

THURSDAY


Breadsall Priory, which is a really tough course for me, partly because it's so hilly, & some drives need to be longer than I can manage to be in the right position for 2nd shots.

The crew was JAKALLY (Neil Giblin), bookiebasher (Jim), Tom & myself.

My main memory is how well Mr Giblin played. Think he plays off about 7 but he shot 4 over Gross I think, 74 or thereabouts. It's so lovely to see someone hit the ball that well. He's been a great mate to me down the years too, despite an unfortunate incident of my Captain's Day at Ormonde Fields ~25 years ago when, apparently, I banned him for some misdemeanour or other.... After that, he worked for DTD for many years, & he was a good customer Next Door & even came to Vegas with us one year. He's just been on a turbo diet & somehow managed to lose 4 stone in as many months.

As for me, well my improved form continued, & I started 5/3, 4/3, 5/3, 7/2, 5/3, as good as I've ever managed on Priory, & everything was going swimmingly. And then, guess who turned up?

And after that it was just a series of blobs (5 I think) & 1 pointers & I ended up with a paltry 25 points. 

Bit disappointed in myself, the round sort of got away from  me & by the time we went up the 18th I was a beaten man. I don't mind being up against it, quite enjoy it actually, but I don't like myself when my head drops.

Golf is hard.

FRIDAY

Jim, Tom, "Knighty" (non-blonde) & me.

The least said the better, pretty much everything went wrong & it was all a bit of an anti-climax & farce really.

Rob ricked his back, trapped a nerve or something, & had to walk off, & we were a 4 ball in against a whole bunch of 2 balls, who we kept letting through.

After a great start I kind of lost my way again, think I ended up with 26 points, & I believe Tom did even worse (23?) though of course off a 9 lower Handicap he scored better than me by some way in Gross terms. Tom had one of his moments again though.

One 2 ball we let through included a chap I know well, a Member, I've played 3 or 4 rounds with him & his wife, in fact Tom was with us on one occasion too. He's a retired Independent Pharmacist, sold his business recently, so he's well-loaded, a Pharmacy is like a money printing press these days. His wife is a retired School Head Mistress, & both of them are Indian but as is usually the case they speak impeccable English. However, folks from different cultures phrase things differently, & one must make allowances.

Excellent social skills in this case, & good convo starters - how are you?, do you live locally?, been playing golf long?, - that sort of thing. No normal person could possibly take offence. 

And for whatever reason, Tom took against Pharmacy Bloke. He - Tom - really is spectacularly grumpy on the Golf Course.

 

 

Complete bollocks as usual.

Last year said bloke, who has never met me before asked, "what do you do? how much do you earn? how much do you pay to play here? etc. Obviously I maintained my usual decorum and displayed an affable persona but inside I was a bit nonplussed.

Fast forward to yesterday. We had already decided to let the following two ball through and were waiting patiently on the tee.

As they approached HE shouted from 50 yards away "YOU ARE LETTING US THROUGH GUYS.

When they got closer he said, and I swear this is true, "Of course,  you are not members here." At which point he recognised Tony and said, "Oh it's you, are you married yet?"

Now I don't care if he's Indian, Azerbaijani, or Martian, he's still a *****.


PS- To his eternal credit, Tony did say to him, "I enjoy playing with your wife."

No one will ever convince me the double meaning was accidental.

For the sake of any strangers perusing this fascinating convo, there's a degree of embellishment by both parties here, in roughly equal measure. (Call it 80% by Tom, 20% by me). 

Those are truth percentages BTW.

Behave now, Tightend is on the forum.

Mind you, we're probably safe on this niche thread.

Some good you tube videos out there are :
Danny Maude   (General )
Porzak Golf.   ( General ). Very good
Dan Grieves ( Short game )
Phil Kenyon  (Putting )
Sorry I am not sure how to post links

What a great new thread.   I’ve been playing golf regular again for the last 10 years or so , running a monthly golf society when I lived in China . Since I moved to Thailand I try to play once a week.  We are really spoiled playing golf in Asia

If you’re ever short of a golfer I’d always be happy to join! Be good to catch up with everyone

New golf bag day.

[(https://i.ibb.co/qYvWdpgj/20250729-093342.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Zz0YVxgX)

I hope you play as good as that smart set up looks

Very impressive

Working on it Trev. 20 years since I played regularly although I still played 6-8 times a year. Been playing every week (sometimes twice) for about 4 months. Handicap of 28 coming down nicely. Putting cards on this week expecting to be around 22. Still a work in progress but loving the game again.

Playing here with my son and his friend week on Friday. That's us 3 in the photo.

https://www.abridgegolf.com/

[[(https://i.ibb.co/2Y6cXY4Z/2025-05-02-06-32-58.jpg) (https://ibb.co/93vyR35Z)

Can’t beat playing with the sun on your back

Good Luck

Er... the sun is on his front.

No need to thank me.

They aint actually playing then

No need to thank me either

Quick update, 2 rounds so far this week (could not play on Monday as I was at Goliath).

TUESDAY

It was "The Lads" Annual Golf Day at Rushcliffe, 10 or 12 of us. Was super nervous & desperate not to finish last. Played almost respectably in the end, 4 x Pars, (a record for me in 1 round I think) 2 x Blobs & managed 35 Stabbos to finish tied for 3rd having left half a dozen shots behind due to my Driver not working. Tough course, too. The day started badly & tragically - VERY badly - but maybe that's another story for elsewhere on blonde.

WEDNESDAY


Mickleover, just Tom & I. 39 Stabbos & 97 Gross, my best gross since before Vegas, when I was regularly in the mid-90's, so quite pleased. No pars, sigh, & 2 Blobs though. It's quite hilly and we walked so that's a bonus too, though am aching to bits this morning. I actually beat Tom on "Gross", my 97 v his 98, & that's the first time I've done that in a goodly while. (His Handicap is 9 lower than mine).

Weird how for everyone golf "form" comes & goes. In the last few weeks Tom has been killing us, scooping the money every time, but he's suddenly gone off the boil & was joint last at Rushcliffe, though to be fair he had a tough group to play with. Not so much tough as in good, though they were, but an awkward group socially, as he was getting coached all the time by a well-meaning chap, & I sense that that made him worse, as he has his own way of playing. He addresses the ball, stands & swings "all wrong" in textbook terms, but it works for him so that's fine.

I should add that this week I've been playing off 30, so finishing 3rd or whatever is meaningless really, as I'm getting a ton of shots off everyone.

I don't really care about winning or losing, I just enjoy the whole experience - wildlife, trees, good company & bants, & the thrill of the very occasional shot right out of the sweet spot. We saw a pair of green woodpeckers on Tuesday, right up close, & last week we had all those gorgeous Deer at Ralph's Course. Wonderful.  

Today it's a late afternoon affair at Breadsall, 4.30pm, & tomorrow it's a mid-morning jobbie (10.10am), also at Breadsall. Very hopeful that I can maintain my (minimal) improvement.

 

Craig! Lovely to hear from you, hope life is still tip-top.

Here's a view of the 4th at my course, Renfrew. It's a 450 yard tree lined par 4 and that isn't an untypical test offered to golfers on the layout. I had a first in yesterday's medal when I managed to get on the 550 yard 15th in three.

Congratulations in the win double up. 👏👏👏

lol no, I was 7th in the medal - it was the first time I'd ever managed to get on the 550 yarder in regulation!


and a very small victory in my battle to halt my decline


Old Handicap Index: 27.0

New Handicap Index: 26.9

Ha ha that's so funny. On a 550 yarder in 3 is indeed a win for us higher handicap golfers.

 I'm teeing off at 7.50 am in the morning. Putting 3 cards in tomorrow to get an official handicap. Been playing off 28 for ages. Playing regularly again so reduced myself to 26. However the app I'm using (hole 19) adjusted my handicap because of the slope to 23, and I've shot 98,94,91 in the last 3 rounds. Best I've scored in 2 decades.

The way the work it now you'll get a slightly lower handicap with the first 3 cards.

Afraid I've got to add a peeve or maybe a question as it seems you guys may do something along same lines to manage a handicap.

I get out about once a week with a bunch who are off at first tee time every week day (retired guys just playing for fun) and a few of the guys they hardly ever play medals but use the Scottish golf app which allows general play rounds for handicaps. One in particular has got himself down to about 15 from well into the 20;s . He's never that low. Now I don't know for sure where and when they submit these scores but there are always gimme's given etc and it just rankles a bit. In effect its not really cheating if you like as they are effectively hurting themself just want to have a lower handicap but why would you do that?

Just to be clear I am not suggesting that using general play rounds is wrong for handicaps but the ball has to hit the cup and you have to play by all the rules? Am i being too picky? Discuss.. :)

Hi Eck.

If they have false low handicaps doesn't that help you to win when you play against them?

Hi Red, love you have found golf and sharing 18 with you would be a delight I hope I get one day. Yeah it makes it easier but we aren't degenerates and play for money :) I basically play against myself first so it rankles but hey

I just find it odd I only submit cards on medals and in that you have no say just find it weird that someone would try to 'manipulate' it for no other reason that I can see than just to say they are lower because yeah it doesn't mean anything but they feel better or something. probably not a golf question more a human one.

If you were playing for money that would probably change his policy

No money involved he is chasing vanity

Two prime opposites the chuckle brothers, Teekster and Tom

Moorlands at Breadsall yesterday, left to right, bookiebasher, Tom, & Tom's brother, Joe.

THURSDAY


4 ball with bookiebasher, Tom & his brother, Joe.

A disappointing 30 stabbos. Started off nicely, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 (stabbos) then the wheels came off & it went Blob, 1, Blob. Managed to get it together towards the end of the round & managed two Pars (both on Par 3's, one was an up & down from a bunker) & so won about £30 in skins & pancakes. Two blobs did not help, both due to duffed tee shots.

Tom played much better than he has of late, scored 92 I think, including two birdies & two pars, & had a 20 foot putt that lipped out for an Eagle on a Par 5.

10.10 tee time today, hoping to do better, as always. Beginning to wonder if this recent decline is just bad form, or is in fact age-related.  

yes, eck, for a counting general play round on the golf app everything should be holed, unless you put in an "nr" on a hole, I think that counts as 2 over the net score for the hole, eg 18 hcap would be scored as a 7 on a par 4.

If they mostly play with each other, don't think there's much harm and they might think they're being fair to each other.

97 today, got a birdie but left 4 short putts out there. Had a run in with 3 trees which didn't help.🤣 Still enjoyed the round. Put my cards in for an official handicap.


(https://i.ibb.co/WvbmdnmQ/Screenshot-20250801-124749-Outlook.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qYtT4BTz)

There has always been and will always be manipulation of handicap. Those who manipulate it down are like fishermen who describe their catch using their arms. Those who manipulate it up are more harmful to golf. However the WHS/England Golf initiative to raise the max handicap to 54 is probably the most harmful.

I haven't played for 20 years, have 70 year old clubs and am terrible. Think I'd crush off 54. 

Going along nicely there Kev.

I invested £200 in a leccy trolley sourced for me by my little bro. What a game changer, should have done it months ago.

My current handicap is 19.9  but I was down to 18.8  last month.

Shot 92 yesterday and 93 today. I'm pleased with that but could do much better if my drive was more reliable.



(https://i.imgur.com/bwzNTHW.jpeg)

It's funny because when I'm addressing the ball with my driver I sometimes "Feel right" and I know I'm going to hit a good one. At other times I feel like I'm set up wrong, and I hit a bad one. I can get up and walk away but I still feel wrong when I come back.

Nice shooting Tom. I've not used my driver for 4 rounds, just won't do as it's told. Hitting the 3 wood much better. If I can stop hitting trees I'll be minimum 3 shots better off. 🌳🌲🏌‍♂️

Electric trolley indeed a game changer especially up those slopes.

FRIDAY


Breadsall Moorlands with bookiebasher & Tom.

A bad start with news that my Handicap had gone up another notch.

A semi-respectable front 9, 48 gross & 19 Stabbos, never played great but made very few mistakes & it was duff & blob-free with 2 Pars. Back 9 started with another Par & then the wheels came off. Drive on 11 in A1 position then I inexplicably hit my 2nd 45 degrees left into gorse, never to be seen again, & managed 2 more blobs before play concluded.

Seem to regularly get an acceptable score front 9 then go to pieces. Concentration (lack of), fatigue, or just shite. One of these days I'll put a decent 18 together.  This week's Stabbo scores were 34, 39 (Mickleover), 30 & 31. That's iff a handicap of about 28 (varies). Not much to chirp about there.

Tom, with his new electric trolley, came back to form, 4 pars & 92/33.

That's it for golf this week, I don't generally play at weekends. Poker, instead.


I can't quite recall why this 'photo was taken, but it went on our golfers WhatsApp channel.....

Moments later, some wag who thought he was funny, posted this....


Got the left to right in correct order, to be fair.

Everything is good in the land of smiles thanks Tony
Hope you are well and it’s great to read up on all your golfing exploits.  It’s such a great game. 

I’m off to Hua Hin next week to visit a friend whos a member of Black Mountain GC  so hopefully get a couple of rounds in. 
I’ll take some photos and all I need to do then is learn how to post them 😁

Frustrating day today. Started off poor bogey, bogey, double. Alloa like my previous one Braehead doesn't have a massively difficult start but you can easily rack up some big numbers if you are well of line, I always try to get past the first 3  7with what i feel is a chance of a score (two over is ok I get 14 strokes whs 12.7. Then went level par to the turn back to back birdies was nice felt great after two really hard finishing holes on front nine 21 stableford points. Won a new putter month or so ago in the only other stableford this year with 41 points on a ridiculously windy day but was still annoyed as doubled the last for an 80 so was feeling good, like stableford cause you can't go backwards :)

Feeling great 10 & 11 you can get after if you get a good drive away they weren't great but missed makeable ones for par pulled a 7 into bunker on the hard 12th with not a lot of sand and blew the green into nightmare and then it all went flat ended up with 32 points. As Booder would say meh :) 

Played a 2 ball with a guy had never met, I do this quite a bit as I'm not really a part of a group that play medals. The boys i play with in the morning don't play comps. This is another thing that I love about this game whether it's on holiday with various different nationalities or just a space on the tee sheet here I have thoroughly enjoyed the new company on pretty much most of the time. I now know a lot of the people which was handy as I lost the lighter I had in my pocket and felt comfy walking up to a lot of groups to get a light (might be a bit ocd but I have places on the course where I enjoy having a cig, is that normal smokers?)

We stopped in the bar for a juice and a chat after and lamented. He was on 18 points at midway and had an equally bad back nine. But made a new 'acquaintance' and remembered to put sun lotion on my face so i'm sitting in my cave and my head doesn't feel like leather :)  So was a lovely day.

TLDR: played ok for a bit and i really need to stop posting nonsense after a couple of bottles of wine.

Nice report Eck, I love a bit of detail.
When I was a smoker I would have had a fag on every hole and two on the par 5s

I can hit it long with my driver, which is great when it goes straight but costly when it doesn't.

I think I might experiment with a low risk, try to keep it in play round and see what happens.

Good luck with that

From my observations you only know how to play driver one way...hit it hard

I can be very disciplined when it comes to trying to win your money.

Morning.

The bolded part really resonated. I never play Medals or Opens & generally just play with the same selection of lads, there's 10 or 12 of us, but when there's nothing booked with them I enjoy just wandering up to the Tee & waiting a while, almost invariably someone will poll up & say "want to join us mate?". LOVE meeting & getting to know different folks.  

You can sit at a poker table for hours on end & nobody says hello, goodbye or fuck you, but on a Golf Course when you see other players on the Course they always exchange pleasantries, or "tip their cap".

Morning

Yeah it's a bit weird but really quite enjoy playing with 'randoms' all of them have been fine company. I never try to force a conversation and always just start out with golf chat if they want to open up and talk about life, family etc that's great just getting to know someone a bit, if not you can still have a good chat around the game.

Tom I'm probably like you I hit my driver a fair distance and will pull it out on some holes that may call for a bit more discipline but at my level i can still massively pull a 4 iron into trouble so figure out if I'm in trouble probably better being in it 50 yards further up the park :)

Was thinking of playing the club seniors' open tomorrow, but this is windy even for Scotland

Yes, we Sassenachs have abandoned Monday and booked Tuesday instead.

I'm playing Tuesday too weather awful tomorrow.

I joined this golf club since retirement and thoroughly enjoyed golf again. I'm interested see where you all play  on a regular basis so please post a link.


https://www.onneleygolfclub.com/website/

Teeing off tomorrow at 12.50

FFS Kev, do they make you read all the rules  :o

Thought this was a belter "At Onneley, we want to avoid excessively fussy rules that are applied to users of the course". They then go on to post about a dozen pages and about 5 pdf docs of rules including a full page on who is allowed to drive a buggy. Absolutely classic golf course committee behavior  :)

Looks nice, couldn't find a scorecard anywhere on the site guess they ran out of space with all the rules :)

I play here https://www.alloagolfclub.co.uk/ nicking off from work early tomorrow for 5.30 tee time midweek medal.

lol, Eck Ecking, he'll never change. He's right too. 

Monday



Decided to play 18 holes today so went to Breadsall Moorlands with Tom. Weather was officially described by the Met Office as a "fresh breeze", though "fresh gale" was nearer the mark. It actually blew my trolley over at one point, and when it blew Tom's hat off it went further than my tee-shot.

Final scores were;


Me; 101/33


Tom; 96/29




Not too bad considering the weather, & I finished Par Par to salvage a modicum of dignity.

Here you go Kev;



https://www.marriottgolf.co.uk/our-clubs/breadsall-priory

I know Eck. 😁 Don't think they have a score card which is strange.

Looks absolutely stunning Tikay.

I use hole 19 app now Eck but here's a card from a month ago. I was playing off 28 at the time.

(https://i.ibb.co/KRnRjt4/Screenshot-20250804-210854-Whats-App.jpg) (https://ibb.co/49k9Zbv)

I can't believe how difficult it is to set fire to a driver. I suppose I'll just have to try to lose it on the course tomorrow.

This is where I hack it around:

https://www.wollatonparkgolfclub.com/

The clubs I’ve been GM at

https://www.camberleyheathgolfclub.co.uk/
https://pineridgegolf.co.uk/
https://www.castleroyle.com/
https://www.druidsheathgc.co.uk/
https://topgolf.com/uk/surrey/

What a fabulous place Ralph.

Ralph's place is special. It's the sort of place that you could not create today no matter how much money you had.

The trees are many hundreds of years old, the Stately Hall towers above the Lake & Course, the Course itself is meticulously maintained, & it has a really lovely Clubhouse which, externally, I imagine has remained unchanged for best part of a century.

What a history it has. The Hall is simply an architectural marvel. I'm off to look in to it further.

It certainly is, have a read of this....



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wollaton_Hall

This is the card at Renfrew. It is really too long for me, but it's very pleasant with its mature trees lining the fairways, and easy to get to from my home. Planes landing at/taking off from Glasgow Airport are a bit off-putting until you get used to them. It was a championship/open qualifier back in the day but 6800 yards is apparently too short now. 

My late sister lived in Wollaton for many years, and her Husband still lives there, as does 1 of my Nephews.

On a lighter note, my other Nephew lives in Glasgow with his Scottish Wife. And, being Glasgow, the great divide in Football exists between them. He supports Spurs, she supports Arsenal-they even had 2 separate Wedding cakes in the respective colours :)

Spent many happy hours in that building. Beautiful place

I didn't realise how bad my swing was until Typhoon Trev sent me this pic today. I look like I'm throwing a bale of hay on to a trailer.


(https://i.imgur.com/CX45MCx.jpeg)

Does not seem to stop him hitting 250 yard boomers.

Played the Priory course at Breadsall yesterday with Bookiebasher, Tyhpoon Trev and Tony. I managed to tame my driver a little which helped me to shoot a bit closer to my handicap.

I definitely left at least 5 strokes out there though. Three duffed chips onto the green and two putts under 3ft missed.

Reasonably pleased but could do better.



(https://i.imgur.com/oFMVKgE.jpeg)

TUESDAY



Meanwhile, in the same game, I scored a very impressive 17 stabbos in the first 6 holes on the difficult Priory Course, only to then fall to pieces with 4 blobs in the next 6 holes. It was the 17th before I managed to get my game together again by which time it was way too late.

These back 9 collapses are becoming a feature. Fatigue, lack of concentration, whatever. I regularly play to my Handicap Front 9 but rarely manage to sustain it on Back 9.

It is what it is, & I still enjoy it immensely, & I'm not bothered if I win or lose.

From a different perspective, I notice if you play a bad front 9 you often rally and play a good back 9.

NB: This is usually followed by a sanctimonious speech about "Bulldog spirit, never give up" etc.

Yesterday's card. Also let a few out there thanks to 3 putting and trees hit.


(https://i.ibb.co/B2rbZ5Sm/Screenshot-20250806-091000-Hole19.jpg) (https://ibb.co/chC0FS7P)

Lol. Those 3 putts are infuriating.

One day last week I had a 5 putt. Pretty rare, those beauts.

No more generous gimmes for you then.

I had a 4-putt myself a week or so ago and the final putt was a 2.5 footer so I was close.

Tuesday was a bit meh, going ok till wind got one that was too left and went OB. Blocked the 2nd right and my hack out came out hot OB on other side so a nice ten took the wind out my sails :)

Here's one for you:  playing the 16th 3 good drives so we are all very close together with just a wedge to green. This is due do high wind behind normally a lot tougher hole. https://www.alloagolfclub.co.uk/the-course/course-tour/hole-16/ its all uphill and the turn at the top is very tight so that if you aren't centre or left you are firing over high trees. Anyway we all play and we all pull them a bit left of green not unusual on this hole there is pretty much zero trouble. Now one of the group going along nicely PH 5 was level par gross after 15 as he played his shot some dog walkers passed and the 3rd person commented he seen one of the dogs go towards the ball. We got to the green and there was a random ball lying but no sign of this guys all we could guess was the random ball was the dogs and he didn't check the logo :). Anyway what's your ruling?

Good chance of a few 4 putts tomorrow, playing the Fidra at Archerfield at 10am https://archerfieldgolfclub.com/golf/fidra-links. Early rise for me its about an hour and a half drive at that time in the morning.

Suppose if someone saw the dog at the ball it's a drop where it was, but I think in a medal put an asterisk by the score and let someone knowledgeable decide.

Archerfield is wonderful and I didn't think the greens were that difficult, but that was a few years ago. Have a hit in the immaculate practice area before you start. The locker room has a bar in it serving fruit juice etc and an urchin will offer to clean your clubs after you finish your round!

Yeah they aren't that mental in terms of undulation but quite large and a good bit faster than what I normally play on plus its nearly always blowing. The work has a corporate membership so I normally manage to sneak a couple of rounds a year as I'm not high enough up the food chain to be able to use it myself :) Favourite thing about these places is the halfway houses you always get a cracking wee pie or sausage roll :) Always feel a bit uncomfortable when the guy wants to take your clubs from you and put them round the back ready for you to start.

Local course for me is knole park in Kent. In the top 100, and set in a national trust park/ estate. No buggies allowed

Deer roam the course, and currently the Younguns like spending time in the bunkers! Will attempt to attach a video!
Local rules are if your ball in the bunker goes in a deer footprint, you can pick/ take and replace your ball

Loving the local bunker rule. 😀

Completely agree.

We have to drop the ball when taking relief from deer footprints in bunkers resulting in at best a semi-plugged lie which seems most unfair.

I've just noticed Ralph's "signature".....




"Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated. It satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time maddening and rewarding and it is without a doubt the greatest game that mankind has ever invented." - Arnold Palmer aka The King.




Pretty damn good description, that.

WEDNESDAY


Breadsall, Priory Course, easily the hardest track on my regular roster, with bookiebasher & two of the usual crew, Pat & Tim, both of whom are motor dealers.  

We were the first group out (3.30pm) after an organised "Scramble", this...


https://golfpairs.com/products/breadsall-scramble-2025?srsltid=AfmBOopncjq77Z4YgjDXBZSJd3ZPdUpR2yhkkN0cJqGomHlczp5VtCP5



They were playing off the Whites, & all the pin positions were in the most fiendishly difficult positions. (Getting my excuses in early today).

My usual routine of good front 9/bad back 9 or vice-versa went out of the window. After 11 holes I had just 14 Stabbos, including 2 Blobs, then on the last 7 holes I managed 19 points (3-3-3-2-2-2-4). It all changed after Pat, my partner, gave me a swing tip which worked a treat.

I even managed a Par on what is for me the toughest hole on the Course, the Par 5 18th, which I've never managed before. It's uphill, with the fairway sloping viciously left to right, so the ball always gathers on the right hand side under the tree canopy which blocks the next shot.

After the round I was buzzing & can't wait to play again with my "new" swing tip. Sod's Law came into action though, I'm not scheduled to play today, first blank day in weeks, as everyone is AWOL for various reasons, so unless I go & have a solo knock, like a saddo, no golf today. Meh. It will of course be yet another false dawn.

Tomorrow we are on the easier Course, Moorlands, & there's not a shadow of doubt I'll win.

Should add, after that mini-chirp, my Handicap on Priory is an embarrassing 33, so scores need to be seen in that context. i.e., shite.

Think we are both recalling the Dirleton as Fidra greens are quite small, fast as hell and loads of hugely upturned bowls. There was one 4 putt at least (none by me putter was one of the few things that worked well today) but that counts the massive putt up a ridiculous slope onto a then stiff downslope leading to the other side of the upturned bowl. As usual a windy day made a tough track even harder. Managed a couple of birdies and somehow blew a par 5 by about 20 yards with a drive and 7 iron from about 180  :dontask: The rest was pretty woeful and we lost 5&3. Then the game does it's usual and throws you a bone finishing last 3 holes level par just to keep your hopes alive  :D

On the ruling thing the guy headed of back down the fairway as we weren't sure what to do but the 2 ball behind confirmed your ruling and I've googled it as correct. Think he won the medal by about 4 so wouldn't have mattered either way thankfully.

Playing a 4 ball here today with my son and friends.

https://www.abridgegolf.com/

That looks like a tough test Kev. I'll be interested to see your score.

Thoughts on a blonde golf day?!

I've played there quite a few times ~20years ago - I remember it having a couple of quirky holes and fast greens.

What a fabulous course Abridge.  Very tiring in todays heat but a joy to play.

(https://i.ibb.co/pj2bgfJz/20250808-130611.jpg) (https://ibb.co/N2xtX9Zj)
(https://i.ibb.co/XfR9sZRQ/20250808-134130.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0pbkMjb7)
(https://i.ibb.co/n8qy0s0z/20250808-164313.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Vp0GNWN2)

(https://i.ibb.co/4nqNXDGn/IMG-20250808-WA0004.jpg) (https://ibb.co/S4jvM184)

(https://i.ibb.co/bw5NYN8/IMG-20250808-WA0001.jpg) (https://ibb.co/5phsCsf)

(https://i.ibb.co/kVrPmXTJ/IMG-20250808-WA0007.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ZRwb2xrS)

The course looks stunning Kev.

87 is a great score. Well done.

But then I would say that...


(https://i.imgur.com/gReZ43a.jpeg)

My son Cal and Ronny shot 87. More than happy with my 97 on this tough, new to me course

The breakfast looks mega too, take an overhead pick next time so that we can critique it properly.

I was a bit gobsmacked by 87 on that course. I thought it was you on the wind up.

Tom the breakfast was a my son's golf club in Wanstead. It was fantastic. Brown sauce obviously.

So you had breakfast at one club and then played the other?

❤️❤️❤️🤣🤣

Yes Cal's club is 1 mile from his home so we had breakfast with Joo at 10 am. Then drove 30 mins to Essex and teed off at 1.20

I'm glad it's not 1 mile from me. I'm fatter than a peach orchard boar as it is.

🤣🤣

Leave the malteser sundaes alone then

Can barely believe Tom paid £11.95 for an ice cream with 3 Maltesers on top.

It was a rush of blood, a moment of madness.

You know when you are driving down the road and you think to yourself,
One little twitch of this steering wheel and I could smash into that oncoming lorry.
Or when you're standing somewhere really high up and you think how easy, and how irreversible it would be to just step off?


Well I had one of those thoughts but I actually went through with it... with ice cream. ;shame;

I was so ashamed afterwards. I can't tell you how many times I've done a hard days work for a lot less than £11.95.


To make things worse, you can buy 4 fake salted caramel Magnums for £1.65 in Aldi and I pass one on the way home.

As a penance, the next time we eat out, I'm not having desert and I'm only drinking water.

FRIDAY


"Tomorrow we are on the easier Course, Moorlands, & there's not a shadow of doubt I'll win."



Well sort of.....

Jim (bookiebasher) won the front 9, Tom & I tied the Back 9, Tom won overall, & I nicked £16 for a pancake/skin thing on the tough Par 3 17th. When we settled up afterwards money was going back & forth like mad but I think we mostly broke even.

We always play for fivers & tenners (front 9, back 9, overall, singles, doubles, pancakes skins etc) & I don't mind, but I'm not entirely sure I like winning or losing money between good mates.

Usual schmusual for me. 3 blobs (all due to inexplicable scuffed tee-shots) offset by 4 Pars, one of which was at the 11th which I've never managed previously. Overall, I played really well except when I played really bad. Golf, eh?

 
Anyway, 100 gross (52 front, 48 back) for 34 Stabbos.

Tom was on fire again, 87 gross & 37 Stabbos, so beat his handicap by 1, & he had 5 Pars & a Birdie.

Next week looks like fully booked, just Monday tbc at present.

Going across to Ralph's place again (Wollaton Hall) on Bank Holiday Monday, & a 2 day golf trip booked for 7th/8th September.

No golf this weekend, got poker to play. I thought retirement would be a nice rest, but it's all go. 

On the money between mates issue- I came late to the party with our group, so I just fitted in with the status quo. I don't mind really because it's small amounts and the handicap system means everyone gets a win now and then, so overall it makes very little financial difference.

When Tony and I play a 2 ball there is never any betting, but we still try our guts out.

I'm not sure it's about winning, it's more about doing my best. Even when I play a round on my own. I keep a meticulous score and try as hard as I can.

Need more info on the malteser Sunday.  Feels a hefty price for any pudding.

I remember back in the day getting a dessert with blueberries.  Think it involved ice cream and I am pretty certain it was at Wagamamas.  It was described something like sorbet or ice cream with blueberries.

Really fancied some blueberries, and am not even sure why as I don't even like them that much.  Possibly I thought that is an interesting combo.

There were precisely 2 of them.  I was pissed off about it for years, I  don't think it was £11.95 though.  Couldn't even complain as the dessert was accurately described.

(https://i.imgur.com/uJcsOmj.jpeg)

BTW- Tony's plain ice cream was £7.95.

When I played the Goliath last week I stopped at Lidl on the way and bought enough food for 3 meals for four quid.

Omg, didn't he even get raspberry sauce? 

(https://i.imgur.com/SaKz3cN.jpeg)


One day chicken, the next day feathers.

I hope Zelley doesn't read this diary.

Were you shedding a few shots for handicap purposes on those last four holes Tom?

On the 18th I hit the same tree 3 times

Bit better today, played ok in another howling gale. Got a bit lucky at five, par 5 into the teeth of it ended up inches form OB happy with a bogey left the tee thinking that hole has done me again.

Was was one over on the tee on the 5fth helped by a fortuitous chip in at the 3rd. don't think this flyover https://www.alloagolfclub.co.uk/the-course/course-tour/hole-3/ does it much good there is a massive drop to this green and all you want to do as you look at it is is just run it down the alley into the green if you are in the middle. The sensible thing is to leave yourself  a decent club in and just throw it all all the way it'll stop your about 20 yards above the green. Me i blew a driver cause course management is a laugh and once every year I'll hit a beauty and it will make the green, The rest of the time I'll be left with something impossible like today but the chip was good.

Played ok but shit the bed with on the 15th with terrible triple on a tricky par 3 ended up with 83 net 69 and lost by a stroke to a mate that was our early but thankfully a decent score for my handicap as every time i have a card in my hand this year its been 90+ If I play a bounce round its 10 shots lower, yeah bottle merchant i know,


Would never travel for poker these days, say you're having a golf day and i'll be down like a shot  :D

What a climax to the Fed Ex St.Judes. WP Champ Justin Rose. 🏆 👏👏👏

Incredible!

Pleased for the lad

Nicest guy out there

I saw the 2nd play off hole, and then must have crashed out.  Assume the 3rd was a birdie too.  Amazing run of birdies at the end. I remember him really struggling after turning professional and would have been so easy to quit after that. Also would have been easy to take bazillions off LIV too.  Definitely deserves all he gets.

Felt a bit sick for Tommy Fleetwood, even though he wasn't that close in the end.

Not so good for me today, but my mate Kev had a cracker considering he hardly ever breaks 100 and never played the course before.

(https://i.ibb.co/rGC8HwBr/Screenshot-20250811-163653-Outlook.jpg) (https://ibb.co/hRPQVmGz)

Hi Kev, (or anyone) I'm just trying to check out the Hole 19 app but I can't seem to use a decimal point when entering my handicap.

I'm currently 18.7 but it seems to only allow 18 or 19 and not 18 point somthing.

Any advice?

PS- I've tried turning it off and on again.

I think I might have sussed it. You have to create a profile using whole numbers, i.e 18 and then when you save that profile 18 becomes 18.0. THEN  you can alter it.

I put 3 cards in on 1st of August but not heard back yet, so going to have to email them because there's never anyone in the office. If I get a decimal point handicap I'll be in touch Tom. 😁

Are you using the paid version Kev?

I think almost everyone's handicap has a decimal point  well 9/10 do.

This is our group, all point something.


(https://i.imgur.com/Ws4rUdg.jpeg)

I use the free version Tom. My son and his friends are techie geeks and use the paid version. Actually they have every digital accessory available between them.

What I love about it is the yardage details as you're playing each hole. I have a phone holder on my trolley to have it in view at all times.

I will use the free version too naturally.

I currently use 18 birdies but that doesn't do Staplefords like Hole 19 does.

So why are you waiting to hear from them.

Sorry if I sound like the Gestapo.  /:-|

To receive my official club handicap, which then gets uploaded to a website. Then if I decide to play club stableford games or medals my handicap can be verified.

My society handicap of 28 was reduced by me as I got better playing more often. Pretty sure it needs to come down more so I've put the cards in for them to verify it.

Oh I see. I thought you had to use the paid version for that.

Anyway, I'm trying the app out today. Prepare for a balls-up.

Are you talking about putting 3 cards in from the app Tom? Is so I put real signed cards in.

I use Golfshake, it’s a free version and am not a member anywhere and it’s really good

Balls-up accomplished.

I got emerald set up but it wasn't updating the yardage as I went to play my second shot.

I'm not blaming the app, u must have done something wrong.

Not trying to get an official handicap Kev, sorry for the confusion.

Remember I called myself a bottle merchant a few days ago? Can confirm 100%.

17th tee needed 2 pars for a 80 would have got me close to winning Tuesday medal. Birdied par 5 17 then stuck 2 out the park on the long par 3 18 ending up with a 9 for 85  :'( What a game dunno whether to be really happy with the 17 holes or disgusted by how bad I can swing it when its needed.

I have a question though. You guys (TK, Tom et all) seem to play quite a few courses which is lovely but if you are paying green fees every day and you are playing most days doesn't it add up quite a bit? Wouldn't you be a lot cheaper being a member somewhere? I get there is the trade off from playing different courses and I've no idea what most of these places charge or if they are even open to new members as most of the sites that have been linked don't tell you what a membership fee is but just sounds quite expensive assuming you are paying about 20-30 quid a round minimum and playing 4 or 5 times a week?

Eck, when you can pay £12 for a Malteser Sundae the green fees won't be a problem

TK Tom don't be rude answer Eck please

Played a decent round (by my standards) yesterday. Shot 91 for 32 stabbos and still finished dead last.

Ours is a tough school.


(https://i.imgur.com/7kech5z.jpeg)

Nice shooting Tom 👌

We play £2 for the pancake, (closest to the pin on par 3s) and £2 for the skin. The first hole on Moorlands is a fiendishly difficult par 3 and none of us ever get the pancake on it. The night before we play I lie in bed planning that first tee shot, then I duff it every time.

I'm having it today...

Dead last though Kev. It's those double bogies that kill you.

Missed 3 foot putts and sliced drives...

it will be your lowest minus 2 (no decimal points required)

Morning James.

It's not quite what it seems though. We talk about playing Priory & Moorlands a lot but they are part of the same Membership, it's two courses for the price of one in effect, they are the same Club & the Courses are adjacent. It's very rare we play elsewhere, except for "The Lad's Golf Days", the occasional game with Ralph at Wollaton, or the occasional round at Mickleover when there are no tee-times available at our preferred tracks. Based on 4 or 5 Rounds a week it's very very reasonable.  

ZING

I feel your pain Tom, I had a mare on Monday. Putting myself through it again tomorrow,  can't wait 🤣

94 today for 29 stabos, which got me joint last.


(https://i.imgur.com/F9EUq5Q.jpeg)



The winner, with 37 stabos played very well but was ungracious in victory and didn't get it quietly.

I'm not mentioning any names but his initials are tk.

Said winner needs a visit from this guy. 🤣🤣


(https://i.ibb.co/wZFWVNGh/Screenshot-20250813-204245-Google.jpg) (https://ibb.co/PsvhKZXG)

Red, typhoon (Trevor Pearson) & Jamie Moult, (bookiebasher) yesterday at Breadsall.

Standards of dress are slipping, embarrassing really. I was the only one properly attired.

Did you?

Asking for a friend

The waitress at Morley Hayes certainly got it  from you.

Felt sorry for Trev , having travelled 2 hours to get there he’s then forced into wearing
a MAGA hat and gets called a c—-t by Tom when he was only being helpful in locating one
of Toms balls.

I wanted to locate both his balls, with my foot.

Got off to a shocking start today on Moorlands. A sliced tee shot brought a 5 on the par 3 1st, then I found the fairway bunker on the p4 2nd for a 6.
I hit it out of bounds on the 3rd, stopped 3ft short of the second fairway bunker on the 5th, then duffed it into said bunker...

I played a great back 9 and finished with a score of 87 for 38 Staplefords.

Still finished last though.

Tough school.


(https://i.imgur.com/CtGV4bV.jpeg)

No, I didn't, and stop pretending you have friends

He may not have friends, but he appears to have a daft hat & is not ashamed to wear it.



 

bookiebasher? I remember the name.

Tell us something about yourself, so we can get to know you.

Is he American?

38 stabo points came last - that is an extremely tough school

Great back nine and a shame about the double-bogey on 17

17 is a par 3 Ralph. I drove it 15 yards wide of the green and then duffed a simple pitch into a bunker  :(

38 points comes last, I assume 'tough school' is euphemism  :D

Nice back 9 though Tom you'll be itching to get at it again tomorrow after that  :)up

Similar one for me today. County seniors open at Tulliallan golf club. Not played it in at least 15 years had a look at the flyover and first couple of holes looked like iron of tee but the guys I was playing with, who I knew but just happened to be playing with as I just stuck myself in a space not knowing partners, had drivers out so I followed suit. We all proceeded to blow balls OB I managed to put two out on the first and my tee shot close to OB in the trees on the 2nd then my attempted pitch out cracked a tree and went OB. So 2 8's to start with and I then set about enjoying the sun and a nice walk  :)

Got better a bit after that and then had a really good back 9 till i did similar on the long par 3 15 (https://tulliallangolf.co.uk/the-course/) uphill landed short of front right bunker and did the one thing I was trying not to do.

(https://i.imgur.com/HvYG16r.png)

That's a nice card once you get past the first couple of holes Eck.

It's so frustrating to start badly but I try to make a point of not getting demoralised and try to salvage as much as I can.

Cheers Tom, I think I have an issue starting a round really trying not to lose a score. Think I mentioned it before, the couple of course I play a lot have holes where you can rack up a number if your wild and it makes me uneasy I suppose. I have this thing about getting to the 3rd with something that gives me a chance and I think it makes me play worse. That or probably just hitting a few practice puts and whinging it oob, one of the two  :D

As I mentioned I played with 2 guys I knew today but only found out who they were when I turned up. Last time I played with one of the guys he got so upset with his game (he plays of about 7 but due to injuries he can't do what he used to) he didn't speak to me or his pal for the back nine just hit his ball and walked on. Wasn't that chuffed to play with him again and have avoided putting my name in their group when there is a space but I knew he had been playing well lately so hoped for the best. He disappeared on the par 5 14th and we met up with him on the 16th after we'd tee'd of. Don't understand it at all apart from the rudeness it's just a game and it was you that hit the bad shots  :dontask:

Best story about him is he used to work with a good friend of mine and I got to know him getting invited to their works golf section outings. On one of those ( I wasn't there) he got so upset he just disappeared completely and went home. Thing was he'd gave a guy a lift there and just left him  :D

Anyway I should have been working today but spent most of it in the sun on a golf course what's not to love. Didn't see much fauna just some big houses that weren't there last time I played it.

Oh and just sorted out a better ball game on Sunday with a guy I have known since school. We normally manage to play a few games a year but every time we've tried this year someone has something on. Looking forward to it, we probably don't have a chance but can't wait to chew the fat all afternoon :D.

Ok so now Sandy has retired my new hero is Bobby Mac. What an incredible back nine in BMW championship tonight.
single putted the last 5 holes 160 ft in total and the 18th hole was only 5ft
reminds me of the game i dreamt i could play.

4 stroke lead going into round 2 but the best players in the world will be chasing him hard

lol i love it I can tell you where I was when Sandy hit that magnificent 7 iron from the bunker in 88. Then my mate would always turn up at my door late on a Sunday night for years and try to will Monty to do something similar always falling short. My brother in law used to work next to someone who knew Bob's family and he's said for years its his focus that's an issue. Think we can say that's not an issue now, the stars are going to have to align but he's got chances and it's going to be great to watch and that last last 9 holes in 29 on a course where we would be lucky to probably score about 110 was great. But...you don't make that many putts for 4 days gonna be interesting.

"38 stabo points came last - that is an extremely tough school"

True, if a trifle misleading.

It was only a 2 ball, Tom was playing off 18, & his opponent, a quite splendid young man, was playing off 31. Which does rather help.

In Stabbo terms, Tom lost by 1 point (39 - 38) but in shots played he scored 87, against the "winners" 97.

A trifle misleading you say?

Also, If we look at this properly, I beat my handicap by 1, you beat yours by 4 so you deserved the win.

Yesterday's round was a stinker (front 9). Round started well and I figured I had the game beat. Golf had other ideas. 3 off the tee, OB, lots of sand and trees in the way. 4 blobs on the front 9 wtf. Recovered somewhat on the back 9. Back to tame the course on Monday.

(https://i.ibb.co/YBrQGPZL/Screenshot-20250815-104436-Outlook.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4RQtxKdV)
host a photo (https://imgbb.com/)

Always nice to salvage something after a bad start Kev.

Given the choice I'd rather start bad and finish good than the other way around.

Another bad start. Seems to take me ages to get going.



(https://i.imgur.com/8105h4x.jpeg)





(https://i.imgur.com/SwhQwLx.jpeg)

While drilling a pilot hole to fix a fence panel to a wooden post for my elderly neighbour, the bit snapped and what was left drilled in to my hand. A lot of blood but thankfully a clean wound. Swollen atm so will be doing my utmost to reduce the swelling as I tee off at 13.20 on Monday. 🤣🤣. After completing the fence job my first thought was to my golf grip 😁 We're a different breed us golfers.

morning all, hope you're all going great.

the golf bug is truly in me, and having recently gone back into playing poker full time i have time to fill and where better than the course.

im open to rounds (earlier the better) around south yorkshire, east midlands. Im not great, usually shoot around 100. But im improving steadily.

would be more than happy to have some rounds if anyone wants to get some dates in the diary.

I'm terrified of a golf preventing injury.

I remember Tony saying he tripped somewhere and his first thought as he fell were, "Old bloke, broken hip, no more golf."

Morning Mr Trigg.

You'd always be welcome to play down at Breadall in Derbyshire, probably best if we can sort something before Winter arrives. If we have someone who can help you with your golf, we'd expect some poker tips in return. ;)

I actually thought those thoughts before I hit the ground.

Had the same thoughts when you went down at Morley Hayes too.

It's a very real possibility at our ages.

Morning Tony, Wednesday 3rd September until sunday 7th september i will be available to play in the morning if any of those dates suit. Ill be spending the week at Anna's in Ilkeston so that would really suit. The DTD festival is on that week.

I'm OK. I have child-bearing hips.

That would probably work, perfect really, Ilkeston is just ~5 miles & 15 minutes by road from Breadsall. Leave it with me & I'll get back to you.

perfect. Stato is asking if there is a space too.

Yup, that works too.

"bookiebasher" (Jamie Moult) is going to book Wednesday 3rd September, and include Stato.

Do you need a buggy? (We need to book it in advance).

There's a bunch of us actually, so if you ALSO fancy the Thursday or the Friday, I'll set that up too. 

Can probably book 3 tee times for the 3 days 3rd-5th around 10-11am .

I can only book 2 weeks in advance .

Put your orders in now and I’ll see what transpires .

Perfect, I'll leave it to Jim to sort from here on in, as he holds the card.

Room for everyone if we play 2 or 3 days, we can rotate.

Happy to play all of the days or at least 2 days. No buggy needed.

Brilliant thanks. Looking forward to it. Please include Stato

Great news. I'll hand it over to Jim from here on in, but one way or another there'll be a game each of the 3 days.

Over to Jim.

Chicken

Brilliant. Looking forward to it.

I think I have finally learnt how to post photos so here are a few from last weeks golf trip to Hua Hin , Thailand

We played Black Mountain GC which I have heard so much  about and have looked forward to playing it for a long time

My friend is a member and plays of 2.  The other playing partners were off 1 & 7 respectively. I play off 12.6 so was feeling a little apprehensive
Anyways the golfing gods were looking down on me that day and I shot 38 + 42 for a gross 80 ( lipped out the last for a 79 😢
Great thread and love reading about everyone’s golf game

(http://[[url=https://postimg.cc/5jjLp39L][img]https://i.postimg.cc/5jjLp39L/att-lzg-Mt-Xirc-LRQgq-Nb-C-Dy-YJb-GM986ca-fo-LFL4-Kxs-Do-A.jpg)[/url]

(https://i.postimg.cc/K4VLWM4V/att-ZSdz-IM6-HKnat8j-Glmmdo-Yo-KIxm-Rp0b-Em-RSAnh-W5hc7w.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/K4VLWM4V)

(https://i.postimg.cc/XrKCX1xS/IMG-5780.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/XrKCX1xS)

(https://i.postimg.cc/qz3nHv37/IMG-5781.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/qz3nHv37)

(https://i.postimg.cc/sMCWjCY4/IMG-5792.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/sMCWjCY4)/img]

It seems like I haven’t  mastered how to post the photos 🤣 oh well
It was a magnificent course you will have to take my word for it. 😂

The photos are fine Craig. You're looking well mate.

(If you click on Craig's pics you can see them full screen)

Thanks Tom. Hope you are well too my friend

Well the idea that we didn't have a chance was wrong. Better ball format and we both played really well. Partner birdied 1st and I birdied 5 & 7 so we were 2 under at the turn after a loose bogey on par 3 8th. Back 9 at Braehead (https://www.braeheadgolfclub.co.uk/) is the tougher half and we bogeyed 10 & 11 but I got another birdie on par 5 12. After a couple of loose bogeys we went level par on the 2 really long par 4 finishing holes for a gross score of 71 (one over par). I was getting 11 and my partner 13 strokes so when we eventually got the scores in the computer we had a net 59 and won by 2. £150 each and I think we get a nice trophy. :)

Net 59?

WTF?

Handicap Commitee will be on your case big time.

PS - well done.

It's better ball, so low scores are usual, but that was exceptional from eck. He and is partner would almost def won an Open tournament with that score!

Yeah it was an open that's my old club not a member there anymore even though I stay on the side of it. Was just one of those days when everything fell into place apart from one birdie where I hit it stiff the other 3 were long putts and we just scrambled great. The guys we played with from Fife couldn't believe the short games and whenever one did get into trouble the other was well in the hole. Think I would have scored 77/78 obviously didn't need to hole out on every hole. Golf just throws you a bone every now and again doubt we could repeat that. We missed 2nd prize for best scratch score on count back which is ridiculous considering our handicaps (I'm 12 he is 15).

(https://i.ibb.co/KzKSW7BH/Screenshot-20250818-171022-18-Birdies.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3YRQcWVH)
(https://i.ibb.co/GQp0XjXq/Screenshot-20250818-171136-18-Birdies.jpg) (https://ibb.co/8gs0JVJH)





Round in 84 for 39 sabbos.

Guess who played the most astonishing shot on the 18th to overtake me and win by one with 40 sabbos?

Whoever it was, the blonde handicap committee needs to convene soon!

Excellent card Tom. Chopity chop chop.

I'm getting him this for Christmas Ralph.




(https://i.ibb.co/Nnr8M0Y4/Screenshot-20250818-180356-Google.jpg) (https://ibb.co/84bWHy8h)

I gather the Hndicap Committee will convene next Tuesday morning.

Got it back below 100 but still x4 3 putts. 😡

(https://i.ibb.co/Z6GJbr4L/Screenshot-20250818-165555-Outlook.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0jmXzL4D)

Nicely done though Kev.

No shortage of Kevins round your way.

TY Tom.

We're common as muck round here.😂

WWII round  ;applause; ;applause;

Played terribly today. 97 for 26 sabbos.

Tony was bang on it, 38 sabbos.

Tough school.

Another chirp I'm afraid :). Solid start to Tuesday Medal but 3 putted 2nd, the greens had just been treated and not cut so struggled all day to get it to the hole. Bunkers aren't in best nick and ended up in them at 4,7 & 8 with 8 being the only one I fancied getting up in down from. Played the turn well apart from 3 putting the 10th which is the easiest of that stretch. All going along fine till I blew one into another postcode on the 14th. Stuck in well and 2 pars on a really tough finish after missing a short one on 15 was very pleasing given my tendency to mess the bed when I have a score going.

Net 68 and I'm leading with a few scores to come in, should probably get me cut best part of a stroke. Out tomorrow again at Tulliallan for their senior open. Played there last week and scored an 82 with 2 8's to start with so it'll be 4 irons of the first two tees and see what we can do.

(https://i.imgur.com/yfGw1OS.png)

You're playing some nice golf atm - good luck tomorrow.

I'm off to see the pro in the morning to see if he can patch up my ailing swing!

Cheers Ralph, had a couple of sessions with the assistant at our place last year and started of the season intending to have one maybe once a month just to keep me in right direction and stop me watching swing tips on social media. Unfortunately he left and I've just kept tinkering. Swing thoughts change every other week hence for the first few months of the season every card I put in was 90+. Should definitely do likewise just to clear all the broken bottles in my head.

Very nice round Eck and GL in the seniors open.

I'm playing at 2pm today. Still trying to break 90, need to cut out the 3 putts.

Good luck with that Kev if its mainly the 3 putting that's gonna get you there I'm sure you'll crack it soon. Get the first one to the hole and watch it if it misses. I wish I could listen to my own advice :)

Struggled yesterday after a bad start. Finally shot 99 for 31 points.

Got my first official handicap in 20 years.

(https://i.ibb.co/w1DSH0M/Screenshot-20250821-080939.jpg) (https://ibb.co/3HtpXrB)

Senior medal for me today at Wollaton Park.

Hopeful that I can hit a few more solid shots after yesterday's half hour with the assistant pro.

Play well Ralph, hope you fare better than I did yesterday. Started of ok with 2 pars so was 8 shots up on the prior week when they hosted the county seniors. Then the wheels fell off, a few silly doubles on the way to the turn blew any chances knew I would have to go about 4 under my handicap to be close as we were late out. Just when you think you are getting somewhere game comes back and gets you :)

Still was a glorious day and a lovely walk with 2 good friends, when you get up the top at Tulliallan you have some cracking views of the 'Wee County'.

How did it go (yesterday and today) Ralph?

On the Par 5 16th at Moorlands today, Tom drove the Green in two & missed the 2' putt by about 6".

I hit a lot more solid golf shots today although it was not really reflected in my score 89-11-78 but my putting was truly awful - I must have 3-putted at least 3/4 times including a couple of careless tiddlers. I played pretty well for me on the back nine and needed a par4 on the 18th to be back in 39 - sadly I made a ridiculous 7!

Definite progress though and my golfing depression has lifted for the time being ;D

Tony is on a bit of a roll at the moment Ralph, he's played to his handicap or there about on the last four outings.

We will have to look to our laurels on Monday.

To make matters worse, he is exceedingly jammy. (and annoying with it)

Club medal on Saturday started well and back nine was disappointing (there's a theme here isn't there? :) ).

(https://i.imgur.com/rFf7chi.png)

3 putts on 10 & 11 then made a mess of 15, bogeys on 16 and 18 are never a terrible outcome as its a really tough finish but 17 was annoying as lay up on par 5 took a huge bounce on and ended up in the ditch before the green. Think it got me 2nd place in the 2nd division. Now cut to 10.4.

Played Stirling  (https://www.stirlinggolfclub.com/)today just a bounce game with my Brother in law. First time playing it even though its practically on our doorstep. Lovely course, quite long 6328 of the yellows, stunning back drop with the castle and the Ochil hills. Played well 42 points of 10 strokes (2 blobs).

(https://i.imgur.com/QLXN0j4.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/SnVrQ6C.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/MyoQNtd.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/MyoQNtd.jpeg)

That looks gorgeous Jim. I'm sure Scotland is a different colour to these parts.

My Eck 42 points off 10 with 2 blobs on a course you don't know. 👏👏👏

Well. I muscled in to a society day tomorrow with my mate Sleazy and another lad I know. Good weather tomorrow so was chuffed until I found out we are off at 7.30. 🏌‍♂️⛳️😂

Was pretty unreal Kev, started with a messy bogey on a par 5 then duck hooked tee shot onto what i thought was a parallel fairway on a short par 4. Couldn't find it so a blob there then went one under for the next 12 holes, threw in a few bogeys and a real mess of the last for another blob. Longish course and I think the photos may be misleading Ralph as it looks very green. They obviously have a good watering system there was sprinklers on the tees but lots of it were browned out like most places at the moment.

Beeston Fields yesterday, for the first time ever, even though it's just 20 minutes from home.

Played (a little) better last week, beat my handicap 3 days out of 4, and at the Range over the weekend was flushing my Drives. Yet another false dawn though, I could not get my Drives away yesterday to save my life, & only hit 2 satisfactory drives all day. Very frustrating. Excuses? Well it was exceedingly hot, & I seemed overly fatigued, but basically I'm just shite. Golf is hard.

The Course was decent, though like all Courses at present was burnt to a cinder. They'd left quite a bit of grass on the Fairways though so not too many bare lies.

Playing off 30 (eek), I had 3 pars & 3 blobs, 50/17 front 9, then fell to pieces & 56/13 coming back.

There's a brutal stretch on 15, 16 & 17. First a 515 yard Par 5, then back along a parallel fairway for a 502 yard Par 5, followed by a 446 yard Par 4. Stroke Index 2 446 yard Par 4's are way too long for me but it was one of my 2 good drives on the day, & my 2nd with a rescue metal was even better, leaving me 80 yards. It pitched short, bimbled & bumbled towards the greenside bunker, miraculously hopped over it, & trickled gently right across the Green, ending 6' from the pin, & I was thrilled to make the putt. So a miracle par. Ish. Shame it was my provisional, as the original tee shot went oob, so it went on the card as 6/2....Still, it made me feel better.

The Course has a lovely entrance drive through an avenue of mature trees, then into view comes a really stunning Regency style clubhouse. It was built in 1827 (some 80 years before the Golf Course opened) by & for the Bowden family, who later founded Raleigh Cycles which became a huge Nottingham enterprise, but now long gone. Sadly, the Course itself, along with that grand Clubhouse, has been purchased by Developers, & whilst they have promised to retain the Course, you know how it is with these things.  

It was a Memorial/Charity event, so we were treated to some eats afterwards. All very pleasant. My 4 ball was bookiebasher (Jamie Moult), Pat (quality garage owner & car dealer), & Right Wing Tim (not a footballer) who is a dodgy car dealer & great company.  


Today, Wollaton with Uncle Ralph (karabiner) & Tom. Must fly, tee time is noon but pot of tea & a natter first.

.

.

.

Booked next Wednesday Priory course at Breadsall , 1040am and 1050am

At the minute I believe the following are playing if you would like to confirm

TK
Tom
Trigg
Stato
Bookiebasher

Room for 3 others if anyone wants to join us .

After 48 hours if any spots still available I’ll try and fill from my list of degenerates , of which there
are plenty .

Thursday 1030am moorlands

TK
Trev
Tom
Bookiebasher

Left it as a 4 ball as the poker  may iinterfere with peeps availability .

Friday not booked yet as I am  unsure if I’m free to play . Should know by tomorrow .

Oh dear, Bookie will have his finger in the pie making a few quid along the way I am sure

Never made a penny out of these degens and I keep going back, must have a word with myself

Treated myself to new wedges.

(https://i.ibb.co/hJJntnBs/20250826-151948.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bMMy8ys1)

(https://i.ibb.co/r2fc6YXn/20250826-151941.jpg) (https://ibb.co/60J1Pzq6)

(https://i.ibb.co/2YCTNJX0/20250826-151903.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0V6xt5Pp)

 No excuses now Kev

There's always excuses Trev.  ;D ;D ;D

Very nice Kev, you've got the bug bad don't you!  :D

You had a chance to try them out yet, what difference in distance you getting between the 3?

Curious as I got myself a 50 as I only used the standard PW & SW and wanted something that dropped in between but the 50 isn't going just as far as easy as i would have hoped. Been thinking of getting a 46/48 but not sure if its worth it.

I think my regular PW is 46.

Are those Vokeys Kev?

My clubs are 20 years old Eck, as was my bag so was time to upgrade some things. I have the usual old set up of 3 to 9 iron with PW and SW. Will be taking the 3, PW and old 60° that I added 15 years ago out of the bag to make way for the new wedges.

They only arrived this afternoon. I have a range with a pitching area just up the road so will give them a try out tomorrow afternoon.

No Ralph they are Lazarus. Priced them up a month ago and were double what I just paid. Partly because they are from America. Then they reduced them and a further discount at check out with free delivery to Europe.

https://lazrusgolf.co.uk/

I have TM stealth irons Ralph they probably differ by brand? Pretty sure PW is 43 although it obv doesn't have a number on it. The 50 is a Vokey and its a nice club I like it for when i have to land something soft but still want it to run a bit but just want something for the 70-90 yards that I don't feel I have to get after it.

Had to go into work today so couldn't play the Tuesday medal, but got a couple of scrambles this week to look forward to. Senior one on Thursday at Breahead which is the club my house overlooks. wish I had a better pic on my phone as this doesn't do it justice but this is the view from my living room.

(https://i.imgur.com/kuvUPZG.jpg)

If you zoom in you will see Wallace's Monument on the right and Stirling Castle on the left. In between on a clearer day or a better camera you can see Ben Lomond feels like you are looking all across Scotland.

Early Sunday a completely different 4 are playing at Muckhart. Not played it for a long time and they have now added another 9 so have 3 to choose from. Think we are playing the 2 longest and its about 6500+ but I know all 4 can send it so think our chances are better in that one. Only bummer is the weather looks to have turned, I'm sure the greenkeepers are delighted but both days look like its going to be wet.

What a fabulous view & description.

Ha! few glasses of wine and I turn into VisitScotland.com  :D

I am pretty proud of our wee county, gets a bit of an undeserved rap imo. Think my hometown was voted one of the most depressing places to stay in Scotland in some stupid poll in a red top rag. Yeah the town centre has seen better days like a lot but as you can see its surrounded by beauty and history.

As for golfers we aren't that far from most of the 'favourite' locations but those will cost you a fortune. There are an abundance of cracking courses with views like above that you can play for very little. Would highly recommend a visit you can do a nice trip and not put much of a dent in the bank account at all.

I used to work near there, eck.  Near the end of my journey I had this view

https://www.google.com/maps/@56.1152516,-3.9670495,3a,19.6y,310.53h,91.18t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sV7ov9YJF9zzh9wCfOKMXiQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-1.1818120638894527%26panoid%3DV7ov9YJF9zzh9wCfOKMXiQ%26yaw%3D310.52977671547035!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDgxOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D


which oddly was always reminding me of this view


 https://www.google.com/maps/@36.3253141,-115.3380404,3a,71y,45.24h,99.93t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sqZ5Jb8OQfOHctfaB0jetnw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-9.927395415944972%26panoid%3DqZ5Jb8OQfOHctfaB0jetnw%26yaw%3D45.24049965071108!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDgyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D


Sorry about the mad links, but they do work!

Looking forward to it - can play Friday too if you end up being available moulty

Yeah free for Friday , I’ll try n book a slot when up their tomorrow 👍

Ha! my first wife used to stay in the houses just before where you are in the link. Was quite handy as she worked at Craigforth for Scottish Amicable which you would pass on your left further up the road.

Yes, that's where I worked as well, though it was Prudential then. Now a collection of derelict buildings  >:(

Yeah a sorry sight, my sister worked there for a bit for Capita before Covid now they all work from home.

Don't talk to me about golf  >:(

We need to know what happened.

My 3-ball retired after nine holes yesterday due to severely inclement weather.

ill play wednesday and thursday please if that is ok.

looking forward to it, but take it easy on me.

Wednesday fine .
Thursday only managed to get 1 tee time and we have a 4 ball for that .
Friday can’t get a morning tee time so left it .

No problem, looking forward to seeing you all on Wednesday.

Man up Ralph

Well basically I seem to have lost the ability to hit my driver, I'm struggling with my irons, I can't seem to pitch or chip and my putting is a bit dodgy.

I shot 106 on Wednesday.

I only got 1 game in this week due to some playing partners taking inconsiderate holidays and another working away. Shot 102 which was disappointing. I've not used my driver for 2 months Tom, getting more accuracy and similar distance, more consistently with my 3 wood. A couple of 3 putts, 3 off the tee and an oob contributing to my crap round.

Yet to try my new wedges out on the course. Will report back.

For balance...

I think the 106 was Thursday on the very tough Priory.

On Wednesday, at an almost unplayable Rushcliffe (mega-cambered fairways which were as hard as concrete) you shot your best ever Rushcliffe round, 92/34 (46/18 out, 46/16) back). That included a blob at the 1st (both tee-shots lost despite landing plum centre) & a blob at 17, ditto.

On Friday at Moorlands you shot 93/31 (46/16, 47/15). Not your best, but decent.  


"I can't seem to pitch"


Holing out from 60 yards for a birdie on the tough 12th (SI 5) at Moorlands on Friday was was quite decent I thought....




It's the mind playing tricks. We remember the bad, & forget the good.

Wednesday 1040 1050 tee times
Got 6 now

TK
Tom
Trigg
Stato
Bookiebasher
Tim

2 spots available if anyone wants to join us .

Bring cash  8)

Bring cash .... plenty of it in my experience

does anybody have lake balls for sale  ;surrender;

And waterproofs..

Match abandoned. Rain stops play.
Well actually we never got. started.

In other news, 37 Stabbos no good last time out.

Tough school.

I'm down for the senior medal tomorrow and the forecast is not looking that great either.

I tend to look at 3/4 different weather apps to see if I can find one that I like..

Good luck Ralphy boy.

Tiny is in a fairway bunker, unfortunately his ball isn't.

What happens next?



(https://i.ibb.co/vxWGxgm4/Screenshot-20250903-160555-Gallery.jpg) (https://ibb.co/8DwpDT2g)

He hits the ball into the bunker.

It's good, but it's not right.

He hits about three inches behind the ball - not making any contact - and blames you for putting him off.

PS He is definitely shrinking..

Nope.

Misses the ball completely, spins round and lands on his arse in the sand. 🤣

Alas no.

🤣🤣🤣

He drove it 180yds from the tee to the fairway bunker, then from that position hit it another 150yds with his girlie wood.
I was astonished.



(https://i.ibb.co/YTNwGNRC/20250902-121503.jpg) (https://ibb.co/yBN7JNf9)
get url for picture (https://imgbb.com/)

He'll be thrilled to know that you lot have so much confidence in him though...

Match abandoned.


(https://i.ibb.co/hJqk3npL/IMG-20250904-WA0020.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gLnGkXsm)

Repaired to a local hostillery.


(https://i.ibb.co/jPtnF24J/20250904-133024.jpg) (https://ibb.co/rR9DJSyd)
(https://i.ibb.co/kgxtnPrW/20250904-141816.jpg) (https://ibb.co/99N7XdfC)

My game was called off too.

Stableford on Saturday though and the forecast looks good.

After the abandonment we went to clubhouse and Bookie produced a pack of cards and fleeced us at 12 card brag, he was smarmy and cocky in true bookmaker style

Food was excellent though

You dweebs never paid me (standard) for pancaking the first

Yes, that was most unfortunate.

However, the Rules are quite clear - for all bets, 5 holes have to be completed, & the Klaxon sounded before we reached the 5th Green. 

We played the following day but we still had to pay Trev for the abandoned game. I can't remember the exact reasoning but I think it had something to do with a CPC certificate.

I played the club Stableford today and returned a respectable-ish 33 points which is actually my best this year.

Shot 45/40/85 on what turned out to be a beautiful day and in very pleasant company - missed a 4-footer on the last too after a lovely pitch.

Green shoots..

Nice shooting Ralph. None of our 4 ball played well yesterday. 33 would have won it.

Highlight being Bookie hitting the hotel window....love it

Very nice Ralph, great shooting.

I shot 97 yesterday after a terrible last 3 rounds of over 100. One minute you're close to breaking 90 with rounds of 91 and 92 and golf say just hang on a minute me owd tater. Loving it though.

Thanks Kev. How are you getting in with those new wedges?

In my previous experience it took me quite a while to figure out which one to use for all the different shots.

Second time using them yesterday Ralph. Getting used to the distances. I've used my SW mostly for years around the green so going to have to ween myself of it. Had a little success so I think they will have been a good buy. Keep you posted.

Not played much other than a couple of scrambles, they always start out as this is great fun but by about 14 you know you probably need to birdie all the rest and it gets frustrating as someone's in with net 54 :).

Played a greensome today, easily my least favourite format. Drove the ball well which was good as I had the ignomy of needing one from the last two off our last scramble. So it felt like a drive chip and put round for a lot of it. hardly hit an approach shot which was unfortunate as my partner can hit a long drive but it wasn't working today. Was going ok till 15 I caught a bunker so had a 6 iron over trees, came out really hot and was happy to see it hit the tip of a tall pine, thought that's ok as that may well be too big, think it was 180 to back but it shot out of there. Wandered up couldn't find the ball, it must have ricocheted into oblivion so had to send my partner back up the fairway and he didn't get it to the trees - 8 game over :)

Got another scramble on Thursday but hope to get a few more games on my own ball, just played one early bounce game this week and got an 81. Think these scrambles are fun but beginning to think sometimes you try to push it and think your Seve when in reality your a diddy and you somehow manage to do that shot about one in 20.

Anyway looks like the weather is closing in and we will soon be into winter golf. Never been one to play in all the depths of winter but have got a couple of weeks in the Canaries to look forward to, expect to play most days. We found a local gym that has a trackman room and enjoyed that last year. One of my mates was so taken he was pricing up how much it would cost to build his own one but when we ask him to come out and play on an actual golf course he wasn't really interested.... as Jim says people are strange.