Etchinghill - Wed 9th Nov 2022

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BGS @ Etchinghill: Nov 9th 2022

How amazing was the weather today? With the past few days being wash-outs most of us thought we'd be better off bringing a snorkel rather than a sand-wedge...  Rhodri even tried to claim his late arrival was due to spending some extra time speaking to the Big guy about the weather... Bonus points for Arthur as the only player in shorts today...

Considering the wet weather over the last couple of weeks, Etchinghill was in pretty good condition, and the sunny but breezy conditions led to some entertaining golf.  None more-so than the 215 yard Par3 15th hole where Tony hit a beauty of a Tee shot, shaping it beautifully towards the distant green. Tony's playing partners were waiting to see how close it landed to the pin... when suddenly it dropped from the sky with a splash in the pond 40 yards short of the green.  He wasn't the last one to be caught out by this trickiest of Par3s with no-one getting on the green & for the first time in quite a while, one of the Nearest the Pin prizes doesn't have a winner but this did mean there was a unexpected bonus to put a smile on the face of one our merry bunch... but more on that later.

Despite the disappointment of not getting on the 15th green, Tony had already got his name on the Nearest the Pin sheet on the 9th hole, only to see Gary get just inside to win the prize. However, this didn't deter Tony & he managed to claim the Nearest the Pin prize on the 11th.  This left the 5th & the 17th Par3s which Terry won on a day of great golf for the very popular winner, with 35pts, and his first BGS win since February 2020.

It surprised no-one that Bob came 2nd beating his playing partner Rhod into 3rd place on countback (33pts).

Today's surprise came in the battle for the ignaminious title of "worst golfer" or as we more kindly call it: "most golf-played".  Andy (22pts) arrived in the clubhouse announcing it was one of his worst rounds and yet there were four golfers who scored less.  Winning the battle of the twenty-pointers was 2018 BGS Player of the Year, Big Ball Bulford. Next was our winner from August's visit to Tudor Park, Jamie Baker, just pipping today's fashion-style-guru, rocking out an orange trouser & cap combo which brought memories back of Rickie Fowler in his hey day...

However, none of these excelled in low scoring as much as our very own Jim Cornish, making his long awaited return, having passed a late fitness test on his weary back.  It didn't all go to plan though for the IceMan coming in with a lowly 19points and a stiff back... however, the smile soon returned to his face when he became the recipient of the unexpected bonus - that unclaimed Nearest the Pin prize... Hopefully, the good scoring will return next time Jim.

Next month is the Christmas Special... our annual 5-club challenge at Westgate - with a special festive twist of bonus points for those with Christmas Jumpers & hats et al, and hopefully another blue ball team game as well... Get the date in your diary & bookings will open up later this month: Thursday 15th Dec.