Stonelees - Wed 18th Jan 2023

Report

Frosty Fairways, rock-hard greens, 90 degree bounces... it must be the Broadstairs Golf Society January game...  Greeted by blue skies, a beautiful winter sun and temperatures barely above freeezing, the dedicated dozen arrived at Stonelees Golf Centre for a great breakfast supplied by the returning Anthony Gardiner and his Fairways Kitchen.  We did have a baker's dozen until a late pull-out when one of our elder statesmen popped one of his hips whilst giving his dogs a piggy-back on their early morning walk - apparently Terry's dogs were refusing to go for a walk in such harsh conditions... that must say something about the Broadstairs Golf Society... Mad Englishmen & a mad Welsh man too...

Following breakfast, our reigning 'player of the year' Bob McDougall did the draw for the groups & then showed a surprising turn of pace to get his group to tee off first even though they were the 3rd group... however, this four ball quickly reduced to a three ball when former Karate champion & society hardman, Tony 'the chop' Clark, had to retire at the end of the 1st hole due to an old Karate injury that resurfaced - the rumours circling that Tony was fed up of waiting for Bob were wide of the mark...

Using the Stonelees Competition card meant a bit of variety around the 9 hole Heights course. However, that didn't stop the returning Anthony blobbing the 3rd hole on the front & back... although he did get a combined 7pts on the 2nd (& 11th) hole.  Our other returning stalwart was Geoff 'the steady' Richman who dovetailed beautifully with Rhod to give Jim 'The Iceman' Cornish & Ken 'not so good in the Ice, man!' Tinklin a 'matchplay' golf lesson.  In the final group the Fairhalls were seeking out the Fairways with Andy & Carl. Their match seemed pretty even, if a little on the low-scoring side. However, it was on the Par3s they excelled with both Carl (8th) & Gary (17th) picking up 'nearest the pin' prizes. The other 2 were won by Bob (4th) & Geoff (13th) - so an early 4 way tie for the prestigious 'King of the Pin' 2023 award.

'Most golf played' went to Ken for the 2nd month in a row, which is an unwanted but not an unprecedented accolade. Last season three different golfers achieved this feat... & one went on to do it three times in a row (try not to "achieve" that next month Ken...).

The top three were separated by 1 point. In 2nd place was our reigning champ Bob, beating our inaugural 'Winter shield' holder Rhod on countback, and leaving the returning Chef, Golfer & all-round nice-guy Anthony to pick up 1st place with 32 points...

Despite the hard conditions today, there was a softening of the new handicap rules which had stated that any winner would be cut 2 shots for the next game, one of which would be permanent for the rest of the season... although it was purported that Anthony was going to be cut two whatever... so Anthony, welcome back, & feel fortunate that you're only going to be cut one shot for your next game.

The next BGS game is at North Foreland on Wednesday 22nd Feb with a 10am Breakfast.