Canterbury - Tue 15th Apr 2025

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Having just received a message of Hope from Rhod that the Sun would indeed rise (especially in this week of all weeks), we set off to Canterbury Golf Course in the rain...Of course, we weren't surprised when the sun came out after a hole or two, after we'd enjoyed a Bacon Butty, coffee, & the usual shenanigans around the 4-ball draw...

The 1st group looked confident as Ady & Smoggie chased after Jim & Arthur in their buggy.  Arthur was quickly in gear with the 1st Nearest the Pin on the 2nd hole.  With 28 of us today, there was quite a wait before group 7 were off, although it gave plenty of time for Mark (our resident representative from the USA) to work out what effect the latest tariffs would have on his score.  This allowed time for Carl to squeeze in & get the Nearest the Pin on the 5th.  

Alan Garrett (not Garratt) was building another impressive score to continue his early season form which finds him leading the way for the 2025 Player of the Year... & this included a Nearest the Pin on the 8th which also saw him as the only winner of today's 2s Club & a nice £28 in the kitty.

Our lowest Handicapper is Lee 'Big Ball' Bulford playing off 5 today, & he walked away with Nearest the Pin of the most scenic 11th, although it was Peter K who won the longest Par3 Nearest the Pin on the 17th.

The Guest prize went to Ryan Perrot, who was the only guest this month, although Ryan also beat the whole field to the prize no-one wants & walked away with the 'Most-Golf' wooden spoon.

Today was a bit different as we enjoyed a meal of Ham, Egg & Chips together after the round... I think it proved a popular option & having not been to Canterbury for a few years, I can see it retaining its place in the coming years... especially as the scoring was pretty good, with 20 of the 28 scoring in the 30s. 5 of us scored 35 pts but this only shared 4th place. 

Tony Clark came in 3rd place with an impressive 37pts, but rueing his 3 blobs on the back 9.

This left Carl 'The Wasp' Bolton & Paul 'Smoggie' Bunyan on an impressive 38pts.  Matching each other with 22pts on the front 9 and 16pts on the back 9.  So it came down to the final 6 holes which Smoggie scored better on... this is where we had some more shenanigans as I handed Carl the winners voucher & Paul the runners-up prize... however, once Ady & Arthur had jumped in & reminded Rhod that it's the last 6 holes that count... we quickly switched the prizes: handing Smoggie a debut win & more importantly a two shot cut!! Although he's not too sad as he's got £32 in the kitty as Smoggie, Arthur, Jim & Ady won the team game with an impressive 102pts (pocketing £7 each).

Next month it's the "Wear Blue for Ethan Day" alongside the St Stephen's Society at Faversham Golf Course on Friday 23rd May. Look out for Carl's invitation...