Day 21 - A Top Sunday

Today was a competition-free day at the Club: a chance to catch up with a friend whom I hadn't played golf with this year. It was a spring day - typical English weather in March: when the sun was out and we were sheltered from the wind, it was remarkably pleasant... when we weren't, it was less so, but at least it was dry!

The New Course was in good condition and we had a fun round - all the more so because my son managed to get his rear into gear and joined us for the final eight holes. Thence back to the Clubhouse: drinks and lunch (the Sandwich Of the Day was excellent!) followed by another drink and the chance to catch up with some of the members in the Honours Bar.

Home for an afternoon in front of the tennis (2-0!) and some preparation for the first Men's Committee meeting next week.  There will be a long list of things to discuss and I need to get myself ready to make sure that the meeting is as effective as possible.

And there was still time to watch Top Gear.  Fun seeing Nicholas Hoult driving the Reasonably Priced Car -  he has certainly grown up since he was in About a Boy.  Not sure that Jeremy Clarkson has though...

Day 20 - Go Rest of the World!

Today was the fourth round of the Nations Cup: a competition that we run which is loosely based on the Six Nations Rugby championship.  To allow for ethnic diversity, we have teams representing the four Home nations, plus one for Europe and a Rest of the World (RoW) one to make up the Six Nations.

It's a round-robin tournament, with each team playing the other in foursomes format: this year we expanded the teams to being 7 pairs each and are even considering making it 8 next year. Each match takes place as shotgun starts over Saturdays in January though March, roughly corresponding to the grown up Rugby weekends, and culminating in a grand lunch at which all who have played are invited and where the prizes are handed out.

Today was my first chance to play for the RoW team, as I had had to miss the first three rounds through absence/illness. No pressure at all... as I was partnered with Kiwi Alistair Niederer who, last time out, had managed to record an 11 hole up victory together with my son, Andrew.  We had a see-saw game and, fortunately, we managed to eke a 2 Up win so the family honour was saved!

All of the teams' results were  very close, which means that things are very evenly balanced. The final day will be very exciting, with 4 teams in with a realistic chance of winning this year.  As things stand, the scores are:

England 32
Rest of the World 30
Europe 29
Wales 29
Ireland 25
Scotland 23

The final round is in two weeks time...

Afterwards, many of us gathered on the balcony watching the Burhill Mail on Sunday team record their second round win against local rivals Thames Ditton & Esher: congratulations to our boys as they recorded a convincing 5-0 victory!

Sitting outside in the sunshine you could almost fool yourself into thinking that it was warm outside... long may it continue!

Day 19 - Best Bib and Tucker

I had no idea where the phrase "best bib and tucker" came from until I looked it up on-line - and if you are interested, all is revealed here.

It's of relevance to me today as I sit here in my Black Tie outfit, ready to head off to dinner to represent Burhill Club at an event being hosted by the Captain of the Royal Automobile Club, in Ashtead.  This was the very first invitation I received as Captain, so of course I said "yes" straight away.

Since then a number of others have arrived and I think I shall need to take Pip Elson's advice to heart: "one of the things the Captain needs to do is to decide which invitations to accept and which to refuse, with the priority on the latter"...

That being said, I am looking forward to what I hope will be a good evening tonight, a tasty dinner with a glass of something on the side: all perfect preparation for meeting up with my Nations Cup team at 07:45 tomorrow morning....

Post Script

Just back home from the RAC. I hadn't been quite sure what I was letting myself in for but it turned out to be rather a grand affair, with almost 200 people attending. I was even more surprised that I found myself on the top table and being clapped in at the start of the meal. Great to see the respect that the RAC hold for Burhill and the other clubs whose captains were also there.  As I had anticipated, we had an excellent meal, with some very good wines too. 

What I hadn't been expecting, after the obligatory speeches, was a 45 minute stand-up routine from comedian, Bob, "The Cat" Bevan.  Very impressive how, with no notes, he managed to meander through a long list of vaguely on message one liners and wise cracks. 

I clearly enjoyed this more than the person next to me (who shall remain nameless) and who, half-way through, lost his battle to stay awake and snored gently for the final 20 minutes or so. 

My lasting memory is that of the RAC Captain, to this gentleman's right, squirming in his seat and trying to position himself so that the speaker couldn't see his other guest's increasingly relaxed looking pose!  Some of the others present did get their phones out though, so I fear that some photographic evidence exists...

Day 18 - Hacked off?

Looking at my diary for the coming month, I decided that now would be a good time to make use of the free mid-week voucher that we all received as part of our 2015 Membership pack.  Accordingly, I invited my brother Tony, a member at Hayward's Heath Golf Club, to come and enjoy the almost spring-like weather and to play 18 holes together.

Tony's a keen, and very knowledgeable golfer, who has even written a book on his quest to get down to a single figure handicap. This is an entertaining read and details all the various ways he tried to achieve his goal: talking to pros, custom-fitted clubs, working with an LPGA teacher, even a lesson from a hypnotist - he tried everything. And if you want to find out how he got on, I can point you in the direction of a well known on-line retailer... see the following link!

To tempt you even more, the first paragraph starts: "I had visualised the shot to perfection. There was no need for power from the 7th tee at Burhill's Old Course. Just a controlled three-wood....".

Anyway, we had a grand game together, chatting away and catching up on all our respective families' news. The sun shone, the course was empty and, although the greens are still recovering from the work that has been carried out on them, they were still damp enough to mean that any half-decent pitch onto them would stop dead where it landed.

For me this was crucial: I had registered for a Supplementary Card before we headed out and was more concerned that I would not play to handicap and therefore go up a notch to a playing handicap of 11.  But it was not to be: every time I sent a ball at the flag it stopped unerringly close to the pin and, instead of seeing my handicap go up,  I managed to record a round of 76, which now means that I play off 9.4. 

So, I can now claim to be a "single figure handicap golfer" for the first time in my life.  And I haven't even written a book about it...!

Day 17 - Divided by a Common Language

No golf today: the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak... Instead, a trip to the Club for some admin work and a chat with the General Manager to discuss matters of mutual interest.  We ran through a number of things going on at Burhill, including all the work on the entrance and the tree clearing around the Clubhouse, as well as plans for the new Halfway House.

We also took some pleasure from the successful sign up for the Men's Invitational (see earlier post) as this was something that David and I had worked on together. At my Club in Florida. this would be called a "Member Guest Event", although the scale of our ambition at Burhill is a bit more modest (one day only and no special merchandising!).

Actually, it is fun comparing how the same game, golf, played to the same set of rules (Quiz question to be addressed in a later blog: "Which is the one rule of golf that is different in the US from the UK?) can yet be so different in the two countries.

One of the big differences is the way the handicapping system works on each side of the Pond. I must confess that I am more of a fan of the USGA methodology: roughly speaking, every round of golf is recorded and your handicap is based on the best 10 of your last 20 rounds.  For the regular golfer, this means that your handicap is a much more current reflection of your abilities - unlike in the UK where if you only play the minimum 3 competition per year, it can take almost 4 years to see your handicap increase by 1!

On top of that, in the US, every tee box, on every course, is separately assessed for its difficulty and the strokes you receive vary accordingly. This "slope" system makes a lot of sense as we can all relate to the fact that a handicap calculated, say, off the yellow tees at Pachesham golf Club must be a different beast from that on the competition tees at Royal St George's. Yet, in the UK, they are treated as one and the same.

If you're interested, there's lots more to read about the US system here.

Maybe one day, all the world's handicapping systems will converge, but this will be some time off. In the meantime, I shall continue to maintain two separate handicaps. Which is also great, as I can pick and choose which to play off....

Day 16 - Dunmow Flitch

An obscure relation of my Mother's (third cousin once removed?) used to live near the Essex village of Great Dunmow.  Every time we drove to visit my parents in Lavenham Suffolk, we used to pass the sign to to my cousin's and I was reminded of the story of the Dunmow Flitch.

As legend has it, this goes back to the year 1104, when the local Prior offered any couple who could prove that they had not regretted their marriage for a year and a day, the gift of a Flitch of bacon (a Flitch being basically a side cut of a pig lengthways).  The tradition died out somewhere in the mists of time but has been restarted and the Dunmow Flitch is now awarded every 4 years.

Why this history lesson you ask? Because today saw the draw for the Club's Flitch Salver: a competition only open to married couples, both members of the Club, and one of the most sought after prizes in the Mixed golfing calendar.

At Burhill, custom and practice is that one generally does not play in competitions with one's other half, except in the Flitch Salver where it is mandatory. And playing mixed foursomes golf is always a great test of character, all the more so when your partner is your partner, so to speak.

Having carried out the draw, my golfing attention turned to tackling the Old Course... Not really sure why we bothered though, as our 3-ball were soundly trounced by our opponents, one of whom managed to play the front nine in +1 off a 13 handicap, and finished the round in 8 or so over. 

Now, when's our first round in the Flitch...?

Day 15 - Maque Choux

After three days' golf, time for a day off... despite the attraction of the Monday Stableford (first Monday of the month...).  So no playing today, instead there were two things on the agenda for the day: getting the Men's Invitational up and running and cooking dinner.

After many years without one, the Men's Committee had decided that we would reintroduce into the Club calendar this year a Member/Guest event: this is a wonderful opportunity for us all to share with a golfing friend the very best that Burhill Golf Club has to offer.  I had organized a questionnaire amongst all members in the middle of last year and had received more than 100 positive responses, so was sure we were on the right track.

Andrew Glover had kindly volunteered to help make it happen and we had put our heads together earlier in the year to design a day that we thought would both be great fun and also attractive for members.  So, this morning at 10:00, the sign-up went live and the way things are going, I think we shall have signed up all the available slots in the first 24 hours. Looks like we were doing something right!

Which brings me to dinner: I chose to make a Maque Choux, based on what we had in the fridge. It was very good though, next time, I shall use either a less abrasive chilli pepper or just reduce the quantities! It was good for my cold though...

PS Also watched the end of the Honda Classic: great to see Poulter and Casey in the hunt though wow did they fall away at the end... especially Mr Poulter who had it totally under control for a while... Think it should get Casey into the Masters though which is great!