Day 365 - Signing Off

A busy day at the Club today. I was there by 0745 in order to assist with the distribution of the cards for the day's competition: the Grimditch Trophy. This is played every year on the morning of the Men's and Club AGMs and and pitches players together in pairs, representing either the the Captain or the Vice Captain.  I had done the draw the previous evening, splitting the field into Hi and Lo handicap groups.

I did this entirely randomly, which is how I found myself playing off the 15th tee. I was partnering David, against Scott and Duncan (the 2015 Club Champion).  Duncan plays off +1 (!), which meant that my partner and I would be receiving 7 shots. I must be honest and say that I was very nervous about this match-up as I haven't been playing particularly well of late.

As things turned out, we had a great match: we were never behind, managing some great wins on e.g. 4 and scrambled when we had to. A couple of better putts (17 was weak!) and we would actually have won. As it was, we delivered a 1/2 from our game which was probably a fair result.

The Grimditch Trophy being awarded to the Captain

Overall, the players playing for the Captain did well and my team managed to squeeze ahead by the slenderest of margins: we ended up winners by 10 to 9!  After the Prizegiving: one golf ball each for all on the winning side...., it was time to head upstairs for the AGMs.  First we had the Men's AGM, which progressed smoothly and then the Club AGM.  I had to say a few words at both but by this stage I am very much Yesterday's Man and the reins had been definitely passed across to the incoming Captains.  I collected, in Kathryn's absence, our Flitch Salver prize, which was fun too.

After the formalities were over, it wad time for the Captains' Drive in: Oh, Happy Memories!  Again, the pressure on the drives was telling and both Captains missed the green left - just as Diana and I had also done...  Not sure about the Chelsea and Sunderland shirts they wore: they won't be allowed to wear them again on the course!

Now is not the time for post-Captaincy reflections: I shall come back to those at a later date. For now, I am shattered and intend to collapse in front of the golf from Pebble Beach this evening...

Day 364 - Home Alone Not

Well, if Thursday was a day of gorgeous weather, today was the complete opposite... It was cold, it was grey and towards of the end of the round we had rain/sleet as well. I had turned up to take part in the Roll-Up this morning and at around 8:15 found myself on the 10th tee of the New Course, ready to face the elements.

I was partnered with Russell and our opponents were Graham and Chris. Despite the difficult conditions, the match was very tight: all square after 9 holes, all level after 18 and just a few bits in it. From this should not be inferred that the quality of the golf was particularly high, rather that we matched each other in our incompetence... I did manage a fine birdie on hole 5 but that was about it.

At the end of the game, we were very happy to get into the warmth as it really was quite unpleasant out there. Nothing though that a pint of Youngs and some cheesy chips couldn't put right!

On the way out, I spent some time with Tom in the Pro Shop just making sure that everything is ready fro the Grimditch Trophy tomorrow...my final competition as Captain.

Then home for an afternoon of rugby watching: with the weather conditions foul outside, there was no incentive to go anywhere so France/Ireland and Scotland/Wales it was.  The second game was the better of the two but both matches had their moments.  In between, I started to prepare dinner for this evening: nothing fancy, just meatballs in tomato sauce with pasta (but the sauce was excellent!)

At that point, the phone went and I soon found that I had two extra guests for supper: Caroline and Paul were in the are and dropped by initially for a cup of tea. What a treat, as I had expected to be Home Alone and now I had company!

Day 363 - 2 Days To Go

Not sure what happened with the Day numbering but I do know that Sunday is the day of my handover to the new Captain, so have bumped the number up accordingly... :-)

I had an early start this morning: wanted to see the GP after last week's blood test and 0740 was the only time available, so that's where I was bright and early.  Nothing serious, but a few more tests required.

A quick visit to the barbers was in order: I must look my best for any photos on Sunday after all...

I was preparing for a lazy day when I had a phone call asking me if I could come up to London for a meeting in the afternoon. Which I duly did. As a result of this discussion, I may soon find myself with some paid employment of a project/consultancy nature: well, I shall need something to fill my time once the burden of my Captaincy is lifted!

Back home for some domestic duties: washing and ironing to be done to make sure that everything looks tip top when Mrs Lawrence comes home. 

This was all fitted in with keeping a distant eye on the cricket on the box: the 4th ODI between England and South Africa.  For much of the game it looked as if South Africa had it all sewn but but then England played their way back in, but couldn't quite deliver the final coup de grâce.  All square now going into the final game on Sunday...which is going to be a busy day!

Day 360 - A Casa

I forgot to mention yesterday that one of the things that I did whist in Lavenham was to help my mother with online applications for a new driving licence and a passport. It's somewhat ironic as these two processes (along with renewing your car's road tax) are some of the slickest and best applications on the web: as such they are ideally suited to the older generation who need them but yet at the same time are more cautious about using them...

We managed to get a group of 8 out today on the New Course: at the start of play, there was still some signs of frost on the ground and everyone was complaining about the cold, but only 2 holes in the sun came out and we were treated to a fantastic day. No wind (!) and warm sunshine made it appear as if we were in early Spring rather than February...no wonder all the flowers are so confused this year!

The golf itself was a mixed bag: two of my 4-ball played excellent golf, whilst I didn't.. it was though enough to win the few pennies available for the winners. Not that I hung around for long though as Steve and I had a 3 pm meeting with Burhill management.

We sat down for about an hour and a half with Colin, Guy and Matthew, reviewing a bit how the past year has gone and also looking forward to the future (party to ensure that everyone was prepped for any questions that might come up at Sunday's AGM!).  It was interesting to hear Colin's perspectives on the state of golf in the UK from his conversations with other proprietary club owners, as well as England Golf. It would appear that overall golf is still on a downwards trend, though underneath the raw data there is a clear split between the high and low quality operations, with the former prospering and the latter not: expect to see a number of newer course return to farmland use with the better return available on fresh food.

In the evening, I went out for dinner with my son and daughter: we were testing out a new Italian opposite the Shell garage on the Portsmouth Road in Cobham - it's recently transferred ownership and name and is now called A Casa.  The menu was reassuringly brief: a choice of 4 main dishes all freshly cooked. We took a selection of three and they were all good. And the tiramisu afterwards was delicious...

Day 359 - Moving Day

Mum in her new pad

My mother has recently moved house: after 35+ years in what was the second family home (nothing to do with second families...), last week she upped sticks and moved up to the top of the village into a small three bedroom town-house.  It's been a major move and has required a lot of tough decisions to get rid of both oversized furniture as well as accumulated clutter.

My brothers Tony and Roger had done a great job in actually making the move happen as well as getting the new house set up. When I go there today, it already starts to feel like home and it is great to see so many photos and pictures helping it do so.

My job was to sort out the technical stuff: we got the wifi fixed up, the phone line repaired, the TV connected and the CD player working as well as ensuring that the bluetooth speaker works off the iPad: no excuse for no music and entertainment going forward!

I had driven up for the day in my Tesla: a good test of the technology as I knew that I'd have no opportunity to recharge when there. When fully charged, the on-board computer states that it has a range of 245 miles and the round trip journey is a touch under 220 so it should be no problem?  I knew however from online research that this range can degrade in the cod and wet weather, especially if you travel over 70mph and make use extensive use of the heater.

Poor quality pic of my journey tracker

I am pleased to report that, with some careful driving and extensive use of the AutoPilot and Traffic adjusted cruise control, I managed to get home last night with 12% (35 miles) still "in the tank".  Kudos to Tesla's on-board software which worked perfectly.

Before we went out to dinner, Mum and I spent a fun half an hour leafing though some of the envelopes she had kept entitled "children's letters": she had catalogued and maintained all the weekly missives that the four of us were then required to send  home when at boarding school.  We looked through years 1977-78, when I was at College - all I can say is that my handwriting was more legible in those days and that my own children have never ever written letters to us like those!

Out for dinner at the newly refurbished gastropub the Cockhorse Inn ; if you are ever in Lavenham, I can thoroughly recommend the pork belly with sage mash!

Day 358 - Dinner Time

When arranging for golf today, I made the plea to the group with whom I play: "can we please have a day without some wind?".  I was unaware that I had any superhuman weather controlling powers up my sleeve but I am delighted to be able to report that it worked...  We played our 18 holes of golf today in conditions that would be welcomed in the middle of spring, let alone in the first week of February - a gentle breeze and some warm sun accompanied us around for most of the time.

This cannot be the only reason for it, but the quality of golf was also very high too: we were two 4-balls and had a match between the teams, with the best three scores counting on every hole.  My team (Jan, Steve, Jon and I) managed to return a card which was the equivalent of 8 under par (116 Stableford points) and thought we had aced it... in the end there were only 2 points in it though!

As we were leaving the Club after lunch, there was a steady stream of Ladies, all dressed up in their finery, coming to attend their AGM. Today therefore marks the final day of Diana's Captaincy as she hands the reins over to her Vice, Sally.  Diana has been great fun to work with and can take a lot of satisfaction from her year - and she gets to put her feet up tonight!

I, however, am still on duty: tonight we had the Men's Committee Dinner where the outgoing Captain gets to say thank you to all those who have served in the past year.   He may also invite a few guests of his choosing: I was delighted to be able to ask Colin, Roland, Bryan and Martin to fill those slots as their friendship through the year(s) has helped make my time at Burhill so special.

The meal itself was delicious (smoked salmon, beef fillet and tarte tatin) after which Steve gave a very kind speech thanking me for my year as Captain, after which I was presented with a silver salver as a memento.  I then got to say my own thanks to all those present, for which I used some Lego men as a prompt.

I was then surprised to receive another gift from Colin who had prepared a word cloud from all my Blog entries this year: apparently, he had to download more than 100,000 words... a frightening thought!

Day 357 - A Super Day

On Sunday night, I managed to stay up for the First Quarter of the 2015 Superbowl between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers. At that point, I had pressed the record button and given in as it was past midnight and there were still many hours to go.  This morning, over breakfast I watched the rest of the game though I must admit to fast-forwarding through the entire half-time show. 

I decided to watch the game for two reasons: one, so that I would know what everyone was talking about when I return to Florida and two, because I had put some money into my US golfers' Super Bowl sweep.  Last year, I had managed to win 3 of the 4 prizes (lucky dips based on the exact scores at the end of each Quarter) and I am pleased to report that I managed another one this year: $100 is heading my way....

Traditionally, the Super Bowls have been denominated by their sequence number in Roman Numerals (e.g. the 44th was "Super Bowl XLIV").  This was year 50 and some marketing guru must have decided that Super Bowl L was somehow not good enough (looks like a shirt size?) so instead they have switched to referring to "Super Bowl 50"... made me smile.

No golf today: not only did I need a break but, as things turned out, with 90+mph winds reported off the south coast, it was not a day for trying to hit a white ball around - I have lost count of the windy days we have been suffering of late...

Instead, I headed up to London: first to collect my daughter's wedding invitations from the printers (good job, Dad!) and then to take both of my children to see Billy Elliot on the stage at the Victoria Theatre.  My EDF Energy offices used to be around the corner and I had long promised Caroline to take her so, when the news came out that the show will close in April, we finally got our act together. And what a splendid evening we had: super energy, good story, tremendous dancing by the kids and amusing 80s political references - we had a great evening and shall be recommending anyone who has not seen it to get in quick.

The only downside was that most of the audience comprised foreign visitors to London: they appeared to miss most of the jokes and talked through some of the more intimate scenes. And as for the behaviour of the two Spanish speaking young kids in front of us....