The Day Itself

Slept badly...kept on waking up and checking the alarm, but eventually arose at 0630 to get ready for an 0715 departure to be at the Club for half past seven.  The first thing on the agenda was to the Grimditch Trophy, for which members signed up and were then randomly allocated to play for either the Captain or Vice Captain in a matchplay foursomes format.  There was a shotgun start at 0830 and I was to play with the incoming Vice Captain against the Director of Golf and the outgoing Captain, Colin.  Suffice it to say that by 1100 we were back in the Clubhouse having been given a proper drubbing by our opponents who could do no wrong...whilst I could!  No thanks to me, the remainder of those representing the Vice Captain performed much better and the result of the competition rested on the scores from the final pair in.  They halved their match which also meant that the overall match was also a draw and honours were shared...  The first time for a while and a great start to the day!

New Ladies' and Men's Captains

After a lengthy bar/lunch break, the next item on the agenda was the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Men's Section.  This is where I was to be formally inducted as Men's Captain, after which there was no going back!  The meeting passed off smoothly, with the new committee being elected nem con and there I was the new Captain of Burhill Golf Club.


I had no time to let this sink in as very shortly thereafter, we had the AGM for Burhill Golf Club.  This was a bigger affair with a very good turnout of members.  The year gone by was reviewed, the new Club Committee elected and plans for the future discussed. the amazing successes of the Club's junior section were lauded and Diana, the Lady captain, shared our decision to select the Princess Alice Hospice as our Captains' charity for the year ahead.

Rolley in action...

The formal stuff over, now was the time for the Captains' Drive In.  Tradition has it that one is supposed to arrive at the tee in style, or at least in a manner that will amuse the onlookers.  This I think we achieved, by the use of Rolleys. As you can see from the photos, these are an upright motorised golf trolley which, on flat ground, actually can travel at quite a lick!  Diana and I managed to navigate our way successfully to the tee of the Par 3 18th Hole of the New Course.

At least it went forwards...

Clearly the pressure of the day, or the gentle barracking from the balcony, was too much and in the end none of the three of us succeeded in landing the ball on the green but, more importantly, we all managed to tee off successfully and hit over the river in the general direction of the flag.  Honours just about intact....


Thence back to the bar and a weight of our collective shoulders: we don't have to do that again!  Time for a drink and a relaxing chat with the many friends who stayed on to make it such a special day.