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...!