Day 43 - Skyfall

Woke up early this morning to get myself ready for the day.

Was a bit perturbed at the weather I could see out of the window: "red sky at night, shepherds' delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd' warning". Did this mean that we were in for rain today? The Met Office website did not agree, so I shall go with them... But I shall still pack my wets and an umbrella, just in case.

It was an early start as I needed to get to my destination by 08:00 this morning and was very nervous about getting snarled up in the giant car park that is the A3/M25 Junction 10 near Cobham.  This saw me leaving the house before 7 o'clock... and arriving far too early!  Still better than being late and hassled though.

One of the privileges of being a member at Burhill aged over 55 is the option of playing in the Vets Friendly Matches that are organised against neighbouring clubs.  Today, the opponents were the Elders of Hankley Common Golf Club.

Hankley is located south of Guildford and is one of Surrey's golfing gems (IMHO).  It hosts an Open Qualifier for the 5th time this year (before passing the mantle to Burhill New Course), which is a testament to the fact that others rate it too!  Despite the fact that a lot of work had clearly been done on the course, it was in great condition: lots of heather in front and to the sides, just waiting there to gobble up any errant shots!

Hankley Common is also well known for something else: areas around the course were used as a film set in the 2012 James Bond film, Skyfall, being passed off as the Scottish countryside for the final climactic shoot-out. Given the amount of noise they made, I hope there was no golf going on at the time!

Matches at Hankley are all in Fensomes Format: played in teams of two, each player drives off on every hole followed by alternate shots to the hole, with one player taking all the second shots on the odd holes and the other on the evens.  My partner, Richard, and I started off with a majestic birdie but failed to maintain this form throughout. We did though emerge victors 2&1 and the Burhill team also won the day by 4 1/2 to 3 1/2.  After play, we were treated to a splendid carvery lunch, with some classic English deserts to follow.  All in all a splendid day... and not a drop of rain!