Day 194 - Pop Rees Shield

Late to bed last night, but it was at 07:34 this morning that I received my first email (thanks, Xenos!) about today's competition: the Pop Rees Shield (a Mixed foursomes event in which you are not allowed to play with your wife/husband) due for tee off at 1 pm. This was warning me that the overnight rain would make the Old Course difficult to play and that we should consider switching to the New (the sand-based greens are much less susceptible to flooding)....

Throughout the morning, the rain carried on relentlessly and everything looked bleak.  A pow-wow with the Pro Shop at around 10 am led to the decision to take a final call at 11:30.  In the interim, a flurry of emails and text messages flying back and forwards, as well as a general warning to all players that we might have to call the whole thing off.  Advice on which of many weather apps to rely on followed and, after due reflection, and basing our decision on the website whose forecasts seemed the most positive, we made the decision to carry on with the competition.

It is fair to say that this was not received with unbridled enthusiasm: as it turned out, some 36 of the original players threw in their proverbial towels, leaving 44 of the original 80 to battle things out.  I was paired with Lisa, whilst her husband Kevin partnered my other half.  We were due off from the 1st and were there on time at 1pm, suitably kitted out to cope with the rainy conditions.  By the time we had reached the middle of the 2nd fairway though, the rain had abated and we had pretty good playing conditions for the rest of the round. The New Course played well, given the rain, and the greens were wonderful.

Our four-ball belted around the course, completing our foursomes round in 3hrs and 10 minutes.  This was a good pace and reflected the fact that both pairs were playing well.  We got back so far ahead of the others that we even had time to go back home for a shower (and in my case, shave) and still be at the Club in time for supper.

After some delicious lasagna and garlic bread, it was time for the Prize Giving, on this occasion to be orchestrated by the Lady Captain. It turned out that our score of 37 points was enough to secure overall victory in the competition: an excellent end to a great day! 

And England beat Australia in the T20...

Day 193 - Remedy Oak

A few years ago, Burhill started playing a regular home and away match against a new club called Remedy Oak.  This is a course located in Dorset, some 10 miles near Bournemouth. It is a spectacular track, set in a tranquil sea of trees, with each hole isolated from the others. Although a relatively new course, it has fast acquired a great reputation, already hosting Qualification Tournaments for the Open Championship.

Today was the occasion of the return match: I had been unable to play the Home leg due to illness and had instead been substituted by my son. Fortunately for me, he is on vacation in China so I had a clear run for selection for today's match. 

Given the distance, many of decided to carpool and I, too, gave fellow member Jan a ride. It was great to give the Tesla a proper run and I am pleased to report that we made it there and back safely, albeit with only 34 miles left in the tank by the time I got home. No worries though: there was a Supercharger in Winchester available had we needed it!

The golf itself was tough: I was playing with Kevin against Selwyn and Richard; our hosts played off 3 and 4 respectively - and more than that, they were on top form. We hung on for the first seven holes, after which a birdie spree by our opponents put them ahead and at the sixteenth tee, they were three up with only three holes to play.  Selwyn then put his second shot to within 3 foot of the hole, giving him a putt for his 5th birdie of the round. Kevin though achieved the impossible, holing his own birdie putt from some 50 ft away, just off the green. And he had a shot - putting us to dormie two. We couldn't repeat the magic, though, and ended up losers 2&1 - actually a very creditable performance given our opponents' score!

I hope that I get the chance to play the course again some time...

Day 192 - Broken Sword

When he was younger, my son and I used to play a series of point-and-click computer games together. We started with King's Quest and then moved on to the adventures of Guy Threepwood in the classic Monkey Island series. We also played the Broken Sword games series - another set of classics of their genre.  Hold that thought...

Today was the occasion of the Three Clubs and a Putter competition. This was something I had instigated to fill up an otherwise empty slot on a Bank Holiday Saturday. the format was simple: each player to play their own ball but only using a putter and three other clubs of their choice.  I was pleased that the event was fully subscribed and had been looking forward to the competition.  So much so that I had even purchased a club specially - see Day 178.

The weather played its part and we had a splendid day. There was a real buzz in the bar beforehand with everyone swapping their reasoning for their club choice. My enthusiasm for the day was dampened when I messed up the first 2 holes but after that I settled down until we got to the 9th when, what I though was a half decent tee shot disappeared right into the trees...(?)

I looked down at my club to discover that the head had separated itself from the shaft!  So much for that great idea... Not wanting to spend the second half of the day playing with only a 6 iron and wedge, I repaired to the Pro Shop to borrow a rescue club for the rest of the round.  But, by then, the damage had been done and my score did not feature anywhere near the top of the results.

Back in good time for Prize Giving in the afternoon sun: I think that everyone enjoyed the different format and it was great to see the winner achieve a score better than par with the limited club selection!

Then home for dinner preparation and a visit to to local multiplex to watch The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - retro nonsense but good fun!

Day 191 - In Memoriam

My father passed away some 12 years ago now and, every year, my three brothers and I get together on a summer's day and have a game of golf together in his memory.  This year, I was hosting at Burhill and we met up for lunch at around midday.  I had been up since the crack of dawn. First, to ferry my son and friends to Heathrow airport for their two weeks vacation trip to China and, then, to drive down to Eversley to collect my brother Matthew for the afternoon golf.

After we had eaten, we headed to the Old Course, Yellow Tees (carefully chosen as  Tony and I shall be playing these together next week in the Vets Guest Day!).  The traditional negotiation on handicaps kicked off proceedings (Brother 3 does not belong to a golf club..) and off we were.  History has taught us that the fraternal rivalry that is created by any form of individual event is best avoided, so instead we have played a fun format for the past few years.  Today it was Wolf that was agreed upon.

For the first three holes, my putter decided to do everything that was asked of it;  holed long putts for par on each and I suspect that the brothers;'collective spirits fell.  They needn't have worried: normal service was returned and a great birdie two on the short 6th by Roger meant that he established an early lead.  Matthew then repeated the feat on the 16th, by which time we had each had our four drives as the Wolf.  On the 18th, I was on point and went solo, blind (that is opting to play against the other three even before I had teed off). On the green I holed another long putt fro my par, won the hole and....

And nothing: we didn't even bother to see who had won (I think it was Roger!) and instead just enjoyed the fact that we had had a great round of golf on a course in great condition, with weather to match.  We shall though gloss over quite how long it took us to amble around - just be thankful that we never saw anybody else and, as a result, didn't hold anyone up either!

Back home to Cobham for a BBQ with all the brothers' wives and families: great fun and so lucky that we could sit outside until well past 8 in the evening: Jan and Andrew, we missed you!

Day 190 - Country Days

More by luck than anything else, we had chosen a fine day after all the recent rain for our semi-final match in the Flitch Salver (see posts passim).  Our opponents on the day were Anne and Kieran, with whom we have often played n the past, but not before in this competition. We were required to give them 7 strokes so knew that it would be a tough challenge...  A view which was reinforced on the first, where we both scored creditable 5s, meaning that we were 1 down straight away.

The match was a ding-dong battle for the first half, with each side trading wins on alternate holes.  We did though manage to get our noses in front after holing most, if not all, of our make-able putts. And we managed to hang on to the end, winning the match on the final green.  This puts us through to the final of this competition: opponents as yet unknown.

Home for a few hours of intensive domestic chores in anticipation of family visits on the morrow and then up to London by train for a pre-theatre supper (back to the Archduke!), followed by the short walk to the National Theatre. We were taken by how busy all the bars and restaurants looked on a Thursday night: there's clearly plenty of holiday spirit still around!

We went to see Three Days in the Country, a modern interpretation of a work by Turgenev's presumably longer version (A Month in the Country). This was a comedy about love and was wonderfully acted out by a cast who were on stage the whole time, sitting on seats in the back when not actually speaking. There were a number of familiar faces - Mark Gatiss, he of Sherlock fame, and John Simm (State of Play, Life on Mars etc.) - both of whom were in fine form.

A very enjoyable evening... and we caught the earlier train back which will make the 05:45 alarm tomorrow that bit easier...

Day 189 - Busy Diary

Another deluge day: this August potentially the wettest ever?  It doesn't feel that bad to me though, just a lot of rain concentrated over short periods. At least the forecast for the next few days looks brighter.

So, no golf today, but still work to do. I had a meeting with the General Manager at the club, reviewing progress on the new Halfway Huts (not sure that they will actually get built during my captaincy year, but it's been fun following their progress!), general membership issues and reviewing the last few weeks' operations at the club.  There have been times at weekends of "congestion" in the morning, often when one course is out of action for a competition.  We shall have to find a way forward that works, because the threat is always out there to introduce fixed tee times at weekends - something I cannot believe that any members want!  I have agreed to give the matter some thought.

Back to the Club again in the evening for a Scoial Committee meeting. For the first time for a while, we had to hold it inside as it is no longer feasible to sit outside on the terrace in the evenings: a sign that summer is approaching its end.

We reviewed recent social events and took pleasure from the the fact that the attendance this year is running higher than recent years, though not yet back to the peak of 2011. Still trying to work out what we did right then!

We also looked forward to a busy calendar: Bank Holiday Pop Rees Mixed Foursomes, Super Twilight on 12th Sept (still places available!), Cross Country in October and Hallowe'en Night Golf at the end of that month.

And we want to squeeze a Rules Night Quiz in there too.  At least, nobody can complain that there is not enough going on!

Day 188 - Pace like Fire

A look at the latest weather forecast last night led to a rethink: we had been due to tee off in the afternoon, but instead moved our start time to 08:00 this morning.  As things turned out, the met office had their predictions spot on and we managed to avoid the latest deluge...just...

There were five of us today: a two-ball set off at 08:20, with the three following right behind them. Once we had negotiated our way through a slower foursome (had they not seen the same weather forecast that we had?) we cantered around, playing some good golf along the way.  By 11:30, we were all back in the Clubhouse comparing scorecards.  Playing golf at that pace (like fire?) suits my game and I wsih it were possible every day.

One of our group, Mr X, had a particularly good round, which helped ensure that my team emerged victorious: no money involved, just a round of (soft) drinks.  All good fun and a great start to the day. As we left the course, we watched the Ladies finishing off their Texas Scramble, and getting rather wet in the progress.

A quiet afternoon beckoned: even quieter than I had planned when the rain put paid to the live cricket that was supposed to be on the box.  Instead, I ended up watching a Sky Sports series on the history of fast bowling: Pace like Fire.  Frightening stuff.... and in those days, no helmets either!

Day 187 - Wet Wet Wet

Anybody who had golf on their agenda for today had to rethink: we enjoyed non stop, serious rain for most of the day... I did go to the Club in the afternoon and there appeared to be but two lonely souls out there: everything was very quiet.

It did though provide the opportunity for some catching up. Had a chat with Rob, our Head Greenkeeper, about a number of issues: the red hazard markers on the 17th Green n the Old (where exactly can you take a legal drop out of the hazard..?), he explained the blackish tinge that has appeared on a number of the greens (apparently a common problem in the area, it's a kind of squidge/algae that has appeared due to the recent rainfall, the warm nights and the use of on-course irrigation (and it's only a cosmetic issue anyway) and lastly we have arranged an evening (6pm on 8th September - if you're interested in joining, let me know!) for members to meet the green-keeping staff.

After that, I ran through the structure of some of the competitions we have coming up, with Mike our Head Pro and we made a few tweaks there and there, largely to see if we can do something to assist with the pace of play (which was poor yesterday...).  Also, I exchanged a few words with the Burhill CEO with whom I had been supposed to be playing golf this afternoon: we shall have a third attempt at finding a dry day later in the month!

Back home to cook dinner (a chicken recipe from the Times with roasted carrots and creamed spinach) before an evening of wedding consultation: even for an event 9 months away, there is already a need to book photographers, bands etc....What a racket!

Day 186 - Champions' Day

Today was the occasion of the Burhill Club Championships - both the main one, a 36 hole competition restricted to players with handicaps of 8 and below, and the Seniors version, this time with an age minimum of 50 and a handicap ceiling of 17.  I was signed up for the latter...

The youngsters teed off early at 7:30, whilst the older brethren had a more leisurely start to the day, wth tee times not until the middle of the day. Which sounded great...until we saw the weather forecast... The latter looked very gloomy as from around 12:45 when a ribbon of serious rain was scheduled to dump its contents onto those of us foolish enough to be out there.

We duly set off at 12:04 and, at about 12:06, the rain began. This, combined the fact that we had to wait on every shot right from the off, was not good: this is at least my excuse for the dismal start to my round. In fact, the rain cleared up by about the 5th hole, after which the sun came out and it was actually quite warm. My game, unlike the weather, did not improve and the only surprising thing was that I actually managed to record a score at all - one of my playing partners stopped counting on the 6th and, so we discovered later, he was far from the only one in the field who recorded a No Result for the day.

We all managed to complete the 18 holes however and thne met up withe all the other players on the Terrace to watch the final groups in the Club Championships come in. The sun was shining by now and there was a great atmosphere out there - all the more so when the final three-ball completed their round and we discovered that we had a tie: two players had logged scores of +5 for their combined rounds on the Old and New Courses.

Club Champion 2015

The playoff was scheduled to take place on the 18th hole of the New Course, right up to the watching public in front of the Clubhouse, and to be repeated as many times as necessary. As it turned out, just the one extra hole was enough to settle the issue; we have a new name on the Honours Board for 2015: Duncan Hodgson.

My job was to host the prize giving at the end of play, handing out trophies for the Club Champion and the Senior Champion, the latter receiving a prize for both best gross and best nett score.   The last such was the Ingram Flask, first awarded some 5 years ago to... Martin Lawrence....and I didn't even remember!

Day 185 - Family Foursomes

Burhill has, for many years now, hosted a Family Foursomes week. This is a series of competitions for Foursomes pairs, mother and son or father and daughter, focussed on a knock-out but with other games as well. It has declined in popularity over the years, no doubt in part reflecting the fact that it is more difficult to justify taking time off from work for such events.  A while back, the competition became mired in controversy (a simple Google search will tell you all you need to know) but has since recovered and is always played in good, if competitive, spirits.

It is not always the case, but this year the competition was blessed with some outstanding weather and great course conditions. It had been decided a while back that the Final should be an all-day one,  held over 36 holes. And today, I was on point to act as referee for the match. "Why is a referee necessary?", you may well ask (and I did too!) to which the answer is "It's always been that way", which sums up a the traditional nature of the competition.

36 holes in the hot sun was a long day, not so much for me as I was in a buggy, but for the competing pairs in the Final.  On this occasion, there was no Home Club representative playing, instead we had foursomes from Cirencester and Royal Wimbledon.  After the first 18 holes, the match was all square but, after lunch and in the heat of the afternoon, the lower handicapped pair drew ahead and ended up as worthy winners buy 4&3. Congratulations to the Kellys from the West Country!

The refereeing itself was not too onerous, with only two decisions requiring any input (1. what happens when you land on the wrong putting green? and 2. what happens if your ball strikes you on the rebound as you attempt to extricate yourself from a bunker?) both of which I managed to answer correctly. 

A formal prize giving for those who stuck around ended the day with the winners departing, laden with prizes and with smiles on their faces.  Not sure though if the competition can survive long-term in current format: time for someone to have a serious rethink, IMHO.

Day 184 - High Society

My Disorganised Golf group was as disorganised as ever today: we couldn't even agree on when to play so ended up going out as two separate groups, one in the morning, one in the afternoon.  Xenos and I were part of the advance guard, teeing off at 11:45.  We were pleasantly surprised to discover that we had chosen a time when there was a gap in the Burhill Family Foursomes tee times, which allowed us to play the Old Course.

It was great! there were few others out there and the course was in immaculate condition - especially the greens which looked as nice as they have all year.  once we had played through a slower pair, Xenos and I sped around, finishing in well under three hours. We had a great game, with my opponent recording a 2 on the 10th (an awesome putt from the bottom to top tier) and then topping that with a chip in par from a hazard on 17, when his ball never touched fairway nor green!  The fact that it ended up all square on the last shows what a good game it was.

Earlier I had had a meeting with the Head Pro to catch up on a number of things that had happened whilst he was on leave and to make preparations for the busy weekend ahead: Saturday has the Foursomes Final and then the Club Championships on the Sunday.

The evening saw Mrs L and I go up to Town for a pre-theatre dinner at Meson Don Felipe (best, most authentic tapas bar in London IMHO and very convenient for Waterloo Station, but you must book!) followed by a sparkling production of High Society at the Old Vic.  The second half in particular was exhilarating with the 21-man cast performing miracles on the small stage in the round.

Arguably though, the start turn was Joe Stilgoe (son of Richard) who opened proceedings by asking for music suggestions from the audience and then launching into a virtuoso medley, where he picked up all the themes suggested and interwove them into an overture of the Cole Porter tunes that were to follow: worth the price of entry alone!

Day 183 - Safety in Numbers

A very early start today: I had committed to collect Berin at 07:15 so that we could share the journey together from Cobham to Stoke Poges where we are playing in a match for the Vets team today. Our destination is Stoke Park and the traffic can be difficult of a morning...but not so today. We sailed though arriving in plenty of time for the 08:30 meet up slot.

I was chatting to one of our opponents, Owen, over coffee and he warned me that his partner, Gary, was "playing very well at the moment".  I should have listened more attentively to the warning: after 6 holes, we were 4 holes down after our opponents had not dropped a single shot nor made a solitary mistake.  This continued until hole 8 when Mike stiffed a 150 yard bunker shot to 6 inches for a fine birdie...only for both of opponents to pitch to within 3-4 feet and then, of course, match our team's fine effort. It was that kind of a day.

The end was as good as nigh on the 12th hole: Mike went right into a bush and I found my ball nestling up to an ancient oak: game over... In truth, neither of us played as well as we could and the pair from Stoke Park both played well below their handicaps, and all credit to them.  On returning to the Clubhouse, it transpired that we were not the only Burhill pair to have been soundly beaten.  The end score was 1-5... a right royal thumping!

An as-ever excellent Stoke Park lunch followed, and it wasn't until 4:30 pm that we got away. A quick look at the SatNav in the car gave us the bad news: the pouring rain was maybe the cause for it, but the entire road network between Slough and Cobham was showing up as red.  We abandoned our motorway option and traced our way through the backstreets - slow but at least we kept moving, though it was well past 6 when I got home...

Day 182 - Royal Golf

Today was the occasion of my first match playing for the Surrey Golf Captains team. The Society does what it says on the tin and has a number of competitions and matches throughout the year. Some of these are very popular and I was therefore pleased to be selected for the game at Royal Wimbledon, one of the great clubs in the area.  Our opposition was formed of a group of Surrey Golf Secretaries (and General Managers).

I was a bit nervous about the day as I didn't think I would know anyone playing on either side. I had played earlier in the year with a few of the Captains at their earlier game at Burhill and was also pleasantly surprised to find that I recognised quite a number of faces among the Secretaries: the organiser from Surrey Golf as well as the representatives from Malden, Royal Mid Surrey, the Drift and from Royal Wimbledon itself (although the latter had only been in post for 2 weeks, having recently moved from the NZ Club).

We had drinks before the game and I got chatting to Jeremy, a former Captain from Richmond. He was telling me that he was working on his swing and that he pitied the poor guy who got paired with him as he was playing poorly. It was with a slightly heavy heart therefore that I heard the teams being announced after lunch and, yes, we were to play together against the Secs from Malden and Corham Hurst.

I needn't have worried: we both played well, mixing and matching as is required in 4BBB. I managed to play to my handicap and yet with 3 to go we were 1 down after a number of wonderful bunker saves from Steve, of Croham.  We finally arrived at the 18th all sqaure, a short par 4. I then winged my 3 wood into the trees and Niel of Malden fame drove the ball pin high....  Game over? But he then 3 putted and we managed to scarpe a victory with the lastshot of the day.  Great fun!

Royal Wimbledon looked after us well with a great dinner to follow and it wasn't until gone 9 pm that I got home.  I look forward to playing in one of these events again, though probably not this year...

Day 181 - Junior stars

A quiet morning, taken up with phone calls and grass cutting (amazing how that has grown back in the past few, wetter, weeks!) provided a gentle start to the week.

In the afternoon, it was time to head back to the Club: both Diana, the Lady Captain, and I had been invited to present the prizes on the occasion of the Junior Club Championships.  As things worked out, we arrived a bit earlier than necessary (yes, Juniors can play slowly too!) giving me time to lend a hand with the entering of some of the scores...

...which was an interesting process!  Some of the juniors are relatively new to the game (for the record, our Intelligent Golf software cannot cope with scores on a hole any greater than 19!) and others are on a massive leaning curve.  A couple of the younger lads recorded some amazing scores: one, off 36, shot a one over par 9 hole round in the morning and the other, aged 11, managed 3 under par in the afternoon off a handicap of 43.  As you might imagine, a few extraordinary handicap reductions followed!

Particularly exciting was to see that just under half the participants were girls, a great credit to all concerned. It was fun to see one young lady's eyes light up when she realised that  she was now a single figure handicapper.

And all credit too to the overall winner for the 3rd year in a row, Jeong Sim.  With such a wealth of young talent, watch out Jordan, Rory, Lydia et al!

Day 180 - Final Major of the Year

Yet another day of pleasant late summer weather saw me out on the course bright and early for the 6th Captain & Pro challenge match of the year.  Mike, our Head Pro, was away in the US on family-in-law-visiting duty, so it was Tom who took on the duty of partnering the Captain.  Today, we were playing against Colin and Ronnie, two former holders of the selfsame office.  We had a great start, soon going three holes up and, despite an occasional worry, managed to hold onto the lead, ending up winners at 3&2.  Birdies on two of the par 5s (2 &13) were the highlights of the round.

We went round in fast time, barely seeing anyone else out there (where was everyone?) and soon found ourselves sitting in the sunshine on the terrace watching the golfing world go by.  I had two hours to kill before my afternoon tee time and enjoyed the opportunity to sit and chat.

The afternoon was spent playing with my son in the Don Vincent Trophy, a competition for families with the stipulation being that there be at least one generation difference between the two players.  It was a Stableford Foursomes format, off half combined, which meant that we were playing off the unusual handicap of 8 1/2...  We started off well, logging 18 points on our first nine but rather faltered towards the end.  This had us (just) missing out on some of the prizes, but a good time was had by all.

Now, how will the final day of the final major of the year develop? Looks Jason Day's to lose but maybe Justin Rose can find something special...

Day 179 - France 1914

Saturday morning and time for the August Stableford. A gorgeous day, with sun and little wind combined with a wonderfully pristine golf course. A day for high scoring?  Playing with partners, Bryan and Steve, it looked as if it might be with solid first nines (including, for me, two long-putt birdies). The second half though was less inspiring: a mediocre 31 ended up as the result meaning that I am no longer a single handicapper... back to 9.5!

Drinks on the terrace in the sunshine could have lasted all afternoon but a busy evening beckoned... At around 5:50, Kathryn and I took the train up to Clapham. She went on to dinner with daughter Caroline - and by all accounts had a splendid tasting meal at a local French restaurant.  AJ and I went for more rustic fare: we had a boerwors hot-dog from a street-side vendor as we walked from the pub to Twickenhan stadium.

We were there for the first of England's warm-up games in advance of the World Cup, which starts in mid September. The stadium was not full (only 65,000ish) but always a great experience and it did mean the halftime queue for drinks was that bit shorter. The magic of Facebook alerted us to the presence of three sets of friends at the game: one, the Laclau family, so close to us that we met up for drinks.  Fun to catch up but not sure about the outfit, Benoit!

The win was fairly irrelevant but 19-14 it was: we'll see what happens in the return fixture next week. At least no major injuries...

Day 178 - Curry Night

Went out on the Old this morning along with fellow partners-in-crime, Jan and Hugh. As the weather was looking a bit grey, we decided to have a crack at our own three clubs-plus-a-putter challenge. This was my second attempt at this - after last time, I had ventured onto eBay to purchase a cheap, used 5-wood.  This proved to be a much better choice: together with a 6i and a PW this was my set for the day.

For reasons that nobody can explain, every golfer knows that there are days when your clubs do what you ask of them and others when they don't. Today was a case of the former: I managed the first 9 holes in 2 shots under my handicap and,, by the time we packed up after 14 had recorded two birdies. The inevitable question came: "why do I bother carting 14 clubs around, then?".  Answer have I none...

Back home for a peaceful afternoon following the US Opena on the Red Button: actually a great way to watch golf as the cameras were focussed solely on one group (Messrs McIlroy, Spieth and JohnsonZ). This means that you get to see every shot and not just an endless series of putts as can otherwise be the case.  Throughout my viewing, the rain poured down outside.

It was still drizzling when I got back to the Club but by the time we teed off at 6 pm for our 9holes of pre-supper Twilight golf, it had cleared up and we even saw the sun at one point. My partner Tina and I had a very enjoyable round with Kathryn and her partner Russell. Neither of us appeared in the winners' circle but we weren't far off.  Dinner was an Indian themed one which, despite some unfounded concerns about spiciness levels, I thought they got it just right. Home by 11 pm after a great day.

Day 177 - BGL

No golf today: the weather put paid to that. Or rather the weather forecast did...  Dire prognostications of thunderstorms and torrential rain proved to be unfounded, but plenty of water did fall from the sky in the middle of the day.  By the afternoon, it had warmed up again but by then alternative plans had been made.

I did go into the Club though - this time for a meeting with Guy, the Operations Director of the Burhill Group.  We went through the plans for the new Half-Way Houses to be installed on the courses (pictures to follow soon as the application for planning permission is due to be submitted this week or next), as well as the preparations for the new General Manager and also the lessons to be learned from last weekend's shenanigans.

The plan was then for me to play a round with Colin, the BGL CEO; however, both of us had taken fright at the Met Office's warnings and had decided to find another date in a couple of weeks time.  s things panned out, we could have had a very pleasant first 9 holes, though may well noit have managed the full 18 in the dry...

Now it's time to watch the first day of the final major of the year (a frightening thought: the Masters was only yesterday...

Day 176 - Jubilee Goblets IV

Well - I was clearly too pessimistic and underestimated Tesla Motors' service levels... by 10:30 this morning my car had been brought to me at home so that, for a brief moment, we had not one but two red cars on the drive...  Looked pretty cool!

Duly charged, I was off to the golf club this afternoon for our latest round of Jubilee Goblets matches.  This time, the Lady Captain and I were matched against Simon and Gill - and for the first time ever, we found ourselves in the unusual position of actually giving two shots over the round...  Not that they needed them!  We chose to play the New Course as all seemed very quiet.

It was soon clear that we were in trouble: Gill was driving splendidly and Simon was accurate off the deck - and they could chip and putt too....  We managed a couple of excellent pars on the longer holes, but apart from that we were outclassed.  We ended up on the losing side by 5&3, but carried on regardless.  The 18th hole summed it all up: an excellent chip by Diana gave us the par, after which Gill holed her putt from the other side of the green for a birdie!

This means that we have two more rounds to register our first win...

Day 175 - Not a Jag

A golf free day today: body needs a break and anyway today was the day when I was to collect my Tesla. after its two weeks in the shop. It'll be good to be driving my own car again, even though the substitute vehicle I have been given (same colour, different fit out) has been just fine.  Accordingly I set out to Slough just after the traffic should have abated. And it had: a near perfect drive along a disarmingly empty M25/M4.

Unfortunately, there had been a miscommunication and the car had not gone through all its final checks; instead, they are going to bring it to me in the next couple of days.  Hmm...

I did take advantage of being in Berkshire to pay a visit to my aunt in Reading and had a very pleasant catch up over coffee. She told me afterwards that some of her neighbours had commented on the smart looking car outside her drive: "was it a Jag?"....

Back home, via Waitrose, as I was on dinner duty: a family favourite, what we used to call "witloof" as a child in Belgium, but sold here as chicory, wrapped in ham in a Gruyère cheese sauce.

Followed by a plum and apple crumble. Delish!

Day 174 - Inner Golf

A Monday drive up to Royal Mid Surrey, through Twickenham and along the 316 into London...in the morning at 08:00?  We must be mad to even consider it... But hey, it's August and schools are still on holiday so the journey was an absolute breeze. Leaving at 7:00 to be safe got me there for 07:30 with plenty of time to spare. Had a wander around, purchased a logo golf ball for my collection and soon it was time to join the team for coffee.

What an amazing oasis this is: 36 holes of golf right in the middle of a busy suburb, right near Kew Gardens. I had never been there before and was a bit disappointed to hear that hollow tining meant that we would be playing the, shorter, inner course. As it turned out, it was a fun test of golf: not much use for the driver and accuracy was at a premium. The absence of fairway watering led to the occasional hard lie, but it was the same for everyone.

My partner Keith and I got off to a flying start:  birdie, nett birdie to start and we were two up.  After that, it was a depressing repeat of the previous day's match as they hauled us in and won it on the last. We left a few putts short, which was our downfall, but had a most pleasant game with former colleague, Gavin, and his partner for the day, Alan (whom I called Paul for the first 9 holes...).

One of the features of the Club is the smart new Clubhouse. The original had been there since 1892 and was destroyed in a major fire in 2001.  All the trophies, records and a fine set of historical photographs were lost in the disaster and the Club has done its best to replace them. It is though a real shame to see all those gaps on the Honours Boards...

Day 173 - Lucky charm

Up bright and early and at the Club for a bacon roll before golf... but not what I expected to see!  A police car parked in front of the mansion and blue & white incident tape sealing off the normal entry door., whose glass was shattered, a fire extinguisher lying by the side of it. Am not sure exactly what happened (the policewoman on site was the model of discretion), but it would appear that the previous day's wedding had not passed off as smoothly and as decorously as one would have hoped. Am sure that the facts will come out in good time, but in the interim the staff onsite did a great job coping in difficult circumstances.

We were at the Club for a Men's match against the RAC.  My partner, John, and I were paired with the RAC Captain, Giles, and Nick - and great company they were too! The weather was splendid and warm, if anything too warm. We played the Old Course and soon established a 2 hole lead. The back nine though were much more closely fought as our playing partners started to get the hang of the fast greens. We ended up all square onto the 18th tee, but I am sad to report that neither John nor I covered ourselves in glory, meekly surrendering the hole and thereby the match.

As things turned out, this was probably just as well as all the other matches ended up in Burhill's favour and a whitewash would have been embarrassing!  Given the weather, lunch was served outside thereby obviating the need for jackets and ties. 

Lunch was made all the more pleasant by the Champagne that accompanied the food: yes, we had seen another Hole in One today by a Burhill player in a match. This time it was Jan (he had slotted his 9 iron into the 16th hole) who took the honours. Amazingly, his playing partner today was Jan-Willem - who had partnered me for my ace a short week ago.  He is our new lucky charm - and there will be a clamour to have him as a partner in future matches!

Day 172 - 60

Saturday - this must have been the best day of the summer this year: the weather was stunning, with sunshine and blue skies and the very gentlest of winds.  The courses are in great nick - surely today's Medal would be a low scoring one...  I was playing in my usual slot at 0842, this time with Allistair and Phil. We teed off on time, played the first hole and then arrived at the second hole to find that the previous group were still teeing off there... And so it went on: we had to wait on pretty much every tee but even so the round took "only" 4 hrs and 20 mins - and with the glorious conditions, what was there to complain about?

My game was very steady: but for a missed out on the 17th and a mess of the final 18th, I would have had a really good score. As it was, I ended up one under my par, which means that I am a single handicap golfer again (albeit just, at 9.4).  I thought that my nett 71 was not bad...until I got to the Clubhouse and found that a player in the group in front of us had recorded a net 60!  That takes some doing: a score of Autralian-First-Innings proportions...  Everybody else was just an also-ran... Fortunately, the handicapping system now kicks in and the winner, Mark, will see his shot allowance cut by 4.

The plan for the afternoon was to go home to watch the England team win the Ashes, but their fine performance meant that this had been achieved by the time we got to the 12th hole. So, instead, I played a few more holes, behind a couple of groups of junior girls, receiving some help and instruction from some kindly ladies.  Great to see the next generation out there - they all play off 54 to start with but from the look of their swings, they shall soon be improving fast.

Off to Sussex for dinner with my brother and family: great to catch up and to see what they have done with their new kitchen and breakfast room. Looks stunning, guys!

Day 171 - Chicken Counting

Another Friday, another Club match: this time the opposition were the men of Foxhills.  My partner of the day was Roger, a fellow oil man, and an Australian to boot. We were very good and did not discuss the cricket...much....  Our opponents were charming and proved to be wonderful guests: they allowed us to play our game and play our game we did.

A while back, I learned a lovely piece of golfing doggerel:

Golf and gloating do not mix,
So, if you win by seven and six,

Apologise for what you've done,

And write it down as two and one!

And I have quoted it to a number of people in the interim but had not yet used it for real. Well, today, we won by 2 & 1...

A good golf carvery followed the game and it wasn't long before I was back home to watch the end of the second day of the Ashes at Trent Bridge. For a while it seemed as if the match might be over in two days (two days!) but bad light at the end of the day put paid to that idea.  

It will be very surprising if England do not seal their series victory tomorrow, but let's not count our chickens...

Day 170 - Good Things

Had arranged to play some casual golf this morning and set off on our round on the New Course slightly unsure about the weather. Indeed it did rain a bit on hole 2 but that was all we saw. The course is in great condition and the speed of the greens completely fooled me on holes 1 and 3 as I saw my birdie putts go taxiing past the hole...  I was playing with Peter and we both settled down and ended up playing some very good golf: he shot 78 off a handicap of 8, whilst I managed a 79 (including back-to-back birdies on 13 & 14).

There had been 5 of us playing today and we agreed that we would score the best 2 of 3 Stableford scores on each hole with the two-ball drawing one of the others as a proxy for scoring purposes.  At the end of the round, we were optimistic - indeed our total score as 77 (without using our proxy) and it turned out that this was also the other teams, meaning that we had won on countback just taking our two scores...

Whilst all of this was going on, we had kept in touch with the extraordinary events going on at Trent Bridge. By the time we had completed our 3 hour round, the Australians were all out, back in the pavilion with a very meagre score of 60 on the board. Their nemesis Stuart Broad had done all the damage - something the Oz papers will love...not... We were at school with Chris Broad, Stuart's father, so I always take extra pleasure in the latter's success.

Back home to watch the England response: itself also very entertaining.  And them we watched the highlights of all the morning's play and heard the long list of many records that had been broken (my favourite: England have created another Test record today - the surnames of their eleven players contain a collective 53 letters. That's the shortest in Test history.)

And we also heard today that our future son-in-law had been offered not one, but two, jobs and now has the luxury of being able to choose which he'd like to accept.

Good things really do come in threes...

Day 169 - Domestic Bliss

Needed a day off today, so devoted it to matters domestic: mowing the lawn, doing washing, catching up on some phone calls, making desert for dinner (plum and polenta cake - yum!). Also made chicken enchiladas as a main course, but overdid the chilli content somewhat....

I did though forget one of the basic rules of cooking with chillies: wash your hands well before you touch any other part of your body... it took a warm bath to put things back into order!

As it turned out, it was a good day not to be doing to much on the golfing side: the company providing server support to Intelligent Golf had some performance issue as a result of which IG was down for much of the day. Not the end of the world, but still a nuisance. Fortunately by the late afternoon, all seemed to have been fixed.

Lots of good intentions went by the wayside in the evening when I spotted that Toy Story 3 was on the box... Maybe the washing up will have to wait until tomorrow morning!

Day 169 - 27 holes

Weather still holding on, so delighted to have arranged a game of Disorganised Golf at the Club at noon.  Four of us turned up and, balls in the air, I was paired up with Jan against Ian/Hugh.  We had a cracking match: nip and tuck the whole way around, mostly playing par golf, until we got to the 12th when Jan and I accelerated and managed to win three holes in a row to go 3 up with 3 to play: Dormie 3.

[Quick check of the online world: where on earth does this expression come from? Some explanations out there, but "origin unknown" seems to be the most accurate].

Then, on the 16th, I went way right but chipped to within 6" - surely that was it? But no, Ian holed a monster birdie putt and we went on to the 17th, which we also lost... The 18th was playing downwind (for me Driver, 9 iron - most unusual!) which allowed us to halve it as the final putt just went wide. Great fun - and all that work for a pint of beer!

A drink on the Terrace, where we chatted to Geoff and Ivor in the sunshine (golf/cricket chat!) until it was time to do a quick Waitrose run, then back to the Club again for another 9 holes... 

With friends, Colin and Nigel, we decided to get some practice in for the "3 Clubs and a Putter" competition coming up at the Club at the end of August.   Long discussion about what clubs to take ensued... I took 3W, 6i, P but it didn't really work.  Back to the drawing board!

Day 168 - Whiteley Village

Some of the almshouse cottages in the village

Just across the trees from the 11th Fairway at Burhill lies the neighbouring community of Whiteley Village.  This is a retirement community which dates back to 1907 when the then benefactor, William Whiteley donated what was then an extraordinary sum of £1,000,000. This was used to purchase the land and construct the village, which remains in operation to this day, caring for its elderly residents.

Today was the occasion of the Whiteley Village Charity Day at Burhill and the organiser, Professor Mark Britton, was kind enough to invite me as his guest.  The format was a familiar one: 20 teams of 4, each counting their best 2 Stableford scores on each hole.  What was different this time was not only the opportunity to purchase a glass of champagne at the half way point but also the chance to win a brand new Audi in return for scoring a Hole in One on the 6th of the Old.  When asked if I wanted to enter this, my head said "no" (what are the chances of 2 holes in one on successive days?``) but my heart said "of course".  Suffice it to say that I am not the owner of a brand new car.

We did though have a wonderful day: great weather with the only drop of rain I felt being the one that landed on me as I was putting my clubs away at the end of the round, good company and a splendid lunch.  No prizes for us today though as our golf was good, but not good enough.  I very much enjoyed chatting to my lunchtime companion and our guest speaker, Ken Schofield.  Ken was for many years the Executive Director of the European Tour and I could have talked to him for hours!  He was very entertaining, as was Peter Wilkinson, the Chairman of the Whiteley Village trustees.

All in all, a splendid day which raised £000s in aid of what is definitely a worthwhile cause: I am already hoping to put my own team into a future such event!

Some photos of the event are available to view here.

Day 167 - Hole in One

Today was the second leg of our friendly match against West Hill - this time at theirs. An early start to be there by 08:00, made all the more tricky for some of the players as they had to avoid the road blockages caused by the London Cycle route. No such problem from Cobham and there is plenty of time for bacon rolls and coffee before my tee time.

I was paired with Jan-Willem, from Burhill, and playing against their Captain and Match Manager. The match was played in good spirits and was progressing nicely until we got to the 7th hole, a 170 yard par 3, though the pin was in to front.  Mark's tee shot headed right of the green, whilst mine looked pretty good off the tee but there was some heather blocking our view... Only a shout from our partners on the green alerted us to the fact that the ball had gone in the hole!  My second-ever hole-in-one - those tees must have worked after all!. 

After that, we also started to play better and were soon 5 holes up. We tried hard to lose from there but our opponents were too kind, eventually conceding the match on the 17th when they played a wrong ball.  We skipped the final two holes to head back to the Club to get the drinks in. I quickly checked the details of my golf insurance policy. I think I should be covered...  The rest of the team had also played well and at the half-way point Burhill were up by 3 1/2 matches to West Hill's 2 1/2.


A quick shower preceded an excellent carvery lunch, with wine and a glass of kūmmel to finish.  What with that, the champagne and the post-golf drinks, the progress onto the tee for the afternoon matches was decidedly slower than had been the case in the morning.    Maybe this was also the reason for the more lacklustre golfing performance as well.  Brian and I were ahead for most of our match but lost the final two holes to end up all square. 

Others were slightly less successful and we ended up losing the afternoon session by 4-2 and the whole day by 6 1/2 to 5 1/2.  Not that anyone was too worried: we had had an excellent day, the weather had been spectacular, the course in great nick and the company most convivial.  This really is one of the best fixtures in our calendar!

Day 166 - Memory Lane

Today's date is the 1st August (White Rabbits!). This brought back some very happy memories of our time spent living in Switzerland, between 1994-98, as this is their National Day.  Our house looking over the Aegerisee and I can still picture the incredible firework show to which we were treated every year.

We also used to spend the day taking advantage of the local farmer's hospitality: they opened up their farm, serving lunch to all comers on large tables, together with the delicious local cherries. One year, this photo of my daughter appeared on the front page of the local newspaper entitled "Proud Swiss girl celebrates her national day"!

Our time in Switzerland was a very happy one: good friends, wonderful house, stable job and a great country to explore. We went swimming, hiking, skiing as a family and I even got to play a little golf. Not much, partly because the courses were closed for half the year but also because there was so much else to do. Occasionally, my neighbour Ramon and I managed to sneak a round in, but such occasions were few and far between.

No golf today either: a very busy calendar looms... Instead out for the day with Mrs L.  We headed down to West Sussex to a National Gardens Society Open Day at Whithurst Park.  A most impressive walled garden stuffed to the gills with very professional looking fruit and vegetables.  And the courgette cakes was delicious!  A few pics viewable here.

Back home in time to plant our purchases, a cold drink and then off to see Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation at the Esher Odeon. Tosh, but entertaining tosh...