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.
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