Day 252 - Basingstoke

Autumn trees at Basingstoke Golf Club

A leisurely start this morning:the plan was to meet up at 09:30 for a 10:00 start... but not at Burhill, instead our opponents for the day were Basingstoke Golf Club.  So, first problem was to negotiate the traffic to get there. Trusting Google Maps, I decided to take the M25/M3 combination.... and it turned out to be just fine.

Yes, there was some traffic but it kept on moving and I arrived just on time. And I also had great fun trying out the car's new AutoPilot options: I set the car going at the required 50 mph speed through the lengthy roadworks, pressed the AP button and enjoyed the ease of letting the car do its thing. The only problem was when white dashed lines disappeared and were replaced by studs on the road, which didn't quite work!

Our match today was in the Vets Penang league: a set of home and away matches played through the winter months. A bit of pressure on the team: Burhill won this competition in 2014/15...  I hadn't played Basingstoke before and was looking forward to it: it looked it really good shape.  I was playing with Chris, against our opponents John and Derrick, and was going to be giving shots to the other three.

We were quietly optimistic after the first hole, which we won easily, but this didn't last long as our opponents not only got back level quickly but then drew ahead, achieving a 2 hole lead by the turn.  It was not easy as we were playing against a couple of very steady golfers, who mixed and matched well.  But, we hung on in there until a great/fortunate putt resulting in a birdie on the 15th got us back to level. Another birdie on 17 gave us an unbeatable 1 shot lead, which we sealed with a (three-putt!) half on the last.

In turned out that our win was important: overall, the match was shared with a score of 2 1/2 to 2 1/2, leaving everything open for the return match early in the new year.  Whether we can match the excellent weather we enjoyed today is more questionable...  The golf was followed by a wholesome shepherd's pie and vegetables... and everyone agreed that a nap would ideally be in order!

A slow trip back through the heavy traffic was painful, but I did get back in time for the Social Committee Meeting at the Club at 7 pm. This was mainly a review meeting as most of the events have now taken place: all we have left is the Hallowe'en Night Golf on Saturday...  still place available if anyone is interested!