Day 365 - Signing Off

A busy day at the Club today. I was there by 0745 in order to assist with the distribution of the cards for the day's competition: the Grimditch Trophy. This is played every year on the morning of the Men's and Club AGMs and and pitches players together in pairs, representing either the the Captain or the Vice Captain.  I had done the draw the previous evening, splitting the field into Hi and Lo handicap groups.

I did this entirely randomly, which is how I found myself playing off the 15th tee. I was partnering David, against Scott and Duncan (the 2015 Club Champion).  Duncan plays off +1 (!), which meant that my partner and I would be receiving 7 shots. I must be honest and say that I was very nervous about this match-up as I haven't been playing particularly well of late.

As things turned out, we had a great match: we were never behind, managing some great wins on e.g. 4 and scrambled when we had to. A couple of better putts (17 was weak!) and we would actually have won. As it was, we delivered a 1/2 from our game which was probably a fair result.

The Grimditch Trophy being awarded to the Captain

Overall, the players playing for the Captain did well and my team managed to squeeze ahead by the slenderest of margins: we ended up winners by 10 to 9!  After the Prizegiving: one golf ball each for all on the winning side...., it was time to head upstairs for the AGMs.  First we had the Men's AGM, which progressed smoothly and then the Club AGM.  I had to say a few words at both but by this stage I am very much Yesterday's Man and the reins had been definitely passed across to the incoming Captains.  I collected, in Kathryn's absence, our Flitch Salver prize, which was fun too.

After the formalities were over, it wad time for the Captains' Drive in: Oh, Happy Memories!  Again, the pressure on the drives was telling and both Captains missed the green left - just as Diana and I had also done...  Not sure about the Chelsea and Sunderland shirts they wore: they won't be allowed to wear them again on the course!

Now is not the time for post-Captaincy reflections: I shall come back to those at a later date. For now, I am shattered and intend to collapse in front of the golf from Pebble Beach this evening...

Day 364 - Home Alone Not

Well, if Thursday was a day of gorgeous weather, today was the complete opposite... It was cold, it was grey and towards of the end of the round we had rain/sleet as well. I had turned up to take part in the Roll-Up this morning and at around 8:15 found myself on the 10th tee of the New Course, ready to face the elements.

I was partnered with Russell and our opponents were Graham and Chris. Despite the difficult conditions, the match was very tight: all square after 9 holes, all level after 18 and just a few bits in it. From this should not be inferred that the quality of the golf was particularly high, rather that we matched each other in our incompetence... I did manage a fine birdie on hole 5 but that was about it.

At the end of the game, we were very happy to get into the warmth as it really was quite unpleasant out there. Nothing though that a pint of Youngs and some cheesy chips couldn't put right!

On the way out, I spent some time with Tom in the Pro Shop just making sure that everything is ready fro the Grimditch Trophy tomorrow...my final competition as Captain.

Then home for an afternoon of rugby watching: with the weather conditions foul outside, there was no incentive to go anywhere so France/Ireland and Scotland/Wales it was.  The second game was the better of the two but both matches had their moments.  In between, I started to prepare dinner for this evening: nothing fancy, just meatballs in tomato sauce with pasta (but the sauce was excellent!)

At that point, the phone went and I soon found that I had two extra guests for supper: Caroline and Paul were in the are and dropped by initially for a cup of tea. What a treat, as I had expected to be Home Alone and now I had company!

Day 363 - 2 Days To Go

Not sure what happened with the Day numbering but I do know that Sunday is the day of my handover to the new Captain, so have bumped the number up accordingly... :-)

I had an early start this morning: wanted to see the GP after last week's blood test and 0740 was the only time available, so that's where I was bright and early.  Nothing serious, but a few more tests required.

A quick visit to the barbers was in order: I must look my best for any photos on Sunday after all...

I was preparing for a lazy day when I had a phone call asking me if I could come up to London for a meeting in the afternoon. Which I duly did. As a result of this discussion, I may soon find myself with some paid employment of a project/consultancy nature: well, I shall need something to fill my time once the burden of my Captaincy is lifted!

Back home for some domestic duties: washing and ironing to be done to make sure that everything looks tip top when Mrs Lawrence comes home. 

This was all fitted in with keeping a distant eye on the cricket on the box: the 4th ODI between England and South Africa.  For much of the game it looked as if South Africa had it all sewn but but then England played their way back in, but couldn't quite deliver the final coup de grâce.  All square now going into the final game on Sunday...which is going to be a busy day!

Day 360 - A Casa

I forgot to mention yesterday that one of the things that I did whist in Lavenham was to help my mother with online applications for a new driving licence and a passport. It's somewhat ironic as these two processes (along with renewing your car's road tax) are some of the slickest and best applications on the web: as such they are ideally suited to the older generation who need them but yet at the same time are more cautious about using them...

We managed to get a group of 8 out today on the New Course: at the start of play, there was still some signs of frost on the ground and everyone was complaining about the cold, but only 2 holes in the sun came out and we were treated to a fantastic day. No wind (!) and warm sunshine made it appear as if we were in early Spring rather than February...no wonder all the flowers are so confused this year!

The golf itself was a mixed bag: two of my 4-ball played excellent golf, whilst I didn't.. it was though enough to win the few pennies available for the winners. Not that I hung around for long though as Steve and I had a 3 pm meeting with Burhill management.

We sat down for about an hour and a half with Colin, Guy and Matthew, reviewing a bit how the past year has gone and also looking forward to the future (party to ensure that everyone was prepped for any questions that might come up at Sunday's AGM!).  It was interesting to hear Colin's perspectives on the state of golf in the UK from his conversations with other proprietary club owners, as well as England Golf. It would appear that overall golf is still on a downwards trend, though underneath the raw data there is a clear split between the high and low quality operations, with the former prospering and the latter not: expect to see a number of newer course return to farmland use with the better return available on fresh food.

In the evening, I went out for dinner with my son and daughter: we were testing out a new Italian opposite the Shell garage on the Portsmouth Road in Cobham - it's recently transferred ownership and name and is now called A Casa.  The menu was reassuringly brief: a choice of 4 main dishes all freshly cooked. We took a selection of three and they were all good. And the tiramisu afterwards was delicious...

Day 359 - Moving Day

Mum in her new pad

My mother has recently moved house: after 35+ years in what was the second family home (nothing to do with second families...), last week she upped sticks and moved up to the top of the village into a small three bedroom town-house.  It's been a major move and has required a lot of tough decisions to get rid of both oversized furniture as well as accumulated clutter.

My brothers Tony and Roger had done a great job in actually making the move happen as well as getting the new house set up. When I go there today, it already starts to feel like home and it is great to see so many photos and pictures helping it do so.

My job was to sort out the technical stuff: we got the wifi fixed up, the phone line repaired, the TV connected and the CD player working as well as ensuring that the bluetooth speaker works off the iPad: no excuse for no music and entertainment going forward!

I had driven up for the day in my Tesla: a good test of the technology as I knew that I'd have no opportunity to recharge when there. When fully charged, the on-board computer states that it has a range of 245 miles and the round trip journey is a touch under 220 so it should be no problem?  I knew however from online research that this range can degrade in the cod and wet weather, especially if you travel over 70mph and make use extensive use of the heater.

Poor quality pic of my journey tracker

I am pleased to report that, with some careful driving and extensive use of the AutoPilot and Traffic adjusted cruise control, I managed to get home last night with 12% (35 miles) still "in the tank".  Kudos to Tesla's on-board software which worked perfectly.

Before we went out to dinner, Mum and I spent a fun half an hour leafing though some of the envelopes she had kept entitled "children's letters": she had catalogued and maintained all the weekly missives that the four of us were then required to send  home when at boarding school.  We looked through years 1977-78, when I was at College - all I can say is that my handwriting was more legible in those days and that my own children have never ever written letters to us like those!

Out for dinner at the newly refurbished gastropub the Cockhorse Inn ; if you are ever in Lavenham, I can thoroughly recommend the pork belly with sage mash!

Day 358 - Dinner Time

When arranging for golf today, I made the plea to the group with whom I play: "can we please have a day without some wind?".  I was unaware that I had any superhuman weather controlling powers up my sleeve but I am delighted to be able to report that it worked...  We played our 18 holes of golf today in conditions that would be welcomed in the middle of spring, let alone in the first week of February - a gentle breeze and some warm sun accompanied us around for most of the time.

This cannot be the only reason for it, but the quality of golf was also very high too: we were two 4-balls and had a match between the teams, with the best three scores counting on every hole.  My team (Jan, Steve, Jon and I) managed to return a card which was the equivalent of 8 under par (116 Stableford points) and thought we had aced it... in the end there were only 2 points in it though!

As we were leaving the Club after lunch, there was a steady stream of Ladies, all dressed up in their finery, coming to attend their AGM. Today therefore marks the final day of Diana's Captaincy as she hands the reins over to her Vice, Sally.  Diana has been great fun to work with and can take a lot of satisfaction from her year - and she gets to put her feet up tonight!

I, however, am still on duty: tonight we had the Men's Committee Dinner where the outgoing Captain gets to say thank you to all those who have served in the past year.   He may also invite a few guests of his choosing: I was delighted to be able to ask Colin, Roland, Bryan and Martin to fill those slots as their friendship through the year(s) has helped make my time at Burhill so special.

The meal itself was delicious (smoked salmon, beef fillet and tarte tatin) after which Steve gave a very kind speech thanking me for my year as Captain, after which I was presented with a silver salver as a memento.  I then got to say my own thanks to all those present, for which I used some Lego men as a prompt.

I was then surprised to receive another gift from Colin who had prepared a word cloud from all my Blog entries this year: apparently, he had to download more than 100,000 words... a frightening thought!

Day 357 - A Super Day

On Sunday night, I managed to stay up for the First Quarter of the 2015 Superbowl between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers. At that point, I had pressed the record button and given in as it was past midnight and there were still many hours to go.  This morning, over breakfast I watched the rest of the game though I must admit to fast-forwarding through the entire half-time show. 

I decided to watch the game for two reasons: one, so that I would know what everyone was talking about when I return to Florida and two, because I had put some money into my US golfers' Super Bowl sweep.  Last year, I had managed to win 3 of the 4 prizes (lucky dips based on the exact scores at the end of each Quarter) and I am pleased to report that I managed another one this year: $100 is heading my way....

Traditionally, the Super Bowls have been denominated by their sequence number in Roman Numerals (e.g. the 44th was "Super Bowl XLIV").  This was year 50 and some marketing guru must have decided that Super Bowl L was somehow not good enough (looks like a shirt size?) so instead they have switched to referring to "Super Bowl 50"... made me smile.

No golf today: not only did I need a break but, as things turned out, with 90+mph winds reported off the south coast, it was not a day for trying to hit a white ball around - I have lost count of the windy days we have been suffering of late...

Instead, I headed up to London: first to collect my daughter's wedding invitations from the printers (good job, Dad!) and then to take both of my children to see Billy Elliot on the stage at the Victoria Theatre.  My EDF Energy offices used to be around the corner and I had long promised Caroline to take her so, when the news came out that the show will close in April, we finally got our act together. And what a splendid evening we had: super energy, good story, tremendous dancing by the kids and amusing 80s political references - we had a great evening and shall be recommending anyone who has not seen it to get in quick.

The only downside was that most of the audience comprised foreign visitors to London: they appeared to miss most of the jokes and talked through some of the more intimate scenes. And as for the behaviour of the two Spanish speaking young kids in front of us....

Day 356 - Winter Fare

Today was a family day, or at least a 75% family day.  I met my son at Burhill for a game of golf in the morning.  Some sort of plumbing problems kept him at home for a while and it wasn't until gone 10:30 that we arrived at the first tee.  Having played the Old Course the day before, we opted to give the New a try, in the hope that the strong winds of the day before might have abated somewhat.

They hadn't. We did see the sun on a couple of holes and, when we did it, was it was actually quite pleasant.  But when it didn't, it wasn't.  A number of the holes were brutal and we decided not to play the full 18, returning to the Clubhouse after 14 instead.  My son was much better than I in the strong winds today.

Back home to see the Ireland-Wales game: great fun for a neutral, with a rampaging finish as both sides had a go at breaking out of the 16-16 tied game.  Time will tell, but this could be a good result for England.

We were joined for dinner by gf Aggie as well as my daughter Caroline and fiancé Paul. I had prepared a hearty, winter's meal which went down well (Braised Ox cheeks, garlic sautéed green beans, ginger carrots and version of Dauphinoise Potatoes which was a great success). There was not a lot of room left for the blackberry and plum dessert...

After the meal, we gave one of my Christmas presents its first outing. This was a geographically-themed board game called "Who knows where?"  - and it was a lot of fun!  Definitely a keeper...

Day 355 - ANOTHER Windy Day

I had been intending to play in today's Stableford but the opportunity presented itself to play a round of golf with my son and a colleague of his from EY, Anthony, so I had changed my plans a few days back.  I had also persuaded Colin to join us and so we had a four-ball organised. Anthony had tickets for this afternoon's Spurs game so the request was that we start early. 

A Met Office Weather Warning in force...

When we arrived at the Club this morning, it was noticeable that the car park was much less full than I would have expected on a Saturday - especially given there was a competition on the New Course.  The bar was also relatively quiet: clearly a lot of people had been put off by the appalling weather forecast for the day: this had talked of substantial rainfall and very strong winds.

As things turned out, this was only half right: it didn't rain at all.  But the wind blew. And how!

Colin and I took on the young men - and it turned out it was a day for old men's accuracy over the youth's distance off the tee.  He and I Coxed-and-Boxed very well and put together a pretty decent better-ball card given the dreadful weather and the winter playing conditions.  They never stood a chance....

There was then time for a catch-up with Matthew, the Club's GM, and the opportunity to talk through the week ahead: the AGMs to get through and the first time for him to see how things work at Burhill.

Back to the bar to catch up with the 2nd ODI in Port Elizabeth, the end of which I watched when I got home: it was a brutal display of power from Buttler at the end!  And as soon as that was over, I switched over to watch the French squeeze past the Italians in the first round of the Six Nations and after that saw the English bully their way past the Scots at Murrayfield: the important matches are yet to come...

Day 354 - Friday Fun

Another early start this morning as I had been selected for the Rest of the World team, this time playing in the Vets Nations Cup side.  The format of this competition is different from the main Men's game: we played a Greensomes game off the Yellow Tees so it should have been - and was - a bit easier to score well than of late.

My partner-in-crime today was Wayne, a very useful 18 handicapper, originally from South Africa. This was great as I was able to tap him up a bit for some ideas in preparation for our November trip out there.  And our opponents, playing for the Irish, were their Captain Mark and Geoff.

And what an exciting game we had: Geoff holed a great putt on 9, our first hole, and then Mark holed a long one on 11 and it just went on like that: we had birdies on 14 and 6 (great approach and then an outrageous putt respectively), whilst our opponents had back-to-back net eagles and then a birdie on holes 3 and 4.... tough stuff....

In the end, as is so often the way, despite all of this, it was the simple bread-and-butter putts that cost us: we overhit 17, missed a 4-footer on 7 and then failed to sink something a bit less than that on our final hole to halve the match... ouch!

A companionable sandwich and a beer for lunch followed after which it was time to think about the evening meal: I wandered around Waitrose and decided on lamb shanks with a celeriac mash: perfect winter food!

Disco time?

While that was cooking, I decided to have some fun with my new Philips Hue lights: I downloaded an App (Ambify) which changes the colours of the bulbs in time with any music you play off your iPhone: daft but fun and good value for £2.99 - especially when Kathryn's away....

Some very entertaining golf at the Waste management Open in Phoenix closed the evening: gorgeous weather and great skills on show. The par-3 16th hole, with raucous crowds cheering and booing every player is not something you'd want to see every week, but it has its place here!

Day 353 - The End in Sight

There were 8 of us Disorganised Golfers today, DOGS for short: the perfect number!  We opted for something different this time and went for the 3 best scores out of 4 - a more punitive version than the usual 2 out of 4, but it keeps everyone on their toes.  As things turned out, at the end of the game there were only 2 points difference between the two teams, which means that the competition design worked... and our team just edged it as well, primarily thanks to the VC who was on fine form.

Part of the Burhill members' website

Time for a speedy lunch and a pint, and then said VC and I repaired to the Lounge, along with the incoming Vice Captain, for a few hours of intensive website discussions: this is a great tool for communicating with the membership and it will make the future Captains' lives that bit easier if they can feel comfortable using it.

Home for a swift turnaround: I needed to shower and change and get a draft out for this week's Friday email in not much more than half an hour... and I just about made it...

Back at the Club for dinner this evening with members Gabi and Eugen: it had seemed a great idea when we had made our date but we had each forgotten to check that the kitchen was actually open this evening. It wasn't....  Nevertheless, phone calls were made and food was served: great customer service!

Much of the time over dinner was spent reminiscing over the past year: something which will happen rather more often in the next few days, I suspect....

Day 352 - Socialism?

Today is my birthday and, whilst I have received a few cards in the mail, the bulk of the birthday wishes received have come via a myriad of social media: I spent a lot of the morning thanking people via text message, on WhattsApp, in Facebook posts and direct messages, iMessages, Skype texts and even a host of vaguely random Linked-in mails too.  Am exhausted!  And I haven't yet checked my Twitter account either...

Early in the morning, a large package was delivered to the door. I opened it, not really paying attention to all the "do not use blades" warnings, and had quite a shock when a helium-filled balloon rose to the ceiling.  A lovely surprise from my daughter and her husband-to-be!

Just occasionally, when I am asked how old I am, people expect the response to be the birth year (I am a "60" child..) - well for the next year, I can answer 58 to all such questions...  And, according to an article in today's Times, I am that bit closer getting through the ages when a midlife crisis threatens!

A gentle day today - a couple of business calls, some domestic duties including some of the ironing that has been piling up, but at least there was some England cricket to watch at the same time - and very exciting it was too.

Then, in the evening, I was taken out to dinner by my children and their better halves. They had selected the Harwood Arms in Fulham. The only pub in London with a Michelin star... And excellent it was too. We had a round table which I always love and the food was great. A fantastic way to celebrate my day!

Day 351 - A Lucky Man

When we set out from the Clubhouse this morning for our game, the wind was blowing, the skies threatening and we felt as we were in for a classic round of winter golf.... And yet, somehow, first we saw some blue skies and then for a considerable while we were also treated to the sun as well.  A welcome surprise in early February.

Today there were five of us, disorganised as ever, who took part in our Stableford competition. On this occasion, my three-ball were victorious, thanks in great part to partner Alan, who played very well in what were not easy conditions.  For this, we walked away with the princely sum of £2 a man...

Back home for the afternoon, I discovered an American TV series that I had never heard of before: it is one of the many hours of "free" viewing to which we are entitled as Amazon Prime members. It was entitled "Mozart in the Jungle" and is a comedic take on life in the New York Symphony Orchestra

And very entertaining it was too: some good music interspersed with a blend of humour worked well for me. Fun seeing Malcolm McDowell on the screen again: very much a star in my youth in such things as O Lucky Man! (one of my all time favourites and A Clockwork Orange (which also contained some classical music references...), he then disappeared for years only to reappear recently in the Heroes TV series.

As I write this I have Alan Price's excellent soundtrack from O Lucky Man blasting through the house...just as well Kathryn's not here!

Day 350 - Wet February

When I was out with my children the other day, one of their friends said that she was "doing a Damp January" - a more flexible form of the Dry January that I completed yesterday. Nice idea.

I have lost count of the number of years that I have been subjecting myself to an alcohol-free start of the year, but it is certainly more than 10.  And it seems to get slightly easier every time so maybe that's a good thing. Anyway, I toasted in the new month yesterday evening with my first beer of the year in a bar at Düsseldorf airport.

The reason I have decided to do without in January(ies) is purely a personal one: to show myself, and Kathryn, that I can do it. I must say that I have never felt that I sleep any better nor lose any weight (in fact there are times when I find myself snacking when I would otherwise have had a drink in my hand).  And yes, I know that a 5-2 regime would be medically better for me...maybe I shall try that as well this year.

Today is the occasion of the Iowa Caucuses in the US, the first time we actually get to hear from some real voters in what is always a very long process to select candidates to get their parties' support for their candidature in the November Presidential elections. 

Every four years, when this cycle restarts, it brings back memories of the 1972 edition thereof. I was about 14 and at boarding school and can remember listening to the radio late into the night: there wasn't much choice of channels in those days and I often found myself switching over to Radio 4's coverage of what was going on in the US.

These were pre-Watergate times and Tricky Dicky as he came to be known had a relatively easy time of it.  Two years later and I was still listening, enthralled as the whole edifice collapsed. Alistair Cooke's version of it was - indeed still is - fascinating: well worth a re-listen.

No idea what will transpire in 2016: my personal bet is on the first Lady President, but there's still a long way to go. Watch out for Mr Rubio...

P.S. Just writing this prompted me to listen to the 25th Anniversary Letter from America reviewing Watergate a quarter of a century later - worth a go at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yj9j0

Day 349 - Nations Cup

One of the very best competitions that we have at Burhill is the Nations Cup.  This is a team game, based loosely on the Rugby Union Six Nations championship.  There are teams representing the four Home Nations as well one for Europe and the last tagged as Rest of the World, all of whom play against each other in match-play format at times loosely in line with the rugby dates. 

What this means is that for five weekend days through the early months of the year, there is an 08:30 shotgun start on one of the courses at the Club, with tees 1-6, 7-12 and 13-18 each hosting an inter-country match. We used to have six two-man teams (the format is foursomes) but recently double-manned one of the tees to allow 14 people to play for each team every weekend.  This has worked pretty well and the atmosphere in the bar beforehand (anticipation...) and afterwards (explanation and excuses) is always great.

Today was the occasion of the second round, the first one having played a couple of weeks ago, and everything is very tight with no clear leader having emerged yet.  I have been looking forward to competing as there are only two dates that I cam make this year and this is one of them. I have always played for the Rest of the World team (by marriage?) and we have had some success in the recent year.

Unfortunately, I have picked up an awful winter cold/sore throat and really didn't feel up to playing this morning. Our team Captain, John, did have a reserve up his sleeve and my absence didn't cause any logistical problems. That being said, we suffered a 2-5 defeat and now find ourselves in the bottom half of the table which is led by Andrew's Welsh team (cue sheep noises....).  But there are still 3 rounds to go, so all is not lost!

In the afternoon, my job was to to do the draw for the Anglo American Trophy: this is the premier handicap singles matchplay event at Burhill and this year we have a record 179 entrants.  To win this requires 8 victories and is a long haul (self promotion alert: I won it in 2007 so can speak from experience).  In days gone by, it used to take the best part of the day to do the draw manually and then to fill out the pairings on paper: today it took Steve and me about 5 minutes to complete online...this must be some kind of progress!