Day 155 - Morocco here we come?

Not easy getting up this morning: 08:00 Greenwich Mean Time alarm clock call was 03:00 Martin Body Time... but get up I did to report to the local surgery for a blood test.  Results due in a few days.

Then back home for some serious iPad time - I have been sent reams of pre-reading for my two Board meetings coming up and hadn't been able to access them whilst in the US. I managed to get through the first pass of all the papers, but will need a second go before Thursday.  A quick lunch and then off to Burhill.

Together with friend Bryan, we have entered a national seniors competition sponsored by How-Did-I-Do.com. I have entered this a number of times in the recent past but never have progressed very far. Maybe this was going to be the year... 

We met our opponents, Peter and David, who are based at Fulwell Golf Club.   Things didn't start well and Bryan and I duly lost the first hole, then we got ahead by one, but by the time we left the 9th green we were down by two holes.  I had not been playing well, nor had I done a good job in remembering which of opponents was David and which Peter: in the end, I decided that the one with the blue shirt was clearly Blue Peter... only even that was wrong...

After that, I got both their first names right and also started to play some golf: I birdied the 11th to get us back to down one, and then holed my putt on the 12th to tie (again in birdies); we then all tried hard to lose the 13th but failed to do so.  Eventually we got to the 18th tee all square. And then proceeded to tie the 18th itself, and the 19th, 20th and 21st holes.  By this time, I was getting very antsy as I was supposed to be in a Burhill Men's Committee Meeting at 7 p.m. and was clearly not going to make it..  Fortunately a good par by Bryan on the 22nd hole closed thing off and we had won.

I then had to sprint back to the Clubhouse (from just about the furthest point on the New Course) and arrived at the meeting decidedly warmer than I had intended. There was no time for a shower, but everybody was very kind and we had a good meeting with some excellent discussion, if few actual decisions.  For my sins, as the later arriver, I agreed to do the minutes...

Day 154 - Home Sweet Home

A very easy flight back, though not really enough time to get any sleep: by the time everyone has settled down, they are bringing around the breakfasts...  That, and a swift passage through the airport, meant that we were home nice and early.  That being said, energy levels were low as a result of the short night and, by the time the golf was on the box, eyes were certainly drooping.

After a brief zizz, I headed back to the Club in the afternoon to see how the Senior Open Qualifier was getting on at Burhill. There was a good crowd watching, though many of them drifted later into the Captains' Bar to follow what was going on in the Open.

The weather in Surrey (like in Scotland!) had worsened during the day and the scores reflected the more difficult playing conditions.  There were 8 places available for the Open at Sunningdale, but there still needed to be a play-off to determine who could be added to the reserves list.

Not quite a direct parallel with the way the Open Championships finished, but there too they had a playoff.  By the time this was being played, my energy levels had reached the level where I needed to head home and I therefore eschewed the drinks reception at Burhill. 

I had though enjoyed chatting so some of the participants: one, in particular, a pro from Stockholm was waxing very lyrical about the New Course and the facilities in the Clubhouse: "I have played more than a thousand golf courses around the world and the final hole here is one of the very best I have ever seen"...

So it was back home that I watched the final minutes of the 2015 Open Championships at St Andrews. I felt sorry for Mark Leishman, who had played so well during the final rounds, but never really featured in the play-off.  Nice to see a winner though who doesn't drive the ball horrendous distances down the fairway...

Day 153 - Hot Golf

The plan was for an early start this morning: up and out of the rental condo by 06:00. This we managed and Andrew drove us for the first part of the journey: destination a branch of Cracker Barrel near Wilson on the i95 heading north. When we arrived there, we were surprised by how crowded it was but the service was prompt and the breakfast good value and hit the spot.

Next leg was a further two and a half hours, past Richmond, Virginia, to the golf course of Mattaponi Springs. We had located this on the web: one of the top 100 Public Courses in the U.S. and ideally placed, being less than two hours from D.C.

We arrived there in plenty of time to tee off earlier than we had planned. This did mean that we were going out in the heat of the day. And boy, was it hot! We were informed that a Heat Advisory Warning had been issued and we were certainly very grateful for the iced towels being dispensed as we played. 

100 degrees...

The course itself was spectacular, set in the forest with lots of ups and downs. Having a buggy was a must and we pretty much had the course to ourselves (Mad Dogs and Englishmen?). We had a good match which but for a closing birdie of mine could have been very expensive. Andrew shot a record for him 75 and played really well. Considered the difficulty of the course and the weather conditions, this was really very good.

A refreshing beer afterwards was most welcome. Less so was the news that there was no shower available. This was going to be a problem for those other passengers in the BA flight tonight... Fortunately, the staff at the golf course took pity on us and allowed us to use the manager's private shower. Very welcome!

The drive back to Washington DC was painful: lots of slow traffic peppered with a number of minor incidents. We did though make it in plenty of time and were very pleased to discover that we had been upgraded for the return flight home: even though the flight is a bit over 6 hrs, this should mean that we get some sleep...

Day 152 - Fathers and Sons III

Our final day of competition: the Captain's Choice format (Scramble) is always fun and is largely a test of driving and putting. We were playing for the first time at the West Course at Myrtle Beach National. It turned out to be a classic southern US course, with pine trees, water and fast greens where you just had to end up below the hole!

We were playing today with Gary and Charlie, at the fathers and Sons Classic for the first time. They struggled a bit with some of the longer holes, but we had no such concerns as AJ's driver was on top form. We did have to take 6 of Dad's drives which threatened to be an issue early on (do we come in from 170 yards or 100?... again...) but with a bit of judicious selection this turned out not be be a problem.

The first hole - a par 5 - set the tome: AJ drive, Dad hit to the edge of the green, 2 putts: birdie.  After that, the birds just kept on coming, largely thanks to my putter which was simply red hot. One minor bogey blemish didn't help, but an eagle on the 17th (AJ drive+Dad Rescue+Dad putt) was the highlight of the round. In total we shot 64 gross (or 59 net) to record our best ever total in this format in 12 years.

Furyk flight leaderboard

Unfortunately, there were some other very good players out there, which meant that we hadn't done quite enough to get into the prizes, but hey - there's always 2016 to look forward to!  After the golf, we went back to Legends for the prize giving and steak lunch (excellent again - thank you Logan's!) and the opportunity to say goodbye for another year to old friends as well as the new ones we have made this year.

Dinner tonight is at Thoroughbreds for our traditional end-of-competition dinner. Yum....

Day 151 - Fathers and Sons II

Day 2 - sporting our shirts
from The Berkshire

Another early start this morning: breakfast was served at 06:45 and we were out of the condo by 7:00 to head off for the second day's play. Our destination was the Resort Course at Grande Dunes.  This course is one of our favourites in Myrtle Beach: it's always in excellent condition and this year was no exception. The greens were in far better shape than those we had played on the prvious day: yes they were quicker, but much truer too.

The format for today's round was Greensomes (both drive, choose one ball and then hit in alternate shot format), with the extra condition that you had to use a minimum of 6 tee shots from each player.  The latter turned out not to be an issue: after 12 holes we had carried that out, without ever having to choose an inferior shot.  We played very solidly all day: one messed up short par 4 and a couple of putts that maybe should have gone in were the only blemishes. We ended up with a round of 74 (two over par) which was an excellent result and was only beaten by one other pair in our flight.  Still lots to do tomorrow though to get into the prizes...

Our playing partners today were Bob and Grayson West, from Texas, who were playing for the first time. The father, Bob, was a former sports journalist and knew a great deal about the wider golf game; he also it every single fairway!  His son was less accurate and they had to work hard to use the required 6 drives of his...

After lunch we headed back to the golf course: this time for 18 holes of pitch and putt with two other Father & Son pairs whom we had met up with in previous years. It was very hot, but the $1 beers helped keep everyone refreshed.  The par-3 course is a bit ropy but we spent a very pleasant three hours catching up with everyone.

One postscript from yesterday, which I forgot to mention: the surname of our playing partners was Leist. The Dad Joe told a great story: he was hoping to persuade his son's new wife to name their daughter "Tit", as he saw great sponsorship potential. She was apparently less keen...

Day 150 - Fathers and Sons I

Today was the first day of our 2015 Fathers and Sons Tournament, here in Myrtle Beach. We have been coming here for the past 12 years, ever since Andrew was a young teenager. It's a great format: three days of competition (better ball, greensomes and 2-mad scramble), interspersed with skills challenges and a par three competition as well.  You are divided up into Flights, based on your team handicap - we are in the Furyk flight this year.

Our first round was at the Thistle course, across the state line in North Carolina. We had played it before, but there have been some major upgrades since our last visit - see for example the Gents!  What a great idea: something we should also consider adopting at Burhill. All the screens were showing the Open Championships, which we also managed to follow on our way around (we gave up on the cricket...).

The Burhill Team

Our partners were Joe and Kyle with whom we had been paired 4 years ago. Great to catch up with them and also to sport the Burhill colours. Great wasn't the right name for our golf though as we were distinctly average. Our better ball score was 76 (five over par) which doesn't sound too bad, until you see that the leaders after round one managed a gross score of 5 under par...  We did leave a few shots out there but not that many!

Then off to dinner with a Father and Son whom we first met in 2011. We went to Greg Norman's Australian Gill with Josh and Matt: a Myrtle Beach favourite which did not fail to disappoint. Some great steaks and excellent red wine too. Ideal preparation for tomorrow...

Day 149 - North to South

A big thank you to
Scot, Niki, Jackson and Sadie!

Today was moving day...in the sense that we had to get ourselves down to Myrtle Beach from our friends' house in Virginia Beach.  Although there was a potentially quicker alternative via the Interstate, we opted instead for the shorter Route 17. This took us into North Carolina, all the way through the Tar Heel State and out the other side to our destination.

We saw lots of the rural countryside: many porches and picket fences as well as some wide rivers and lots of open spaces. Many of the towns' names betrayed their heritage: Edenton, Jamestown, Cape Colony etc.  We did stop for petrol en route and came across a strange product that took a bit of working out as to what actually was being sold? We ended up deciding that it was a spray to mask your scent when hunting.  We passed on that..

Traffic was light throughout the journey and we made it into Myrtle Beach in plenty of time to check in for the next three days' tournament.  This is the 11th time that we have played in this great Fathers and Sons Competition and memories came flooding back.

This time, we have chosen to stay at the Legends facility - which, entirely coincidentally, is also hosting the opening and closing gatherings for the tournament. This is great as it means we can just walk down from our condo rather than having to drive somewhere.  We checked in at the Clubhouse and within the first 5 mins had already bumped into two father/son pairings with whom we have played in previous years: Jim & Corey and Josh & Matt - how great is that?

Condo looks fine so, after a shower, we headed back out for an hour's putting practice...in the heat (96degF and steamy!).  After that, a quick trip to get some food in for breakfast tomorrow and then to dinner at the Aspen grill - a restaurant we were sure we had not been to before..until we walked through the front door and then recognised it immediately, but certainly worth a return visit!