Day 281 - Walton Heath

A number of months back, I was playing with a fellow member at Burhill, Peter, and we were discussing the challenges of finding a truly waterproof golf shoe (or indeed two...). He shared with me that he had purchased a pair from Nike which were ideal for his home course in the state of Washington in the USA, itself well known for the occasional rain shower.  He did warn me that he got some stick for the color/style of the shoes, but that they were very effective.

Nike Lunar Bandons

Accordingly, when in the US last week, I looked around and managed to find a pair of said shoes at a knock-down price of the equivalent of £50 (very reasonable as I have seen the latest models on sale here at £149...).  They got their first outing today and I am very pleased with them: yes, they look a bit space age, but they kept my feet warm and bone dry...

I was playing this morning in a Surrey Captains fixture at Walton Heath, just down the road from here.   I always enjoy playing there, not only for the courses themselves but also to look around the memorabilia in the Clubhouse celebrating the holding of the 1981 Ryder Cup there.

It was a large gathering today (~130) - so many that we took over both the New and Old Courses. My tee-off time wasn't until 10:04 which gave me plenty of time to enjoy the splendid English Breakfast that was on offer.  The golf itself was played in far more benign conditions than I feared: yes, there was a chilly Northern wind but no rain and we even saw the sun briefly.  My playing partners were David and Richard, former Captains of West Hill and West Byfleet respectively, and we had a very convivial round.  I played pretty steadily and might even have won the whole thing if I could have handled the fast greens better in the first few holes.  As it was, visits to fairway bunkers on my final two holes took their toll and I ended up playing to my handicap, just 1 shot out of the prizes...

On the way home, I drove past the gates for the new top-tier golf course being built just down the road from Walton Heath: the Beaverbrook. It looked as if good progress is being made on the construction but it will be some time before the place has the same traditional atmosphere of Walton Heath...

Day 280 - Rustenberg

I had been scheduled to play some disorganised golf this morning but when I did my calculations, I realised that I wouldn't have time to do so - and boy was I right!  I don't know how I would have managed if I had spent4+ hours at Burhill.  And it rained this morning anyway!

Instead, I was fully occupied getting things ready for tonight's Men's Committee Meeting. Given that our Head Pro, Mike, is leaving the Club I wanted to take the opportunity of thanking him for all his hard work by inviting the team around for dinner.

Cooking for 9 is never simple: how to manage the quantities (making too little would be a disaster...) and at 5 pm, I rushed out to get some more wine in, just in case (I needn't have bothered, many drank beer instead..).

No harm done though as Waitrose had one of my favourite reds (a Rustenberg Cabernet) on special offer: list price £14.99 reduced to £11.99, minus a 10% special deal on wine, 5% off for buying 6 bottles plus a £6 off voucher for spending more than £60 and another special discount of £2... they were practically paying me to take it off their hands!

I did manage all the prep work well enough though, so that by the time everyone arrived, I had everything ready. I had pre-prepared Coq au Vin. with mustard mashed potatoes and parcels of carrots and green beans wrapped in bacon...yum!  A blackberry and apple crumble, with ginger and cloves, and ice cream combined with a successful Committee Meeting sent everyone happily on their way...

Day 279 - Huh?

Up early again this morning: I was on fatherly duty. I had agreed to go up to Clapham to sit in my daughter's flat waiting for someone to call "between 9 and 2”... Fortunately, they turned up at 10:30 so I cannot complain really.

The task of the day was to do a valuation of the apartment for remortgaging...and I was impressed with all the technology he brought along: laser tape measures and some kind of preprogrammed tablet computer. All he had to do was tick lots of boxes, take a couple of pictures and draw a sketch of the floor plan with an electronic pen.. so it was no surprise when he told me he'd have the report ready tonight.

Once home, and after lunch, I headed off to Burhill to pick up a few things (including my golf clubs which I shall need on Wednesday).  I drove into the drive as per normal, in autopilot mode (but not using my Auto Pilot!), and almost had to come to a screeching halt as there were workmen in "my" parking place.

By the looks of things, they are installing some kind of new signage: I look forward to finding out on my next visit!

Back home for the evening: a mixture of email admin, preparation for tomorrow's dinner and catching up on some of the series that are clogging up our Sky+ drive...

Day 278 - Mixed Foursomes

Another early start and another cold day: the thermometer registered -1°C on the car dashboard, as I left the house. And when I arrived at Burhill, the hard frost meant that we were not permitted to use our own trolleys - giving me a choice of carrying my clubs or renting a MotorCaddy with hedgehog wheels (I chose the latter!).

Driving up Seven Hills Road a few minutes earlier, I had received a phone call from Lisa my Foursomes partner. The gates outside their block were not working and she needed a lift to get to Burhill - apparently, not even their fellow resident Mike Yarwood was able to help...

We were playing our first round match in the Autumn Foursomes Knockout today against opponents, Nigel and Suzy.  Things did not start off well: in 3 of the first 4 holes, I messed up relatively simple 90 yard pitches, on each occasion putting Lisa in a greenside bunker: not good!  After Nigel then holed a long putt on the 9th, we were three holes down and looking a swift exit from the competition in the face.

Gradually though, we got our act together and clawed our way back into contention, finally closing the match out on the 17th green for a 3&1 win.  By then, the frost had melted, the sun was shining and, with the lack of any sort of wind, it was actually quite a nice, if cold, day.

After post match drinks, I ran Lisa back home, before returning to Burhill for a chat with Matthew the General manager.  What started up as a catch-up ended up as quite a long conversation as we covered a wide range of issues: amazing how much can happen in two brief weeks!

Day 277 - Yellow Ball

I had to be at the Club for 0745 this morning to get our new Yellow Ball Competition up and running: this meant an alarm call at 0700...which is 0200 Florida time... yuk!

And to add to my general feeling of joy, as I was driving up to the Clubhouse, it was through a flurry of snow and sleet....  All very different from the fine weather I had been enjoying in Sarasota: no shorts and polo shirts here, instead I was wrapped up against the elements, wearing multiple layers to keep the very cold wind at bay.  It was brutal...

We were playing in a team game for 4 players (myself plus Kevin, John and Colin) in which one of us took responsibility for the yellow ball on each hole in turn: then, we were to take the score with that ball plus one other to get to the team's score.  We started off disastrously: after 4 holes, we had lost the yellow ball twice (at a cost of £5/time for the Captains' Charity) and managed to score precisely 0 points with it too.  Things improved somewhat later on but our score was never going to be enough...

And neither was it. When it came time to hand out the prizes, the Vice Captain's foursome was streets ahead of everyone else...and we were only just ahead of those winning the booby prize!  I hung around for lunch and drinks at the Club afterwards, enjoying to opportunity to reconnect with friends that I had not seen for a few weeks.

Back home where I ended up getting stuck into the film American Sniper - a great one to watch with Kathryn out of town!

Day 276 - Man of the Match

British Airways performed well on the Tampa-Gatwick route overnight, even though the flight was a bumpy one.  Tesla too provided a great service: I was collected in my own car outside Arrivals and was delighted to find the car cleaned inside and out, fully charged and with a new set of wiper blades - and all of this for nothing!  Very impressive.

Back home for a quick shower and change and then off to the golf club to spend some time with Michael in the Pro Shop to make sure that everything is set for tomorrow's Yellow Ball competition, including making sure we had enough of said coloured balls for the morning.  Thence to Waitrose to restock the fridge as well as to purchase the prizes for tomorrow.

I got home in time to see the end of the England/Pakistan ODI and Jos Buttler's stupendous innings: great to see someone who was off his game just a short time ago return to form in such an imperious manner.

In the evening, I spent an hour or so working on the cards and rules for tomorrow: in previous incarnations, I have seen players struggle with the format - and so am doing everything I can to eliminate this possibility.

Before going to bed, I did manage to watch Andy Murray bow out of the London Tour Finals: maybe he was saving his energy for next week's game in the Davis Cup? I doubt it somehow....

Day 275 - Tampa Bay

Today is Moving Day: Caroline and Paul need to get up to Tampa for a 2 pm flight to Grand Cayman for a week's diving, I have a Britsh Airways plane at 7:40 pm back to Blighty and Kathryn has a few more days R&R before going to see her mother and sisters for the Thanksgiving celebrations in Los Angeles.

Before we can leave though, I need to circulate a draft of tomorrow's Friday email for comment then we go to First Watch for brunch (an excellent chain: can recommend it!).  The drive up to Tampa was very easy and the first passengers made their flight with plenty of time to spare.

Kathryn and I decided to do some exploring in Tampa.  We visited the Tampa Bay Hotel and learned something of the city's past. In the 1880s, before the railroad reached this part of the South Eastern United States, the population of the city was 720...!  Then a Mr Henry B. Plant became very wealthy opening up Tampa to first the railways and then dredged a channel to allow large verssesl to use the port for fishing, and subsequently to allow US troops to invade Cuba in the brief war against the Spanish.

With all his fortune, he spent millions building the Tampa Bay Hotel which, for a decade or so, was THE place to be: 500 rooms, with a race course, golf course, casino and lots of other attractions.  The Depression ultimately put paid to all of that and the (still very impressive!) site is now owned by the City and is largely occupied by the University of Tampa.

A tasty late lunch by the city's waterfront saw off the rest of the afternoon by which time it was time for me to get to the airport.  All I need to do now is get some sleep on board...