Tell us about your game today...

First topic message reminder :

Fresh thread - you know the score: share some of your tales of woe, indifference and banditry with us all.

After a couple of posts saying my own course was holding up well, Sunday was a day where a "fun" comp went ahead that maybe shouldn't have. Tee up everywhere, all bunkers declared out of play and TEN temporary greens (we usually have 2 or 3 at most)

Ironically it was a beautiful day and a pleasure to be out there but it was more like crazy golf. Because we don't normally have temps, the ones that were temps were more just like a bucket hole cut in the fairway .. no definition to the temps at all.

I suppose I can understand why they did it .. bar revenue must have been way down over the last few weeks and a cancelled comp with such a big field would have hurt big time. Everyone joined in with the spirit of the day and it was a pleasure to be out there

Format was mixed 4-ball alliance .. two scores to count on par 5s, three on par 4s and all four to count on par 3s. We came in with a very respectable 123 pts which considering we were the only team with two ladies in the team was very pleasing. The teams were meant to be 3 men and 1 lady but because of tee times there were 3 teams with 4 men (finished 1 and 2 in the points - winner getting 131 pts)

Normally with mixed comps there is a bigger disparity of male/female balance and so there are separate results for 3/1 teams and all men - but with only 3 all male teams they couldn't do that. Bit unfair I thought!

BTW no disrespect intended to the ladies .. they threw in some great scores .. just the men were generally better equipped to overcome the very wet conditions

Stupid game really. Blowing a gale and I shoot level par w/ 15/18 greens in regulation. Last week in still conditions, couldn't do anything right. Now, if only I knew what I did right today that I didn't last week....

Plans to be at the belfry this weekend for 2 rounds..plus beers. Weather looks crap Saturday still but ok Sunday. Should never rely on Birmingham. Still be fun no matter the weather!!

looking reasonable this morning ben.We have first game for weeks in an hour.
Don't do anything I wouldn't do this evening!

Dyna come on down to the bel air this evening..what a place!! Due to play at 10:30 so hopefully nothing horrendous. Though m40 shut not helping.

Hope you enjoyed the weekend .we were cancelled mainly on the basis of Fridays forecast but I spoke to the owner and he wasn't to happy that GK had closed the course(no clubhouse takings)I did a couple of hours putting which was useful.Really good day today.Thanks for the invite.

Got both rounds in. Played the brabazon Saturday and intermittent rain but nothing terrible but the wind made it hard for a player of my standard. Obviously wet under foot but other then that not bad and shotgun start had us on the first which was good. Then Jacuzzi saunas and beers in the evening. Lots of couples unsurprisingly for Valentine's weekend, I can't help when my birthday is!! Played the derby today. And played a bit better but annoyingly when crap off the tee able to scramble sine points and when decent off the tee ballsed up the good position. Then a friend playing off 25 scores 43 points and shoots 88. He won't be off 25 again. Weekend break in Birmingham though is always good!!

Played yesterday (Saturday) in very windy but mostly dry conditions. Today annual match vs County first team to start their season. Our county opponent off +2 and very tidy golfer. Not longest, but very accurate with irons. Lost 2 down after missing short birdie putt on last while he rolled similar (but easier) one in! Really good to see proper ball striking at close quarters. Makes me want to go and practice!

Played Saturday in a 4BBB. Windy, but sunny. I don't know what I'm doing but I hope it continues as I got it round in about -2 (I even putted pretty well!) and that was with a couple of horse-shoed putts and a missed 4' birdie putt as well. Downside was we scored 42 points and didn't win!
New favourite club: Vokey 252-08; deadly on Saturday. Think most of this Season's practice is going to be from ~110 yards and down and this is the club that'll be hitting all but the bunker/flop shots.
Roll on the longer, warmer (and drier   ) days.

You seem to be going through a hot streak navy. Goosen advocates shorter and more frequent practice sessions at these times.

Game of 2 halves yesterday. out with 13 points back with 22 (level gross) Was 2 under (for back 9) stood on 18th tee, hooked into bunker (plugged right under lip) manage to hack it out, then have to play 3rd stood in bunker with ball at hip height, pushed into greenside bunker, splash to 5 feet and miss the putt. I hate golf sometimes...

decent round on saturday despite my poorest performance to date with the new weaponry. didn't get hold of my driver all day, but it still performed reasonably well getting me into better positions than i have been accustomed to on such driving days in the past. steady front nine with the exception of a silly double on 3. pars the rest of the way. nice birdie to start the back nine after a lovely flick from 30 yards. same again on 11 though this time to save par, flick from 30 yards 2 inches away from a slamdunk, holed the 10 footer back. dropped shots on 12,13 and 15 to take off the shine. lipped out with a nice chip on 14. parred 16 and 17 including another nice 30 yard flick on 17, then managed to mess up 18 after a nice approach. still plenty to be positive about - nice for my short game to rescue me for a change even if it was just for a boring +5 round.

Course is open but still extremely wet and mucky. Carry bags only and the tees are on the ladies (much to their displeasure!). Played yesterday morning and managed 4 birdies on the shortened course and scored 38 points which was enough to pick up a few quid in the swindle. Enjoyed being out there but felt a bit sorry for the greenkeepers who have got a big job on their hands to get the course in reasonable shape before the new season starts in earnest.
 
Playing at Felixstowe, Suffolk tomorrow where it is sand based and will be nice and dry underfoot!

Saturday first card of the year - windy freezing blurgh. Sand save birdie on the first before being caught up and overtaken by utter drivel. Drive on 6th a big high fade into a gale, great I thought sarcastically, still 250+ left, but at least it's not in any trouble and will be on the 5th fairway or short rough. Nowhere to be seen, lost ball and mental toys out of psychological pram, didn't really want to be there after that but carried on regardless as it's a day out of the humdrum. Battled on (OK stayed out) for a masterful 23 points. Arrived Sunday to find it reductions only, huzzah!

Sunday, almost trying to be quite pleasant and finally (after the whole winter) started to get the putter going a bit. 26 putts including five or six good par saves (wedges going well too) 73 for 38 points and a runners up voucher. A good day and 0.3 cut to boot with a CSS of +1. Tempered only by a silly bogey on 14 (tree bounce in to rough, gorse, lucky free drop, chip, 2 putts) and a coast to coast bunker visit on 16 from one side of a green to the other (up and down from the second one for a bogey though so that was positive) and a silly 3 putt on the last missing the par from 2 foot.

Double golf weekend, a rare treat!

Hi peeps This week should get the courses dryed out.We played a march madness at the weekend where pairs multiply their stableford score together.Its nuts.We had the chance to score 16 points on the tenth two birdies with a shot but my partner our captain missed from about 3 feet so 12 points and missed out on the places.First Saturday game for 3 weeks so good to be back.Hope all are well and looking forward to a new season

Confession...I've been a bit lax in updating this thread. Whilst home course has been swamped I've managed to sneak in 3 top 100s in the past month (Pennard, Royal Porthcawl & Saunton East). Saunton yesterday was an absolute joy. After the wettest winter I can remember we rocked up to Saunton yesterday for the 3ball Team event. Yes it had suffered too (still standing water on the 16th fairway) but goodness me has it recovered or what. Yes greens a bit slow ever and very receptive (how long will they stay like that). General condition of the course though was lovely. All of a sudden the required layers were shed down to short sleeves, brilliant sunny day unfortunately not matched by the golf, a lot of good stuff there but too many errors there too. 4 blobs, a couple of them harsh but finished birdie, birdie so enough to keep me coming back for more

Sunshine = first "after work" visitation last night. Only half an hour's putting but enjoyed it and think I could be moving the right way (bit of body alignment tweaking) finished off by watching the big red sky disc dip below the horizon. Stunning.

Frustrating day on Saturday. Played in a 4BBB and driving as good as it's ever been. Missed one fairway in total and irons generally solid enough but could I buy a putt? Could I Hell! Putting absolutely awful...sometimes I hate this game!   

Played on Saturday, and for 3/4 of the round played pretty well. But 4 holes had a 6 on a Par 3, 7/8 on par 4s and a 9 on a par 5. I need to be sensibe after a couple of bad shots on a hole and not make it worse trying glory shots i have no hope of pulling off. On the back 9 i had 29 after 7 shots and ended 8/9. Very annoying and ended with a 94 when it could have been so much better.

Oh well, one day i will have the consistent round i hope for!

Played in a bb stableford on saturday with a guy that I am paired with in the semis of a bb comp. Managed 33 points and the semis match was scheduled for sunday morning. Needless to say neither of us were looking forward to it! However we were victorious, playing much better. Halved a par 5 in 7 after our opposition was just off the green in 2 (he was off 6). he clanked into a greenside bunker, left it in first time and then 3 stabbed. I think thats where their wheels fell off! Final achieved!

season opening texas scramble on saturday and in the money after winning closest to the pin on one of the par 3s. very nearly did the double on the other A section hole, the 2nd - i was only a couple of feet outside the winning shot which was 5 feet away after a tidy punched 5 iron below the breeze. hitting my mid irons very nicely all the way round, and at the 10th hole i nailed a soft 6i to inside a foot to bag a £35 voucher. other personal highlights,

-found the green on the 190 yard 6th after my 3 partners all dumped theirs in the water!
-solid 3 wood from 200 into a stiff breeze, pin high on 7 and a tidy 8iron chip to 12 inches
-wedge from 90 yards to 4 feet on 8
-lovely punched drives up 11 and 12 into the wind. restricted follow through and knocked them 200+ into a stiff breeze - issue keeping my 12 deg driver down when playing into the wind, so seem to have found a solution.
- nice 3 wood over the flag on 11, finished through the back, but hit a nice lob chip to 3 feet to save par
- nice mid irons on 13 and 15 to 15 feet
- holed a couple of 20 footers on 16 and 17

game was a little hit and miss in general and feel i probably could do with a check up lesson to pick up any obvious swing issues. always enjoy a texas scramble and my playing partners were good company. we finished a long way outside the prizes with a gross score of only -5, nett 61.8, with the winning score 54.something and the runners up in the 57.s. stableford comp a week on saturday to kick off the individual comps.

decent start on saturday 4,4,4,4,4,3 including two birds and a bogey. then slipped over the next few dropping shots on 7, 9, 10(double), 12(double) and 13 - both doubles really out of nowhere and 3 putts on 7 and 9. got back on track horseshoeing out from 25 feet on 14 for a birdie fail, but making sure of it on 15 after a good approach to 3 feet. three putted 16 for another bogey, and then made another bird on 17 (my 3rd of the day out of the 4 par 5s) after finding the green from 230 with a tidy 3 wood off a hanging lie. managed to screw up the 18th - best strike of the day with the driver, but tugged a fraction rather than the intended fade and ended up messing around going for a glory shot from the trees. game is still quite hit and miss - lots of tidy golf, but i'm going off the boil too easily and quickly and just don't seem to have a firm handle on my game right now. good enough to get it round, but i don't feel i'm getting enough course/practice time to really get myself into the zone. first comp coming up on saturday - a non qualifier - and playing on thursday too. hopefully i'll start to feel a little more at ease. first counting medal a week tomorrow.

Gutted. Knocked out of winter league semis by a couple of jammy yahoos. Bouncing bunkers, incredible ricochets of trees to 10 foot, sinking long bogey putts for halves. Played nicely myself, 3 over back 9, but since reducing my handicap it's getting much harder to play these matches - birdies to half holes is not fun (not when they've just been tined and sanded). Still, another nice run and as holders we have lost 6 shots between us in the last 18 months.

 

MontysMerkin wrote:Gutted. Knocked out of winter league semis by a couple of jammy yahoos. Bouncing bunkers, incredible ricochets of trees to 10 foot, sinking long bogey putts for halves.

Isn't it funny how it's always the opposition who get all the luck? I only ever have lucky bounces in practice / bounce games, nothing ever goes my way in a medal or KO.

  
Yeah but it's gutting when it happens to you! I won the medal matchplay comp the other year laying off 9. I won the final against a scratch player, but I felt really bad about it, ramming putts in from miles away, chipping stone dead, he just couldn't match it. I'm starting to play some scratch stuff now (even tho at 8 hcap I've got no chance really) and tbh I am starting to see the appeal.

Just been made redundant so looks like I'll have plenty of time to work on my game!

Played (pretty average) in a Thursday Medal yesterday. Was never going to challenge but nearly fell off my chair when I found out that the Div 1 winner (off +1) shot a 63 (-8) in chilly/breezy conditions. Would have been a new course record but we still have pick/place in operation (no idea why tbh). Was always told as a junior to try to "keep a 6 off your card"; well, this guy didn't even have a 5 on his card.
Really hoping he can't make the Club Championship!

I often keep a 6 off my card. Three bloody sevens last week.   

A wee bit more encouraging yesterday, knocked it round in a 3 club wind in 78 when CSS was 74. Didn't sign the book and enter the medal as I've had no form at all (using the excuse of being stiff from all the marathon training), however as I'm now well into the taper period I'm feeling much better physically. 12 greens in reg and 3 front 9 birdies was pleasing. Not so pleasing were the 3 x 3 putts. Can work on putting this week before the drawn event Saturday.

I think I may have found something!!

Start of our summer 13 hole Tuesday night tournament last night (13th comes back up near clubhouse).

Could barely walk Monday, still stiff yesterday especially painful going downhill/downstairs. First few balls on the range, timing was miles off. Thought about sacking it until next week but managed to find a bit of a groove swinging slower. Was sure I was in for a car crash of 13 holes.

Um....stood on the 9th tee 4 under gross having hit every green in reg and canned 4 of the 8 birdie putts...wtf???

Pulled my approach on 9 and had to settle for a bogey, then chunked a 50 yard approach shot on 10, another bogey. Stopped the slide with a good approach and yet another birdie at 11. Bit of a fortunate par on 12 before completely blobbing 13.
Physically finished quite a bit looser than I'd started, yet was all over the place at the end. 30 points for 13 holes was enough for the win though which was pleasing.

That is the best I've ever shot on our front 9. Strangely another round I remember from last year where I was struggling with an injury and felt I was restricted and had to swing slower, I remember being 3 under through 11. I guess it's a great illustration that I need to slow things down.

Struggling early season. Fairly consistently having problems remembering how to hold and swing a club. All feels wrong. Iron striking particularly poor. Fat, thin, pipe (a bl00dy classic on 10), pull, slice, the works. JAS - that something you've found might well be mine, I've definitely lost something. Please post it back.

30 points Saturday with decent scoring (NB not decent play) on the way back, awful out. Birdied 1. Triple, bogey, bogey, bogey, up and down par, 3 putt bogey, REGULATION PAR 3 (yay), bogey.

Went out for a half set knock last night to try and do something (rescue, 5, 7, 9, 50, 58 putter). 11 holes +2. Good putting (to recover pars mostly), and decent wedges (to get up and down for par) but hit it OK for the most part (probably missing greens due to not having the right clubs!). Think the problem might be something to do with trying half club knock downs due to wind and rain rather than full shots. This weekend I will try and play full clubs as often as possible and not try to steer the damn thing.

That's good consistent improvement Conehead and 12 is probably about right. Your handicap shouldn't be what you expect to play to most of the time. When you enter the scores do you also enter par for the course and the SSS for the tees you played off?

Spent a few days in Marbella over Easter with the Mrs and we chose the Marbella Golf and Country club for a game as I had played there before, although not since 2007. I coughed a bit at the size of the green fee but the pro-shop assistant was ever helpful...suggesting that if we played after 3.00pm then the rate would reduce to 146 Euros for the pair of us including a buggy! I still felt slightly mugged as I handed over that and another 50 Euros to hire some clubs, but I thought what the hell we are on holiday after all. A 40 Euro taxi fare to the course and a few more Euros for a couple of range tokens mean't that it wasn't exactly the cheapest afternoons golf that I have ever had!
 
Having just been cut to 5 after surprisingly finding some early season form, I was feeling in a generous mood and as my wife hasn't had the chance to play much golf lately I offered her 4 courtesy shots to add to her club handicap of 20. This soon proved to be a very serious error of judgement on my part as she showed excellent course management to par the stroke index 1 signature hole, to give her 4 points and an early lead. It was a lead that she never relinquished and my insistence on using my driver on a couple of fiddly holes on the front 9 led to a couple of blobs, and a rather barren looking scorecard on my part at the turn.
 
Despite fading a bit on the back 9 her final tally of 29 points was more than enough for my paltry and rather pathetic effort of 24 points. In my defence I could point to the unfamiliar hire clubs and a late night the previous evening spent in the busy nightlife area of Puerto Banus, consuming far too much alcohol. However all of those things applied to my wife as well...in fact if I'm honest she probably had more to drink than I did!

Easter weekend "triple crown" (OK I just played 3 times). 0.3 increase and now off 6. Great work. Not helped by some interesting pins (for interesting read f**king stupid) including one on a slope so pronounced you could see the bottom of the cup when you approached the green from above and one on the bottom tier of a 3 tier 30 yard green, but a tier that you physically couldn't keep the ball on if you were on a higher tier (ie 85% of the green) and one right at the front of a sloping away hard green with a hard sloping approach. Tough pins I like some of, ridiculous pins set out by a non golfer require hoots of derision and a b0llocking.

Saturday - bag of spanners. 4 doubles and limped to 32 points. No idea where the ball was going most of the time. Sporadic signs of some ability swifly followed by incompetence of the highest order.

Sunday - decent battle, dropping shots then making them up then dropping and recovering again. Let down by missed 3 foot putt for birdie on 18 that would have buffered me. 36 points, definite signs of encouragement.

Monday - Tired. Combination of Saturday and Sunday style play. Dropped shots going out but had a run of 3 3 pointers to move back on 5,6 & 7 then doubled 9. 2 doubles coming back including missing a par 3 low, then missing it high then missing it low again. Terrible. Up and down par on 16 (that I now have a shot on) before back to back birdies on 17 and 18 made it a more respectable 34 than the round indicated.

Away this weekend for 36 holes on my favourite course over here (Ramsey) much needed break from the home track (first time anywhere else since September) and v keen. Hope the weather is nice, the curry house is good and the course is in good nick.

Back home today from a memorable weekend at Saunton, West Friday, 75 after being 1 under on 14th tee, East Saturday, 79, shocking start, 8 over after 6 holes but 37 back 9 to finish 8 over, East again Sunday, some really good ball striking to go out in 39 and again back in 37 for a 76...So, clearly carrying a bit of form, could I do it in the 36 hole comp on Easter Monday.

Overall the answer was yes, despite 4 putting the 2nd green on the East in the morning round, I knocked it round in 80 net 74 (with a triple). In the afternoon on the West I was again stood on the 14th tee in a really good position (level par), 3 really poorly executed shots and 3 horrendous pieces of luck later I'd bled away to a 77 net 71. So a 157 gross to be the highest placed Cat 2 player. The 145 net total placed me 7th (missed the W by 5 shots). Easily the best weekend I've had at Saunton in the 5 years I've played their Opens. The end result being that with visitors CSS's of 76 East and 74 West I've finally reached Cat 1 (5.2) so rather chuffed to bits . Yes the wee voice in the head says I could/should have won the Net but at the end of the day, I was pleased with a lot of aspects of my game and my temperament especially after the shocking 4 putt on hole 2 of 36.

Get to play at the sometimes mentioned Bearwood Lakes tomorrow - a freebie with a friend. Often listed in the top 10 UK courses (and not everyone knows why - it's good but not THAT good). Need to improve on current early season form though or it can eat you up. Tempted to say I'll be happy to break 100! It's also the kind of course that even guests have the choice of playing off the whites (though not the blacks which are the reserved tees). I'll maybe push for us to just take the yellows - they are long enough for a short hitter like me!

Just about scraped 100 though the weather was crap and actually felt not too bad about a decidedly average score in poor conditions. Over 5 or 6 years I've played Bearwood Lakes quite a few times now and the weather gods do NOT agree with me when I play there - think over 8-10 outings there now I've only ever played it in decent conditions once!

Back to home club tomorrow .. and a bogey/par comp (defending the only board comp trophy I've ever won)

I feel these comps favour the high handicappers like me .. do others agree? When playing a bogey/par comp I tend to think in Stableford terms and I know I'm quite capable of stringing quite a few 3 point holes together .. yet throw in too many "blobs" .. so the blob just costs me one hole instead of 2 pts in Stableford (or potentially MANY more in medal comps). So does the format favour higher handicaps?

I may be wrong but I am not sure that the superstar low handicap players that correspond here will be too interested in high handicap players like yourself Davie.

With one or two exceptions lorus I think that's a little unfair. I suspect the demographics here are quite similar to any golf club and at least at my own club I have a good relationship with a lot of the low handicappers there. They know I'm not a slow player and pick up when I can't score and most of them seem very happy to play with me when drawn in comps, and have a beer and talk the game afterwards.

There are always exceptions of course....

Of course it does Davie, as does Stableford to an extent.
Lorus...eh? Tongue in cheek? Or the trigger for a handicap snobbery debate thread?

Just a general observation. I think there are few here who really don't like to see the weekend hacker on their golf course. Almost like they should go to a place that suits them.

I know there are some (not necessarily from here) low handicappers who struggle with the concept of playing with much higher handicappers. Yes it can be wearing if your having a good scoring day and you're with say another 2 who are military golfing and continually having to search for balls but that's not always the case. I've had many an enjoyable round with higher handicappers who have a much greater ability to take things less seriously, laugh at themselves and generally enjoy the round more (a trait I myself need to cultivate more!!). I'd rather be paired with 2 hackers who knew how to enjoy the game than 2 plus handicappers who would grunt, mumble under their breath, whinge and throw clubs when their round goes jubblies up.
In a serious comp I think being paired with similar handicapped peers is preferable though.

I'm with Davie!

And! Great news, our course should be opening Wednesday, April 30th, latest I can remember.

Weekend in Ramsey done. Weather was given as being sheize, ended up cracking the flags both days - Brilliant. Course lovely, greens a bit slow but good condition. 36 hole 2 from 4 am-am so no pressure, no chance of winning either!

Signs of form (if not an abundence of talent) on Saturday. Good ball striking in the main, OK putting. one double and one treble marring an otherwise decent lap (79 = +9 less 6) same ball all the way.

Sunday a tad blurry to say the least (thank you to the local hostelries and curry house!). Bizarrely resulted in better ball striking, no doubles or worse and putter started to work rather nicely coming back (76 = +6 less 6).

Tuppence worth on the previous points - I just like playing golf and enjoying it. I don't care who I'm with (not that I'm a particularly low h/cap). Had good fun with high handicappers having a bad day for them and had bad days with low handicappers on one of their good days.

I played a bogey competition for the first time at the weekend. First comp at my new club and a new format as well, one I had never heard of before. Have to say I wasn't a fan of the format. For example, the 3rd is a tough 200 yard par 3. A 4 isn't a bad score here but it was worth nothing to me, at least in stableford it's worth a point. Then a couple of holes later I'm putting for birdie on a par 4 where I get a shot, and I have no incentive to hole the putt, it's actually better to dribble it up to the hole.

Davie, as a format it definitely favours the higher handicappers, and places way too much emphasis on the tee shot. After a poor tee shot, there is no value in "taking your medicine" and playing conservatively. Not sure how this can be classed as a qualifying comp either, with people picking up when they can't make par.

Goes without saying that I played gash and was poor off the tee!

raycastleunited wrote:Davie, as a format it definitely favours the higher handicappers, and places way too much emphasis on the tee shot. After a poor tee shot, there is no value in "taking your medicine" and playing conservatively. Not sure how this can be classed as a qualifying comp either, with people picking up when they can't make par.

It shouldn't be a qualifier for the reasons you state - also because it encourages you to play differently.

Isn't your first sentence a little contradictory though? I agree it favours the high handicappers but not for the reasons you state - after all a high handicapper is more likely to hit a poor tee shot, no?

That was just a poor sentence from me. They were supposed to be separate points: the format favours high handicappers (for the reasons you state). It also places too much emphasis on the tee shot.

Not trying to be argumentative Ray .. just trying to understand you - I still see the two (separate) points as contradictory. If the emphasis is on the tee shot surely that favours better players?

Davie, I see where you are coming from, but higher handicappers receive a shot (or two) so have the opportunity to recover from a poor tee shot.

The situation I was referring to was when a player misses a fairway off the tee but doesn't get a stroke on that hole. In strokeplay / matchplay the player has a risk/reward decision to make for the approach. In bogey you have to go for it, there's no point playing the percentages, and I think removing that course management aspect is huge, it's a fundamental part of the game for me.

OK thanks I think I understand where you are coming from now

Very pleasant day at the Kendleshire yesterday. Corporate charity event so it wasn't a qualifier but quite pleased with 36 points (playing to my new handicap for the first time). I say quite pleased as despite the final score I had 2 blobs early on and finished with 3 single pointers. It was a team comp with 3 to count from 4 on each hole so it does encourage more of a go for it mentality.

The Kendleshire has an island green (11 th) and it was designated a Mulligan hole for the day, basically put a fiver into the charity pot to "buy" the right to a Mulligan. We all of course put in. I then incurred a "fine" as I stuck the tee shot to 15 feet, holed the putt and made the fatal mistake of asking if I could transfer the unused Mulligan to another hole :-p. Interesting tactic by an 18 handicapper in our group, he puts his tee shot in the green side bunker, he gets it out to about 20 feet and says "nah, not close enough, I'll use my Mulligan". Brave or stupid? He flops it out to about 10 feet...but then missed the putt anyway!! Personally I'd rather have had 2 goes at the putt but that's just me. We had a birdie, birdie net eagle & par net birdie at the hole anyway so there was nowt wrong in having a go at a birdie net eagle I suppose.

I had played the Kendleshire once before (about 3 years ago) and thoroughly enjoyed it then. Decent test with plenty of variety and despite the deluges of the past week, in very good condition.