Early finish for me from work, having some time in lieu for working through last weekend, so I fixed up a quick game with a mate for 3:15. I arrived early, so decided to check the board for last Sundays Medal round where I shot the nett 72. Not enough for a place, there was a 68,69 and 71 to get those spots, but I was shocked to see the CSS for the day had been pushed up to 75!! So, that gave me a 0.9 cut, down to 15.5.
0.1 from my target for the season - I started on 24 in Feb/March when I started this game properly after a 10 year break.
After that bombshell, I picked up my clubs and made my way up to the course, but when I saw the state of the practice green, I actually laighed out loud. Hollow tined, and spread with the sand/seed mix with hardly any grass visible, I almost jacked it in and went home. I putt a few balls though, and while there was a difference, the balls were running pretty well on the surface, so I bit the bullet, waited for my mate, and set out.
Well, what a round, no lost balls, no blobs, just 2 doubles, 5 singles, 9 pars and a birdie to finish on the final par 5. Gross 81, nett 65 !! The scoring was good for me, but it was the ball striking that I was most happy about. Aside from the usual handful of mis-hits, fat chips, wayward drives, I was hitting the ball where I wanted it to go! Peppering the flags in regulation, even driving a par 4 green on one hole, and the final birdie was a massive, glorious drive, followed by my best shot of the day, the sweetest contact with a 4 iron from the fairway over a hill to a blind green. It was so good, it actually ran through the back requiring a 40ft chip up a 4ft bank to within 12 inches of the hole.
Good company, fine weather, great golf - do afternoons get much better than that?
