Cross Country
As Ce Ce Peniston said... Finally! At 0530 on Saturday morning I had been awake for an hour, awaiting the rain that had been forecast; and come it did. Things were not looking good when I arrived at the club at 0630. A tentative walk across the practice green sowed further doubt on the day's plans. Describing it as wet underfoot would be an understatement on par with Jim Lovell's appreciation of an oxygen tank going bang. It was to great relief that Johnny, resplendent in wet gear and accompanying bobble hat, gave the nod we could go ahead. Monies paid, greetings done, Mr Safety's words heeded, and off we go to the tees... I missed out on last year's event - a viral infection saw me about as able to play a round of golf as an asthmatic ant carrying some heavy shopping, uphill - so I was keen to play 'the course'. I'm pleased I deferred the first tee slot to Donald's team, it was a great start to the day seeing Trevor, Donald, and Mick not quite make it through, over, or past the trees. Fortunately, Lucy's drive saved the men's embarrassment and off they went and we followed on shortly after. I don't know how you design a golf course, hats off to Pete Dye and those guys who do it for a living. I'm pretty sure they've never made a hole as brutal as the Cross Country's 3rd - from the Griffin 4th tee to its 5th green - absolutely crazy! Calum, Johnny, and Trevor did a great job last year with the layout and I hope the competition persists, so we can figure out how to get round in fewer strokes. Before we get on to those that did it with fewer strokes, there were some spot prizes to be won on the day.
The customary bottles of wine were won by: - Ross Herbert (5th Men) - Will Pirie (7th Men) - Heather Skinner (5th Ladies & 7th Ladies) - Grant Moyse (9th in Two) Great to see Ross back at Cottesmore, I'm sure he'll be a welcome addition to our competition teams. Also great to see our Ladies' captain, Heather, starting the year as she means to go on. I do hope Will, one of our upcoming juniors, didn't actually drink the wine and that Neil enjoyed his son's success. Grant was very fortunate to be put in such a great position for his shot in to the 9th - he did buy me a beer to say thank you. Congratulations to Martin Bolton-Smith for picking up the £25 draw in the 200 Club, and to the ever popular Harry Reed for the big £75 win. To the victors go the spoils of war... Par for the course was 51 and as ever with scrambles the winning scores were low. Eight teams scored a net 40 with varying decimals making the difference. How we wish we could do this by ourselves! 4th (on countback) with a net score of 40.4 were David Salmon, Steve Tay, Ernie Cloete, and Will Human. 3rd (on countback) with a net score of 40.4 were Iain McKay, Jon Ford, Tim Smith, and David Abbott. 2nd with a net score of 40.3 were Stuart Radford, Dave Smythe, Rob Laverick, and Ady Verbeeten. Topping the list and this year's winners with a net score of 40.0 were Jason Davey, Alex Burton, Chris Avraam, and Anthony Claydon. That's fantastic golf all round, well done to you all. There's no pictures of our winners for this newsletter, safe bets would say we'll see them in one or more later this year. My job's easy because of these people:
- Martin Bolton-Smith - Donald Day - Trevor Pigram These guys helped out so much during the planning of this event, then the re-planning of this event, and then on the day itself. The committee at Cottesmore is truly fantastic. Thanks guys! Also a huge thanks to Johnny, Ben and the rest of the team. Not only were we allowed to play on a course that probably should have been closed, we were presented with a devilish course and pins that Tiger would cry at. Top marks to Sean and Oscar too; running a bar with eighty-plus thirsty, cold, and hungry golfers isn't easy. Special Thanks! It's easy for us lot out on the course. We're out there, playing, sizing up shots, lining up putts, and generally having fun. For Lynn and Jo it was 4+ hours of serving up teas, coffees, cakes, and a lickle nip. Lynn's just had a whole year of it and it feels like Jo spent a whole Friday baking. I know I enjoyed my brandy and bara brith and I hope everyone else did too. Thanks to you both, I really appreciate you giving up your time for us. Lastly my thanks to you all for supporting this event. It has raised over £350 for the Rockinghorse, that's brilliant! I will be keeping you all up to date with how, where, and why this money is being spent throughout the year. Safe to say that we've helped some children this weekend, and I'm so grateful to you all for your amazing generosity.
Thank you.
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