Starter’s Blog (Tales from where the hut used to be)

June Is Bustin’ Out All Over

Well, here we are well into June, with another exciting Starter’s blog.  Hard to believe that we are coming towards the middle of the golfing season, seems only a short while ago that we had more layers than a partly cooked onion.  What’s been going on?  We had the Danny Harkin Day, (more info in a bit) and we almost had Captain’s day, when we had what can only be described as ‘quite a bit of rain’ this has now been rearranged for August 5th, which obviously you should be well aware of if you have bothered to pay attention to the front page.

As many of you already know, the Seniors are sponsoring a £5,000 prize (yes, five thousand pounds), for a hole in one on the 6th hole during Charity day, this will be monitored by senior volunteers on the day and hopefully will be well supported.  Judging from the plethora of recent aces all over both courses, there may well be one lucky chap (or chapess) who will be in receipt of some fantastic golf equipment.  In other Charity Day news, the ‘Captains bunker bucket’, which is a popular addition to first tee nerves and banter, is doing really well, members, guests and societies have all contributed – even if they have not gone in the bunker and I give thanks to everyone who has contributed towards this years’ charity.  Bollocking news! It is with some sadness and surprise and gives me no pleasure whatsoever that I must report that one member did NOT deposit his 50p when he went directly into the bunker, and despite being reminded several times, did not deposit said 50p so we have our first addition to what will now be known as “The Ramsdale Hall of Shame”.  Step forward Cameron S. Murry and take a bow, you are first in the Hall of Shame Club, and still, by the way, owe 50p.  Perhaps they do things differently over in ‘murica, but here in Blighty, we tend to pay up.  i even had one poor chap who went into the first bunker, popped out over the lip, only to go into the second bunker, so I charged him a pound.  He paid up cheerfully, so come on Cameron.

Right.  Danny Harkin’s Day.  What glorious weather!  Never been known before, it always rains on Danny’s Day, but not this one.  Danny does an awful lot for the Club, much of which goes unnoticed and I for one, would like to give him my thanks and appreciation.  I was on the first tee on the par 3 course early doors, ready to be impressed with crisp iron shots flying unerringly towards the pin, stopping on a sixpence and followed by a single putt into the hole.  Unfortunately, this didn’t quite go to plan, with the vast majority of members missing the green entirely.   A bad day’s score will pass, painfully like a kidney stone, but it will pass.  This may well have contributed to tee times over running by a good half hour and delaying a large society somewhat.  Seven minute gaps on tee times just did not happen this year, perhaps another minute, or more practice, might be called for next year.  It would seem that players got their eye in late on, as scores improved and we even had a hole in one on the 12th from Mark Oldershaw, who’s as happy as rat with a gold tooth.  Anyway, the winner of the par 3 competition was Richard Hone on countback, with Mike Alexander, another par 3 specialist, coming a close second.  After a break, it was onto the main course, full of enthusiasm (and beer in some cases), several players went for the green.  As we all know, it takes your Sunday best to even hit the green, unfortunately for all concerned, it was a Saturday, and they all failed miserably.  I must add here, that the tee times for the main course were generally ignored completely, there were gaps, there were queues, there was total mayhem.  However, the golf was good, with a fantastic winning score of 46 points from Nathan Fowler, nice one Nathan.  This was not enough though, to take the overall winner position, which was taken by Mike Alexander.  Mention must also be given to Amos Christ for an impressive hole in one on the 6th, for a mere 6 points a feat that I doubt will ever be matched again at Ramsdale.  Unfortunately, I was too traumatised by the events of the day to attend the evening do, but by all accounts a good time was had by all.

The good weather has put a smile on everyone’s faces and the course is looking, and playing fantastically well.  I do admire the members who have exposed their legs to the fresh air after months of being covered up.  Some, however, would have benefited from remaining covered, as I have had to invest is sunglasses to avoid the glare.  This became obvious when I complimented one player on his white trousers, only to be informed that he was actually wearing shorts.  The good weather has also meant that the hanging baskets, and the flowers on the path leading to the first tee (sponsored by the Seniors again) are now in place and looking great.  The greenkeeping staff are working flat out to keep on top of growth, doing essential maintenance and planned works and I have received many compliments about the course when I am on the first tee. There have been a few grumbles too, mainly about the rough, bunkers and driving range not being open.  To answer some of these comments, I shall be doing a Starter’s Special later this month to answer some of your questions/complaints and comments in some depth after discussions with management.  If you do have any questions, let me know as you tee off and I’ll try to get them answered.

My golf personally at the moment is a disaster, with a long term back injury, I’ve really been struggling, so much so that with all this gender recognition malarky, I’m sorely tempted to self identify as a woman on a Monday (I’ll remain as a man for the rest of the week) so I can play off the red tees and give myself a chance.  It takes a lot of balls to play golf the way I do at present, fortunately, I find plenty on the course from other wayward shots.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, time for tea and a bacon butty, until next time.