The McAdam Foursomes - my one and only round

Our McAdam Foursomes match was tricky: Johnny Moffet and Joe Clements had won the event in 2009, they continue to improve and are in form at the moment. We had however agreed to play (at the last available time) after Joe had played two rounds in the Dalgleish Cup so he should have been tired. We also agreed to use buggies which took some of the time and hassle out of it. And my partner, Mike Robinson, had just had an auspicious day. Luke Donald had just become the world's No1 golfer. And some time ago, in the last century, Mike had beaten him in both a singles and a Foursomes match.

It was a great game; perhaps not up to Donald's standards but quite a few shots were pretty good. It was a beautiful evening, at no time was there more than one hole in it and specifically we were all square after 9 and on the 18th tee (and the 15th and 17th tees as well). But I lost my drive and although we could have managed a three with the second ball a steady par gave Johnny and Joe a desreved victory on the 18th. The timing was impeccable: it then started to pour.

The Lake Trophies: At least Some People Enjoyed Themselves

Yet again the wind was strong. It's OK, it can be quite fun, playing in the wind when it's dry but it does get tedious.

Why is it so windy? I remember from A-level geography that the UK's weather is unpredictable and varied primarily because it is at the junction of different air masses as well as being at the edge of a major continent. The north-east's weather is largely determined by the polar continental mass and we have strong winds both from our exposed position and the path of depressions.

But an overriding factor is the polar jet stream. For reasons I can't easily explain but apparently linked to temperature variations in the Pacific Ocean ("el nino/southern oscillation") causing atmospheric changes across the globe, it has been further south than usual, especially this year. The jet stream brings high winds and turbulence. Its location can be followed here and its a good indicator of our weather. Sure enough on Saturday it was above us before drifting away on Monday.

I asked the Met Office about wind speeds at Boulmer (the nearest station to us). The average wind speed in 2010 (9.6 knots) was close to the latest 30 year average they've calculated (1971 to 2000). The first four months of this year (also 9.6 knots) were about 15% less than the long term average. But the wind in May (11 knots) was about 30% higher than long term average. It was in fact the highest average wind speed ever recorded there in May.

Whatever the reason, congratulations to Angus Smith and Alan Patterson who won with 41 points; they must have put all thoughts of La Nina and her impact on the jet stream behind them.

Mixed Sevensomes

The idea for a couple of summer mixed greensomes had been to benefit from the calm sunny summer evenings for which the course is so well known. It was in fact fairly calm. Warm and sunny it wasn't but nevertheless seven people turned up to play. We had tried a number of formats in winter, but not a sevensome (if there is such a word). But rather than split the group we decided to do this, splitting into three teams with a random draw. All seven of us drove, which created an awesome sight at each tee (I think "awesome" is the appropriate word).
A combination of fading light and players on 10,11 & 12 made us play 13 holes only. Steady faultless play from Bill and Fiona gave them victory; I think Nicky and I could just have won if we had averaged out the last five over nine and the first eight over nine, or indeed had we played better. John, Tony and Margaret suffered from harsh handicapping after the success of the three-person teams in winter.We have another couple of these games planned later in summer. I was a bit worried about introducing yet another event in a fairly crowded golf calendar, but I think they've worked well - those who've played have enjoyed them and they've introduced a few people who didn't know each other before.

NNL Match 3

v Alnwick, at home.

An even larger than usual group watched a lovely summers evening turn into cold dusk with a backdrop of six golf games to look at as well. Bamburgh got off to a good start for our first home fixture with wins for early starters Peter Sanderson and Mark Dawson, and then a few holes behind both John and Johnny Moffet won their games 5 & 3. The last two games were much closer, and went to the 18th, with Colin Brown getting a draw and John Porteous just missing one.
So Bamburgh won 9 - 3; the next match is at Dunstanburgh on June 1st.

Alnwick, meanwhile, are doing well in the Mail on Sunday competition (having beaten us earlier in the year): they are through to the last 64. Good luck to them.

Rapture!

Bamburgh 6pm Saturday 21 May 2011

Rapture was not on my mind given the number of shots that slipped away that day.

Captain's Trip

One of the background things a captain has to do is arrange a trip for members - not surprisingly it's called the Captain's trip.

I've been trying to think for almost a year of where to go and when to arrange it. I wanted it to be as available as possible - such as a Friday afternoon at the end of July, when it wouldn't clash with too much else - and also somewhere where we haven't had an outing for some time. That ruled out some of my favourite courses like Kilspindie and Longniddry. I thought of going south - Hartlepool looked good - but north is easier. I narrowed the choice down to the Hirsel, Duns and Dunbar: all courses I'd played and liked. Dunbar seemed to be one people had played least, and they had tee times available when I wanted. And Travelsure knew the way and had a bus to hand.

So I've booked some tee times at Dunbar on the afternoon of Friday 29 July. I'll put up the notice soon - after the other notice asking for people to play in the Seahouses friendly (which is on June 5th) is full. And then, just as with any party, worry whether enough or too many people will come.

Luck! : The Blackheath Trophy

Luck! (or something similar) was what I said to myself when I hit two balls out of bounds on the 18th after a decent drive.
My first bit of luck was bad and suitably on the first: having driven left I gently chipped the ball onto the green; except that it actually lobbed 90 degrees sideways in an arc straight onto Dick's head. Fortunately he was wearing his cap. That left me with a 5 and Dick with a sore head.

I've written before about his cap and it seemed to give my ball good luck as I collected lots of points for various pars and a birdie, including chipping in on the 14th. But from then on it all went wrong, with just three points in the last four holes. I had been hoping for a decent handicap reduction if not a prize but I suppose a mixture of good and bad luck is better than no luck at all.
We were all lucky with the weather: it was one of those days where you could see heavy rain showers (and briefly even lightening) all around and yet on the course it was mostly dry.

Ali Darling, who was first with 39 points, wouldn't have needed any luck, nor Ian Brown who was second. Based on the treatment of his clubs at the 5th however, Jason, third, might have needed some.

NNL Match 2

I got stuck in London for longer than I wanted to be and was watching the Kings Cross departure Board instead of the team teeing off at Foxton. Last year, they tended to win when I wasn’t there. Unfortunately that trend reversed this year; we lost 9 – 3. The next match is at home against Alnwick on May 25th.

Wet Weekend

I said last week, “Let it Rain” but I didn’t mean during golf. Actually, if you were clever, or careful, you could miss the rain. I played later than usual in the Buckley Tankards. We hadn’t booked a tee time which meant we went out when it was dry. It continued that way as we saw lots of wet people coming in. It stayed lovely and calm until sunset; you’d think we’d be able to do well and indeed we came close. But not close enough.

Although unintentional at the time, my 17th was homage to Seve Ballesteros. A drive into the hill just short of gorse, a second sliced close to the second green, a chip close to the pin and a putt for par and three points was (apart from the lack of talent involved) reminiscent of his great escapes.

It was harder to avoid the rain on Sunday, except in the clubhouse, but theTexas Scramble Open still had a full turnout with most seeming happy with the event and the course and ready to book again next year. John Porteous’ team won: a home victory.

Just as on Saturday, the weather improved at the end of the day.

NNL Match 1

The new league arrangements have home and away matches for the 7 teams in Division A: the draws are a bit strange as we start off with two away matches followed by a bye, we play Dunstanburgh two weeks in a row (one being the first knock-out round and then Rothbury two weeks in a row. But I suppose that just shows it really was a random draw.


Our first match was at Alnwick (renamed Alnwick Castle), scene of our defeat in the Mail on Sunday: it was interesting to walk around and re-look at the holes I messed up and see how they should be played. It was sunny but cold; the course looked to have continued to improve with the new groundstaff they have.
We started well - and at the fifth hole, supposedly sheltered for watching but actually freezing - Bamburgh seemed to be up in every match and mostly to win that hole - but then we slipped a bit in the middle sections where a lack of familiarity with the greens gave a home advantage. Three matches went to the 18th, the last two in dusk, Alex Mackay sinking a long put to give us an 8 - 4 victory.
As always, Bamburgh's support outnumbered the opposition at least until about two thirds of the way round and the Champions League semi-final was on TV.
Next match: 11 May, Foxton away.

Armstrong and McAdam draws

I was privileged to witness (by accident) the draws for the knockout trophies. I case you ever wondered how independent it was - the answer is very. A number is picked out of a box by a child; it's read out by parent and child; it's confirmed by a member; the name corresponding to the number is read out by a committee member and the name written down in order by the competitions chairman.
Knowing that doesn't make it any easier to win, of course.

The good news is that there are many more entries this year - probably partly because of the weather but also because new members are playing. The full draw will be on the noticeboard at the clubhouse on 5th May, and the first round draws are on the club's website. They have to be played more quickly than normal because of the additional entries.

Captain's Day 2

At least I don't have to look at the long range weather forecast any more. I've been checking for the 1st of May for the last couple of weeks and seen everything predicted from rain to sun with high and low winds. But on the day it was fine. So I don't care any more; the course needs rain, apparently. Let it rain.

I can't quite believe that it's been 8 months since I "drove-in" having cancelled the competition because of the wind and rain - only 4 months to go before I have to find a parking space again. But it was worth postponing the competition because the 1st of May was perfect weather, just as a second shot off the tee is (almost) always what you meant to do in the first place.

It was also much easier second time around with no drive-in to worry about and no evening party to arrange. I hoped I'd be able to relax, read the papers and occasionally meet players and offer a drink and a snack. But between the first person coming through at about 8.45 to the last group at 4.30 there was a steady flow which left little time for the papers. I was impressed at the (general) quality of the drives after the drinks; with one or two exceptions they were of a high standard, whether that was the audience, the drink, natural skill or luck I’m not sure (it probably depends on the individual concerned).Specific highlights of the day, part from watching the drives, were meeting Pixie, the Clubhouse’s new resident and racing around the course at the end of the day on a buggy collecting the various nearest pin/longest drive markers. Lowlights were forgetting the sunscreen, running out of sausage rolls and noticing how many walkers took little notice they were walking across a golf course.
There were too many players and prize-winners to highlight individually - the results list is here - but I should mention John Porteous who had the best gross, Tony Cawthorn who won and Trevor Thompson (on his return to competitive golf) who had the longest drive. I would mention Mark Dawson's second shot to 2ft or so on the 18th but Peter Sanderson told me it was mis-hit.

Lastly, thanks to Trish, Sally, Jamie and Seonaidh for helping during the day, Chris and Peter for helping me pack up, Keith for arranging and managing the competition, and those who played in the competition and visited during the day.

Watching the drives