21 members arrived at Thorney Lakes to near perfect weather for golf. Beautiful sunshine and no wind to speak of.

All sat down (other than John Dexter) for a mini breakfast with tea and coffee before the golf began. As a member of Thorney Lakes, did John know something the rest of us didn’t? Clearly not as for £25 for golf and a great breakfast, it must be the best deal of this year’s campaign, well done Les for negotiating this.

Upon asking 2 members of Thorney Lakes for some information and tips about the course, all we got was the usual ‘keep it on the fairway and stay out of the rough and the water’ – thanks guys!

During Breakfast Trevor Chapman told of a lesson where he was instructed to try a 2 rather than his usual 3 knuckle golf grip, Turns out this was poor advice and he’s back to being 3 knuckle Trevor. What a waste of £70 that was!

To avoid slow play Les instructed all to abide by the 3 minute search for a lost ball rule and move forward as quickly as possible.

With all the formalities and pre match banter complete, the serious matter of playing golf arrived.

Dave B and Roy F turned up for their tee time, only to find that Alan W was missing! As the previous group disappeared into the distance 3 knuckles Trevor went off to find him. In the meantime Dave and Roy teed off, but unfortunately for Roy his first drive went into the lake by the 18th green and his provisional couldn’t be found, resulting in a blob on the 1st. Thankfully Trevor was able to track down Alan and he eventually joined us on the fairway.

Geoff D played alongside Richard C who kept saying something he couldn’t quite understand, but strangely had a slight northern accent. Apparently Richard was saying ‘there’s plenty of room down the left’. Turns out Richard worked in Middlesbrough for 6 years, Wey Aye man!

Nearest the pin was on the 17th and Les was just a few yards from the hole, but wait a minute, wasn’t that a provisional? Yes it was, leaving Richard C with the prize. Hard luck Les!

Roy F tees off on the 16th, only to be told by Dave and Alan that it didn’t clear the ditch. A provisional is played. Alan’s drive goes into the ditch to the left. Following Les’s instruction, spending 2mins 59secs looking, both balls were declared lost. Alan took a drop and following an air shot, started shouting profanities at the stinging nettles whilst proceeding to destroy them with his club. Meanwhile Roy F found his first ball circa 40yds further on from the ditch! Sorry Roy!

Well done to Les and Dave W, this being the first time they have finished the 18th hole. Only Paul F managed to par this hole with 10 players scoring 8 or more, highlighting how tough it is! In fact, with unforgiving rough and plenty of other hazards to negotiate, resulting in many lost balls, the course did play hard on the day, demonstrated by the generally low scores recorded. However, a few played very well as confirmed by the following results:

Dave West 37pts – 3rd on countback
Jon Kelly 37pts – 2nd
Les Wells 40pts- 1st

Well done Les, Jon and Dave, great scores on a tough and demanding course.

With 3 events remaining it’s all to play for at the top of the Leaderboard with Les Wells 109pts, Paul Flanders 105pts and Dave Harrison 104pts leading the way. The next event is at Tydd St Giles on the 16th August so clear your diaries and get out and play some golf!

Report by Dave B.