15 enthusiastic golfers arrived for the annual visit to Tydd St Giles. Unlike last year where the journey involved a very interesting route driving through multiple small lanes and across the drains, Martin and Les had provided an alternative route and so all golfers arrived in a much more relaxed manner!

The other topic of conversation as the golfers tucked into their welcome bacon rolls and coffee was the weather. Last year’s attendees reminisced about the terrible rain last year but not so today. As the first tee time approached the weather was hot and sunny and we were treated to a lovely summer afternoon with much anticipation of a day of low scores.

Tydd is a good complex with plenty of facilities including lodges for those looking for a golfing break. The course provided a fair challenge with plenty of opportunities to score but also opportunities to lose plenty of balls out of bounds and in the trees. The greens were in good condition, always a good sign.

A specific challenge on the day was locating your ball if it landed in the trees particularly when you happened to be playing the same ball as a group coming in the opposite direction. Cries of ‘mine is the ball with the 3 stripes’ were heard from Jon and Trevor! Apparently the situation was amicably resolved.

Some other notable highlights from the day include Roy Fletcher chipping in for birdie on 18 for 5 points. Dave Harrison definitely had a round of 2 halves. 6 points on the front 9 and a remarkable 24 on the back nine, what a comeback! The bucket and spade award went to Sean who went into numerous bunkers on the day, typified by the first hole which consisted of a drive, 4 bunker shots from 3 different bunkers and 1 putt! Apparently Les took on the role of tree surgeon for the day, the best example when his drive hit a tree on one side of the fairway only to ricochet to the rough on the other side.

After the golfers had tucked into the traditional ham egg and chips followed by cheesecake, as master of ceremonies, Les started by announcing the winner of the nearest the pin prize on the 16th hole. The first group (Martin) had left a note on the green that they had all missed the green so as not to deprive Dave West of his customary prize! The second group also complied!

However, the winner of nearest the pin on the day in the 3rd group was Paul Flanders who deservedly won 2 bottles of wine with the winning shot to a tricky green. The ‘nearly but not quite award’ went to Graham Tooke who was apparently very close to the pin but unfortunately just off the green.

The results on the day were:

1st – Geoff Delaney -38 points
2nd – Graham Tooke – 37 points
3rd – Richard Parker – 35 points – this was his first podium finish since returning to Follies , well done.

Well played to all the winners on the day.

In closing, Les noted that he and Geoff were still chasing Paul at the top of the leaderboard with it all still to play for over the next few outings with only 5 points separating the top 3.

The next event is at Rutland Water on 20th September.

Thanks to Les for organising a great day out as usual.

Report by Sean.