FRITZ FOLLIES OUTING TO OLD NENE

Our annual visit to Old Nene persuaded 11 members to turn up somewhere in the middle of Fen Country including the writer who was making his first visit and very enjoyable it was as well.

The day started very well with a refreshing beer (a little bit of imagination here needed, the drink of choice being coffee!!) accompanied by a bacon roll on the terrace in glorious sunshine, once again Follies seemed very lucky with the weather.

The course is unusual being the same nine holes played twice but from different tees on the back nine and despite the theory that practice makes perfect, only one of the eleven competitors improved their front nine points tally on the inward nine!!

Having asked various members about the round it seems there were no bunker flunkers, moments of madness or wayward hitting to report, something quite remarkable in itself.

Now to the important bit of the day, the weather was set fair, the course seemed in good condition as we all congregated on the first tee, only to be held up a by a two sets of ladies foursomes, a slower start than we wanted but probably better than them following us and we holding them up!!!

I was in the first group out with John Wakefield and Kevin Hingle and we had a very enjoyable round finishing at 5.05pm, Kevin then left and John and I retired to the club house for a well earned pint, at 5.45pm we were wondering where the other groups were, to then see the second group moving to the sixteenth tee at 6.00pm!! At this point John and I decided it might be a longish wait and started to head home in the light!

(Editor’s note: when the second group arrived in the clubhouse, we looked for the first group and asked the barmaid if they were around. She replied “there were 3 elderly gentlemen in the other room earlier but they had gone” – perhaps she was talking about another crowd!)

I have been reliably informed that Jon Kelly won nearest the pin and I am pretty confident that Teresa will have drunk the prize by now. Andrew Bramwell was third on 29 points, Geoff Liscoe was second on 30, Colin Keal winning with a very lucky 35 points having found my ball in the woods on several occasions!

I am now looking forward to Rutland County (a bit closer to home for me) and then our 40th anniversary year end extravaganza!!

A strong entry from Graham at Galle Fort Sri Lanka, overlooking the cricket ground – Sri Lanka were playing Bangladesh

Our Chairman/Secretary/EverythingElse weighs in with a beauty……entries close end of October……

“Nothing ever happens at Rutland Water!”

Apart, that is, from  the fifth green being flooded, people playing the wrong ball and  the rain coming down in torrents.  Perhaps 2017 would be different – think again.

16 members gathered for the August Meet at what must surely be a candidate for “World’s Most Beautiful Golf Course”.

By common Follies consent, it’s also one of the hardest that we play.  We set off with huge storm clouds in the west advancing inexorably towards us. It went black, the thunder roared, a few hailstones fell, but no rain? – we even got sunshine – but I forget – the wind, it was howling incessantly.  Some members heard the course klaxon suspending play, others didn’t and carried on.  Everyone survived.

It was quite an eventful day with several incidents being reported:

It’s only August but Geoff Delany probably secured the 2017 “ Bunker Flunker”  with a magnificent score of 11.  Les, in particular, was relieved having carded an impressive 6 earlier in the season.  Previous winners have only managed 4 or 5 shots.

The 4th green caught a few out – with Les, then Terry, followed later by Martin putting straight off the green into the bunker.

On the nearest the pin par 3, Roy, Andrew and Jon hit trouble, losing balls but did eventually putt out.  They must have been a little slow leaving the green as the group behind teed off, shouted ‘Fore left’ and caught Roy on the side of the head.  Everyone survived.

Brian Bates’ trolley got over excited and, not being aware of the rules of  golf, proceeded to trundle all the way across a green, Brian was  totally oblivious until it reached the other side.  Fortunately no members saw it so we should be ok to go back again next year.

But best of all, Colin Savage in a buggy, ignored the bridge and managed to drive into and get completely stuck in a very muddy ditch.  He was bravely  assisted out of his predicament by Messrs West, Carter and Bates – whilst he sat in the driver’s seat working hard on the accelerator .  Brian B and David C ended this strenuous rescue very mud splattered whilst David W, by some miracle, was unscathed.  Funnily enough, Colin was the only one to score a point on the next hole, the others being too fatigued by their earlier exertions.   Everyone survived. Someone remarked to Colin in the clubhouse later that the buggies are not amphibious.

Onto the results: 3 intrepid souls managed to accumulate 32 points and take the first three places.  On count back David Carter was placed third, Colin Keal second, with debutant Terry Moon taking the top spot.  For once, it was Trevor Chapman who managed to get nearest the pin on the 12th, well done Trevor.  An 8 iron was the weapon of choice if anyone is interested.

Another good day out, well done to the winners, commiserations to the also-rans and a big thank you to Les and co for organising it.

Andrew and Roy visited most parts of the course today…..

Report by DC and friends

Well today we played at Tydd St. Giles, unlike last year there were no late arrivals – well done Trevor for going to the correct course. A good turnout of 15 players, duly arrived for a “light” breakfast of bacon, egg, hash potatoes, sausage and beans. Although the weather was windy, the forecast of sunshine brought out numerous members wearing shorts, albeit no salmon coloured ones were seen today.

The most interesting warm up prize goes to Geoff Delany and his left leg swivel exercise on the first tee. Speaking of the first tee Brian was seen to put his ball out of bounds on the right, in a similar place to where he hit his first tee shot last year. They do say consistency counts!

Geoff Liscoe was the highest scorer on the first hole with a par and 4 points – well done Geoff. He was also seen putting in from 40ft plus on the 10th green.
Similarly, the rule about drivers being careful of following other cars in the fog, should have applied to Jon, Roy & Gabe, who managed to follow in the footsteps of Brian, Colin & Martin into the dyke on the 7th – mind you Martin enjoyed it so much he made three trips.
In another vein of consistency, Trevor pushed his tee shot left on the 5th hole, so much so that he thought he was in the water, so took a provisional – only to find both balls within 3 foot of each other in a safe place. So he promptly celebrated by placing the next shot over the water and onto the green and getting a par.

I’m not sure whether Gabe’s holiday home in Greece is on the coast or up in the hills but I think it must be the latter as he never missed an opportunity to get into a bunker and spend some time in the sand. That said, he got out with consummate ease each time. Unlike Jon, who made a magnificent 200 yard drive which unfortunately went into a bunker, followed by 5 shots to get out of the bunker.

No real disasters occurred, apart from Colin who set his trolley for a 10 yard dash – which it obeyed – just a shame about the last couple of yards being downhill so it ran into a tree.
Les admitted that his group were boring, with nothing of reportable value. Geoff Delany again got nearest the pin on the 16th, he was so embarrassed that he had to leave early – allegedly to go to the train station!!
Despite not scoring and losing two balls on the first two holes, Trevor came home with 38 points to win. Next meeting on Friday 18th August at Rutland Water.
Trevor

A very good turnout of 16 Follies competed for the President’s Cup and, in parallel, the June competition of the annual Follies Trophy.

Stories seem to be thin on the ground but the 6th hole did see Geoff Delany using a ball scoop retriever to get his tee out of ditch. I guess tees do cost money. Later on the same hole, David West was trying to retrieve his ball from a ditch and slipped. He avoided falling in but was certainly on all-fours at one point in his scramble to stay out of the ditch.

John Wakefield, Roy Fletcher and John Dexter reached the 11th without too many incidents other than the normal lost balls and played down into the bottom of the fairway just over the ditch. It is a blind shot from there up to the green and we thought that Les’s group could still be on the green. John W nipped up the fairway and watched the group in front drive their buggy over to the 12th tee. John
D then hit a good shot that sailed over the brow of the hill and out of sight. Suddenly, there was an almighty bang as his ball hit the roof of the buggy, scattering said Les, Colin and Andrew for cover. Apparently, the ball hit the buggy, then a tree, coming to rest under the buggy. It may
be a good idea to look into hard hats in Fritz colours for everyones’ safety!!! With Les’ recent medical history, we are thankful that the bag was hit and not Les.

There’s lot of talk about shortening events these days as everyone is busy and cannot spare the time. It’s seen in cricket where T20 is all the rage rather than 5 day matches and in tennis with best of 3 sets rather than 5.  Well, Jon Kelly suggests golf should be reduced to 17 holes – or he certainly does after his experience today.  On the 18th, Jon topped his drive maybe 20 yards into the rough. Geoff Delaney, your friendly local Rules Official offered three options, including playing 3 off the tee. In Jon’s own words “I put the ball there, I’ll get it out”.  You would think “Who Dares Wins” and “Fortune Favours the Brave” would have some basis in fact.  Not a bit of it.  Jon’s first hack left the ball behind him, and a further 4 wild swings eventually saw him onto the fairway. He ended up with a 13.

Onto the results:

3rd place was Colin Keal on 33 points.

2nd also on 33 was Kevin Hingle on countback

And this year’s winner of the President’s Cup is David West on 35 points.

Next outing is soon!  Friday 14th July – Tydd St Giles

With the Fritz Follies Ramsey outing very fresh in the minds, an unexpected trip to Stapleford Park followed a week later to join Graeme Phipps in his annual birthday celebration team competition. This annual get together apparently is related to Graeme recently reaching the same age as the Follies!

With an impressive total turnout of 20, not only had the Follies an opportunity of winning a few golf balls (and a bottle of Les’s Xmas port) the lucky few also had the chance of get their name on a solid silver ‘Open’ like jug, which could be kept for a year…whoopee they cried!

With the confusion of running two competitions with different handicaps, confusion initially reigned in the clubhouse, so it was very apt that a bookkeeper and solicitor were on hand for dealing with the expected confusion and disputes that duly arose later.

With a few of the Follies mixed in with Graeme’s friends, a sunny and warm day greeted the starters, albeit with a very strong wind later being encountered to make this a difficult day on some of the longer holes.

A few tales to tell with the best being Colin Humphries who apparently managed to chip his ball into his own golf bag!  Not sure on the rules for that one, but apparently it was played from the point of rest…..

With a hand picked team that didn’t deliver, birthday boy also came a cropper by going out of bounds three times, thus ruining his chance of glory in both competitions.  Les will not be joining him next year.

A non folly also took the prize for the most bunker shots ever despite lessons from Les.

With the score cards checked, double checked, corrected and further amended the final results were announced with the Follies team of Andrew Bramwell, Trevor Chapman, John Wakefield and Colin Humphries winning the birthday jug.

Follies winners were:

Trevor Chapman with 35 points followed by Roy Fletcher and …….

Nearest the pin was won by Andrew Bramwell

Trevor is clearly making an early get away to lead this celebratory year.

Les was particularly galled that his well deserved reputation for arranging good weather for our matches suffered so miserably on this occasion. Indeed, he was so “galled”, that he has booked an operation to remove his gall bladder on the 6th May.

There were 19 players on the starting list including the prospect of début appearances by Terry Moon and Steve Preston. However, Terry withdrew due to Labyrinthitis which apparently afflicts those who worked in the Ordinary Branch Department of Pearl. This impression was given because Brian Bates, who had worked in that Department, was asked about the condition on the basis members of that Department were necessarily familiar with it.

After play began, the weather deteriorated with squally heavy showers and hail which resulted in the greens turning white!

Despite the tough playing conditions, Colin Keal and Graeme Tooke both achieved a creditable top score of 34 points with Colin taking first place on count back. Third place went to Brian Bates (32 points) as Andrew Bramwell declined the offer of a golf ball in favour of a bottle of whisky for winning the nearest the pin.

No players reported any particular newsworthy matters other than Geoff Delany who made his bid for the 2017 Bunker Flunker Award by taking 5 shots to escape the greenside bunker on the 2nd hole.

David Oliver merits special mention for his good scoring. Unfortunately, this was as Brian Bates card marker rather than his own golfing prowess. Brian achieved a net hole in one on the 5th which impressed David so much that he added a bonus point giving 5points in total. Any suggestion of foul play was refuted notwithstanding money was seen being exchanged between them in the Clubhouse afterwards.

We now look forward to the hospitality of Graeme Phipps at Stapleford Park on the 5th May. A ballot will take place as to who will partner David Oliver due to his improved popularity as a scorer!

Another Follies season began at Sleaford with some great weather for March and the course, as always, in fine condition (due to its sand base, I am told).  16 members appeared with a debut (to my knowledge) for John Dexter and welcome returns for the lesser spotted David Oliver, Andrew Bramwell and Richard Cheng. Les had arranged a cracking deal with the course with a bacon roll before the golf and pie and chips afterwards.

Stories were thin on the ground but Les put an early marker down for Bunker Flunker at the 7th.  Several strokes were taken before he gave in and abandoned the hole. The BF committee will sit to decide how many that all adds up to. Les did say “another 2 or 3 inches would have made the difference” – something many men have said down the years.

On Nearest the Pin, Roy was sitting pretty until it was snatched away by Geoff D. in the last group.

The Road to Elton competition (with due acknowledgement to the UEFA Champions League) saw Trevor win the first outing with an impressive 40 points – and I can attest to several putts sliding past that would have made the total even worse better.  Second was Les on 33 points with Jon Kelly in third on 31 points winning on countback from Andrew, Roy and John W.

A special mention to Colin H, who returned early from his 50th Wedding Anniversary trip to Derbyshire, especially to play the Follies. We’re not sure if he brought his wife back with him or left her there. Nor are we sure if she is talking to him.

With more orders being taken for Follies shirts and some great dates in the diary, things are on the up for the Fritz Follies Golf Society.

See you at Ramsey on the 26^th.

Impressive early entries from David and Geoff taken at the Dubai Desert Classic Golf Event. Ask them who took the photo of them with the trophy.