Shock! Horror! Follies day begins in the rain. We’re so used to Les sorting everything including the weather that it’s a bit unsettling to turn up with the windscreen wipers on full and having to shuffle quickly from car to clubhouse.

Some found it difficult to get into the door of the bar as there seemed to be a code needed but no keypad visible. Could a recently thriving business have hit hard times? CK’s ears pricked up.  Eventually a member turned up and his key fob opened the door and we were in.

Bacon Baps (with some brown sauce) seemed to be the order of the day and suitably fuelled, we headed out into the rain.

A drop of water aside, 11 Follies turned up eager to take whatever Ramsey Golf and Bowls Club could throw at us as we chased the 2016 Champion Golfer prize and all that is associated with it.

CK struggled on the tee. No, I mean really struggled – his contact lenses were playing up, his tee peg was going into the ground at an angle and he couldn’t get the ball to stay on the tee long enough to hit it.  After some adjustment, the struggle was over – and he hit some lovely drives dead straight and a long, long way.

The rain stopped after an hour or so and the rest of the afternoon was very nice. JK learned that gimmes have to be counted when marking your score and TC’s ability to find a ball was astounding his partners – could there be a bit of retriever in his DNA?

As quick as the second group played, the third group seemed to spend a long time waiting on the tee / halfway up the fairway:

It’s been noticed that when Graeme Phipps does well, he leaves early (presumably to rush home and tell the family) and this was another such occasion. Despite only scoring 10 points on the front nine using his driver, he changed to his hybrid and scored an impressive 26 on the back.  On two par 3s, he missed the green but chipped in both times!

Graham T also scored 36 points but lost on countback – you get nothing for a consistent 18 points out and in.

3rd was CK on 35 points with at least 4 putts sliding past by no more than an inch.

John Wakefield took the Nearest The Pin prize.

Report by JK

What strange memories we have, Rutland Water always seems to conjure up visions of flooded greens and being soaked to the skin. Not last year and not this.  Cool it may have been, windy it may have been but the weather was dry.

So was the course, some of the greens were so dry and sandy they wouldn’t have been out of place in the Sahara.

The golf.  It was never going to be a high scoring day, like Sleaford, and that was borne out with Martin Zebedee coming home the winner with a creditable 34 points, followed by John Wakefield with 32 points and David Carter in third place with 30 points on count back from Trevor Chapman.

Congratulations to Martin, John and David.

Nearest the pin on the 12th was won by Colin Humphries. Well done Colin.

But why “the circus comes to town”? That’s all down to the last four having rounds to be remembered.  Geoff Liscoe lost sight of his trolley as it went off for a drive on its own for all of 200 yards desperate to get to the next green.

David West employed the Barnes Wallis principle on the nearest the pin 12th, bouncing his ball off the water, on to the bank and then on to the green – tremendous fluke, I mean shot.

Colin K and David C had tried this principle on earlier holes but failed miserably – their balls went sub aqua (under water for those that don’t speak Latin).

There’s more. David C seemed to have lost his ball off the tee on the 11th but it miraculously reappeared further down the fairway being played by someone else. The sinner shall remain nameless but he was one of the last four. Ironically David C  was the sinner last year.

Thanks to all those who waited patiently for the fabulous four to finish and be regaled with their trials and tribulations.

Les picked an excellent day for the first outing of the season. He was a welcome sight on the course, and was easy to spot on the course in his bright red jumper. He was surprised to see most of us practising before teeing off.

Dave West went shopping with his wife in the morning, and met David Carter’s wife on her own. Is Dave West the helpful husband? Or was he only allowed to play golf if he helped with the shopping first?
In addition, Dave is obviously not interested in the Shirtie Photo competition as he left his in the locker room, until retrieved by a fellow Follie.

It was nice to see David Oliver back with us, and he made an early bid for bloomer of the year when on the 6th tee he hit a magnificent drive over the 7th tee. He had asked where the green was and this was pointed out to him as the group in front was on the green, however the first group was also on the 7th green, so he had aimed for them.

Les however made a better bid for bloomer of the year when announcing the results, gave third place to Gabe 37 points and presented him with a ball. He then gave 2nd place to Geoff Delaney 39 points. (Everyone knew Graeme Phipps had won on 41 points, as he had to leave early), Geoff then asked about Trevor who had 40 points. Les went as bright red as his jumper, checked the cards, and took Gabe’s ball back.

Therefore the correct results are:-
1st Graeme Phipps 41
2nd Trevor Chapman 40
3rd Geoff Delaney 39

Nearest The Pin Kevin Hingle
Report by MZ

Results of the End of Season Follies Texas Scramble:

1st – John Wakefield, David West, Brian Bates and Graeme Phipps  Net 67.60

2nd –  Martin Zebedee, Colin Keal and Jon Kelly 70.64

3rd –  Andrew Bramwell, Geoff Liscoe and Robin Watts, 73.63

4th – David Carter, Colin Humphries and Roy Fletcher 75.10

Nearest Pins:
2nd hole – David West
15th hole – Graeme Phipps

2015 Champion Golfer – Robin Watts

Champion Robin

The weather was once again arranged by Les to be excellent, sun, little wind and shirt sleeves at times.
Everybody I spoke to enjoyed the course which was in very good condition.
Brian Bates liked the bunkers so much that he used three of them to advance up the 13th fairway and he enjoyed the one at the side of the 8th green playing four shots to get out. He was getting used to his first new set of clubs after 16 years playing (especially his sand wedge} and his driving was an improvement.
John Wakefield was frustrated on occasions and threw his club away three times but like a true golfer picked it up and carried on.
The results for the day were:
Nearest the pin Trevor Chapman
First with 33 points Colin Humphries
Second with 31 points Colin Keal
Third with 29 points Roy Fletcher

Report by CH.

Legal Eagle soars at rainy Rutland County Golf Club

Twelve brave warriors turned up in very wet conditions at Rutland County for the latest leg in ‘The Race to The Cuckoo’.

The usual banter was evident in the clubhouse before proceedings commenced. Indeed John Wakefield had kindly brought in a copy of the local newspaper which had a picture of a long haired lout 40 years ago in a football team picture. Suffice to say the lout in question was now a member of FF!!

Just prior to playing I had a quick chat with Geoff D (legal eagle) who mentioned he did not feel great and was not looking forward to getting wet!!

And so onto the main event, I only have one unusual moment to report.

My partners Robin (B’stard) Watts and Roy Fletcher and I had just reached the par three thirteenth, when we saw Geoff (focused) Liscoe marching back toward the tee with a thunderous look in his eyes. We were all a bit worried and assumed he had lost his ball. Oh no, he had lost his scorecard and was wondering if we had found it!!!

In terms of the prizes, as the headline suggests our very own legal eagle Mr Geoff Delaney was first with 36 points, the lout was second on 35 and Mr Brian (Wonga) Bates was third with a very respectable 33 points.

Unfortunately no-one hit the green on the nearest the pin hole!! Maybe double the prize at the year-end finale??

Congratulations to all that turned up bearing in mind the conditions and I am sure all will agree that RCGC was in very good condition and was also very welcoming.

Report by CK

A GOLFER’S TALE

On a warm and dry summer’s day

Fourteen men went out to play

Hopes were high, clubs were ready

Who will succeed, who will be steady

The course this time was Rutland Water

Some will play well, some will falter

The tees were mown, the fairways green

Now off they start, eager and keen

The balls were struck from tee to green

Some were direct, some never seen

Who would play well, who would have luck

Who would think ‘Wow’, who would think ‘Fxxx’

Geoff’s brother Danny came as a guest

But which Delany would come out the best

The gorse seemed to hamper the man from Kent

As it swallowed his ball wherever he went

Some birdied, some parred, but no hole in one

Some cheered, some cried, some wanted their mum

But this is a course that is always a test

And only occasionally brings out the best

As the Clubhouse was reached, all wanted to see

Who Jon would pronounce was the ‘Top Follie’

The man with no shirt, the winner was Phil

With 35 points, he’s not over the hill

Colin H was second and Brian B made third

The rest of the group, their scores remained blurred

And after a round that was really quite grim

Yours truly’s only good shot won ‘nearest the pin’

So onwards The Follies to play in September

Rutland County’s the place for all to remember

The ups and downs that golf always brings

Means the pleasure we get is just one of those things!

A lucky 13 Follies players made the short journey to Ramsey (yes, I know, it depends on where you’re starting from!) and enjoyed a very nice afternoon’s golf.

The day began with the news that Trevor Chapman had dropped out as he’d broken two fingers the night before.  What had he been up to?  Regardless, we hope to see him back soon.

Three 3-balls and a 4-ball set off and we kept pretty close all the way around. Indeed at mid-stage all four groups were across two holes.

David Carter was electrifying on the 10th where his first approach shot to the green hit the overhead power cable. He reloaded and hit the same cable again.

Richard Cheng, Jon and Roy and, I’m sure several others, struggled on the dog leg 8th.  Having seemingly lost two balls off the tee, Richard miraculously found a Titleist ball on the fairway that he thought must have been his second shot and played it. In fairness, with a good following wind and several favourable richochets, the ball could have been his.  Unfortunately it later transpired that Richard had played Andrew’s ball. It didn’t go down well.

Not a lot of people heard this but if you were paying attention in the bar afterwards, it seems that Geoff birdied the 18th.  This was quietly mentioned just before Robin made the presentations, shortly after Robin made the presentations and all the way to the car park if you had parked near Geoff’s car. In fairness, a birdie on the 18th at Ramsey must be rare.

Results:
A good set of results on a course where if the conditions are good then it can yield some good scores.

3rd was Robin on 39 who lost on countback

2nd was Graham Tooke on what may have been his Follies debut (he may have played once years ago) also carded an impressive 39

Winner was Colin Humphries on a more impressive 42

Our thanks to Graham for buying the beers in the clubhouse to mark his return to the Follies fold.

See you next time on Friday 21st August at Rutland Water.