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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.

The President’s Cup 2015

The main golfing event of the year took place on the Old Course Elton Furze, (the only course).  All the President’s Men assembled, no sign of Obama, didn’t make the cut I suppose.

No Precedents were set from previous years, just this years hackers going out a fresh we rake bunker, there was loads of etiquette, dress code society shirts, apart from (Little) Richard who was still wearing his work clothes, & Colin (Compo) Savage’s odd socks, left a Nike and right a Wilson.

So What Took Place on the Day:

Group 1 – Les, Geoff L & Robin

Excitement started on the 8^th when Les Wells trolley fell apart, then behind a tree with little back swing he managed to hit his broken trolley, shortly followed by a double hit in the green side bunker.  Geoff L on the other hand had fun on the 9^th trickling his third shot into the ditch, four shots later in the ditch he decide take the obvious drop, his next shot some how landed behind the hedge to his left a remarkable shot, it went forward about a foot but 25 yards to his left!!! followed by an underarm throw (maybe in frustration) on to the bridge 2 yards to his right, then the pick.

Les taking his broken trolley to his car. 

Group 2 – Colin S, Roy & Andrew

Colin S and Andrew withdrew from El Presidenti Cup early on in the bunker on the third failing to get out of it, it was the state of the bunker not the players, (so they said). Roy got an 8 on both the 17^th & 18^th, nice way to finish Roy.      

Group 3 – Martin, Geoff D & Colin K

The 7^th was where their fun started, our loveable entrepreneur Colin K, a natural risk taker by trade decided to go for the green with his second shot,  firing his ball straight into the farmers field he loaded another ball and did exactly the same.  He was then loading up a third ball to follow the same route, however legal advice came from Geoff D (the Lawyer you can trust) suggesting a less ambitious shot would be a better option.

Martin in the group just said he did not play well, back to us in the photo below maybe in disgust!!

Group 4 – Richard, David, Brian & Colin H

Fun started straight away with Colin H teeing off twice on the first and many other holes later (so he said). Richard disappeared into a ditch for a while somewhere, not sure where, or whether it was much to do with golf. The four players had many trick shots (apparently) but only the EF members got members’ bounce off trees & over bunkers.

The Winners

Presidents Cup (Stroke Play)

Won by Les with a net 70 Gross 88, trophy presented by Colin S last year’s winner.

Nearest the Pin

All four groups came in declaring no one had landed on the Green on the 2^nd, then after a while someone said didn’t Brian get on the green.  Brian then appeared from the club house and described how his ball managed to get over the pond, bobble around the bunker, and came to rest on the green, seemingly to his surprise.  So Brian Bates won nearest to the pin.

Fritz Follies Trophy (Stableford)

Les having already won the Presidents Cup was not eligible to be placed even though he scored 36 points, so the next highest scores were joint 33 points scored by Roy, Colin & Robin, on count back they were placed as follows:

1^st        Roy Fletcher

2^nd       Colin Keal

3^rd       Robin Watts

Report and photos by Robin

John and Shirtie at the Glen Grant distillery and RSPB Loch Garten

Our visit to Burghley Park was, thanks to the careful planning of Les, a day for slapping on the sun screen. Well done Les.

A very formal beginning to proceedings, a starter! We were each presented with a little bag of goodies and given a pep talk about the rules of the course, some of which we had forgotten, before reaching the first green. The course was in very good condition with most of the greens being quite soft. There were many a chip and run that failed to run. One other noticeable feature that was missing was the long rough to the right of the 7th tee. Many an hour was spent in there during previous visits, vainly searching for lost balls.

There is a new candidate to win the Bunker Flunker trophy. Do you actually “win”, Bunker Flunker or are you awarded a trophy you don’t really want. Anyway, Colin Savage can now breathe a sigh of relief, John Wakefield became front runner for the trophy taking a magnificent 7 shots to get out.

Results

Following his first place at Sleaford, Roy Fletcher was again in the prizes winning nearest the pin. He said he was only 18 inches away. Just imagine Roy if it had been 18 inches closer, you wouldn’t have had much of the whisky left to take home.

As for the main competition – it was very close at the top, only two points separating the top four scores, so there had to be an unlucky golfer. Without Les, Colin S did the necessary on the cards and Robin did a sterling job on the presentation

Imagine getting 18 points on the front 9 and losing out to Jon Kelly who got 18 points on the back and picked up third place with 33 points.

Colin Humphries was only 1 point ahead on 34 points in second place.

It was Richard Cheng on 35 points who came out on top. Well done Richard.

Reporter’s tip – before you hit that little white thing at your feet, make sure it’s your little white thing – sorry Colin.

Next Outing – June 26th at Elton Furze.

Our first visit to Pidley for many a year saw a very good turnout of 14 including a Fritz Follies debut for Graeme Phipps, a continued return from knee surgery for Sir Les and, after a 15 year break, a welcome back to Phil Taylor who was a regular Follies member in London and in Peterborough till 1999.

Lakeside Lodge seems to be a thriving club with a packed car park and a busy bar/restaurant on a Friday lunchtime in April. Food and drink were taken in advance of heading out into a lovely warm spring day.

On the 1st tee, Les put his tee shot out of bounds to the right. Colin Savage gleefully commented, “that one’s in St Ives”. Colin duly teed off a minute later and did exactly the same – you can guess what Les said!

An early claim for Bunker Flunker was made by Colin Savage with 3 attempts to get out of one.

Results:
Nearest The Pin – A good effort by David West stood until the last group when Geoff Delaney got inside and, to his credit, birdied it.

3rd – new boy Graeme Phipps collected a prize on his first outing with 33 points

2nd – our reigning Champion Golfer Colin Humphries finished with 35 points

1st – Robin Watts built on his earlier good round at Sleaford with a winning 39 points. Robin also leads the overall 2015 standings.