fritzfolliesgolfsociety

Following an excellent bacon sandwich and resplendent in our new shirts, thanks for organising those Les, 14 hardy Follies posed for a team photo and then set off on a very windy Old Nene course. For some, this was their first experience of a nine hole course, but, with a little orienteering skill, we found our way round ok.

We were accompanied throughout the round by the Boom Boom Boom of what could have been a ghostly Roman Galley drummer from years gone by. Whatever it was, it was loud, consistent and went on all day.

Signage was lacking in a number of places and after the 5^th, Omar’s group went left, then right and finally left again searching for the 6^th. The 6^th tee was different in that we’d never seen a ‘Boats have priority’ sign on a tee before. And sure enough a boat did pass between tee and fairway as Jon shaped to tee-up.

From the elevated 6^th tee, the flag looked a long way off – Colin S estimated it as about 3 miles and then went on to par it!

A very disappointing incident was reported on the 11^th when the group following Les’ group arrived at the green to find the flag horizontal/laying by the hole/not upright/not stuck in the hole.

On the 14^th, Martin drove off, his ball hit a tree and rebounded about 20 feet behind the tee.

In the second group, halfway down a fairway, Geoff Delaney discovered his putter cover was missing. He ran to the tee, couldn’t find it, ran back to find it lying the other side of his bag.

John Wakefield had a decent front nine but then the wheels came off. He lost 6 balls, played Robin’s ball instead of his own and when Robin said after John’s putt, “Take it away” John thought he had given him the putt but Robin meant the flag!

On the 15^th Colin S decided he needed all his clubs to hand and duly dragged his trolley up a very steep bank:

Towards the end of the round, the weather closed in and as the thunder started, the last two groups reformed as some pushed on and some sheltered. However, we all finished safely if damp.

The results for the day were:

Nearest the hole on the 12^th, John Wakefield

3^rd on countback-Roy Fletcher

2^nd –Colin Humphries, both with 34 points

1^st Colin Savage with 39 points.

Geoff then, on behalf of us all, wished Les well for his forthcoming ops and we all look forward to seeing him back on the fairways next summer complete with bionic knees. The next Follies outing is Friday September 19^th at The Bedfordshire.

Size Description – Chest (to fit) S – 36″, M – 38/40″, L – 42″, XL – 44/46″, 2XL – 48″

Special Fritz Follies price of £17

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Another good turnout of 14 Follies gathered at Ramsey for the July Meet.

A couple of stories were reported:

At the 6th, Les found himself in a bunker. After his first attempt failed, he decided not to risk any Bunker Flunker activity and belted his second very hard out of the bunker, past the hole and out-of-bounds behind the green! I wouldn’t say that his sand wedge went as far but it certainly got air!

Brian was on the green but somehow 3 shots later was even further away from the hole. After he putted out, his playing colleague said “never mind, you get 2 shots on this hole, how many did you take? 10 was the reply 😦

Scores were high with 3 in 3rd on 34 points – Robin, Roy and Geoff D. Second was Colin H on 36 but today’s winner on 38 points was Colin Keal.

The top of the table under the STANDINGS 2014 tab shows the closest race in years!

14 Follies were hoping the dark sky would not bring rain and all prayers were answered as the competitors for the all-important 2014 President’s Cup gathered together at Elton Furze Golf Club on Monday 16 June. The scene was set for the day’s competition.

A couple of blasts from the past turned out, Martin Zebedee and Brian Cresswell, it was nice to see them after such a long time. Martin made his intensions clear when on the first his ball took a sharp left turn and settled safely on the gravel path 6 metres behind him.

Hole 5 was chosen for the ‘nearest the pin’ competition. Geoff Delany, who was in the first group, hit a magnificent golf shot, avoiding the trees and all the other hazards on this difficult par3 and landed on the green. Geoff must have been understandably quietly confident nobody would beat his magnificent shot as he marked his ball position using a piece of card about the size of a green shield stamp (remember those?) that no one could see until they were just a few feet away. So small was this piece of card that nobody else would have been able to write their name on the card had they landed inside his position. So nobody bothered!! He was thus declared the winner of the prize for nearest the pin. Well done Geoff.

John Wakefield had a wonderful round – with his driver! No one knows what happened to the rest of his game – it deserted him for the day.

Getting ready to take his drive on the 14th, Roy Fletcher turned to Omar and said, “Is that your trolley going on walkabout?” It wasn’t. Realising it was his own trolley; he gave chase and eventually brought it under control.

The first group, led by ‘Speedy’ Colin S raced around the course and finished their round in just over three hours – a full hour before the second group came wearily home. Geoff, quick to see an opportunity, managed to wangle a free lesson on chipping from the ‘master chipper’ himself Colin Savage.

Finally, the results of the day. There were two excellent rounds of golf played by the Colins – one by Colin Savage and the other by Colin Keal. Colin S is the winner of the President’s Cup with a net score of 66, followed closely by Colin K with a net score of 67. Well done to both of you. They also came first and second in the day’s competition with 40 and 39 points respectively. Brian Bates was third with 36 points

Jointly authored by Omar and Colin S.

The caravans, the tractors and the sun came out to greet us at Rutland Water and yes, so did Richard Cheng – probably his first outing since the Sleaford “fish and chips” days of five or so years ago. Good to see you again on the Follies. A good gathering of 12 considering we had several regulars turning out for the Elton Seniors today as well.

Trevor Chapman likes a good adventure and on the first half he hit nearly every fairway, unfortunately not in the correct order but who cares as he carded a respectable 17 points on the nine holes.

The wind was playing a part, sweeping balls into the difficult rough and causing a lot of ball searching amongst us all. The greens were quick, undulating and as challenging as ever.

Colin Savage’s group saw another TWAMOIO – trolley with a mind of its own – incident as Brian chased after his wayward motorised trolley which was heading for the green. However young Brian sped off and took control of the offending vehicle.

Peter Harris played the 14th stroke index 1 like a professional. He began with a good drive into the edge of the left hand rough left about 200 yards to the pin. After some discussion with Colin, (unpaid and under-appreciated advisor and coach), he hit an absolute cracker over the ditch that crosses the fairway, the ball took a bounce and landed in the greenside bunker. Mr Harris did use a naughty word but Colin’s coaching kept him calm as he said to Peter that is probably a good place to be as all obstacles were gone apart from getting out of the sand trap. Peter climbed fearlessly into the bunker, took a stance, played out in a cloud of sand and the group watched as Peter’s ball landed on the green and made its way nearer and nearer towards the hole and dropped into the cup – a birdie on stroke index one! It was a pleasure to witness such a feat, well done Peter.

Nearest the Pin hole was the tricky 12th, 130 yards into the wind with the green protected by a pond at the front. Trevor Chapman hit a fine shot to around 20 feet and was followed by Geoff Liscoe with approximately the same distance. It took a couple of pacings and finally the use of the flag pole as a measure to separate the two – Trevor the victor by a few inches.

Final placings were in reverse order: Peter Harris (29), Roy Fletcher (32) and Trevor the winner (36)

See you all next time for the President’s Cup at Elton Furze on Monday June 16th.

Friday 25th April was the second outing of the year and 10 members took part despite rain which was forecast but thankfully arrived with only a few holes to play.
When the first group teed off. Colin Humphries proved that a golf club can remove a metre of turf.
On the 5th hole Brian sank a 5 metre putt then on the next hole the same thing but this time a 6 metre putt, this was longer than his drive.
Geoff Delaney failed to play out of a bunker on the 14th 4, yes 4 times. I bet Brian could have putted out of it.
Colin Savage hit the same tree 3 times when playing the last hole but carried on to the end, what a hero.
We sat in a group in the bar and someone asked about the ownership of a jacket on the floor, no response from anyone.
Ham, egg and chips was consumed in record time and we left only for Brian the master putter to realise that the jacket was in fact his over trousers.
The event was won by John Wakefield and Colin H, who re-turfed the first tee, took the nearest the pin prize on the 3rd hole. A lovely course was enjoyed by all.

                                                                                                                                                                                                          Mischief Afoot!

An excellent winter golf package from Greetham Valley enticed fifteen players to blow the dust off their clubs and take the trip up the A1. We were able to welcome a newcomer, Duncan Watson, but were totally confused by Les when he introduced him as Billy Doyle’s dad. Apparently he is dad-in-law.

The day started with coffee and a large bacon roll. The conditions of the lakes course proved to be first class and with no wind and reasonable sunshine it was hoped we were set for some good rounds. Our leading four ‘pathfinders’ elected to have buggies but obviously there were no sat navs aboard as they only got to the second hole before getting lost.

The sixth hole was chosen for nearest the pin, but none of the fifteen players could find the green with their first shot. Therefore it was changed to the fourteenth, a shorter hole but tricky with a large pond protecting the front. This held no fear and at least three players found the green in one. Our man with the local knowledge, Kevin, won this challenge.

During the round we were able to record the first bunker flunker of the season. The honour went to Billy who took three to get out. This no doubt will be easily beaten over the season.

Looking for a second ‘wally of the year’ award, Brian forgot to switch off his electric trolly and watched it career twelve feet into a bunker.

A very enjoyable day concluded with a beer on the veranda before a heavy shower forced us inside the clubhouse to enjoy another beer and the chef’s special of the day, chicken pie.

Judging by the day’s scores the standard of golf was generally very good. Although the local ‘bandit’ Kevin, won with 41 points. He elected to take the bottle prize for his win nearest the pin. Therefore, first prize went to John W with 39 points, second was Trevor carding 37 and David C third with 36 points.

A great start to the Follies season and the Committee were delighted at such a good turn out. Our next meeting is on Friday 25 April at Burghley and it is hoped we shall again see a good response.

Finally, the members of Fritz Follies would like to wish Dave West very best wishes for a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back playing in the not too distant future.

Master.

Elton Furze again hosted the Annual Supper Texas Scramble. There were plenty of prizes to be had on this day, with nearest the pin prizes on all the Par 3s and a bonus “Longest Drive” up for grabs on the 18^th.

So it was that 17 hardy Follies braved the Autumnal weather for the last time this year. Still at this last moment some try to win the “Bloomer of the Year” award. Colin Humphreys tried to put his ball on the tee that was marking the position for the team shot. He also managed to do a “Dynamo” magic shot on the temporary 11^th tee mat – hitting the ball that by some miracle still ended up falling back on the tee, no one quite knows how – Colin you are a magician. Colin Keal at the pre match Stibbington Diner was standing next to the 6 foot menu board and then asked us “where is the menu.” Glasses in hand he did manage to order his high protein feast.

Nearest the Pins went to Peter Harris, Robin Watts and Colin Humphreys. Richard Parker took the longest drive award.

The Texas Scramble for the first time in many years was won by the organiser’s team (Les Wells, Richard Parker, Jon Kelly & Ian Bloomfield). Ian Bloomfield did comment that the incapacity of our President due to falling off a ladder may have helped and that perhaps he could be persuaded to prune the trees again this time next year. Anyway Ian’s game was rejuvenated after a watering break in the 11^th trees,  perhaps they have some magical properties after what happened to Colin earlier.

The winners performed well with a net 61 with the closest rivals being Omar Vawda, John Wakefield and David Carter on 66, remaining groups scoring 67, 68 and 70. So, a good performance from all. An after match presentation was made to Roy Fletcher as the Society’s Rookie of the Year.

Our evening presentation was at the Cuckoo, Alwalton.  A reflection of a great year of golf around Peterborough.  Everyone was a winner on the evening with a good meal and plenty of Beer and Wine with no doubt a few heavy heads the next day as well. Well done Jon for sorting out the arrangements.

The Wooden Spoon is the award no one wants, but there is always a lucky character on the night, this time it was Robin Watts who averaged 25.66 stableford points over his 3 rounds this year, oh dear!

Bunker Flunker was avoided by David Carter this year, after in successive years on the same hole making this trophy his own.  But with Robin on 2 attempts plus 2 dubious plugged lies, Ben Miles not attending it left the door open for Jon Kelly. Again not straightforward, he had one out of the first greenside bunker , into the opposite bunker before 3 further attempts. Nice one Jon and a well deserved trophy.

“Bloomer of the Year” presented by Ian Bloomfield went to Brian Bates on 2 counts. Firstly, being unaware of his playing partners finishing a hole as he stood a foot from the hole munching on his Alpen bar – Yes we did present him with a bar for future use. It was also suggested  “The Alpen” could be a new golfing term like the Denis Wise (a nasty five footer). Then he proceeded to play a shot into a partner’s golf buggy and into his bag as well. It certainly was a year of magical shots. Brian won a trophy and Bloomer loaf courtesy of Tesco’s. Bernard and Lou apparently enjoyed the toast next morning for Breakfast.

Onto the main prizes for those actually playing some golf this year.  In third place was Colin Savage, sporting a bright red cape to prevent Robin Watts tipping red win over his trousers this year.

Second place went to David West, last year’s winner.

But with 106 points, averaging 35.33 points per round was Geoff Delany, who delivered a rousing winner’s speech which included producing his 2002 “Rookie of the Year” Medallion. A message to Roy that he may also one year win the main trophy following being a Rookie. Hopefully the wait may be shorter than Geoff’s 11 years.

So to end , it has been a good year with improved numbers mainly due to Geoff Liscoe joining with several friends. John Wakefield also joined in the latter stages of the season and then played every event.  Thank you to everyone for supporting the Follies this year and I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Les.