On Thursday the 16th October the Old Dovorian Golf society were once again at Lamberhurst Golf Club, which proved an excellent choice as a replacement for the Knole event. We received a warm welcome from Adrian the Assistant GM on arrival. The catering staff were attentive and efficient. The course was in glorious condition given the time of year, the tees & fairways well groomed. The greens smooth and immaculate.
As we commenced the sky looked ominous as dark clouds appeared overhead, however the weather improved as play proceeded.
We set off in three teams, playing for the President’s cup, the captain’s prize, and a team prize for the best stableford on each hole totalled, plus a nearest the pin.
Had there been a prize for ‘Fastest round the course,’ this would have been easily won by Mark who motored sublimely on his personal buggy.
However thankfully this was omitted as we might have had a protest from Jack claiming his rented 2-seater buggy had been fitted with a speed limiter!!
We were again pleased to welcome Cameron, our alumni member who not only lowered the average age of our group by 50 years, but gave another display of power hitting, although not always in the right direction.
Scores on the day were very close with me, Anthony and Cameron all achieving 30, given this challenging long course. Nigel performed slightly better to secure 31, while Mark and Robert chalked up a very credible 33 (local knowledge being put to good use by Robert given his Lamberhurst membership of 50 years!).
Finally, Charlie as ever racked up yet another marvellous score of 35 given the numerous ups and downs of the fairways and the rigorous fairway doglegs. This would normally have secured the esteemed Trophy, had we not had the privilege of welcoming Richard on his first ever ODGS event who demonstrated that even if your drives are wayward and not that long, and your second shot is still a lot to be desired, you can still score highly if you get that next chip near the pin and sink the putt (38 Points).
We put his remarkable final 2 shots down to the fact that he had played far too much golf this year (2 rounds), and the fact that like Nigel and Cameron, he played in shorts. However, we suspected his secret weapon may have been his X ray special sunglasses which Richard wore all-round the course.
An alternative suggestion that Richard was only wearing sunglasses due to this day being a very rare occasion which he has been able to experience natural light and not be sitting in front of a computer, have been quickly discounted.
The team prize was narrowly won by Team B (pictured above) just pipping Team A.
The post golf match dinner (sumptuous roast pork with all the trimmings, followed by summer berry crumble and custard) was given high praise. Evidenced by most plates & bowls being wiped clean.
Very generously, Michael provided the post-match wine for the table. In addition to most of the group walking away with a prize from the society, Jack very generously awarded Cameron a prize for his valiant shot on to the nearest the pin 7th green, which unfortunately was not quite as close as mine. Cries of “was my ball actually on the green” were quickly thrown out of court by the ‘Nearest the green subcommittee’ (me).
Finally, I would like to thank Robert for his hard work behind the scenes with his Home Club to ensure the day went smoothly.
Further note on Rye
We must also thank Jack for not only organising a delicious post-match dinner, but for slaving away in the kitchen prior to tee off to provide delicious homemade sandwiches whilst we played the Rye course.
We wish Jack a safe drive to Belgium and look forward to his return next year.
Post Match Handicap review.
Naturally a special handicap committee has already been convened (me) and after a full and in-depth review (by me) of Richard’s score, his handicap has been re-aligned using the computer’s setting ‘The Lord Beecham Train line cuts methodology’.
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