At long last winter has loosened its iron grip. Not that it had let go completely, for it was covered in a hard white frost that greeted the five contenders for the first title of the year. The start was delayed by thirty minutes whilst the frost lifted in the bright sunshine. As the course was 'quiet' the five of Nick, Phil, John Pettitt, John Fairbrother and Keith all teed off together. They did not stay together for long as the balls flew off to three out of the four points of the compass, John P and Phil taking the unsporting line down the middle. The winter lay off had done little to improve the standard of play then.
As the sun warmed both the air and the bodies, play started to resemble a game of golf. Keith pulled an outrageous par out of the bag on the third with his first ever chip in from off the green. Then on the 3rd Nick resumed his love affair with the trees, driving a good thirty yards to get into them on the left. Three tree strikes later and he was unlucky when his ball caught a bad angle and bounced into the fairway. Phil and John P were playing steady, if unspectacular golf. John F was regaining the feel of the game and starting to hit solid shots. Indeed his tee shot at the 4th was beautifully struck straight down the middle. This was even more incredible as he was flat on his back when he finished playing it, the ground was still a bit slippy underfoot. The greens were proving hard to stop on with lots of shots bouncing on and over the back and conditions were tough. By the end of the 8th it looked as if there were two contenders left, with Keith holding a net three shot advantage over Phil with just one to play. In the bag?
Well a good drive down the preferred left side put the pressure on Phil who sent his the opposite way, bring the pond firmly into play for him. John P drove his ball firmly into the trees on the left and there was a sharp crack, followed by his ball landing in the centre of the fairway. Impressed with this he put his second shot firmly into the trees on the left and with a sharp crack, his ball came out and landed in the centre of the fairway. This is not a beginners shot and should not be attempted by the inexperienced. Keith, with a straight, clear line to the green, had the win firmly in his grasp, which is probably why the ball went right and stopped just short of his arch nemesis, the pond..... Two balls in the pond later and it was all over, the cool head of Phil hitting clean over the pond had won the day, well done Phil!!