Fore!

I really do wonder why I am still working! I have just spent a very enjoyable week in the Scottish Borders playing golf, and, as with sex, when its good its very good, and when its bad its still pretty good.

I played Hillside just outside Birkdale prior to the tour, to get into the swing of it. Hillside is one of the top 100 courses in the UK and is a very stiff test for anyone who plays it. It took me a couple of holes to get going but all in all I was pleased with the performance.

With that experience behind me, I stepped onto the first tee at Brampton near Carlisle, looking forward to making a good attack on the Nixdorf Masters trophy, an event which I had been runner up on two previous occasions. The course was extremely hilly and we got a fair ribbing from the locals as we huffed and puffed our way around. The event is always played of three quarters of handicap, so for me receiving only 12 shots was a tough ask. I ended up with 31 Stapleford points which was effectively 1 over par so I was very pleased.

That pleasure turned to elation when I found out 31 was the winning score. A good start to the week.......

Next day we played a parkland course at Tolwoodley near Hawick. I battled round that at 1 over too, for 35 points but was pipped by a colleague with 38, but won my match in the Ailsa Craig Cup to keep the momentum going. We then had probably the worst curry I have ever tasted, in a tandoori place in Hawick, ugh!

Wednesday saw the tour move to The Roxburghe course in Kelso, a championship standard course for which Sergio Garcia holds the course record at 66. It was one fo those days when almost everything went right. I played the front 9 in 39 shots, 3 over par gross, and kept the momentum going for most of the back nine, but a few three putts and a couple of poor holes saw me finish with an 86, two under par, but enough to win the day.

Finally we played the Hawick course, another designed for mountain goats. There were four people in contention for the Top Gun trophy, and as I halved my match, all four of us went down the first again in a play-off. Unfortunately I got dumped out there, and with one other dropping out at the second it all went down to the third. Frank unfortunately hit two balls into the woods, so handing Mike his first title win.

The Ailsa Craig was halved at 8 all, so Frank and his team retained it,although I was more than happy with the stash I was able to take home.

Steve and I stopped at Sedburgh on the way back and played a tidy little 9 holer before arriving back in Scouse tired but refreshed.......now, where shall I go for the next trip?