Spring into Autumn dinner

Just when it can't get any more busy, it does. Thursday last saw the annual dinner and AGM of the Liverpool Society of golf club captains, held in the Crowne Plaza hotel in Liverpool, beside the Liver Building. 250 gentlemen all in red coats looking like an audition party of the greatest Showman descended on the place to eat drink and be merry.

As a serving captain, I joined the other such fellows for pre-dinner drinks with the men in suits. we then joined our respective tables and chatted amiably until the speeches. We were fortunate that we had reverted to 2020 for this event and we therefore had the R & A ex-captain who knew how to put his words across. we were then serenaded by the immediate past captain of the society, Ray Erskine as he handed the captain of captains baton to Charlie Abbott .

We all got sloshed and dropped off at home by our amiable cab driver.

Thursday just melted into Friday as the Club held its main event, the Spring dinner, my premier dinner of my captaincy, delayed from April 2020. My fellow Visionaries were well represented as were the Club ex-captains. The food was excellent, the speeches went well and all in all it was a tremendous success. When people commented about it being the best dinner in over 40 years then it gives you a warm feeling and an indication that we are going in the right direction.  Off to bed at 3am!!

Saturday was quiet....until mid-day when I was on parade for an old sweats luncheon at Birkenhead Park rugby club prior to their match against local rivals, Waterloo. Much beer was consumed , the company was excellent and I got mistaken for Jack Rowell again!! 7 pints later I was poured into SWMBO's car and taken home.

Sunday was a day of rest before a Seniors golf competition yesterday. Is there no rest for the wicked?

Dinner time

The Annual dinner season has now kicked off big style. recently I have attended at Lee Park, Jewish club which still says grace in Hebrew, and where one of the toasts is to the State of Israel, but the first big ball was at heswall where I was accompanied by my youngest daughter Emma, as SWMBO was away. The Bromborough dinner dance followed not long after so at last I was able to take SWMBO out in one of her posh frocks. The Cheshire centenary dinner then followed at Mere. The ambiance was good but sadly the entertainment was a bit lacking which took the edge of the event really.

The Visionaries have continued to get together with recent visits to Southport and Ainsdale (bit wet), Woolton, where the pre match bottle of wine did not do the golf much good,  Childwall and Wigan. Wigan was the last of the 27 society courses I had left to play and what a joy it was. The clubhouse is an old abbey, Arley Hall, which one can imagine as a gentleman's club type of  clubhouse in the day. Now it is very welcoming and warm while maintaining its plush interior. it has a moat around it with black swans swimming merrily. In the day women were not allowed over the bridge on Saturdays, and there is a tale of a member physically carrying his wife back onto dry land so to speak. That must be why they all marry small ladies!!

This week is a big one for me as we have our rescheduled Spring dinner, the 'Spring into Autumn' dinner  which I host. I will make my first formal speech to the members and then sit ack and listen to the responses. That is preceded by the Liverpool Society of  Golf Captains dinner in central Liverpool where 300 aged gentlemen will be shuffling round the city centre looking like circus ring masters. Let's hope the entertainment is a bit better at that event.

I have then very kindly been invited to Birkenhead Rugby Club  on Saturday for the Chairman's birthday celebrations. I think the liver might need a break after that!!