Four week February

 So the Six Nations was back in town with England handed a home banker start against off colour Wales. The red rose did not disappoint as they stuffed the Welsh and started to look forward to a successful campaign.

Err! It all started to go pear shaped after that. The  usual stress of a trip to Murrayfield kicked in within minutes as a fairly harsh yellow card meant England were buried (again) before they had even broken sweat. Another maybe year beckoned

Still the S Club ventured into Bath for the U20 fixture against Ireland with the England side unbeaten after 2 games and having not conceeded any points in both second halves. Bit of cockiness maybe but they never looked like matching the Irish game plan which was more out of the French playbook than the traditional paddy approach. England were given a good stuffing.

I arrived back in Scouse in time for the kick-off  for the main event as the trains all seemed to work fine for a change. Birmingham New Street still provides a bit of a challenge  but I settled down to watch a cracker. But no, England provided the sort of opposition we have been used to for many  years and to be honest, the Ireland U20 of the previous night would have beaten them. Back to the drawing board for Borthwick and crew.

The month was finished off with a Visionaries golf crew cultural tour around Liverpool's East Village.

The five pubs which were selected were:  

The Cracke.     A pub we have visited before but which has now changed hands and had a clean-up. Still has the War Room and the Beatles and political memorabilia, but loads more beers and central heating        which works!! It was good to see it full even at 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon. The War Room got its name from the Second World War when gentlemen of a certain age met to read the redacted papers every day.

The Mayflower in Pilgrim Street. This is a new addition to the areas drinking scene having been added by   the 1936 Pub Group to their portfolio. It sits above the Pilgrim which is still aimed at the student market. The Mayflower though is a traditional wood and glass boozer aimed at the grey pound and real ale crew, as well as the Green Army ( Pilgrim, Mayflower, work that one out)

The Grapes on Knight Street    Opened in 1904 which is another traditional wood paneled pub not to be missed

Pogue Mahone    No cultural tour is complete without an Irish bar and this is top drawer as far as  Liverpool is concerned. The name translates to something rude!!

The Royal Institution Bar    You would never know it was here! Established in 1814 and opened in 1817  the Liverpool Royal Institution  was a learned society founded by William Roscoe to promote literature, science, and arts.It held significant art exhibitions, including  Audubon’s Birds of America in 1826, the originals of which are now in the Walker  Gallery but the lounge bar, whiskey bar and sports bar are all hung with reproduction art work from the same exhibition. Don't miss the flamingo in the foyer!!.

 

Septeverus Snape

 As with most things Harry Potter, September is memorable for large moments of invisibility. A couple of wet days in the lakes at Cartmel, car maintenance, painting the upsatirs bedrooms and losing in the final of the Visionaries knock-out golf competition consigned the month to Room 101, roll on October where there might be some real news.

Voting for Christmas

The rugby Varsity match would always signal the start of Christmas as far aa I was concerned and it was usually played on the second Tuesday of December. I then tried to have some sort of party to go to every day from then until Christmas Eve. The build-up to Christmas was always much more enjoyable then the day itself.   Things have changed and now the match will be played in late March and I think trying to start my Christmas celebrations then would be a bit tricky.

So my new kick-off event has been the golf club turkey trot, a competition played in pairs for which the top three prizes are turkey. Last weekend myself and my partner came second and so I was in amongst the prizes. The Senior men also had a competition on the following Monday and again me and my partner came second. Only wine for prizes on this occasion though. 

So now the countdown for Christmas has started in earnest, but the news of a new strain of COVID is making it difficult for me to go out every day and be sociable. I did manage to go to Gino's skybar again last night with a few of the Visionaries. It was an excellent night which I think a few of the cry-offs might now be regretting not attending. Today I brought the Wallasey golf club green staff a drink in the clubhouse as a small thank you for all the hard work they have put in on behalf of the members this year. The rest of next week is looking a bit sparse though, as the latest government statistics and press conferences have put people on the back foot.

I am concerned that the information we are being given is not allowing people to make the right choices. We are never told how the death rate at the moment compares to the 2019 five year average for the same time period. We are not told how many people in hospital do not have the recommended number of jabs, and by their own admission nobody has indicated how severe the latest strain is. Indeed the data from South Africa indicates it could be quite mild.

The virus has no reason to kill all the hosts it is mutating on as that will be self defeating as eventually it will die off. If the side effects are minor then we are just facing another flu or common cold Winter challenge but there is no need to shut everything down just for that. Get on with life, get jabbed and live life for the reason it exists.

So back to the diary and address book to see who I can go out with next week!!

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?

Angels and Deamons

Eagles and Visionaries does not have the same feel to it, but that was effectively how the Liverpool Society of Golf Club Captains have started their 2021 season as far as my year group is concerned. The Eagles are the 2019 year group and they and the Visionaries share a Captain of Captains. He very kindly donated a trophy which we are able to compete for annually if so desired. There were a large number of us who were able to enjoy the company, competitiveness and challenge of group golf. The host club, no names, no pack drill, coped very well as they staggered food and drink arrangements to ensure Covid restrictions were maintained.

I am pleased to report that the Visionaries were victorious which was in no part due to my performance and I think myself and my partner Terry, were the Eagles best players!!

The Wallasey Captaincy activities kick off this week  with the first of the pre-Scratch team challenges against Bromborough. Myself and the IP|C will need to be on our metal to win this fiercely contested friendly match. The Senior major took place yesterday but my round was curtailed by the rain which started to fall as I was conveniently close to the Clubhouse. Molly kindly dried off a few seats for us so we could shelter under the umbrella's. That will now be a thing of the past as we can enjoy being indoors from next Monday. 42 points won the title which was very fine performance in the circumstances.

A lot has changed at the Club as has been documented in earlier blog entries, but also on Monday we have scheduled a day long board meeting to try to position the Club going forward into 2022 and beyond. We have some major capital projects to consider and raising funds to pay for such work will be at the forefront of those discussions.

I then have golf days at Royal Liverpool and Hillside to look forward to as well as the second Scratch match and the Mockbeggar trophy at Leasowe, but more about that and the board meeting next time.

I am now off for my second inoculation, again at Chester race course, after which I might book a staycation somewhere. If you don't like needles, look away now!

Winners circle

 That is a title I have not been able to use for a while, but on Monday I managed to win the first round of the Senior Summer competition with a nett 69. I went round the front nine of Wallasey in a gross 38 or two over par albeit from the yellow tee's. That was progress for me as my golf has definitely been suffering due to too many invitations to play. Unfortunately it was back to reality in the second round when a nett 77 meant I came third overall and was unable to get my name on the silverware, or qualify for the Champion of Champions next season.

There are still a few opportunities to do that though with the Autumn event starting next week together with the Wintergreen and Winter knock-out to follow.

Mixed golf was again to the fore this week as my partner, Norma,  and I were again pipped at the post at the final hole in our latest Winter league match to take our record to a very consistent played three, lost three!! I played with a different lady partner in the mixed foursomes on Sunday though, but that did not go any better. well done to Rob and Bo Palmer for winning the event though. Some luck must have come to somebody that day though as our resident seagull deposited on the prize table!!

That someone may well have been me.  Norma and I broke our duck on Wednesday  when we beat the Ratcliffe's in the Winter league to drag ourselves off the bottom of the table, and then I was part of the winning team at the Visionaries event at Ormskirk. Ormskirk was set up wonderfully well, the sun shone and my team played OK golf which turned out to be enough to triumph.

So a few season highlights all crammed into a short space of time. The joy of the game is seeing how long it can be maintained for!!