Atlanta Athletic Club

 First day of the tour and we arrived at the Athletic Club, Goodness me what a place. You could fit Wallasey golf club footprint into it maybe several times. The place is hugely busy socially with the golf course ticking over.

The course has played host to the US PGA several times and is a shrine to Bobby Jones. It is that which gave us the introduction. The memorabilia is stunning and it was a delight to play there. Unfortunately the polo shirt price blew my budget so will have to sort that on my return

After a very enjoyable drink with our hosts Ian and Jim we made tracks back to Buckhead and the Irish bar, Fado. I had not been in there since 1996 when SWMBO and I watched Mohammed Ali unveiled as the torch lighter for the Olympic Games in Atlanta. SWMBO and I were both volunteers for the event and this was the first time back since then.

Tomorrow Cookie and I will be visiting the Five Paces Inn which I was last in in 1994 when we played Old Whites at rugby. It really is turrning into a bit  of a homage trip!

Full metal jacket

Well it's red actually, and every member of the Society of Liverpool Golf Captains has one. The tradition stems from the days when golfers played on common land and wore a red jacket to warn non-golfers that small hard spherical objects were flying around in their area. A bit like the armed forces raising red flags when they are having live firing practise in Aldershot or on Salisbury Plain. Some clubs still insist that their members wear a red outer garment when they are playing, in keeping with tradition.

It is said that when Bobby Jones, the eminent amateur golfer, was playing in and around Wallasey in the 1930's the image of the red jackets stayed with him so when he designed Augusta National and was looking for a suitable image for that Club, he thought of those red jackets. Red was associated in the Southern USA with the English during the civil war, so he opted for Green which was more acceptable being linked as it was to the Confederate army.

Anyway, today I went for my fitting at the local tailor in Hamilton Square, Birkenhead. The tailor, Mr Marchini,  was in the middle of making a red jacket for the incoming captain of another local club but was plaeased to pause and measure me up. I opted out of the trousers so was spared the question regarding which way I dress!!

The grandson of the tailor used to go to school with our youngest grandaughter, Ava, and they used to go to his house for home made pizza nights, after school. It really is a very small world.

So in a few weeks I will be back for a fitting and then it will be displayed in public at the Spring dinner in early April. The first person to say 'which circus do you belong to' will almost get a laugh. Ho, ho ho!
 

Just the ticket

We were fortunate to have a very enjoyable  2016, albeit we lost some dear friends and relatives during its course. We now enter 2017 hoping to experience new and rewarding adventures at home and abroad, while maintaining our health and that of those closest to us.

The first thing I have to look forward to is a trip to Anfield on Sunday to see Plymouth Argyle take on Liverpool, and to see how the Green Army fair against the Kop. Argyle see themselves as a Championship side at minimum, but some of the build-up surrounding the game, and the ticketing in particular has been non-league at best.

I appreciated I did not have first dibs for away end tickets as I am not a season ticket holder, nor a regular attendee. but as a registered member I was able to obtain tickets when they went on general sale on Tuesday. Now, up until Tuesday, the tickets were available via the club website hosted for them by Ticketmaster. As of Tuesday though they were only available to the general public by telephone. Five hours I tried to get through before I managed at least to get in a queue. when I got through there were only restricted view seats left but at £11 each I could not really complain.

Subsequently I have been invited into a box to watch the match, so I will do a bit of Green Army and a bit of corporate as a mix 'n match.

Following on from Anfield we have a stamina building weekend in Snowdonia before our skiing trip later in February, then it's off to Portugal for the El Tel Cup before a couple of weeks warm weather training in Barbados. Slot in a few rugby internationals and that is the first part of the year taken care of. Decorating and gardening might have to be delayed for a few months!!

One sad piece of news emanating from Wallasey Golf Club, however, was the notice informing members that Neville Thompson passed away earlier in the week. Neville was 104 and up until the last couple of years had been a regular figure in the Club at lunchtime.

Neville was the last surviving Wallasey member who can recall watching Bobby Jones play the links in 1930 on his way to qualification for the Open finals at Hoylake. He won there and went on to complete the grand slam of golf in the same year, a  feat which remains unique to this day. 104 is a good innings. Golfers always hope to one day shoot a gross score lower than their age, many never do it, some do it with regularity, hopefully Neville was one of the successful ones. Either way he remains a modern day legend in the Club, in the way Bobby Jones was in the world of golf,  all those years ago.