Roast Guineapig

 The St Andrews dinner season concluded last night at Heswall. It was a very pleasant evening with all main guests sitting around an oval table. Only problem was there were thirteen of us and I know some people who would not have entertained sitting on a table with such a number, but we all seemed to survive.

The Address to the Haggis was conducted in due style with actions which would give Wallasey's Tom Blackstock a run for his money in the Address to the Haggis stakes. All in all a great night made all the better by being able to drink London Pride all night, a rare opportunity on the Wirral but Heswall golf club always seems to have it on draught and it was lovely.

The penultimate dinner was at Woolton where they always schedule their dinner on St Andrews Day. This year it was a Tuesday and I was thankful that Wednesday was a Wintery day which meant golf was cancelled.

The rest of this week has been involved with storm damage repairs. We had a large limb come down off one tree, but the main problems were the eight fence sections which were lost. The debris was scattered over a large area  to such an extent  that neighbours came round with armfulls of wood,,,,I think these are yours!!

So the exterior is secured once more, I just have the boundary sections to fix, a door to the store room to repair and then all the old wood and branches to dispose of. In the day that would have been a big bonfire, but it seems those days are long gone. There is one leek in the room which I might have to put through the insurance people, but I am holding off on that just at the moment to check no other leeks appear this weekend, when the rain is forecast to be heavy, but the wind less so.

One of the granddaughters has a birthday tomorrow so there is a pool party going on as I type, Then we are hopefully off to a woodland light trail. The Harry Potter experience last weekend was postponed because of the storm, hopefully we will have better luck tonight. Both Ava and Nell have had an early Christmas present of a guinea-pig each. They are a delicacy in Peru but we did not have the nerve to try them when we were in Cousco. Maybe we can eat one of the new ones when nobody is looking!!!

 

Photo bombed

The last golfing commitments have flown by but happily in more pleasant weather. I entertained a friend from Ireland who has been very good to the family over the years, and he loved the Wallasey experience. Unfortunately I lost 2 & 1 but the craic as they say was excellent.

Next day was a trip to Caldy to play before the scratch match. That was another narrow defeat on the 18th green, and the trend continued as I lost my Summer pairs match with partner Pete, also on the 18th green.

I then started to do a bit of globe trotting, playing at Llangollen in Wales and another defeat,  before playing at Sandiway with three very low handicap players. Wallasey managed to get a half out of our match but lost 6-2 overall. Tommy Fleetwood, the tour pro followed us round and gave us a master class in how to play the 18th!!

In between all the golf though, I had a chance to put my best kit on and present some prizes, and no, the prize was not a table!!

  ....and with technology getting the better of me, there are odd sized images showing the presentation of the 2020 Captains prize to Ian Jenkinson who also won in 2014, and Neil Self winning the Frank Stableford Senior Open, a 36 hole England golf competition. Ian then went off to play in the England Senior Amateur Championships as did many of the Wallasey attendee's

My latest set of  jaunts ended with a very enjoyable Salver Day at Lee Park golf club, a Jewish club to the South of Liverpool , and an invitation day to Heswall on the Wirral. I think we ended up mid-table in both, in no small part to my poor putting.

So next week is looking a bit quieter, although I am sure there will be some new drama's to keep everybody riveted to their seats until next time. 

TW3

 So another week passes with far too much golf and one or two other ancillary events to keep everybody focused. It all started with another match in the mixed Winter league, and that finished much as our previous event, with a fairly comprehensive defeat at the hands of the pre-tournament favourites. We were, however, holding our own on the terrace until I realised I was driving, so to paraphrase Fiona Richmond, 'I made my excuses and left'!

The Seniors played two competitions on Monday. I was honoured to be able to present a new trophy to the section to recognise my appointment as Captain, and it was agreed the competition would be a 'Champion of Champions' event. Consequently the winners of all the Senior trophies in the 2019/20 season played off to identify the Victor Ludorum. The competition running along side it was the Senior major competition for the Golden Jubilee Trophy. Derek Mountfield, the ex-Everton central defender, was fortunate to win both with an excellent score of 40 Stableford points. The newly refurbished clubhouse will include an honours board for the Senior major, so Derek will have his name up in lights. well done!

On Wednesday it was the turn of The Visionaries to take centre stage as we turned out at Heswall for our monthly competition. Jayesh and his helpers made it a wonderful event not withstanding the deluge which accompanied us down the first few holes. The day improved, as did the golf so we now look forward to competing for some silverware when we play against The Eagles at Ormskirk in a few weeks.

Thursday and Friday were reserved for friendly fourballs. Firstly at Wallasey I was joined by our 2004 Captain and both our respective equivalents from West Lancs. Unfortunately local knowledge counted for nothing ans we were soundly beaten 3 & 2, as fatigue gripped me in the middle part of the round. On the Friday I ticked off another local course as I played West Derby with their captain and his regular fourball partner. The captain of Royal Liverpool made up the four. He had been a junior there when he was 13 years old and had not played the course for many years. It was a delight to understand the history, changes and memories for those bygone days. To add to the enjoyment I had my first victory of the week!

Social distancing guidelines continue to influence how each Club tackles the golf and hospitality and I am pleased to see that so far people seem to  be respecting the rules and golf can continue at the moment in an enjoyable manner.

Yesterday was one such example of that. Usually at Wallasey the Captains Prize event is a straight forward knock-out in which about 130 people participate. We had insufficient time to fit that into the calender this year, so it was agreed that there would be a qualifying Saturday competition in which 8 people would progress to sudden death knock-out over the coming weeks.

Over 150 people entered even with the weather being so severe, and the scoring was pretty good considering. I ran a fund raiser alongside the competition and was delighted that it raised over £350 for my chosen charity, Autism Together. They, like all charities, have suffered as their traditional fund raising events have had to be curtailed or modified, so cash flow has become a problem. Every little helps, as they say, so we at Wallasey will try to do our bit

Next week is looking to be a bit quieter on the golfing front, but that could all change in the blink of an eye. Fore!