James Nimmo (1954-2021)

As I have already outlined in previous blog entries, becoming a golf club captain in the Liverpool area automatically allows you to embrace 27 new friends, and develop a lifetime of experiences with them. Through time the group will diminish as people become ill, move away or fall out of love with golf, but there is always hope that those moments are still far away in the distance.

Sadly for the Visionaries we have already lost one of our own. News reached us a week or so ago that James 'Jim' Nimmo, our year group captain representing West Derby collapsed in the shower at home and despite best efforts of neighbours he never recovered consciousness and died yesterday. He was 67.

Jim was a true gentleman and one of the good guys. We had only known him for short of two years but we had all grown to love him and call him a friend. He battled adversity at his golf club and fought tooth and nail for the traditions and heritage of the place to be maintained, at a time when others had different ideas. These battles on their own made him waiver when he was offered a second term as Captain, however, with the knowledge that he could spend time with the Visionaries and enjoy golf away from West Derby, he agreed to continue.

He had some health scares last year but we all assumed the treatment he received had stabilised him, but that sadly was not the case. We will all miss his smiling face and charming manner. I was lucky to play early with him in his initial year as Captain, and then again recently when he showed off the progress West Derby were making  in tackling drainage problems, and re-routing challenges brought about by stray golf balls peppering the  neighbourhood. I played with him at Wallasey only three weeks ago and dined with him at S & A more recently than that. 

We, as a group, will discuss how best we can remember Jim, and ensure he stays in the hearts and minds of the Visionaries, but for now our thoughts are with Brenda, his partner, and his children.

Sleep easy Jim we will miss you dearly.

 

Wet wet wet

My golfing group, the Visionaries, were fortunate enough to be invited to play Hillside near Southport on Friday. Hillside is a wonderful links course with high dunes and clever bunkering which test even the best of golfers, so we were all excited to be playing there. The hospitality was excellent, and the course was laid out as a hard task for us. All that would have been fine had it not been for the fact that it absolutely chucked it down for five hours or so leaving everybody soaked to the skin.

After a change of clothes and a few liveners in the bar though, all was forgotten and the camaraderie which is developing amongst us continued at a pace. So after getting home and drying out the kit, thoughts changed to The Mockbeggar Trophy which was hosted at Leasowe on the Wirral yesterday.

Mockbeggar is an old sailing term used to describe a 'lone house' and Leasowe golf course sits between the former Mockbeggar Hall and the sand bar known as Mockbeggar Wharf which is off shore in the Mersey estuary .Mockbeggar Hall is now part of the Leasowe Castle hotel. 

The competition involved teams of four golfers, one being the serving captain, another being a Junior  golfer and the other two players being one each from the division 1 and 2 categories dictated by handicap. We were doing pretty well until, yes you guessed it, the heavens opened with six holes to play, and the wheels came off. Some teams ran for cover but in true Wallasey style and in deference to our hosts, we pressed on, finished and probably ended up mid-table.

The Leasowe hospitality was great and it was sad for them that the weather was unkind. Well done to Gathurst golf club near Wigan, who won. The event has been running for 30 years now broken only by Covid restrictions last year, so long may it continue. Now time to dry the kit out again for another crack at Wallasey this afternoon!

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!

Home home on the range

There is talk of golf courses being allowed to open maybe as early as the middle of May which will be a great escape valve for alot of people who play, and their partners who don't. That would be almost two months in lockdown without the joy of seeing a wayward drive land on the beach at Wallasey, or vanish into the beautiful but deadly gorse which lurks not far off the fairway.

So what to do without access to the course which will allow the swing to function reasonably well? My solution has been to invest in a simulator to allow me to wack my ball into the net at the end of the garden, but, instead of just thinking 'that was fairly straight' or 'that went miles' the computer software is able to show me.

Now I could put one of SWMBO's best white sheets in the net and fix my PC up to a projector and really think I am on the range, but I am happy with the results being fed to the PC beside me. So far the simulator is confirming that I am a pretty ordinary golfer, but it is highlighting  few thinks I can work on.

I have tried other simulators and not really got on with them, but so far this one seems to have roughly the right length shots for most clubs, and its the direction and club speed which I need to work on. It has a bag mapping option to allow me to see how far each club goes. This then identified gaps in yardage or overlaps. It also has a wedge matrix to allow me to see which lofted clubs are best for me to carry.

With the weather changing though I am not sure how many more sessions I have got to fix a few faults, or fix the holes appearing in the net!!

Elsewhere in Weathers Towers we are without hot water at the moment as it seems the emersion heater has developed a short circuit which keeps blowing the breaker. How to find an electrician or plumber in the current climate will be interesting. At least I have now finished the outdoor portfolio of jobs although SWMBO has identified a few more. The Council tips look likely to open next week so there will be no excuse for not trimming a few trees and bushes. With luck my tree surgeon will also be back at work and able to take some of the bigger limbs down for me.

If it does rain for a few days I can catch up on phone calls and 2020 Captains administration as well as starting the list of indoor activities. I am not waiting on any e-bay purchases as I have no money left to fritter away after the simulator outlay, but if interested, my mystery purchase from China was a chandelier of dubious design and value. One for the car boot cupboard I suspect.

So that's the sum of it at the moment, things are becoming a little more mundane but if it keeps us safe and healthy then we have to knuckle down and toe the party line. When it does open again the golf course will be in magnificent condition and the clubhouse is undergoing a make-over so we wait to see the end result. Fore!

Beauty Parade

It used to be said that you had travelled well North of London if you passed a Morrison's supermarket. It's not so these days, but I felt something similar about Liverpool as I travelled through Norris Green with SWMBO last night.

We were going to Huyton and Prescott golf club for the new captains introduction as part of our inauguration into the Liverpool Society of Golf Club Captains. There are 27 clubs in the society and each new captain was accompanied by their current (2019) captain and their lady.

We had pre-order drinks, a pre-match handshake and then a team photo, one for the men and one for their ladies. We then sat down for a three course dinner and a couple of speeches after which each couple was announced and stood to take plaudits of their peers.

That was the easy part. After dinner the ladies were shepherded into one room and the gents into another. We had to appoint a secretary and treasurer, a name for the year group and a first informal meeting date. Those that know me will not be surprised that I was appointed secretary, and as 2020 captains, being called the visionaries should not be a surprise either. The optics got a few votes in second place. We will all convene as a group informally in Childwall towards the end of April. Childwall incidentally used the same clubhouse refurb company as Wallasey have engaged, and were very happy with the results.

The whole evening was funded by the 2019 captains, called The Eagles, to whom we were very grateful. The golf club staff were excellent and the clubhouse was a hidden gem, being the manor house of the old Hurst Estate owned and occupied by the Atherton family. I look forward to returning to play the course during my year in office.

So it now feels like the year has begun and I can see clearly now the way ahead!!!

The next time I see many of my year group will be at the Spring dinner when 6 or 7 captains are invited to attend as our guests. For most it will be the first time they will be wearing their red coats for which I had a fitting this morning. As a precursor to that dinner I look forward to an informal round of golf with the incoming captain of Royal Liverpool, who will be the visiting guest speaker on the night.