Beach day today following a very large evening meal at a beachside restaurant called Champers, last night. Three courses was just being too greedy. It felt like being on a cruise ship. The place was lovely though, a bit like The Cliff on the West coast but a bit more relaxed.
Today we have been out snorkelling with the Hawksbill turtles who turn up near the beach to feed off the sardine entrails the local beach fishermen throw back. The turtles don't let you get too close but the are very relaxed creatures nonetheless.
We have a mega Sunday lunch booked tomorrow so it will be frugal fayre tonight or the taxi will need to be re-enforced to get us home!!
Saturday, 6 May 2017
Friday, 5 May 2017
Sting
The last two days have been car hire and tour the island days. Things did not start too well as we were wiped out by a reggae bus less than half a mile from the hotel. Police arrived and will decide who was at fault if the insurers can't. At home I would have been blameless, but here, who knows? Interestingly the insurance company send a man to the crash scene. That would be novel at home!
Anyway, after kicking the wing back in place we set off round the South of the island. Maps are a waste of time here so our tour took a long time and we visited some places three times before doing some remote beaches, Gun Hill and Bethesda, a great surfing beach. It was here we ran into policeman 2. He was serving behind the bar at a beach restaurant before driving his mum home!! If the writers of Death in Paradise were looking for somebody to base Dwain on, we just found him!!
Yesterday was calmer. We only got lost once. We visited an old plantation house, St Nicholas Abbey, where they have the last working rum distillery, and then the North point of the island for amazing cliffs and crashing waves.
Came back via the posh part of the island on the West coast. The contrast is amazingly stark. Car now handed back and beach chilling re-instated.
Anyway, after kicking the wing back in place we set off round the South of the island. Maps are a waste of time here so our tour took a long time and we visited some places three times before doing some remote beaches, Gun Hill and Bethesda, a great surfing beach. It was here we ran into policeman 2. He was serving behind the bar at a beach restaurant before driving his mum home!! If the writers of Death in Paradise were looking for somebody to base Dwain on, we just found him!!
Yesterday was calmer. We only got lost once. We visited an old plantation house, St Nicholas Abbey, where they have the last working rum distillery, and then the North point of the island for amazing cliffs and crashing waves.
Came back via the posh part of the island on the West coast. The contrast is amazingly stark. Car now handed back and beach chilling re-instated.
Monday, 1 May 2017
Andrea Corr
Phew that's finished. A long four days ended yesterday at Sandy Lane and I came 61st overall out of 140 medal competitors. I beat Gordon Greenidge and Brian Lara but not Otis Gibson or Wayne Baptiste
One of our fourball hit a gross 80 yesterday which was very impressive.
Sandy Lane as a golf course layout was a bit disappointing. It was wide open off the tee and only protected by lightening fast greens. I was undone by the par 3 holes on the front nine, dropping 8 shots to par. That said the rest of the round was pretty solid.
The course has hosted a World Golf Championship event and is the second such I've played after the Victoria course in Portugal. It is the second course at Sandy Lane. The main one, the Green Monkey, is for hotel guests only and is still $4000 a tee time. There was nobody on it yesterday!!
The hotel is owned by J P McManus, John Magnier and Dermott Desmond, part of the hugely wealthy Irish racing community, Tiger Woods married there and Simon Cowell and Rihanna, amongst others, have homes on the estate.
One of our fourball hit a gross 80 yesterday which was very impressive.
Sandy Lane as a golf course layout was a bit disappointing. It was wide open off the tee and only protected by lightening fast greens. I was undone by the par 3 holes on the front nine, dropping 8 shots to par. That said the rest of the round was pretty solid.
The course has hosted a World Golf Championship event and is the second such I've played after the Victoria course in Portugal. It is the second course at Sandy Lane. The main one, the Green Monkey, is for hotel guests only and is still $4000 a tee time. There was nobody on it yesterday!!
The hotel is owned by J P McManus, John Magnier and Dermott Desmond, part of the hugely wealthy Irish racing community, Tiger Woods married there and Simon Cowell and Rihanna, amongst others, have homes on the estate.
Saturday, 29 April 2017
Gordon Greenidge
He used to be half of the great West Indies opening pair with Desmond Haynes I saw them bat together many times at Lords, and, more recently in Oxton when they batted together for Lashings, an invitation celebrity side.
Today he is playing with me in The Sir Gary Sobers golf festival. Desmond was due to play too, but along with Dwight York, he has scratched. I had a much better day today. A 7am start meant the heat was less oppressive than yesterday. Two lads from Queens in New York and one from Hertfordshire meant we had a bit of cross pond banter, and the golf responded accordingly.
Apes Hill is the new kid on the block and has aspirations to rival Royal Westmoreland. Its holes though were a bit samey off the tee, but the greens were tricky targets. 12,13 and 14 were the standout holes with the obligatory par theee over a lake, the pick of the front nine. I still had my three poor holes but managed to make a few more pars today to move up to eleventh, very much mid table.
A good round at Sandy Lane tomorrow and I could squeeze into the top six. Managed to keep my lunch away from the monkey's today.
Apes Hill is the centre of the island polo activity and the Williams family who own it, are good friends with Prince Charles and the boys. Chukka anyone?
Today he is playing with me in The Sir Gary Sobers golf festival. Desmond was due to play too, but along with Dwight York, he has scratched. I had a much better day today. A 7am start meant the heat was less oppressive than yesterday. Two lads from Queens in New York and one from Hertfordshire meant we had a bit of cross pond banter, and the golf responded accordingly.
Apes Hill is the new kid on the block and has aspirations to rival Royal Westmoreland. Its holes though were a bit samey off the tee, but the greens were tricky targets. 12,13 and 14 were the standout holes with the obligatory par theee over a lake, the pick of the front nine. I still had my three poor holes but managed to make a few more pars today to move up to eleventh, very much mid table.
A good round at Sandy Lane tomorrow and I could squeeze into the top six. Managed to keep my lunch away from the monkey's today.
Apes Hill is the centre of the island polo activity and the Williams family who own it, are good friends with Prince Charles and the boys. Chukka anyone?
Friday, 28 April 2017
Brian Lara
The great man is in this golf Tournament with me and seems to have the same challenges as we go into day 3. I had hoped to do four rounds gross 90 or better, but so far only one of our division has managed to be 90 or less for the two rounds we have played.
Royal Westmoreland is a class track in so much better condition than yesterday, although I found the greens slower. I had another frustrating day with 14 ok holes and four nightmares. I played with three Trinidadians who were pretty slow and their whispers carried a fair way. One of them played well so standing at 15th out of 20, I am going to need two good rounds to break into the top ten.
Monkey's took our apples today but I had wised up and hid mine in the ice box. Apes Hill tomorrow so they will probably take the whole buggy!!
Today was a public holiday in Barbados so they moved the racing at Garrison Savannah from Saturday, meaning we missed it. I tee off tomorrow at 07:10 so would have been back in time. Instead I can spend the afternoon on the beach with SWMBO. Every cloud!
Royal Westmoreland is a class track in so much better condition than yesterday, although I found the greens slower. I had another frustrating day with 14 ok holes and four nightmares. I played with three Trinidadians who were pretty slow and their whispers carried a fair way. One of them played well so standing at 15th out of 20, I am going to need two good rounds to break into the top ten.
Monkey's took our apples today but I had wised up and hid mine in the ice box. Apes Hill tomorrow so they will probably take the whole buggy!!
Today was a public holiday in Barbados so they moved the racing at Garrison Savannah from Saturday, meaning we missed it. I tee off tomorrow at 07:10 so would have been back in time. Instead I can spend the afternoon on the beach with SWMBO. Every cloud!
Thursday, 27 April 2017
Sir Garfield Sobers
Day two in Barbados passed off fairly quietly. A bit of overnight rain livened things up and the cloud stayed most of the day. A meal and early night were the order before the first round of the Sir Garfield Sobers festival of golf today.
I played the first round at Barbados golf club which is the weaker of the four and few errant shots saw me shoot a net 79 and be firmly in the pack. The course is suffering from the recent drought but is scrappy and routine as a test of golf. You can only play what's in front of you and I did that for 15 of the holes but had three minor disasters. Anyway, on to tomorrow.
I played with a Canadian living in New York who was a bit up himself, a very pleasant accountant from Trinidad and an English chap who lives over here now. One of his sons plays for Stoke City. So mostly pleasant company. Three different partners tomorrow.
The festival is very well organised with a packed lunch on the tenth tee, but as I putted out on the green a chicken robbed my buggy and took my tuna sandwich. We thought the Fox at Wallasey was bad!!!
I played the first round at Barbados golf club which is the weaker of the four and few errant shots saw me shoot a net 79 and be firmly in the pack. The course is suffering from the recent drought but is scrappy and routine as a test of golf. You can only play what's in front of you and I did that for 15 of the holes but had three minor disasters. Anyway, on to tomorrow.
I played with a Canadian living in New York who was a bit up himself, a very pleasant accountant from Trinidad and an English chap who lives over here now. One of his sons plays for Stoke City. So mostly pleasant company. Three different partners tomorrow.
The festival is very well organised with a packed lunch on the tenth tee, but as I putted out on the green a chicken robbed my buggy and took my tuna sandwich. We thought the Fox at Wallasey was bad!!!
Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Grantley Adams
The first day of our Barbados holiday has been interspersed with Apocalypse Now flashbacks.
On the flight over I finished reading Fredrick Forsythe's book, The Kill List. Not his best but a reasonable read. Anyway when, during the finale, the SAS pathfinder team leap from a C-130, they predictably do it to Wagner's Flight of the Valkyries.
Didn't think too much of that until we were at the beach bar last night and a fellow guest had a t-shirt on with the slogan ' I love the smell of napalm in the morning'.
The final thing that made the connection is me lying on the bed with the ceiling fan going round and round and reflecting on the past 24 hours as I write this blog. Very strange.
Anyway we are here, have a good room and been out for supplies. Now its time to hit the beach and get some rays before the serious business starts on Thursday. The hotel is pretty busy, lots of repeat visitors and SWMBO is chilling out. Rock and roll!
On the flight over I finished reading Fredrick Forsythe's book, The Kill List. Not his best but a reasonable read. Anyway when, during the finale, the SAS pathfinder team leap from a C-130, they predictably do it to Wagner's Flight of the Valkyries.
Didn't think too much of that until we were at the beach bar last night and a fellow guest had a t-shirt on with the slogan ' I love the smell of napalm in the morning'.
The final thing that made the connection is me lying on the bed with the ceiling fan going round and round and reflecting on the past 24 hours as I write this blog. Very strange.
Anyway we are here, have a good room and been out for supplies. Now its time to hit the beach and get some rays before the serious business starts on Thursday. The hotel is pretty busy, lots of repeat visitors and SWMBO is chilling out. Rock and roll!
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