Lost and found

I never know where the time goes as I struggle to keep posting on here. Nearly two months have past since my ambassadorial announcement but I have no personalised golf bag picture to post yet. The frontispiece is on its way in the post apparently.

Most of the last few weeks have been hectic for SWMBO as her mum went into hospital for a 'big C' operation. It seems to have gone well but SWMBO and her sis have been sharing caring duties in Formby leaving me home alone.

So I have been golfing and more golfing, but then, disaster. I think I left my car unlocked one night and blow me, one of Birkenheads finest on a speculative mission for pocket change stumbled upon my golf clubs in the boot of my car. Sunday morning and they were gone!!

PC Plod is not really too bothered with minor theft these days, they just give you a crime number for insurance reasons. That should have been good for me as I have loads of insurance. Not so, though. The golf specific insurance only covers you for critical hours. That is from the time you leave your house with the clubs, until you return, so I was buggered there. The house contents insurance has a supplementary cover for valuables away from the home, but I do not subscribe to that, and the car insurance does not cover theft from the vehicle, full-stop. So that was that.

One ray of sunshine, however, involved my golf bag. That had my name on it, and did not represent a sales opportunity, so the tea leaf dumped that in a neighbours garden and I was able to retrieve it. That saved a few bob in replacement charges.

I now have a new set of irons, some old clubs from the shed, and await my new driver which should be here sometime this week. I got some good deals so the replacement cost has not been too high. I will just have to switch the heating on a month later this year!!

A big shout out to ForeGolf in Chester too. Their man spent 90 minutes with me in the trial facility trying different makes of club with different lofts and shafts. If the driver I have selected goes as well on the course as it did there I may be single figures next season.

Saturday past, SWMBO and I back to backed Halloween parties, firstly with the ankle biters at number one daughters and then at the golf club. I think our outfits went down well, although I was unsure whether I was a Draconian character or an Elvis impersonator!!

This weekend is fireworks and the start of the Autumn rugby internationals. I look forward to meeting the S Club for the New Zealand game. Interestingly NZ are staying at our hotel in Teddington so I have some laxative tablets at the ready for their muesli. I will be happy if England win three out of four, but that is going to be a tall order.

Final point of interest, number one son is back in London putting finishing touches to his house before it gets rented out, we have booked to go to Geneva now before Christmas and hope to take number one grandaughter with us. It is all go at the moment, especially as we have just had a group staying with us for Airbnb.

Winter wedding in Scotland is the next trip to plan, so far I have got us to Inverness by 27th December but only back as far as Fort William. Watch this space.

Mr Ambassador

Golf has been good to me over the years. ProAm gigs at Carnoustie with Alasdair Forsyth and Cog Hill with Lucas Glover, together with a victory in the BMW dealer day Championship at Turnberry are the top highlights on my CV.

Those events have now been joined by the news on Friday that I have been appointed a Srixon golf ambassador. Srixon are a big player in the golf ball market and have recently launched a new range of golf clubs. Their subsidiary, Cleveland are market leaders where wedges are concerned. They own Dunlop in the Far East and market their golf balls there as XXIO.

So, I am now part of a big family. I get a personalised golf bag, loads of hats and a years supply of balls. I obviously need to keep publicising Srixon on my Twitter feed and in or on any other sources I can. My name is joined on the bag by Virgin Atlantic Frequent Flyer and the @GolfingSwingers logo's

There is still a chance to qualify for a place on the European team for a trip to Las Vegas to play against the Rest of the World, but I think realistically my race is run this year and I need to refocus on 2019, series 16.

So it's off to sit by the front door and await the postman.

Wet Wet Wet

A long weekend in London to take in some cricket, sights and restaurants did not quite go to plan as the weather gods continued to plague our time away from Scouse.

We had rain in Barbados, more rain in the Seychelles and even more rain, but colder, in Mauritius. Why should we not be surprised then when the first day of the test match at Lords was rained off without a ball being bowled?

This was the first full day wash out for 17 years and I suspect we were there for that one too. 1963 seems a long time ago since my first visit. Next year the Australians visit in what will be my 56th year. I wrote this piece in 2013

So when it rains at Lords all roads lead to  Crockers where we met old  friends and got squiffy. Next day we got caught in the mother of all storms on the SouthBank and got soaked so all in all the sightseeing did not go too well either.

We did manage a couple of good meals though. The first was in the Quality Chop House at the Farringdon end of Exmouth Market, the other was at old favorite, Langans, where the food seemed better than I remember it.

The hotel was not up to much but we did end the trip with cocktails in The Booking Office in the Conrad Renaissance at St Pancras Station.

No time for Grandkids, London branch as they are in Bulgarialand at the moment, but hot off the press they are moving to Switzeland at the end of the month where Mrs Bulgaria has got a new job. Number one son is sticking in there and going as well, with his firm keeping him on as a contractor. Watch this space for more news of their new adventure.

Sunshine on a cloudy day

Today is the last day of our two week adventure to the Indian ocean as part of SWMBO birthday celebrations. In tune with previous 2018 holidays, today has given us rain and high winds, but we have compensated for the lack of sunshine by having a full English at the golf club and extending our room until this evening to allow us somewhere to chill away from the busy common areas which are full of families playing Scrabble and backgammon.

The back nine on the golf course is closed and there are no buggies today so I clearly picked the best days for a thrash. Yesterday I played with a chap from Durban who was born in Liverpool but moved to SA at an early age. He has his millions filched away here in Mauritius and in the Isle of Man, and is now looking to move as the infrastructure in Africa continues to be more corrupt and fragile than Europe. The only problem he has is that the cost of living differential is not in his favour as the Rand is so weak.

We have certainly been treated like royalty here since our little challenge with the initial room allocation, and daily massages, dinner and breakfast on the beach as well as the premium all inclusive have all added to the pleasure of the stay.

Even with my surname I can't do much about the climate but I suspect it will start raining as soon as we get home.

Bronzed bodies

Well, the England team did as well as could be expected against a more experienced European outfit. I can't help comparing it to Theresa May and her attempt to make something of the Brexit process. Putting aside her remain bias, her time in the Bank of England cheque clearing division clearly did not expose her to the aggressive negotiating skills needed to deal with European politicians trained under the Charles d'Gaulle 'non' school of diplomacy.

I can well imagine Donald Trump trying to council her. He is a hard nosed businessman which is just what is needed. He says it as it is and at the moment it's a pigs ear of a project. There seems little that can be done now to keep Corbyn out of office so I look forward to 14% mortgage rates, unlimited spending and higher taxes. What our place will be in Europe by then is anybody's guess.

It's interesting that Trump thinks Boris Johnson would make a good Prime Minister and he considers him a friend. You never see them in the same room together do you?

Enough, lets get back into holiday mode. There is a Wallasey wind blowing down the beach this morning so we are on the balcony at the moment. The kite surfers are out in force so it looks a lot like New Brighton but with palm trees.

I played the back nine holes at the Heritage golf club yesterday then hit a few balls on the range. The course was a typical resort layout with generous fairways, a bit of water and well protected greens. The holes were cut so well that only a centrally directed putt found the bottom of the cup. We are eating at the golf club tonight so that should be good.

Last night we ate at the Indian restaurant which was excellent. The resort has gone very quiet as the wedding guests and others left to go home but we are happy to chill with the good food and wine keeping us going.

More golf tomorrow and hopefully Gareth and the boys can clinch the Bronze medal. If we achieve a Bronze at an Olympics people are over the moon, lets hope they see the footballers in a similar light!

Change the light bulbs.....

So the Seychelles leg of the tour has finished. The 15th hole got the the better of me over three rounds so l will watch with interest as the PGA Senior tour play the course in December. It will be an interesting logistical exercise as the hotel only holds 210 guests. They are expecting 450 players and hangers on. The De Havilland Otter only holds 17 people, and for the note of Wallasey golf club members, the course has no practise facilities.

We have now flown to Mauritius. Things have deteriorated. For a Country which has tourism as its major industry, a two hour queue to get through immigration was totally unacceptable. Half the desks were unmanned and it took an age to process people entering the island.

The Heritage Awali where we are staying then did not live up to its 5 star rating. Our sea view room looked out onto some brown worn ground which was once lawn. Behind that was the children's pool, then some beach umbrellas behind which was the sea. Not what was expected. The hotel were not overly co-operative, so I was forced to call Trailfinders at home. Even they could not get any change from the hotel.

I think it is all because their sister hotel next door is closed for a four day private Asian wedding and many guests are staying here. So we had a meal at the beach restaurant resigned to our lot. We drank wine and watched Les Bleu qualify for the World Cup final.

This morning we explored the hotel. We now have a daily massage plan in the Spa, tee times at the golf course and a meal schedule at all the restaurants. This was still a struggle even with a Premier all inclusive package.
Our day just got better though as we have just been upgraded to a  beach front room. It is actually a suite so thank you to the hotel and Trailfinders for sorting that. So now all need to do is see England do the business tonight, and nobody will need to come home early.

Here we go here we go here we go

I had parrot fish for supper last night, I had parrot fish for supper last night. Before that, of course, we watched the England football with a few other footie supporters. Beer was on offer so a few were taken. This is Winter here in the Seychelles and boy did we know it last night as the heavens opened. Just the sort of rain that's needed at home, but not here as it wiped out the TV feed for the Russia v Croatia game just as Russia went 1-0 up.

Earlier in the day SWMBO joined me in the golf buggy and took a shot at the downhill 15th featured in the last post. Her ball is somewhere in the jungle as, to be fair, is mine.  Seven balls lost between us but the green staff have kept us topped up with spares as needed. One more round to try to hit the green on 15 and to improve my eclectic, then off to Mauritius for holiday part 2.

Today is a chill day and tan top-up but still a bit overcast. We have become minor resort celebs as we have had extended loan of the golf buggy for a couple of days while everybody else has to walk. Might hit the gym this afternoon though!!

I had parrot fish for supper last night.