12 is the Magic Number

A bumper 16 were due for Bondhay or more aptly Bondi: with its equivalent amount of sand. Although 16 became 14: Hallam suffering in a post cup final stupor and Thacker having a ‘mare’ with his scheduling. A chicken / stuffing /roastie combo settled the nerves of a few. Ladd unfortunately rueing, the evenings final Strongbow which was sitting rather uneasily. Omens looked ominous: the course recommended by Horsburgh Snr, saw him not travel possibly due to a previous visit with the Old Peculiars seeing the honours taken by 26 points. The local, yokel, Marshall informed us in a quaint north Notts manner that it was f’ing freezing and you’ll need an f’ing coat before leaving us be, slightly different way of being announced onto the tee!

Meadows, Horsburgh Jnr and Hall got proceedings underway. Meadows off to a flier before
appearing to be battling some inner golfing demons and firmly applying the handbrake. Horsburgh was 5 clear at the turn, before all three ‘took the plunge’ on the picturesque 10th. Horsburgh was on the charge until encountering his nemesis on the 15th. . . . ‘a mat’, and duly failed to trouble the scorers, but none-the-less held a testing club house lead. Hall finished with a superb 12 points in the last 4 holes to post a career high score.

Tuckwell ‘bad back!’ Snr, Brown, Hoenigmann and Hefter were eager to impress. Tuckwell played aggressively showing disdain for the well positioned and plentiful bunkers, leaving this task to Hefter: who frequented more ‘traps’ than his usual number Guinness’s drunk in a week! Brown, with little regard for the fauna, hit some ‘little rippers’ but couldn’t come to grips with the short stuff. Tuckwell led by 3 at the turn. There were a few shaky moments around the turn for A.T. before cranking it up a gear to wrestle the initiative from Horsburgh.

Ladd, debutant Atkinson, Baker Snr and Jenkison provided a mixed treat of ‘fores, ball meet timber, laughter, anguish and reloads. High with optimism the boots duo can’t have anticipated having ’12’ in their sighters. 10 points after 15 holes had Ladd sweating and rumour has it the police chopper was scrambled to ensure he made it home, also compounded by becoming Hepburn’s target practice on 16, laces and belts please. A mini-revival saw the mark surpassed. Baker with a ‘zorroesque’ swing matched Jenkinson’s back 9 score, but was left trailing by 5.

Hepburn, Rymer and Tuckwell Jnr had ‘plenty of points to prove’ and to Hepburn’s relief his own ‘low 9’ unwanted record was surpassed on the second. Rymer was in immaculate ball striking form and had the short game holding up. Rymer by 3 at the turn after an exquisitely holed bunker shot on 9 for 4 points. 3 hours for 10 holes brought the Marshall into play and the pino colada out. Rymer sensibly abstained and left Tuckwell Snr sweating.

Despite a bad back Tuckwell Snr took the spoils (and single figures) with a spectacular 39 points
accompanied on the podium by a resurgent Rymer (36) and Horsburgh Jnr (32) Jenkinson (31) finished with the only other score in the 30’s on a challenging yet impressive course.