100 up as Marriot Maintains Composure

Another tough day past junction 30 as the full force of Bondhay once again proved unforgiving, as has been accustomed to. Plenty of challenges were mounted before being spectacularly derailed. A tidy 10 on board, with Meadows, once again providing some more TGS firsts. Personalised golf balls and the first WAG to accompany the tour. Fellow members noting on the significant upgrade of choice of caddy! A.T on his 7th day straight had the mid week sighter and was hoping for significantly less visits to the sand. Optimism was clearly high with Tiger’s ‘Sunday Red’ the colour of choice.

An ideal Father’s day present: golfing with your Dad, as Marriot joined the Tuckwells’. Tuckwell Jnr had the honours amongst ‘lack of hat’ barracking and duly waited for the 3 ball in front to disappear out of range… before impressively… topping it 15 yards into thick rough behind a tree. A 3 stab on 2 concluded a ‘great’ start! Marriot started as he meant to: Flying pin high with an 160 yard fairway bunker approach, and all aboard the 3 point train. A.T found momentum on 5, with a very tidy nett birdie as Marriot became unstuck with frequent visits to the sand: 3 bunkers, 5 times - some feat on 6. An unfortunate right angle stopped A.T. concluding the front 9 strongly, but held a solid 2 point advantage. Amen corner proved troublesome once again for Tuckwell Jnr – 1 point through 3 holes not the ideal way to score well, lost ball, bunker, top - not to be encouraged. A.T found water on 11 – all over it but lacking legs. The Christmas present came in handy scooping out numerous others from the drink. Marriot decided against visits to the sand and instead plotted the most effective route to the hole: 14 points in 5 holes in full support of course management. A.T took advantage of one scuttling down the path when O.B. seemed the final resting place, and hung in with some tidy approaches. Tuckwell Jnr started to rebuild, 1 over for the last 6. Definite interest and tidy sum would have been pocketed if that had gone on eBay! With the round nudging an arduous 5 hours, it all proved too much for A.T. as fatigue set in. Marriot impressively remained calm, with the absence of Horsey, to post a group winning total.

Triple H: Horsburgh Jnr, Hefter and Hoenigmann. The usual from Hoenigmann: a full house of 0-1-2-3 and 4 pointers. Hefter, consistent on the greens, couldn’t find the consistency and regularity to them. Horsburgh once again steady, high on fairways hit and scoring on every hole of what was a well crafted front 9, for a one shot lead. A new nine and out with the jellied treats. The sugar rush gave Hoenigmann an immediate boost but proved too much for Hefter who sensibly laid up short of the water before thinning the next one in the drink. More disaster on 11, after Hefter chipped back into the water and no points. Horsburgh fired a couple of 3 pointers to sit pretty with the final stretch approaching. Karma may well have reaped its revenge as rumours of Meadows on the charge came filtering through. Horsey, as only he knows how, in turn relayed that he was on 30 points through 14 holes, the truth being some what lower! Dreams of a 5,5,6 finish would have secured a tidy finish but 3 points over the closing 5 holes may well secure an appearance on next weeks ‘My name is Earl!’ Hefter closed with some form to allow a glimmer of hope, as Hoenigmann was just glad to finish, after Saturday’s ‘Proludic Relay Challenge’ 6k row, 2000m swim, 20k run and 12k cycle. Baker Jnr apparently unable to attend…

The final four (five): Radford, with Tiger like knee damage, Daft, Hall, Meadows and caddy Liz. Radford and Hall faired best on the opener, keeping calm for a nett birdie. Daft, struggling for form, after Monday’s round at Beedles, has yet to return to the highs of the opening day win and had one eye on a handicap increase. Disaster for Meadows, 2 points through 3 – the course not long, or wide, enough for the big hitting birthday boy - celebrating the big 30. But it was to prove the calm before the storm: 1 over for the remaining 6 holes, culminating in 16 points in the process. Not to be overshadowed Hall produced the 9 of his life, with a monstrous and magnificent Bondhay front 9 record breaking score of 22 points – even containing a 1 pointer. A potential secret to the success may have been the realisation that wearing a glove, for the first time, actually allows you to grip the club better… Other revelations to do with glove wearing / Michael Jackson antics were quickly retracted! Hall stayed on target through amen corner. Radford’s nett eagle on 10 caused elation, 2 balls in the drink on 11, deflation. Meadows was cranking it up through 13 before a group ‘5 hole wipeout’. Whether it was Horsburgh’s fake total or the length of the round, the quartet totalled 8 points in the last 5 holes to extinguish any thoughts of a title. Hall joined A.T. and Frame in the illustrious ‘men capable of firing the best and worst 9’s of the day category!

Despite the duration and toughness of Bondhay, another enjoyable round on a very good course. For the first time ever the average strokes topping 100 (100.2) The average points made as equally unforgiving reading with 26.4, surely confirming it as number 1 ranked course on tour for difficulty.

Marriot (33), in his 4th outing, claimed his maiden tour victory with an impressive 4 shot victory. The prop forward’s shoulders swinging well and kept it going down the stretch. Playing partners Tuckwell Snr (29) and Tuckwell Jnr (28 B9:14) made the rostrum ahead of what surely could have been for Hall (28 B9:6) Horsburgh Jnr (27) and Meadows (25) – carding a spectacular 7 birthday blobs.

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