T
thecraw
Guest
JJF69 and myself failed at the final hurdle yesterday in the Volvo matchplay championship finals. The final was held at Kilmarnock Barassie in what can only be described as monsoon conditions. It was quite clear that Volvo put money and organisational headaches before the needs, welfare and enjoyment of the competitors as the course was unplayable from the off. Still it was the same for everyone.
The weather was simply vile, with single figure temperatures, gusting winds and consistently torrential rain all day. Despite that we got off to a decent enough start and we both played some really decent stuff considering the weather. We managed to grind it out and hit the turn with a respectable 18 points. The highlights of the front 9 being me pitching in for a fighting bogie 1 point with my second ball and JJF69 crashing a driver, hybrid combination into 9 before smashing a 10 foot putt in for a birdie 3.
The course was unplayable right from the first tee shot however by now it was becoming an absolute farce. Rivers and puddles were on every green and the fairways were like paddy fields. At times you were having to move your ball off the green to pitch back onto the green due to the amount of water in your line. Again only the Volvo organisers who were sitting in the warmth and comfort of the clubhouse drinking tea can answer why they never saught the help of the greens staff to get squeegees out onto the course. Couldn't care attitude would probably be accurate. The walk from the 12th green to the 13th tee turned into a wade through ankle deep water as the path winds its way through the gorse bushes. I did chuckle though when JJF69 managed to topple his trolley clubs and all into the rather large 30 foot puddle. I think you may have heard the outburst and sweary words in London. Its amazing how much someone elses misfortune can cheers you up at times!
Sadly we couldn't keep up our decent golf and the conditions wore us down. By the turn I was shivering uncontrollably with the cold and even with a change into a dry watefproof jacket I was still unable to regain any sort of comfort or warmth. The fact that we were playing with two snails did not help matters. I played golf in a medal last month with an 82 year old who was quicker than these two. I was that embarrassed that I apologised to the game behind us as I came off the 11th tee. Even after JJF69 had words with them on the 14th tee where he informed them that we were 4hrs 15mins to there they failed to take notice, in fact I think it had the opposite effect and they got slower. Game number 1 finished a full hour ahead of us, yip, we were game number two and had to endure a 5hr 35min round. Total joke. Honestly these guys made Ben Crane look like Usain Bolt on steroids!
The winning total was 35 points and despite or best efforts and some desperately unlucky putting on the back 9 we could only muster 31 points. 4 three putts on the back 9 does sound terrible however the greens were a lottery, was the ball going to stick or skid when hit due to the amount of surface water?
I'd just like to thank everyone for there support and good wishes, sadly we fell at the last hurdle. Also cheers to Mike and Jezz for allowing us to represent team GM, we had a great time and met some really decent people on the way.
Finally Volvo, you guys know you got it very very wrong yesterday. The course and conditions were unplayable from the off and you got it oh so wrong. I appreciate that people have to travel and take time off work etc, but so did I. Congratulations yo the winners as 35 points yesterday was awesome golf.
The weather was simply vile, with single figure temperatures, gusting winds and consistently torrential rain all day. Despite that we got off to a decent enough start and we both played some really decent stuff considering the weather. We managed to grind it out and hit the turn with a respectable 18 points. The highlights of the front 9 being me pitching in for a fighting bogie 1 point with my second ball and JJF69 crashing a driver, hybrid combination into 9 before smashing a 10 foot putt in for a birdie 3.
The course was unplayable right from the first tee shot however by now it was becoming an absolute farce. Rivers and puddles were on every green and the fairways were like paddy fields. At times you were having to move your ball off the green to pitch back onto the green due to the amount of water in your line. Again only the Volvo organisers who were sitting in the warmth and comfort of the clubhouse drinking tea can answer why they never saught the help of the greens staff to get squeegees out onto the course. Couldn't care attitude would probably be accurate. The walk from the 12th green to the 13th tee turned into a wade through ankle deep water as the path winds its way through the gorse bushes. I did chuckle though when JJF69 managed to topple his trolley clubs and all into the rather large 30 foot puddle. I think you may have heard the outburst and sweary words in London. Its amazing how much someone elses misfortune can cheers you up at times!
Sadly we couldn't keep up our decent golf and the conditions wore us down. By the turn I was shivering uncontrollably with the cold and even with a change into a dry watefproof jacket I was still unable to regain any sort of comfort or warmth. The fact that we were playing with two snails did not help matters. I played golf in a medal last month with an 82 year old who was quicker than these two. I was that embarrassed that I apologised to the game behind us as I came off the 11th tee. Even after JJF69 had words with them on the 14th tee where he informed them that we were 4hrs 15mins to there they failed to take notice, in fact I think it had the opposite effect and they got slower. Game number 1 finished a full hour ahead of us, yip, we were game number two and had to endure a 5hr 35min round. Total joke. Honestly these guys made Ben Crane look like Usain Bolt on steroids!
The winning total was 35 points and despite or best efforts and some desperately unlucky putting on the back 9 we could only muster 31 points. 4 three putts on the back 9 does sound terrible however the greens were a lottery, was the ball going to stick or skid when hit due to the amount of surface water?
I'd just like to thank everyone for there support and good wishes, sadly we fell at the last hurdle. Also cheers to Mike and Jezz for allowing us to represent team GM, we had a great time and met some really decent people on the way.
Finally Volvo, you guys know you got it very very wrong yesterday. The course and conditions were unplayable from the off and you got it oh so wrong. I appreciate that people have to travel and take time off work etc, but so did I. Congratulations yo the winners as 35 points yesterday was awesome golf.
