T
thecraw
Guest
Yesterday saw a very poorly supported GM forum meet of sorts take place at the magnificent conditioned Dundonald Links in North Ayrshire.
Dundonald is sandwiched on a strip of land that boasts delights such as Western and Glasgow Gailes and Barrassie.
Firstly thanks are needed to both stevek1969 and J_F for battling their way through crazy M8 rush hour traffic and making the effort (and winning) to make the 0900hrs tee time.
Early indications were not promising with squals of rain racing up the Clyde offering frequent downpours supported by blustery winds. A quick cuppa and change into waterproofs was sufficient time to allow the rain to disappear behind Arran and make its way towards the Mull of Kintyre.
The first tee balls up paired J_F and myself against stevek and Callum. After a promising start J_F and I surrendered our early one up lead to reach the turn in 4 down thanks to some recovery play by stevek that Seve himself would have been proud of! Infact stevek's birdie at the 9th is something that I could not even come close to giving justice through writing. I'll let him tell the story! His kids are probably bored of it already.
A change of captaincy into the back 9 quickly saw J_F and I reduce the deficet to 2 but with both of us failing to get up and down at 16th the lights went out on our spirited comeback which was ended with a shake of the hands and a 3+2 defeat.
After a quick bite to eat it was back to the first tee this time the balls would throw together myself and stevek against Callum and J_F. The first hole is something I would rather forget with an outstanding 9! which included 4 shots to come out of a fairway bunker. Infact it was a one putt 9!!!!
The par 5 3rd hole which measures 510 yards was reduced to a drive and a 9 iron by the ridiculously long Callum who cracked a 350 yard drive down the fairway!
2 down through three holes and things were not looking good however a good spell of holes from the 4th to the 9th saw stevek and I race into a 3up lead at the turn. Slow play and a chilly wind saw me dive into the clubhouse, quickly emerging again with four hot coffees to go. This obviously knocked steve and I off our stide as we quickly lost the 10th. J_F added even more pressure by knocking a great shot into the short 11th in a strengthening wind. I managed to be the equal of J_F who added even more pressure by bringing out his camera which I'm sure was a bit of poor sportsmanship!!
Reaching the dreaded 3 up with 5 to play mark where its often said "3 up with 5 to play never wins" steve and I had the wobble. I found yet another fairway bunker off the tee playing fourteen and stevek somehow lost his ball from his second shot which was a bit of a mystery. An unusual 3 putt by Callum at the 170 yard par 3 15 which was playing more like 240 yards into the wind saw stevek and I go dormie 3 up.
J_F and Callum won 16 where I again found a bunker off of the tee before Steve and I closed out the match on the 17th.
Apart from a couple of showers it was a great day out and 2 rounds of golf plus lunch for £50 was superb value. Its a shame more people didnt take up the offer as it was certainly a great day out and the company was not too bad either. The standard of golf was excellent with everyone playing some great golf (at times!)
It may be an expensive day for stevek1969 though as I believe that a Ping Rapture V2 may now be on order!!! Someone may pick up an R9 for a song though. J_F has plenty of photos which I'm sure he will host soon.
Dundonald is sandwiched on a strip of land that boasts delights such as Western and Glasgow Gailes and Barrassie.
Firstly thanks are needed to both stevek1969 and J_F for battling their way through crazy M8 rush hour traffic and making the effort (and winning) to make the 0900hrs tee time.
Early indications were not promising with squals of rain racing up the Clyde offering frequent downpours supported by blustery winds. A quick cuppa and change into waterproofs was sufficient time to allow the rain to disappear behind Arran and make its way towards the Mull of Kintyre.
The first tee balls up paired J_F and myself against stevek and Callum. After a promising start J_F and I surrendered our early one up lead to reach the turn in 4 down thanks to some recovery play by stevek that Seve himself would have been proud of! Infact stevek's birdie at the 9th is something that I could not even come close to giving justice through writing. I'll let him tell the story! His kids are probably bored of it already.
A change of captaincy into the back 9 quickly saw J_F and I reduce the deficet to 2 but with both of us failing to get up and down at 16th the lights went out on our spirited comeback which was ended with a shake of the hands and a 3+2 defeat.
After a quick bite to eat it was back to the first tee this time the balls would throw together myself and stevek against Callum and J_F. The first hole is something I would rather forget with an outstanding 9! which included 4 shots to come out of a fairway bunker. Infact it was a one putt 9!!!!
The par 5 3rd hole which measures 510 yards was reduced to a drive and a 9 iron by the ridiculously long Callum who cracked a 350 yard drive down the fairway!
2 down through three holes and things were not looking good however a good spell of holes from the 4th to the 9th saw stevek and I race into a 3up lead at the turn. Slow play and a chilly wind saw me dive into the clubhouse, quickly emerging again with four hot coffees to go. This obviously knocked steve and I off our stide as we quickly lost the 10th. J_F added even more pressure by knocking a great shot into the short 11th in a strengthening wind. I managed to be the equal of J_F who added even more pressure by bringing out his camera which I'm sure was a bit of poor sportsmanship!!
Reaching the dreaded 3 up with 5 to play mark where its often said "3 up with 5 to play never wins" steve and I had the wobble. I found yet another fairway bunker off the tee playing fourteen and stevek somehow lost his ball from his second shot which was a bit of a mystery. An unusual 3 putt by Callum at the 170 yard par 3 15 which was playing more like 240 yards into the wind saw stevek and I go dormie 3 up.
J_F and Callum won 16 where I again found a bunker off of the tee before Steve and I closed out the match on the 17th.
Apart from a couple of showers it was a great day out and 2 rounds of golf plus lunch for £50 was superb value. Its a shame more people didnt take up the offer as it was certainly a great day out and the company was not too bad either. The standard of golf was excellent with everyone playing some great golf (at times!)
It may be an expensive day for stevek1969 though as I believe that a Ping Rapture V2 may now be on order!!! Someone may pick up an R9 for a song though. J_F has plenty of photos which I'm sure he will host soon.
...... Dont know what Region3 is on about wind...... thats not wind that was just a bit fresh.
