Machrihanish Marathon!

[thecraw]

Is now officially under way. Just about to load up the mini bus and off we go. Weather is looking fine and dandy and its dry!


Everyone making their way to the Mull of Kintyre, drive safely and God Speed.


Reviews and photos to follow.

 

[Smiffy]

Hope the weather stays kind for you, and that you have a great time.
Weather down here is pants at the moment

 

[DCB]

Clear blue skies here in E'mbra this morning, hope you get it this good all day.

have a good day gents.

 

[thecraw]

Lets just say it was an awesome day! The weather made the course very testing with the back nine being exceptionally difficult in an increasing wind.

A measure of how difficult the course was playing was that out of a field of 20 players, including 3 scratch golfers and lots of single figure handicaps 2 of the nearest the pin prizes were not won due to no one hitting the green. I nutted a driver at the 235 yard 16th and came up 20 yards short!

Course was in great condition and the hospitality was excellent. The club did us proud with their treatment of us.

Can I take this opportunity to thank Steve Kemlo, for his very generous donation, Andy Hayne, Colin MacDonald Snr + Jnr, Alan Russell, Calum McKirdy and anyone else whom I may of missed for their very kind donations that ensured that this was a great success of a day.

I will try and host pictures tomorrow.

Finally can I recommend that anyone who is organising a days golf, invite Fabian (Farneyman) along as he's well worth the appearance fee. Fabian is a natural comedian and kept us all going from start to finish. Crazy fool of a man and superb company.

 

[John_Findlay]

What's all this then? Came in from nightshift and no report & no photies yet? Shame on you. Guess we'll all have to wait til Sunday to see who got blown away out to sea.



Ah, you beat me by a minute.

 

[brendy]

What's all this then? Came in from nightshift and no report & no photies yet? Shame on you. Guess we'll all have to wait til Sunday to see who got blown away out to sea.



Ah, you beat me by a minute.

Part timers eh JF?
Wait til Castle Stuart, there will be media coverage the likes of Augusta itself will never have seen!

Nearest the pin sounded excellent too, must have been more than blustery!

 

[Dodger]

Surely some pics and an in depth report will follow??Who netted the fourball prize and more importantly who won and what with?

 

[thecraw]

Sorry guys I have a nightmare in the house at present. I will post a review later on.

My 3 year old has chicken pox and sickness bug, my one year old has the sickness bug and the wife and I both got hit with it last night as well.

Once I get on my feet, washing of duvets, sheets, pillows, pyjamas, teddy bears, (walls as well!) I will host the photographs etc. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Sorry about the delay but I think you will understand or at least those of you with projectile vomiting 3 year olds will, and a 1 year old puking baby!

CYA

 

[thecraw]

A bright early start ahead of schedule due to everyone being on time meant that we hit Machrihanish from Paisley in 2hrs 10 minutes, not bad going for a mini-bus with 9 persons and 9 sets of clubs and holdalls on board!

The welcome by Ian and his staff at Machrihanish was first class. We were treated to crispy bacon rolls and bottomless cups of tea and coffee.

A quick change of boots in the locker room and into waterproof or windproof jackets to ward off a chilly and strengthening westerly wind and it was across the road to the first tee. Again in keeping with the welcome from the steward the professional and his staff also couldn't have been nicer nor could they have done anything else for us. The fact that the nearest the pin markers handed over to us by the professional weighed about 15 lbs each shows how strong the wind gets in these parts.

Negotiations with the pro shop staff meant that we were allowed off the whites and it added another 10 yards of carry onto the best opening tee shot in the world, across the Atlantic (which was in) and the beach.

Calum McKirdy (CMcK) lead the start of the 2010 Machrihanish GM outing with a drive that split the fairway. Another 5 shots later and he had holed out for a double bogie six! (had to get that in since he beat me by a point!)

The first prize of the day was won by Neil Rattray who hit a stunning drive, full carry, all 120yards of it onto the beach! And to be fair to the first 8 guys off they all admirably hit the green stuff the other side of the golden sand! Fabian (Farneyman) even had the audacity to allow his white ball to have a hop, skip and a jump on the sand before it clambered back onto the grass!!!! Just!

I may as well own up now and admit that I matched Calum shot by shot on the first.

I'll not bore you all with a blow by blow account of the golf. I will however tell you that there will be a 2011 outing to Machrihanish and the 20 men who made the effort and commitment to come along all left with a grin and a smile after what can only be described as a truely fantastic day out. The course was as usual in majestic condition and the challenge of the wind, especially on the back nine was the equal of everyone and got the better of most! Did I mention that Farneyman came home in a calculator busting two points?

The meal after the golf was again superb and the whole days package was a bargain at £40 which included the golf and food. The £10 we charged for prizes meant that everyone got a packet of SRIXON Z-STARS on the first tee and a Sharpie pen and the people who found the challenge a little to severe also walked home with an Underarmour beanie hat as well. The winner went home with a beautiful putter worth £130 donated by Steve Kemlo. Other prizes included a four ball at Lochwinnoch, a fourball at Newbattle donated very kindly by Dodger as well as loads of other great prizes from GM and other sources.

Finally a big thanks to everyone who made the effort to make the day a great success.

Preparing for battle!

Doesn't look too bad!

McKirdy kicks us off, five more shots and its a double bogie start!

Great photographer, action shot of the year?

Wonder if I'll ever beat Crawford???? (doubt it!)

That's easy, blue v's green perchance???

Go on Andy son, give it some welly!!!

Neil in the zone, eyeing up the beach!

Colin (WhoGivesA) on his way to second place.

That's ma boy! Jon France Snr + Jnr (JJF69)

Love the trousers, there smart as!

Text book swing by Andy. (notice the great photographer!)

Good job Alan (Algar5) wore a red hat or you wouldn't see him in his camouflage outfit!!!

Take that!!! (Great camera work!)

Think I'd better putt this one!

Beautiful recovery from the semi!

This is what a fairway looks like boys!

On the tee, Alan McCaw (AMcC)

Knee knocker, nae bother to thecraw!

Seen chimps behave better???

Glad I wore the matching orange shirt today!!!

Oi Fabian,(Farneyman) get yer heid oot the way of the camera!

Get a hair cut boy!!!

 

[birdieman]

Photos 2 and 3 in particular are superb pics - tough off the whites with an audience! looks like a big challenge to score given the wind.
It must be as you say the best opening drive in golf!
Only played it once many moons ago, want to go back really soon, looks superb.
Glad you all had a great day out and well done to the organisers.

 

[John_Findlay]

Looks like a grand day out on a cracking course. Well done to all involved. Some nice looking photos....and swings there. I imagine it was too cold after the first to take any more?

 

[Dodger]

Superb Craw....what did he win with??

Whetted the appetite for me thanks!

 

[AMcC]

Great photos Crawford.

Just like to say thanks for all your organising, sure everybody really appreciated it.

As you know I am off to Florida soon, but the roller coasters will be more sedate than our sprint in the mini bus to try and catch the ferry at Tarbert.

Thanks again absolutely fabulous day.

Hope emergency ward 10 clears up soon.

 

[Farneyman]

Where do I start.....

Got picked about 5.30 thanks, Callum. Met with Crawford and the rest at Paisley in what looked like a normal mini bus.
Once this bus is on the road there no stopping it. The traffic lights even changed to green once we got close enough to them, although some werent ready as the bus seemed to be a "bit" quicker than it looks......There was no chance of anyone sleeping on the way there as you needed to be fully alert to hold on for dear life.

Finally arrived there after travelling at Mach4 most of the way to a cracking roll and coffee.

After getting suited and booted we went across the road to the start. I played with Andy, Steve and Colin and really enjoyed their company for the round. They hit some great shots all day. I was out in the second game and as was mentioned before I gave my ball a wee "look" at the sand before it landed nicely on the fairway. 7 more strokes got the ball in the hole. It got much better after that scoring 15 points on the front 9 including my only par on the 9th.

Then it happened ....we turned for home. (The wind had picked up throughtout the front nine and because it was helping you you dont really notice how strong it was). Into the teeth of the wind. It all went belly up then and only scored 2 points, yes 2, on the way back. My worst ever Stableford score. I took an awful battering and could offer no support to my partner Colin, sorry about that. I was finished and well and truely beaten, and as usual cant wait to get back out again.

The grub was great in the clubhouse and a couple of real pretty ladies serving it up made all the nicer. Enough time for about a gallon of Guinness and the prize giving.

As the lowest score of the day I was awarded a lovely bag of "golf goodies". The handle of the bag was broken so I should have know what to expect. All the dodegy gifts people have received and would never use... towels, caps, tees, score counter and other such guff. Included was a Wilson glove shaper....now who ever thought this was a good idea as a product needs their heads checked. We did manage to come up some alternative uses on the way home. A lovely peice of kit...Just glad I didnt get the Smash Bag...

Time for home and due to no dilly dallying on the bus we just missed our ferry so it was the long road trip back. It was like been playing football again on the bus back. The craic was great and after a couple of pit stops we arrived safe and sound. Crawford thanks for the drive it was an experience I would forget.....
I have some photos I will try to post.

Thanks again to everyone for a good day and its something that we should do again.

 

[Dodger]

Which route did you take? 2 ferry route of Dunoon/Portavedie or a road trip?

 

[thecraw]

31, points was the winning total. Two people, on 30 and about 2 or 3 on 29!

It was tough scoring to be honest. I came home with 10 points for 29 point total and these 10 points were a bloody struggle which included me playing sideways out the bunker on the last as I was scared I wouldn't make it to double figures on the back nine!!!! I took my bogie and ran!

The last is 314 yards and I hit driver 6 iron into the front bunker! As I said in an earlier post the 16th is a par 3 232 yards, my GPS said 235 to middle. I buttoned a driver 20 yards short of the green which was probably 170ish! My normal carry is about 235!

Character building, and bloody great fun!

 

[RichardC]

Sounds like a great day. Love to play it at some point.

 

[Farneyman]

How can I add photos?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Some great pics. Makes me so jealous of you Scots and the great courses you have. Looks like a good day out and at least it was dry.

 

[stevek1969]

Well the Dundee away squad finally got home at 12.30 after a few stops for refreshment on the way home,what can i say about the day that others haven't already.
The staff at the club gave a great welcome and nothing was to much trouble ,the food was superb (note to our club about service which is crap it doesn't cost anything to be nice.)
The course is always superb and playing from the whites made it even harder i was lucky to have Andy,Colin and Fabian as partners (Fabian the balaclava wearing,gun slinger former fertiliser salesman from Ireland the guy is a legend.)
.
In a good match me and Andy came up trumps, oh and by the way i found my first ball on the road at Inverary it bounced on the road that far

Looking forward to the 2011 Machrihanish Marathon already will be staying over tho the 3 1/2 hour drive is a killer.