Scottjd1
Tour Rookie
So it was my first appearance at a GM Forum meet, what a great one to pick, great courses, great (phenomenal) weather and as expected great company and a good crack from start to finish.
I headed up with Bratty on Wednesday evening and despite some woeful driving and decision making on the route taken by Simon we somehow arrived at the White House around 1030. As it was late we agreed to crash out and get up and to the course early.
Breakfast there is top notch so if anyone goes to Woburn The White House is highly recommened, the course is literally 5 minutes away.
We met Philly169 who was also staying there and then Dermott. Rob popped his head in before heading off to get everything ready.
A few more hello's to some other GM forumers who were clearing out the bacon roll supplies and coffee that was part of the package, I declined (only because I had polished off a full English 10 minutes earlier!!). A quick hit on the range and although I was a bit put off by TXL's choice in shorts I was hitting the ball okay, and then a bit of a walk over to the first tee on the Marquess.
We were second off so was good to meet up with Vig and Gibbo who were making up our 4 , the first 4 lads all got safely off the first, but then I noticed as we went on the tee that the numbers had swelled and we would have a bit of an audience. A few pics and off we went, all made good contact (thank god) and what followed was 4 1/2 hours of golfing heaven, well that was the course, we all played well in parts, I birdied the 2nd, Gibbo shot 17 on the front 9 and Bratty finished strongly. Vig had a bit of an incosistent round but it was quite obvious that he was a pretty accomplished golfer, just one of those rounds (6 on the back 9
).
Highlights for me were Vig mis-hitting his tee shot on the glorious 7th, not particulary that but then Bratty pointing out where it had gone and telling Gibbo to go and find it. Which he did most determindley but to no avail, however a sniffer dog would have been less committed!! I then got underneath one and skied one about 50 yards...nice! (only Oddsocks could have got more height !!)
There are many stand out holes on the Marquess and the only downside were the greens being very hard to judge, a little overseeding and quite wet there was no consitstency and our group struggled to get to grips... but hey the same for everyone. Ee knew we wouldnt be challenging for cash so we headed for the lunchtime carvery which was lovely, even with proper gravy that the boys from Yorkshire approved of.
Out in the afternoon on the Dukes, i preferred it as a course and some of the holes were simply stunning. I had a great front 9 for 16 pts but then schoolboy error hitting the wrong ball on 11 (sorry Richard) made me crumble and then the powakaddy battery packed up (im not sure if I mentioned that on the day:blah:??) and I had to push it round from 12 onwards so that was me gone and a paltry 9 back home was woeful. Vig played some great golf and scored 33 to take 2nd place in the afternoon, was good to see and rellay made a few of the holes look quite easy. We passed Murph's 'long-drive' on the 16th and normally I look and think 'yeah if I was on the fairway i would have been up there', but nooooo... this was loooooong, nice shot Murph - impressive.
Gibbo had a bit of a mare but still enjoyed the experience and he played some good studf in the morning.
Back in the clubhouse and I collected up some of the cards and a quick browse I would say the average score was probably 25-26!!
Smiffy gave out some prizes and wound the day up, I must say the organisation was fantastic Rob and you should be proud you can arrange an event like this and all the banter aside I could see everyone was truly grateful for the time and effort you put in to make these things happen.
I didn't manage to meet or chat to everyone but was good to put a few faces to names and everyone certainly welcoming and friendly.
Here are some videos I took, hopefully they will give you a feel for the course and how stunning it looked on the day. Sorry if they are a bit shaky and if you have the sound up I dont know who that is wheezing and heavy breathing but it sure aint me
Bratty on the Marquess, I didnt realise Gibbo was just behind me as you will see hi ball fly past lol...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4ofq7asEiQ
Gibbo, again on the Marquess....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUqnV1be8-g&feature=youtu.be
Bratty getting his birdie, cant remember the hole but the one with the carry over water, Vig putting out as well....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT57u5EfYpM
Long Par 3 on the Marquess, think it was 14?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoVdYHFyydU
same hole but Vig not impressed...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHl0iGFwsN0
1st tee on the Dukes, this was the group ahead of us I think Murph, Philly and GJBike (doing his Jiminez warm up :rofl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClWdl04WHkU
You might notice this was not the longest drive hole as Murph dumped his in the rough on the left ...
The stunning short par 3 on the Dukes - love this hole (and got a par :whoo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYHe0EXHSKk
All in all a great day and as you would expect we had some great banter in our 4-ball as im sure all the others did, and golf aside that is often what makes the experience such fun. So a big thanks to Simon, Dave and Steve - it was a pleasure to play with you all and hope we can do it again.
See you all at the next one.....
I headed up with Bratty on Wednesday evening and despite some woeful driving and decision making on the route taken by Simon we somehow arrived at the White House around 1030. As it was late we agreed to crash out and get up and to the course early.
Breakfast there is top notch so if anyone goes to Woburn The White House is highly recommened, the course is literally 5 minutes away.
We met Philly169 who was also staying there and then Dermott. Rob popped his head in before heading off to get everything ready.
A few more hello's to some other GM forumers who were clearing out the bacon roll supplies and coffee that was part of the package, I declined (only because I had polished off a full English 10 minutes earlier!!). A quick hit on the range and although I was a bit put off by TXL's choice in shorts I was hitting the ball okay, and then a bit of a walk over to the first tee on the Marquess.
We were second off so was good to meet up with Vig and Gibbo who were making up our 4 , the first 4 lads all got safely off the first, but then I noticed as we went on the tee that the numbers had swelled and we would have a bit of an audience. A few pics and off we went, all made good contact (thank god) and what followed was 4 1/2 hours of golfing heaven, well that was the course, we all played well in parts, I birdied the 2nd, Gibbo shot 17 on the front 9 and Bratty finished strongly. Vig had a bit of an incosistent round but it was quite obvious that he was a pretty accomplished golfer, just one of those rounds (6 on the back 9
).Highlights for me were Vig mis-hitting his tee shot on the glorious 7th, not particulary that but then Bratty pointing out where it had gone and telling Gibbo to go and find it. Which he did most determindley but to no avail, however a sniffer dog would have been less committed!! I then got underneath one and skied one about 50 yards...nice! (only Oddsocks could have got more height !!)
There are many stand out holes on the Marquess and the only downside were the greens being very hard to judge, a little overseeding and quite wet there was no consitstency and our group struggled to get to grips... but hey the same for everyone. Ee knew we wouldnt be challenging for cash so we headed for the lunchtime carvery which was lovely, even with proper gravy that the boys from Yorkshire approved of.
Out in the afternoon on the Dukes, i preferred it as a course and some of the holes were simply stunning. I had a great front 9 for 16 pts but then schoolboy error hitting the wrong ball on 11 (sorry Richard) made me crumble and then the powakaddy battery packed up (im not sure if I mentioned that on the day:blah:??) and I had to push it round from 12 onwards so that was me gone and a paltry 9 back home was woeful. Vig played some great golf and scored 33 to take 2nd place in the afternoon, was good to see and rellay made a few of the holes look quite easy. We passed Murph's 'long-drive' on the 16th and normally I look and think 'yeah if I was on the fairway i would have been up there', but nooooo... this was loooooong, nice shot Murph - impressive.
Gibbo had a bit of a mare but still enjoyed the experience and he played some good studf in the morning.
Back in the clubhouse and I collected up some of the cards and a quick browse I would say the average score was probably 25-26!!
Smiffy gave out some prizes and wound the day up, I must say the organisation was fantastic Rob and you should be proud you can arrange an event like this and all the banter aside I could see everyone was truly grateful for the time and effort you put in to make these things happen.
I didn't manage to meet or chat to everyone but was good to put a few faces to names and everyone certainly welcoming and friendly.
Here are some videos I took, hopefully they will give you a feel for the course and how stunning it looked on the day. Sorry if they are a bit shaky and if you have the sound up I dont know who that is wheezing and heavy breathing but it sure aint me
Bratty on the Marquess, I didnt realise Gibbo was just behind me as you will see hi ball fly past lol...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4ofq7asEiQ
Gibbo, again on the Marquess....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUqnV1be8-g&feature=youtu.be
Bratty getting his birdie, cant remember the hole but the one with the carry over water, Vig putting out as well....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT57u5EfYpM
Long Par 3 on the Marquess, think it was 14?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoVdYHFyydU
same hole but Vig not impressed...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHl0iGFwsN0
1st tee on the Dukes, this was the group ahead of us I think Murph, Philly and GJBike (doing his Jiminez warm up :rofl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClWdl04WHkU
You might notice this was not the longest drive hole as Murph dumped his in the rough on the left ...
The stunning short par 3 on the Dukes - love this hole (and got a par :whoo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYHe0EXHSKk
All in all a great day and as you would expect we had some great banter in our 4-ball as im sure all the others did, and golf aside that is often what makes the experience such fun. So a big thanks to Simon, Dave and Steve - it was a pleasure to play with you all and hope we can do it again.
See you all at the next one.....
