Captains Drive In 2018 – Thanks Mark… Welcome Captain Dom

Damp day for the Drive In today.  We had a heap of rain overnight which saw bunkers pooling with water but the course was in good nick and the greens rolling surprisingly well.  Threat of rain didn’t turn up and we had a decent day given the possible alternative.

Good turnout – 18 teams of nearly all 4balls.  Format on the day is team scramble with a shotgun start.  Early start so clubhouse was full in good time and we headed out to our respective tees.  I was pleased to see we had a few blue tee positions as well, perhaps not a popular opinion but on scramble days I reckon we could play all 18 off the blues… more traffic on the tee boxes can only be good for upcoming majors.

Dom’s charity this year is Prostate Cancer UK.  Posters are up around the clubhouse, collection tins around, and badges are available from Dom and Chris.  A great charity, I hope everyone puts their grubby mitts into pockets a few times this year.

Jaggsy, Strongbow, Ritchie and I were on the 8th.  Not a great hole to start on and only picking up an early run of pars didn’t get us off to a great start.  It’s about momentum in scramble, stringing birdies together, attacking when you can as a team and hoping a few long putts drop to get team confidence up.  Think we had 2 birdies on our first9, 4 on the back so only good for 6th overall.  We didn’t convert the easier holes which put us back a bit, but managed to birdie each of the par3s and saw a nice putt drop on the 16th for another courtesy of Mr Strong.  Special note for Jaggsy sinking his own tee shot on the 3rd and nearly knocking the pin out on our very last hole on the par3 7th.

Few stories emerged from the day.  We had one Pistol Knight’s tee shot nearly requiring a spade after being driven stright down into the soft tee box.  Not to be outdone, a certain Swashie somehow managed to hit/top his driver behind himself on the 18th tee.

Cheerio Bob

I understand today was Bob English’s last game up at Surrey National.  A fixture at the club in the few years I’m been a member, Bob’s always got a smile and good word for everyone.  Pleased to see him playing after his recent serious knee problems… members all wish you all the best Bob!

Team Winners

A Swashbuckler team won the day with a fantastic score of 56.3.   Well done Jim, the Beef (the super sub for Mr Loveless), Al and Lee.

I’m sure all the winners of the nearest the pin, longest drive and closest in two (yes, well done Mark), would all extend thanks to Dom for the prizes.  Oh and I hope we can all ensure Dom receives a drink back from each of us at some point this year for putting up the tab for the first round at the bar for us all today. Nice one Dom.

Putt out, drive ‘in’

Before the formalities and the prize-giving, Dom heaped some nice prizes on the ‘ever-humble’ Winkle… including some Michael Jackson bits, two how to keep calm golf books, a trophy and an ironman t-shirt.  Nice touch Dom (he only swore about 10 times receiving them.. not bad).

So the next thing was for the outgoing Captain to putt-out, and the new Captain to drive-in. 

In front of the members, a nice tricky putt was found for Mark on the 18th which was handily positioned in the middle of the green…. and he duly stepped up and 3putted!

Mob-handed with some Pistols for some vocal support, Dom then headed over to the 1st tee.  We waited for some pay n players to hack their way up the fairway and the scene was set for Dom to smash one up the middle.  Sweepie was down for the distance, Baz Sweatman and Steve Bracey were positioned up the fairway to zap the distance of the drive.

A very respectable hit from Dom, helped by a poorly timed horn from the clubhouse, saw him knock it up the right side on the bank.  A few nervy moments for the spotters to find it (losing it would’ve been a bit messy), and 178 197 yards was called.  Congrats Andy Gorman.

Good job Dom, importantly you beat Winkle by odd 30yards from last year, and very safely over Jerry’s mighty hit of 60 yards odd a few years ago.

Thanks Mark for your year as club captain… and welcome Captain Dom and his vice-captain Chris.

 

Finally, scores from the day’s Scramble