Posted on behalf of Captain Mark
The art of successfully delivering anything is primarily down to preparation. Failing to prepare, prepare to fail!
The Captains Drive-in and Ball didn’t start at 6am on Saturday when I got up. It started months ago! There’s a lot of work behind the scenes that ensures these days run smoothly by a number of people. So I have to start by thanking Caroline, Matt and everyone from the club, Also Mr Loveless, Jane (unofficial Ladies Captain) and of course the wife Lisa who together made this day happen.
Busy clubhouse preparing to head out
The Captain’s Drive-in, in my mind was the pre-event to the main event later that day. We play golf, we drink beer, we eat food and then watch the exiting and entering captains putt-out and drive-in.
And that’s how it went. The course looked fantastic and I know the green keepers had been working hard leading up towards this day, so another big thanks to them.
Our fourball consisted of current Captain Joe, Jane, Tracy and myself and I’m afraid we didn’t play our finest golf. It’s a game of small margins and it was these that prevented us from potentially being nearer to the winning team (that and together with some truly sh1t golf by us all). However we enjoyed the round 🙂
Beer and food swiftly followed and I believe the curry went down well with everyone. So well in that when I finally got to get some lunch there was no chicken left, so it was rice, curry sauce and nan. Still nice though…
Joe putted out in 3 (he choked the second putt!) before we brushed aside the pay and play on the first in preparation for my drive in. I had forgotten previous years when Mr Adams somehow turns into a stealth ninja and vanishes into the scenery, only to jump out on the new captains back swing and set off the hooter. And yes he did it successfully again this year, hence me hitting the ground and only managing to hit the ball 174 yards. A year ago I would have taken that ! ! ! Revenge will be mine.
The Captains Ball
One hundred and sixteen people mostly from the Swashbucklers and Pistol Knights meant an excellent turnout. All kicked off with pre-dinner drinks, which led to the first event of the night. Our very own “Strictly Come Dancing” display by Tom Loveless and his partner Emily both aged 12. I’ll be honest I didn’t know how this would be received, but just looking at everyone standing, fixated to the pair, it was a massive hit and they were truly fantastic.
Dinner followed with our second session from Tom and Emily, before I invited Graham and Janine to have a dance off with the pros. I think if there was a hole in the floor Graham would have jumped into, he went as white as his shirt. Revenge is Sweet 🙂
This led nicely into the much anticipated speech.
I think leading up to the event you can doubt your performance, become nervous and worry that people won’t laugh and you sink like the Titanic. Well I’ll leave others to give their view, but I totally loved it and could have gone on. For me the best bit was the Yellow and Red cards I had created, predicting the heckling from the audience and punishing their wallets for their mistakes.
What could have been a total barracking of the new captain, resulted in laughter and silence after the fourth fine was dished out (And yes Mr Adams was one of the receivers). All those nights running the speech through my head paid off. This followed by a disco, roulette and partying until 2 in the morning.
A great day I will never forget, made special by all those who attended…
Many thanks again,
Mark Wheddon
Surrey National Club Captain
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