A bad day at the office

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The Tropical Golf Group

Tuesday, May 23, Pattana – Stableford

I remember someone (not me) once saying that, “even the worst day on a golf course is better than the best day at work”.  Well, apart from the fact I have had some really great days at work, I cannot remember a worse day on the golf course than here today at Pattana – not the course’s fault mind, and I won also!

Derek Brook (right) with Brian Parish.
Derek Brook (right) with Brian Parish.

After checking in at Pattana it was a quick change and onto the first tee and we were to play the A & C nines in that order.  We knew it had been raining lately so ‘lift, clean and place’ was put in before we started.  The first group teed it up and off we went, with the fairways being a bit damp underfoot, but not so bad.

Then the first drops started to fall as we played A2.  As we putted out it got progressively harder so we dashed to the next hole, a par 3, and John hit his tee shot near the pin.  As I bent down to put my tee in, the thunder and lightning started and we all ran for the rest stop nearest us.

Soon the next three groups joined us as the thunder crashed and the lightning flashed.  For the best part of an hour we waited as the rain fell.  Eventually it slowed and we continued as the skies threatened to brighten up but the rain never fully stopped.

Wet and miserable we battled on and it felt really cold so we did not drink water.  Later discussion showed that several of the players showed distress that we put down to dehydration.  One of the players from the last group said he had never played all 18 holes in the rain as the last group did.  All were shattered, for me all my towels were wet as was every bit of my clothing, it was very unpleasant.  It makes you think ‘why do we do it?’  The answer is because we know no better.  No sense, no feeling!

When we got back to home base at BJ’s it was straight into the results and the winner was declared as yours truly, Derek Brook, with 37 points, ahead of Brian Parish in second with 36.  We then had a three-way count back on 35 points that saw Dick Warberg in third, Mashi Kaneta fourth and Landis Brooks just missing out.

Near Pins: Landis Brooks (2), John Anderson, AVD.

Friday, May 26, Greenwood – Medal

It was once again double winner day, where the Tropical Golfers monthly mug and golfer of the month awards were up for grabs.

Landis Brooks.
Landis Brooks.

Greenwood is a fair test for stroke play.  Tricky enough but many fairways are rather wide to take some pressure off.  The course was in good shape and the greens ran fairly true.

We started out under a hot sunny sky – that lasted about 15 minutes.  Suddenly the caddies scrambled about, putting rain jackets on the golf bags and taking umbrellas out.  Sure enough the water came down, and play stopped for about 20 minutes.  After that it let up to a drizzle that went on and off for the rest of the round.  All this made an already challenging and nervous day more difficult.  It’s not easy to keep your cool during such times, but one golfer managed to do it better than the rest.

Landis Brooks won the day with a net 71 off his single digit (9) handicap, collecting yet another monthly mug.  Landis has been on a roll lately and to prove the point he also won the golfer of the month award!

Rounding out the field, Dick Warberg (21) and Don Carmody (29) reached handicap with net 72’s, returning Nigel Perry (25) turned in a fine net 73 and John Davis (15) nipped Brian Parish (14) on count back with net 74 for the final podium spot.