South Downs Probus Club

We all set out for Cowdray Golf Club last Friday in beautiful winter sunshine with high hopes of a low scoring round, anything under 100 would be just fine. My travelling companion, Alan C, assured me the weather forecast promised a fine mixture of sunshine and fluffy clouds, so no need for a brolly today.

Unloading our golf bags from the boot  ….  was that a few drops of rain I just felt?  That wasn’t forecast, probably just a little mizzle, never mind, the forecast shows fine weather so let’s get tee’d off, the mizzle, now drizzle, won’t come to anything.

Hmmm, heading up the first fairway the drizzle had turned to a light shower and it was getting heavier.  Paul was first to get brollied up, followed by me. Oops, Alan didn’t pack a brolly, he trusted the weather forecast.  That could be a problem. Let’s soldier on, the shower will pass.

By the 4th tee the shower had blown through, the sun was back, brollies away, happy days and a smile of relief on Alan’s face. Onward and upward to the 4th fairway basking in the winter sun.

Wind’s getting up a bit as we head up to the rather exposed 5th tee. The rain is back with a strong head wind in our faces as we tee off. Paul gets a good one away. Alan and I hit into the wind and rain and haven’t got a clue where our ball has gone. We spend too long looking and getting soaked. Eventually I throw one down and hit into the driving wind and rain down the 5th fairway. Meanwhile my brolley has blown halfway across the 6th almost hitting Jonathan, Denis and Brian McC.  Soaked to the skin now I run over to retrieve it noticing Alan has headed for cover behind and under the only evergreen in sight. Paul’s looking bedraggled in the lashing rain, even with a brolley.

Enough is enough! The sky still looks dark and threatening. The rain is still lashing down. After a brief discussion a consensus is reached and we trudge off the without finishing the 5th. Respect to Jonathan, Denis and Brian who appear to battling on.

Crest fallen and completely tee’d off we we splodge through the muddy paths back to the clubhouse.  As we wash our trolley wheels in the water logged rough down the side of the 1st fairway, the sun is out again and a fresh clutch of players have tee’d off. Good luck with the British weather and BBC forecasts!

Reward in the clubhouse as a dried off Alan C treats me to a cappuccino and a delicious bacon bap. Happy Days again.

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Friday 3rd May 2024

A bit of a cool start soon livened up after Jonathan got his buggy ‘stuck in the muck’ on the waterlogged path to the right hand side of the first green whilst looking for his ball! After much heaving and puffing by his playing partners Alan C and Brian A pushing the back of the buggy and high revving off the rear wheels by Jonathan in the drivers seat, we eventually got the buggy moving out of muck. Jonathan headed off to look for his ball, oblivious of all the muck the wheels had sprayed on us. Alan and I, just stood there, mouths agape, looking at each other before breaking into a laugh. Of course I immediately took control of the situation and suspended Jonathan’s buggy license for the remainder of the round. No further action will be taken pending Jonathan completing a ‘Careful Buggy Driving’ course in the coming weeks 😂 Best round of the day was from the in form Denis W with 34pts just piping Alan J on 33pts. Well done guys! We are pleased to welcome a new member to Gaffer’s Golf, Steve Lane. He will join our Friday group sometime in the coming weeks.

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Friday 10th May

In perfect golfing weather conditions we all set off with high hopes of high scoring, Stableford that is! We welcomed back Paul P and promoted Chris K to the first group in Brian McC’s absence due to the sudden onset of cold symptoms (hope you are fine for next week). The second group set off with Jonathan’s buggy sporting a bright red ‘L’ sign on the back. After two or three holes, with Jonathan displaying excellent driving technique off both the tee and the buggy, the ‘L’ sign was transferred to a more deserving location, Brian A’s golf bag where it remained for for the rest of a miserable round. No one in the second group broke 30pts, and one of us didn’t reach 20 pts (the clue is in the previous para), I don’t know how the first group did as they were so far ahead of us, they decided not to wait another hour for us to finish! Modest as they both are, maybe in their response to this email they can let us know who champ of the day was.