Alicante, February 2009

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The weather, the condition of the course and the welcome of the staff at Alicante
and the craic all led to this outing being of the highest order.

A clear blue sky and temperatures in the late teens fooled most of us into thinking
that Spring had sprung, the flowers had riz, I wonder where de birdies iz etc etc; so
much so that there was even a rash of shorts seen.

We gathered by the bar for a complementary coffee and tomato toast breakfast and
the pleasant news that our green fees had been reduced.

Good start! But our planned numbers were down, as one couple Gordon and Caryl had
the unfortunate experience of being mugged in Barcelona the week before and our
ladies Long Drive champion, Kevin Ramsey had been unable to get out of the Arctic
Circle. Wot? Good grief, Kev what are skis and helicopters for? So a small field of just
18 kicked off at just after 10 on a very uncrowded course.
It's clear that the Alicante staff have really concentrated on tending the course over
the slow season. The fairways were firm, grassy and well mown, even down to a
well-tended short rough, whilst the greens were amongst the best we've seen at any
stage of the season. Smooth, fast and with very few "bobbles". So no excuses, then.
Play was punctuated by the usual spattering of incidents: Norman Jermon was seen
rolling up his socks and going for a paddle after dropping one into the lake protecting
the 3rd green.

The Van De Velde impression met with about as much success and
after a great deal of splashing, sharp words and a sparkling-clean right foot, Norman
picked up for "blob". Further round the course, amongst the usual crumb-hungry
geese and swans (how do they know to head straight for the nearest buggy?) there
was a pair of rather smart looking peacocks. Now, being up-market birds, the idea of
the humble crusts off Steve Lamb's sandwiches was clearly not enough, so one of
them snaffled his prized Snickers bar and made off before Steve had time to put his
rescue club to an entirely different and new purpose. Amongst the last threesome,
John Mesher had a couple of lucky; he would say skilful, shots. On the short 12th his
tee shot went straight into the water. Off he stomped, dropped another ball, and
then, from about 50 metres, hoisted one, which landed a foot from the pin and slowly
rolled in for a par three. Was he smug, or what?

(Photo shows Norman Jermon at 3rd & Kevin Ramsey’s opponent in the
Artic circle)

Later, on a 171 metre par three, John smacked his rescue off the tee in the general
direction of the green, looked vague and said "I have no idea where that went...did
you see it?" He was told it looked like it had gone left and probably through the green.
Off he stomped again, only to find that his ball had taken a kick from something and
was 3 feet from the hole. In it went for a birdie 2. Smug again, or what! Taking
inspiration from all of this, although with much less smugness, being a lady, (indeed
our only lady on this occasion) was Gill Ayrton, who was quietly smacking some super
shots and putting like a pro.

At the end it was, guess who, John Mesher who won the individual first prize of our
winner's red baseball cap, a bottle of half-decent brandy and since it was nearly
Valentine's Day, a box of chocs. Gary Stone, showing us the way as ever, came
second, with 36 points and lost on count back and Gill Ayrton came a well-deserved
third.

The team prize was won by Pete Wilkie, El Presidente Dos, Steve Lamb and Ray
Garbutt. Nearest the pins were won by Gary Stone on the third (commendable,
since he must have been holding his sides watching Norman), and Snickerless Steve
Lamb on the 12th.

 

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