Jolly Roger
- May 14
- 5 min read
Updated: May 20
We all turned up at La Galiana, just to witness Roger Jennings being jolly and enjoying himself. Remember, he was "influenced" into playing. Or should that be "shamed" into playing. Either way, he wasn't going to play, but tbf he did. Did he enjoy himself? Was he jolly? Had it not been for the horrendous journey on the way, the 30 minute delay, the torrential downpour on the 6th, the cold and the wet, the constant rumble of thunder, 7 blobs, 10 lost balls, and the wait at the end while Christoph Dünwald and Merrick Robinson faffed about, he probably would have. As it was, with just 21 points, he didn't, and he wasn't. Never again.
There was one person who did enjoy himself. Indeed, after his round, he went straight up to Roger to compare and contrast moods. Yes, it's official, the mask has been passed. Tony (Salvadore, slicked back hair and ponytail) Bowers, loves La Galiana. He couldn't get enough of the fresh mountain air and the rolling fairways and greens, and his score of 39 points was miles ahead of anyone else. It's his first win in quite some time and the win takes him to the very top of the gold star chart. Congratulations and well played, Salvadore. He did say that if he wins at La Sella, two wins back to back, he will chop it off??
Full results as follows;
Overall winner
Tony Bowers - 39 points.
Division 1
Winner. Tony Bowers - 39 points
Runner Up. Merrick Robinson 32 points
Division 2
Winner. Ray Gambrill - 34 points
Runner Up. Paul Harrison - 32 points
NP's
Hole 3. Ben Wilcock hit the best shot here, finishing about 8 feet left of the flag. Nightmare green so no birdie. Saved his par.
Hole 14. So difficult to hit the green and stop the ball close to the flag. Merrick Robinson got lucky. His ball ended 10 feet below the hole, pin high, with a straight up hill putt back. Of course he got his birdie, couldn't miss.
LBS
Barry Woodcock is not normally associated with tech in general, never mind quantum computing. Only the other week, he finally managed to download the App! But, he guessed that 83 balls would be lost, and walked away with the €63 jackpot. How did he work it out? He didn't. He looked at the number Mick Callanan had selected (82) and decided it would be smart to go next to him. He couldn't go 81 'cos Poster Boy had thought the same thing but then zigged instead of zagged. 83 was free. The rest is history.
CBKO
There were four Round 1 matches played on the day.
Craig Longstaff v Mick Callanan
Mick was struggling right from the start with a back problem. He did his best to carry on, even resorting to drugs, but to no avail. Enough was enough after 9, Mick conceded. Craig goes through to the next round following the concession.
Christoph Dünwald v Merrick Robinson
This was going to be an interesting one. Two very similar characters, going head to head. Christoph had six shots to play with. It was close. At the 16th it was a/s. We are not sure who won that hole but Christoph's drive went down the bank on the right, onto the buggy path, hit a parked buggy, and luckily came to halt. Otherwise, his ball would have kept going, and going, and going. Anyhow, it finished a/s at the 18th. Then came a frantic phone call to the Captain. Help, what do we do now? Go back 100 yards and play off from there was the answer, and no Christoph, you don't get to use your shot on this hole a second time. He didn't need it. Merrick went over the back of the green into the bunker. Not sure if he did a Hitler, but the match was lost right there. A win for Christoph after a play off at the 18th.
Ray Gambrill v Andy Price
This was going to be another interesting one. Unfortunately Andy's back injury problem returned and he had to concede as early as the 5th. It's a shame because Andy was fairly confident that the problem had been diagnosed and fixed. Back to the treatment table for Andy. Ray goes through following the concession.
Martin Oddy v Pankaj Bakshi
Pankaj has been putting this match off for ages so that he could get himself into peak physical and mental condition for this contest. Lessons, work-outs, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, nothing has been left to chance. Would it all come together on the day? It certainly looked that way. He was 4 up after 5 holes. Then complacency, and thoughts of more travelling, kicked in. He was back to just 1 up at the turn.
He had a lucky half at the 10th. Focus, he remembered his shrink telling him. It worked, he was back to 3 up after 13. Surely now? But no, those thoughts of India and Thailand came back again. This time, he found himself back at a/s after 16. Don't panic, he remembered his travel agent telling him. He didn't and he squeeked a win at the 17th, thanks to a rubbish pitch shot from you know who that rolled through a bunker and up the bank into scruffy grass.
Both players tried their very best to right royally mess up the 18th. But, Pankaj's fortune teller told him that his opponent, despite having a shot on this hole, would right royally mess it up even more than him, so not to worry. She was right. The 18th was halved. A win for Pankaj by 1 hole.
Back on the terrace of the clubhouse, Captain Jordan did his thing. Wasn't that fun? The consensus was, no it wasn't. Quite possibly, never again.
Our next game is at La Sella on Wednesday 28th May.
As ever, this game will be sponsored by Blevins Franks, International Tax and Wealth Management. peter.hodgkinson@blevinsfranks.com
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Another entertaining write up. The pen is mightier than a number seven iron.
Your reports are always a good read Martin.
Well done Martin and well done to all the victorious. Well done to La Galiana in concreting mine and Rogers thoughts about your venue. Well done to the green keepers. The fluffy 8 inch deep roughs around every bunker was a great idea. Very ornate.
So sorry that Merrick and I went into overtime and we kept everyone waiting! We had so much fun with the match, it was going back and forth and it was a very honest competition! It was our first time to play together in a flight and hopefully not the last. But I‘m with Don Salvadore: What‘s not to like at ‚La Galiana‘? It‘s stunning!!
What might have been, the thunder and lightning certainly affected some players games…. Great report as always.