Sound as a Pound

Yes, we got back to it, after missing out El Saler. The clubs had the rust removed, WD40 applied, and the brollies put away (briefly, there is a story, more on that later). And our 90 dayers, and serial travellers, were back. Welcome back Gary, Viv and Pankaj.

So, a packed field of 27. Who would benefit the most from the enforced layoff?

This chap was feeling top DOLLAR. He wanted to make his MARK today. His PESO was spot on, and he wasn't anticipating any tRUBLE. FRANCly, he was feeling sound as a POUND. bRINGIT on. Who are we talking about? Paul Harrison, our Currencies Direct man, of course. He managed to secure an unbeatable ROE of 2.1666 per hole, to win with 39 points. His YEN for the game was back. RUPEE.

Full results as follows;

Overall winner

Paul Harrison - 39.

Division 1

Winner. Paul Westerman - 37

Runner Up. Gary Stone - 37

Division 2

Winner. Paul Harrison - 39

Runner Up. Roger Miller - 39

What is he doing??

NP's.

Hole 4. Captain Jordan. Birdie?? Nope. Par.

Hole 14. Russ Hedges. Birdie?? Don't ask. 3 putt.

Talking of NP's, here's a story. Dave Smith has been playing for years and has never got close to a hole in one. That is, until he played with us at Poniente on the 22nd January. Hole in one at the 11th. Guess what? He got another, playing with Union Jack at Bonalba on the 17th March. Two holes in one in as many months! But, here's the story. The charity lady was sitting at the 11th. €10 would get you something, but the big prize of course was €1,000 for a hole in one. Yeh, right. Dave wasn't going to do it. He had no cash on him, but the lady said she could take cards now. Reluctantly, he tapped on. Result. The charity lady was so shocked, she hasn't been seen since.

Only a geordie could walk away from a hole in one with more money in his pocket than before.

LBS

No fancy formula for Craig Longstaff. He knew his group would lose more than the average, and that he would do his bit to get the total up to 17. And then he thought the other 5 groups, without his help, would probably do better. He settled for 5 groups at 6 balls lost per group, ie 30. 47 in total, bang on, good thinking. It was a rollover, so a €59 win.

CBKO

There were two preliminary round games played, and we had a correspondent out covering one of them.

Gary Stone v Roger Miller

El Presidente III hadn't touched a golf club in months, but that didn't stop him from carding 5,5,4,4,4,4,4,3,4 on the front 9. Impressive. Unbelievably though, he was 2 down at the turn. The tone was set at the first. Roger had 23 shots, and was playing off the blue tees. He had two shots on the first hole. His approach shot to the green was a thinned wedge that would have been on the road had it not hit the flag. Roger putted out, and won the hole. And so it continued. Both players at their best, but 23 shots was too much, even for a good player playing very well. A win for Roger 3&2.

A shout out here for Colin Grant. He was playing in the same group as Gary and Roger, and they have commented on his game. Colin is an ex Scottish Amateur golfer and even at the ripe young age of 74, it shines through. His swing is to die for, and he is still hitting the ball miles, with confidence and authority. It's a pleasure to witness.

Wayne Stallings v Peter Dymyd

It wasn't Peter's day. He had 9 shots but Wayne is steady and methodical and he ground this one out. Even though the points totals were similar, in fact 29/28 in Peter's favour, Wayne won the holes that mattered. A win for Wayne 5&4.

Costa Blanca League

We returned to Bonalba two days later to play against the Levante Wizards. On the way to the course it was raining heavily. It was still raining heavily 15 minutes before our first tee-time. It was still raining heavily 5 minutes before our tee-time, as you can see from the photo of Mr Grumpy below. We were about to abandon. But then we saw the weather radar showing the rain would pass at 10.00am, and then we saw a glimmer of blue sky heading in our direction. We played the game in warm, dry, sunny conditions.. Unbelievable.

Mr Grumpy, but he soon cheered up and became his normal happy, care free self

Better still, we won the match 6-2. Here are the results.

Our next Society game is at El Plantío on Wednesday 2nd April.

As ever, this game will be sponsored by Blevins Franks, International Tax and Wealth Management. peter.hodgkinson@blevinsfranks.com

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Licence to Play

We expect Members to obtain the appropriate Federated Licence valid in Spain. This licence grants permission to play on all the Courses on our schedule and includes the liability and accident insurance required by Royal Decree 849/1993.

As a general guide, resident Members should be looking to obtain an Annual Licence with handicap from their corresponding Spanish Regional Federation. In the Valencia Region the cost is €105.70. There is a one off joining fee of €15.

Non resident Members can also obtain an Annual Licence if they wish. If not, they should purchase a One Day Licence at each course which affiliates them to the Federation for that day's play. A One Day Licence costs €2.