golfing at studley wood again…

Pete, Ken, Steve and I used to play golf at Studley Wood EVERY Friday afternoon… and we kept this up for about three years.
Those Fridays hold very special memories for all of us.
Sometimes (in the winter, for instance), we only managed to squeeze in four holes before it got dark – ridiculous really, but we’d made a commitment to each other that, despite our incredibly busy working lives, long hours and hectic schedules, we’d try to keep our “golf dates” sacrosanct.
Well, today, for the first time in ages, our golfing fourball rode the fairways once again!!
As I mentioned on facebook this morning, it was going to be the first time I’d have swung a club since playing in France at the start of June… and I predicted that “it could be messy”.
Well, it was rather…
Actually, I should qualify that… yes, it was very messy for me (not my finest round of golf), but the other three played really well. Unfortunately, Pete drew the short straw and played with me and we ended up losing on the 17^th green.
But, hey, the score didn’t really matter (oh no?)!!
Actually, we had a BRILLIANT time – enjoying each other’s company, being on a golf course together again… and beautiful weather.
Very special people. Very happy times.
Photo: the inevitable selfie on the 18^th green (Steve, Pete, Ken and me).

le tour de normandie

I’ve just returned from a pretty amazing five day golf tour of Normandy. It was brilliantly organised by my great mate StevieE and eight of us (Ken, Christian, Jonathan, Howard, Andy, Mark, Steve and I) paraded our talents over the following golf courses (and clubhouses!): Wimereux, Hardelot: Les Pins, Le Touquet: La Mer, Belle Dune and Aa St Omer. All five courses were stunning – both in terms of beauty and difficulty!

The weather forecast leading up to the tour looked pretty bad but, in the event, we only had one day when it rained virtually non-stop… and, indeed, the sun shone brightly for a couple of days.
From a golfing perspective, I was somewhat apprehensive (slight understatement!) at the prospect of playing such challenging courses having only played three rounds of golf in the past two years… and, at times, it really DID feel like torture – standing over the ball and not having clue as to its final destination! But, in the event, I was able to muddle along reasonably well (and even won at Belle Dune!).
Everyone got on really well (despite Andy and Mark suffering from “tour tummy” – or something like that!) and we had a marvellous time. I have to say that, thanks to the Channel Tunnel, access to Normandy was incredibly easy and quick (especially if Steve is driving!).
Another bonus was being in France again… and enjoying the French countryside, food and, in particular, the towns of Le Touquet and Montreuil. Stunning scenery and elegant architecture (and people!).
A wonderful time spent with lovely people (including two of my best mates, Ken and Steve).
I’m a very lucky man.
Photo: Jon, me, Howard, Mark, Andy, Christian, Steve and Ken in front of the New Zealand rugby team at the Hardelot: Les Pins club (“The Haka and the Hackers”?).
PS: Although he will hate me saying this, my place on Le Tour was entirely thanks to StevieE – who gave me my “ticket” as a Christmas present (really!)! The word “generous” doesn’t come close to describing his generosity. As I say, I’m a VERY lucky man to have such a wonderful friend.

golfing again… at last!

I played golf for only the second time in 27 months on Sunday. Ken, Steve+I played at my old Studley Wood Golf Club… on a most wonderful, sunny, cloudless March afternoon. My golf was pretty awful (theirs was rather good!), but it was just great to be on a golf course again… and with two of my very best friends.

golfing again…

I last played golf on 1 November 2012 (that’s 19 months ago). It proved to be a painful experience… some hip pain, but much worse was that I experienced sharp shooting pains down my right leg virtually every time I hit a shot.

So, ten weeks after my hip replacement, I tried again… and played golf with my great golfing mates Pete, Steve and Ken at my former golf club in Oxford (Studley Wood)… in glorious sunshine (and, somewhat amazingly, on a virtually empty golf course - was it a case of “Mad dogs and Englishmen”?... ok, not quite, Ken is a joint UK/USA citizen these days!)
As far as I was concerned, the quality of the golf was entirely unimportant – the crucial thing was that I was actually PLAYING golf again (or at least trying to) with my old, regular golfing buddies (in the “old days”, we used to play EVERY Friday afternoon, 12 months a year).
For the record, we “tossed” for partners and Ken+I took on Pete+Steve…
Ridiculously, I started by scoring a par (ie. the score you SHOULD get if you were a “scratch” or zero handicap golfer) on the first hole… followed by another par on the third!!
In the end (my fellow golfers had generously allowed me to play off a handicap of 22 at the start – when I used to play regularly, 12 years ago, my handicap was 15 – but soon slashed this to 18), Ken+I won the game easily… and I finished with five “proper” pars for the round (and, when I’d checked the scorecard afterwards, found that I’d actually played the round to a 18 handicap). As you might imagine, my so-called friends gave me a fair amount of “stick”… accusations of faking my injury to gain sympathy and achieve a higher handicap and accusations of hours of practice on the golf range (if only!) etc etc.
In the event, I was so relieved and thankful that I’d been able to play an entire round of golf (and walk the whole way round) completely pain free… and it really was lovely to meet up with my great mates again.
It feels quite miraculous and I’m very grateful to the NHS!
Photo: golfing-selfie (Steve, Pete, Ken+me)!
PS: I don’t expect to maintain such reasonable golf scoring… I should point out (to the golfers among you) that I holed a fair number of putts yesterday (and this only happens once in a blue moon).
PPS: I finished the round by hitting my ball into the lake (twice!) on the 18^th!

 

four go lunching in oxford…

I got together with three of my very good golfing mates (Steve, Bob and Pete) for lunch in Oxford yesterday. Usually, the four of us would be meeting up on a golf course but, with my hip issues ruling this out (hopefully just in the short-/medium-term), it made a lovely change to relax around a lunch table at The Red Lion, Gloucester Green to enjoy putting the world to rights over the odd glass (we’d all travelled by public transport!).

Everyone was in very good form and we did laugh an awful lot!
It was such a beautiful, sunny day that I also managed to fit in a stroll (well, more accurately, a hobble!) around Christchurch Meadow beforehand. Beautiful.
A VERY good day with some brilliant friends.
Photo: Steve, me, Pete and Bob (I really like this photograph because it looks as though I’m just drinking bottled water... which, of course, I was!).

golfing whimp or just old and decrepit?

I played golf yesterday with my great mates Ken and Steve in Oxford (Pete cried off due to grandchild-sitting duties!).

We had a lovely time together - although we weren’t very impressed by the constant rain showers when the forecast had been for sunshine (of course, the sun came out as we were finishing our round!).
The only depressing thing about the day (apart from the weather) was that I came away thinking that I might be about to label myself as a “former golfer”.
I’ve been suffering from hip problems off and on for some two years now (I’ve just typed in the word “hip” on a search through my blog and came across this note in January2011).
I hadn’t played golf since our trip to Spain in April (apart from hitting a few balls on Iona in June). I’d very reluctantly had to cry off from playing at Burnham+Berrow with good friend Jake at the end of September (because I was finding it very difficult just to walk, let alone get round a golf course).  Physiotherapy subsequently improved things considerably and I found I could walk reasonably well (ie. rather than limp!), so I decided to give golf “another go” yesterday – and accepting that I might well be suffering a little by the end of the round. In the event, the walking was pretty good (not back to normal, but acceptable). What came as a shock was that I had shooting pains down my right leg virtually every time I hit a shot with my driver… and woods and long irons (note for non-golfers: these are the longer clubs, in terms of actual length, in my golf bag). So, I very soon stopped trying to use my driver altogether and either avoided using my woods and long irons wherever possible or just hit “half shots”.
The phrase “golf handicap” has developed a whole new meaning!
If this is what the future holds for me as a golfer, then I just don’t want to know – which, given the pleasure that the game and my golfing friends have granted me over the past 30 years(?), is pretty depressing.
I had been half thinking of doing a half marathon run as one of my “retirement projects”; this now seems like a laughable pipedream – I’ve tried running and can do little more than a painful 10metre “shuffle” (which must look hilarious to any onlookers)… at present, there’s no way that I could even keep up with our 3-year-old granddaughter!!
I’m very loathe to do so, but I may have to seek further medical advice.
Background (apologies, but while writing the above, I thought it would useful to jot down some background notes as a future reminder to me): My mother and her mother both had double replacements and so, when I started have “hip issues”, I feared that it might be an indicator of me following family history. I went to see the doctor in September and was sent for an x-ray. Thankfully, the results revealed a “normal” hip – but it was suggested that I was added to the two-month physiotherapy waiting list. In transpired that the way they “do” this in Bristol Community Health is through detailed telephone conversations between the patient and a senior physiotherapist (who has access to the x-ray results).
My physiotherapist reckons I’m suffering from ‘tensor fasciae latae’ overload (note: nothing to do with coffee!!) – possibly due to some weakening of my gluteal muscles. He’s unsure why this occurred in the first place, but reckons it’s a pattern he sees quite regularly… although he added that, despite the clear x-ray, there is a “small possibility” that it’s an early sign of osteoarthritis.
I’ve only been doing my twice-daily exercises for about 10 days thus far (apparently, it might take 5-6 weeks for the muscles to show a marked increase in strength), but have already seen some improvement (I’ve been told I can continue my daily walking, but to try to restrict this to say 2-3 miles for the time being).
I’m probably guilty of trying to run before I can walk!

golfing on iona

Unfortunately, Adam+I had to abandon plans for golfing at the Iona Golf Course on Monday evening due to rain (Adam’s now left the island at the end of his volunteering stint). With my days on the island fast running out, I decided to walk to the Machair this morning on my day off (where the golf course is located) to spend a little time sketching and also to take the opportunity to hit a few golf balls.

It may not be Pebble Beach, Carnoustie, Ballybunion or St Andrews, but it WAS absolutely beautiful (and no sheep were harmed in the process!).
Photo: an obliging tourist agreed to take this pic - so Ken, Steve, Pete et al could have photographic evidence!  

golfing and green fingers

In an ideal world, I’ve sometimes thought it would be rather nice to have “green fingers”. Clearly, in the real world, I don’t. That was until yesterday. As you might be able to see from the photograph (yes, it’s my ancient-looking hand), I now really do have green fingers!
I went back to my former golf club (Studley Wood near Oxford) yesterday to participate in the annual Bob Head Classic Golf Tournament – to celebrate Bob’s birthday. Last year, at about this time, the golf greens were apparently suffering from some fungal disease. So this year, as a precaution, they decided to spray all the greens with a green dye (which apparently contains fertilizer and some magic potion)(really?). It makes the course look as if it’s trying to impress passing helicopters, for some reason. It also means that your golf balls end up being covered in the stuff… and, of course, so do your hands (well, at least your non-golf glove hand).
It’s now getting on for 24 hours since I played and I must have washed my hands more than 20 times since I finished the round… and, as the photograph hopefully illustrates, my hand is STILL green! I have to say, I’m not very impressed.
Actually, it was a really good day. There were more than 20 of us playing and it was great meeting up with some old friends again (school terms have meant that I’ve missed the past six “tournaments”).
PS: Hardly playing these days means that my golf is somewhat unpredictable in terms of quality. This was well illustrated by my exploits at the first hole (par 4) yesterday: without having hit any practice balls, I played two superb shots to put myself some 10feet from the hole and ended up four-putting!

golfing at celtic manor

Have just returned from Wales (well, across the Severn Bridge from Newport!) after a couple of days’ golf with great mates Steve, Pete and Bob. We’d found a very good “deal” which provided two rounds of golf at two of their championship courses – Montgomerie and Roman Road (unfortunately, NOT the Ryder Cup course) - plus an overnight stay in their 5-star hotel for £103 each.
The “youngsters” (Steve and me) took on the “oldies” (Pete and Bob) in a 36 hole challenge match. After leading overnight by three holes, we ended up “thrashing” them 4 up and 3 to play. Actually, that’s not quite accurate. Steve more or less “thrashed” them on his own. I really didn’t play well at all – which probably reflected that I’d only played one round of golf (in April) since Southern Ireland Golf Tour last October! Beautiful courses (especially the Montgomerie) and excellent hotel - despite its awful external appearance (especially when viewed from the M4!). We were also pretty lucky with the weather – very windy both days (gusting 40-50mph at times?); showery yesterday, but mainly bright sunshine today.
Lots of laughs and great banter (of course!).
Photo: Steve, me, Pete and Bob by the first tee on the Montgomerie course.

9/11…. ten years on

Everyone can remember that day ten years ago…. For me, I was in my office and Jan, one of our architectural staff, had picked up some incredible footage on the internet of a plane hitting one of the twin towers in New York. We all watched in total disbelief – each of us speculating as to what must have happened…. a technical malfunction? pilot error?.... nothing seemed to make sense. Then the second plane hit the other tower and, after various “OMG” exclamations etc, we all went VERY quiet. It seemed clear that this was some sort of deliberate, planned attack. Like many people, I suspect, we didn’t get any work done in the office for the rest of the afternoon…. we kept on checking updates via the internet. I remember getting home and simply staring at the television for hours on end; eventually going to bed but continuing to listen to updates via the World Service.
Completely sickening.
Just over three weeks later, Ken, Steve and I were in New York – as part of our pre-arranged (amazing) golf tour of New York State (Steve+I were in the air as US/UK air strikes took place in Afghanistan). Ken, who had arrived in NYC on business a couple of days earlier, had been brought up in New York; as a kid, he’d watched the twin towers being built. We all knew that our relatively limited time in the NYC would be very harrowing, particularly for Ken. Understandably, we weren’t allowed to get close to the twin towers site (thank goodness… and I only have a few non-digital photos, so I can’t show post them here), but these are some of my key memories of that time:
a) There were stars+stripes EVERYWHERE.
b) Security was massive!
c) Groups of people would be standing and applauding every truck (demolition/construction/fire) that entered the twin tower “zone”.
d) When people knew that Steve+I were British, they were effusive in their praise for Tony Blair (who they clearly felt would make a much better US president than Bush) – for what they saw as his powerful and appropriate words in response to the attack.
e) We were able to eat in one of the best restaurants in Greenwich Village (normally we would have had to have booked weeks in advance) and were welcomed with open arms – by and large, it seemed that people were afraid to venture out of their homes.
f) We took a boat ride on the Hudson river and simply stared at the “void” in the skyline that WAS the World Trade Centre and the ongoing stream of smoke and steam that continued to rise from the site.
g) Ken gave a memorable sermon at St Mary’s church, Thame within a matter of days of 9/11 (I’ve tried to track down a link to a tape but, thus far, without success – Ken: any suggestions?).
I returned to New York five years ago with Ken (plus Moira, Debby, Gail and Ian) and, thanks to his generosity, we stayed in a beautiful hotel in downtown Manhattan (as you do!) - only some 200m or so from the World Trade Centre site itself. I still found it very difficult to take in the full extent of what had happened on 9/11, but going to St Paul’s Chapel (located immediately alongside the site and which, amazingly, survived intact) brought it all into focus. This link gives some idea of what went on there.
My own (badly) patched-together photograph of the World Trade Centre site shown here (taken in 2006) sadly fails to convey the extent of the devastation that took place in September 2001 but, for me, it provides a poignant reminder of that fateful day.
I just hope and pray that there aren’t any major incidents to mark today’s tenth anniversary.

mini irish tour reunion

Ken, Steve, Simon+I met up for a game of golf at Ogbourne Downs, near Swindon earlier on today (Barry+Christian were the only Irish tourists missing). Ken+I beat the Eyre brothers by four holes (or something like that) but we all had a lovely time and the weather was just about perfect. It was my first game of 2011 – in fact, it was the first time I’d touched a club since our Irish Tour in October – and, not for the first time after a prolonged absence from golf, I played “out of my skin” for the first nine holes (just five shots over the course’s scratch par!). The second nine weren’t quite up to that standard – although I did birdie the 17th hole! It was great meeting up again and the others are already talking of more golf trips to Ireland (I don’t think my pension will stretch that far unfortunately!).

Photo: Steve teeing off on the 12th, watched by Ken+Simon (the wonderful "long valley" hole is in the background).

irish golf tour countdown

Played golf at Ogbourne Downs Golf Club, near Swindon, yesterday afternoon with three of my five fellow golf tourists – Ken, Steve and Barry, who I hadn’t previously met, in beautiful October sunshine. The game was arranged on the basis that “some” of us (ie. me) needed a little practice before we departed for our golf week in Eire. We had a lovely time and the bonus was that Barry+I beat Ken+Steve on the 18th green - it’s amazing just how often our games "go to the last hole".

Photo: Just to prove that the sun did indeed shine – me, Steve, Barry+Ken at the end of our round.

ryder cup

What an amazing sporting occasion the Ryder Cup is. Golf looks such an easy game on the television but (and believe me, as a player of some very indifferent golf in my time)(actually, most of the time!) the shots the players were hitting, with all the pressure they were playing under, were just stunning. Unfortunately (not having sky tv), I didn’t see a single “live” shot, but golf on the radio – or even via the BBC website live updates – strangely somehow felt even better. Of course, I’m delighted that Europe won (what an amazing day it was yesterday), but the thing that perhaps gives me the biggest “buzz” is the gentlemanly conduct (yes, I’m just an old softy!) and the generous words of all the players – both the victors and the vanquished.
Photo: I hope you’re impressed by this… it’s a silver cup from our very own sideboard cupboard at home. It’s tiny (only about 10cm in diameter) and was presented by Lady Ryder to Clara Watts (a relation of Moira’s grandmother) who was “in service” to Lady R from 1882 to 1905.

Oh yes, we are VERY well connected you know!

golfing with jake+miles

It was Jake’s birthday and he was determined to play golf at Saunton yesterday (he played there last year) and, this time, invited Miles+me to join him. It’s an amazing links course on the west Devon coast – I think it’s probably the most difficult course I’ve ever played (and I seem to have played quite a few over the years!) - we played the East Course, which is rated number 60 in the world! The combination of playing a course you didn’t know, the need to play lots of semi-blind shots and the comparatively narrow fairways (set amongst the dunes+hillocks+thick, thick rough) meant that anything off-line was very heavily penalised. We all seemed to lose an awful lot of balls(!) but, fortunately, also played some pretty shots too.
Farrington Gurney or Studley Wood are going to seem comparatively straightforward after this!
Photo: Miles+Jake on the first tee – with just a hint of what we were letting ourselves in for in the background (if you can make it out)!

end of term golf

It was the last day of term yesterday and, to celebrate, good mates Andy+Jake suggested we play golf immediately after school at Farrington Gurney Golf Club (I drive within half a mile of the club twice a day during term time, but had never played there). It was a lovely course and the sun shone and some of us played excellent golf – unfortunately not me (some good stuff, but far too many errant shots)! Great way to finish the week… and it reminded me of those Friday afternoons at Studley Wood with Ken, Steve and Pete (where are they now?!).
As it WAS the last day of term, I obviously had to go into Bristol and meet up with some more school mates and enjoy the odd glass of red…. obviously.
Photo: Jake took this one of me admiring another relaxed, perfect approach shot to the green (in my dreams).

year of the tiger

Moira+I went up the City Museum+Art Gallery yesterday to see some of the Chinese New Year celebrations. As it’s the “Year of the Tiger”, our artist friend Tony Eastman had been invited to provide various tiger artefacts that he’d been collecting from around the world over many years – some wonderful stuff. We also watched the Lion Dance in the main foyer, performed by the University of Bristol Chinese Lion Dance Troupe. LOTS of others turned out to watch it too – the foyer was packed out and so were the first and second floor galleries. A really impressive spectacle (the Museum+Art Gallery really is just brilliant!).
Photo: Lion dance; small Chinese spectator and part of Tony’s Tiger Collection.
PS: Played golf at Studley Wood, Oxford this morning with Pete, Bob and Steve (largely thanks to the “other” Steve, we beat P+B by three holes). Lovely time despite the cold and grey.

irish golf tour 2010

Shortly after 9/11 in 2001 my lovely buddies, Ken+Steve, and I went golfing to New York State. I was an amazing time (taking in such courses as Beth Page Black and Oak Hill). While we were there, we met up with the equally amazing “Coach” (Tony Gamboli). We vowed to lure Tony over to the UK and, sure enough, in 2003 Tony and his son Michael (plus our mate Stuart) joined us on a “The Famous Scotland Golf Tour” (taking in such courses as Prestwick, Machrihanish, Gleneagles, Carnoustie, and St Andrews New Course… as you do!).
Well, it’s all going to happen again later this year (24-30 October) when Tony and Michael join Ken, Steve and I (plus Simon, Larry and Barry) on a tour of Southern Ireland (pathetically, even though Moira is half Irish, I’ve NEVER been to Ireland!). Once again, Steve (not me!) has put together another breathtaking itinerary: Monday – Old Head; Tuesday – Waterville; Wednesday – Tralee; Thursday – Ballybunion Cashen; Friday – Ballybunion Old Course.
Photos: Old Head, Waterville, Tralee, Ballybunion Cashen and Old Course.
PS: Think this might have to become a new blog (watch this space!).

golf with ken+steve

At very short notice and, despite the rather poor weather forecast, Ken, Steve+I met up at Ogbourne Downs for a game of golf this morning. The course was really excellent and represented a very useful “find” - being virtually halfway between Oxford/Chinnor and Bristol. The course’s location provided some fantastic panoramic views but, by the same token, meant that it was open to the prevailing wind (and, believe me, there was a lot of this about!). We’d joked that the high winds would at least mean that any rain showers would soon pass over. This wasn’t QUITE the case and we got absolutely drenched for 45 minutes or so in the middle of our round! Ken+I actually talked about returning to the comfort of the clubhouse at one stage but Steve persuaded us to continue – and thank goodness he did, because it DID stop raining, the sun came out and we realised that we would have missed some of the best holes of the course if we’d abandoned things.

It was great to get together, as always, and rather fitting that no one won or lost – we drew (winning six holes apiece)!
Photo: Ken+Steve in sunshine after the game.

PS: As I write this, there is thunder all around in Bristol - methinks we were quite fortunate!

links golf

Played golf with good mate Jake from school this morning.
He only lives round the corner from Burnham+Berrow Golf Course and so, at very short notice, we arranged to have a game on the nine hole Channel Course there (although we actually played 18 holes, if that makes any sense). It transpired that this was the very course that my lovely brother Alan first introduced me to some years ago when Moira+I came down to live in Bristol…. we didn’t actually play there, we simply used the public footpath that runs across the course!
Anyway, the links course was really rather beautiful (and testing) and we had a very enjoyable, relatively inexpensive morning before being treated to lunch by Jake's wife Charlotte back at his house.
Very nice!
Photo: this isn’t one of mine (I didn’t take my camera), it’s from B+BGC’s website.

golf is an easy game….

I’ve been playing golf for more than 30 years. There have been times when I used to play up to twice a week but now, sadly, I hardly play at all. Yesterday I played for only the fourth time since 2007 and, amazingly, equalled my best ever score of 83 on the par 73 course (including nine pars)! I really can’t explain it or quite believe it…. I drove the ball and putted really well right from the start and there were no “flukes” (I even hit a ball into the water once). Great mates Ken+Steve were duly magnanimous in defeat - although I dread to think what handicap they’ll give me next time we play!

As Ken conceded, this was the closest I’d come to shooting my age in golf!
Photo: Ken hitting his tee shot on the 18th (and, to top it all, the sun shone all afternoon too!)