Things are getting busy

On Sunday I played in the Dearden Trophy, a mixed 4BBB board event, my partner, Neil, and I gelled very well on the front nine and we finished it with 23 points, sadly we couldn't keep it up but still scored another 18 points on the back nine despite a few holes where we both played poorly. Our total of 41 points ended up being enough for us to finish 3^rd and in the prizes, although we were way behind the winners who had a fantastic 45 points.

We played together again on the Bank Holiday in a friendly “frolics” competition but played poorly.

On Wednesday I went to Penwortham near Preston to play in the Lancashire Ladies Senior Championship, the weather wasn't very good, very windy with squally showers but I was looking forward to the competition. I played with a nice lady from Haigh Hall and got off to a good start with a bogey on the first followed by a par on the 2^nd. The 3^rd hole s a par 3 with a raised green with bunkers at the front and out of bound down the right hand side, it was also playing straight into the wind. I was quite confident when I took out my 7 wood but the ball shot off the toe of the club and straight into the trees and the OOB. I teed up another and promptly stuck it in a deep bunker, four shots later I got it out to the fringe of the green, where I marked it to clear the sand off the ball, oops that is a one shot penalty. In my defence it was hard to tell it was the fringe but its no excuse really as I had done the same thing last year. Two putts followed and I walked of with a 10!

I played quite steadily after that with mostly bogeys but a few pars and a double bogey until we reached the 16^th. I hit my ball a bit too far to the right and it turned out to be 6 inches past the out of bounds posts. I t hen played my provisional ball to the right of the green but when we got there we couldn't find it, so again I played the provisional I had hit and the end result was another 10. I then parred the last two holes.

My total of 96 (net 80) wasn't that bad considering the two 10s and I only finished 4 shots outside the prizes. .

Thursday was the club qualifier for the Peugeot Coronation foursomes, I played with Joanne, and we were very lucky with the weather, managing to avoid the rain most of the round, Joanne putted superbly and we managed to score 40 points, which was more than enough to win the competition. We now qualify to go forward to the regional final which will be held at Crewe Golf Club, with a chance to qualify for the grand final to be held at St Andrews.

Friday was a busy day as The Lancashire Ladies interclub competition clashed with the next round of the Archie Preston and I was due to play in both.

The weather in the morning was horrendous with strong winds and heavy rain when we set off. By coincidence I was paired with Hannah from Davyhulme, who I often play in opens with. I hit the ball well despite the weather but I did struggle around the greens, which were very wet, often with patches of water on them. Unusually for me I only managed on par in the entire round. I finished with 96 shots for a nett 80. The best 3 out of four rounds in each team counted and Ellesmere finished with a total of 234, two of our girls had 75 and 79, which along with my 80 were the best 3 scores. Despite having the worst of the conditions, Davyhulme finished 2^nd and we were 3rd, but as only the first 2 qualify for the final we just missed out, a shame as we did qualify last year.

After a couple of hours break I was off to Ellesmere for our match against Greenmount. I was partnering Neil again and we were receiving 4 shots from Geoff and Sarah the pair we were up against, we started the match one down as that is a rule of the competition.

Details of the match.

Both the men found the green with their tee shots on the first and I putted first and holed my birdie putt from around 25 feet, Sarah unluckily hit the back of the hole but the ball didn't drop, so we won the hole to get back to all square.

We were both on the 2^nd green in 2 shots and Sarah putted first from around 15 feet and holed her putt for a birdie 3, I just missed from 12 feet so went back to one down.

We won the 3^rd when Sarah went out of bound to get back to all square.

 I was short of the green on the 4^th with my tee shot and Neil left the ball on the fringe, Sarah found the back of the green and Geoff putted up a little short. I then holed my putt again from around 25 feet and Sarah missed so we won the hole to go one up.

The fifth and sixth were both halved and then on the 7^th Sarah hit their 2^nd short of the green but I put our 2^nd into the ditch so we had to take a one shot penalty, Neil then found the green about 30 feet from the hole, Geoff chipped on and then I again holed a long putt for an unlikely 5 and Sarah missed her putt so we scrapped a half.

On the 8^th we both hit good drives, Neil's 2^nd was just off the green but Geoff found the rough Sarah knocked the ball out but short of the green and then Geoff chipped on, I chipped to about 3 feet and as we had a shot here, they conceded the hole and we went two up.

Neil hit a lovely tee shot on the 9^th but was too long and found the hazard behind the green, Geoff's ball found the fringe of the green, I took a penalty and chipped to about 8 feet, Neil had the putt for a half but just missed so we went back to one up.

We halved the 10^th and then had a shot on the 11^th, Neil's drive found the trees and so I could only knock the ball 30 yds down the fairway, Geoff was on the fairway and Sarah laid up in front of the ditch. Neil hit our 3^rd left of the green and a little long and I chipped onto the green, Geoff found the bunker and Sarah hit their 4^th to the back fringe from where Geoff chipped into the hole for a par. Neil couldn't hole his par putt but with the stroke we received we halved the hole to stay 1up.

On the 12^th, Sarah found the greenside bunker and I hit my teeshot just short of the green from where Neil repeated Geoff's shot of the previous hole and chipped in for a birdie. Geoff left his ball in the bunker and we were back to 2 up.

Neil found a bunker off the tee on the 12^th whereas Geoff hit the middle of the fairway, I got the ball out but not very far and then Sarah hit a lovely shot to find the green. Neil found the green but I couldn't hole the putt and their par won the hole to take us back to one up.

I hit a poor tee shot on the 12^th but Neil hit a lovely ^pitch to about 10 feet. Sarah was just short of the green and Geoff chipped to about 4 feet, I left my putt short but fortunately Sarah missed her par putt so we stayed 1up.

We had a shot on the 15^th and were unlucky when Neil's 3^rd to the green took a bad bounce and finished on the little bank behind the green, Geoff had found the front of the green with their 3^rd and Sarah hit a lovely putt close enough to be conceded. I chipped on but Neil just missed our par putt so the hole was halved and we were still one up.

On the 16^th Sarah hit a lovely drive, but mine was a little short, signs of the long day taking its toll on me?, Neil's shot was a little low but took a nice bounce and finish about 15 feet away, whereas Geoff found the fringe, Sarah putted the ball dead and my birdie putt just fell away at the end so we halved in pars, still one up.

Geoff found the rough on the 17^th but Neil was right down the middle, Sarah didn't hit a great shot and they were still in the rough and I chipped down in front of the ditch, Geoff's 3^rd was short of the green but Neil hit a great shot, which found the green. Sarah chipped onto the green and then I rolled my putt close enough to be conceded. Geoff had a putt from 15 feet to keep the match alive but he missed and we won the hole and the match by 2&1.

We had been the 3^rd of 7 matches so we waited around the 18^th green while the other matches finished and although most were very close, Ellesmere came out on top and won the match 5-2 to progress to the next round.

It was a very long day for me and I must admit I was shattered by the end of it.