Sadly because of the weather, the first two qualifying competitions were changed to friendly Stablefords as we had a hole closed on both days, plus a few temporary greens. Also to suffer was the opening mixed which had to be rearranged due to the course being closed. Hopefully the weather will improve after Easter and we can finally get going.
I did manage one competition, a Lady Golfer/Galvin Green day at Mere and although I started well with a birdie on the par 4 fifth, out first hole, as it was a shotgun start, I found I couldn't hit my irons with any consistency and so struggled to post a good score despite hitting my drives and woods well.
A shame as the first prize was a week on Madeira and congratulations to the lucky lady that won it. I did have the consolation of hitting the longest drive though to win some Galvin Green goodies.
Now for the rant!
Recently it was announced that Sky Sports have won the right to broadcast The Open live from next year, meaning that only highlights will be available on the BBC. Sky already have rights to the Ryder Cup and the BBC will no longer be able to broadcast the last rounds of The Master live either/
I believe that the R&A will only receive £3million more from Sky than they would from the BBC offer and I feel that this is unbelievably shortsighted for relatively little monetary return.
Live men's golf on UK TV will now only be available to Sky Sports subscribers and this at a time when England golf are trying to encourage more people to play the game and to join clubs. What better way to develop an interest in a sport than to watch some great players on TV. This will now be denied to the majority of the public. The ladies British Open will be shown by the BBC up to next year but sadly its the men's game that is more likely to attract viewers from the non golfing fraternity.
I strongly believe that the game at a grass roots level will suffer because these decisions, golf should be more accessible but being unable to see it on terrestrial TV to my mind just reinforces a lot of people's belief that golf is an elitist sport.
I really didn't think that people thought like that anymore, but having read comments about golf on a totally unrelated discussion on Facebook, I was surprised to read comments like "its a game for the rich" or "its only posh people that play golf"
Somehow word needs to get out there that you can play at a local municipal course for as little as £10, maybe less, clubs can be hired too, while you decided if you need to buy your own, so anyone can have a game for less than the cost of going to watch your local football club. Dress codes have been relaxed at a lot of clubs, so jeans and trainers are allowed in clubhouses, and even a pair of slacks and a polo shirt are owned by most people.
Friday, 3 April 2015
Monday, 9 February 2015
Catch up time
The last entry in this blog was after Lady Captain's Day last year but with the new season rapidly approaching I thought it time that I made another entry.
Despite the qualifying season finishing at the end of August, I managed to keep play competitive golf right into November thanks to playing in many opens. I have continued lessons through the winter and have still managed to play 3 or 4 times a week as long as the course was open.
The highlight of the winter though was my recent trip to Portugal, the first time I have played outside the UK. I went to play in the rather grandly titled Portuguese International Senior Ladies Golf competition although the least said about my performance the better. I did however enjoy the trip very much and the courses I played were fantastic, particularly The Old Course at Vilamoura, which is probably the best non links course I have played so far.
The course is set amongst pines and cork oaks and from the first hole the course is a great challenge with some fantastic holes with well maintained fast greens.
The first appears to be a short one on the card but although it is also downhill it is full of trouble, trees line both sides and also dot the fairway and 2 accurate shots are need to safely reach the green.
The 2nd and 3rd are both uphill before the 4th which is the first of the par 3s, played over water to a raised green, with the added obstacle of a tree between the pond and the green.
After the par 5 14th, you reach the final par 3, probably the easiest of the 4 but with a bank and bunkers to the front and a steep bank behind an accurate tee shot is again needed.
The 16th is a long downhill dogleg right before the 17th where you drive up hill to a fairway narrowed by a well place bunker before dropping down to a slightly raised green.
The closing hole, in my opinion is the weakest hole on the course from the ladies tee, just a flat straight par 4 with a couple of bunkers by the green, however it is a different proposition from the white tee which is set 120 yards back and in the trees.
I also played the Pinhal course which is set around a housing development, you have to cross a lot of roads as the course threads it way between the houses. It is not as memorable as the Old Course but the greens are probably trickier.
Despite the qualifying season finishing at the end of August, I managed to keep play competitive golf right into November thanks to playing in many opens. I have continued lessons through the winter and have still managed to play 3 or 4 times a week as long as the course was open.
The highlight of the winter though was my recent trip to Portugal, the first time I have played outside the UK. I went to play in the rather grandly titled Portuguese International Senior Ladies Golf competition although the least said about my performance the better. I did however enjoy the trip very much and the courses I played were fantastic, particularly The Old Course at Vilamoura, which is probably the best non links course I have played so far.
The course is set amongst pines and cork oaks and from the first hole the course is a great challenge with some fantastic holes with well maintained fast greens.
The first appears to be a short one on the card but although it is also downhill it is full of trouble, trees line both sides and also dot the fairway and 2 accurate shots are need to safely reach the green.
The 2nd and 3rd are both uphill before the 4th which is the first of the par 3s, played over water to a raised green, with the added obstacle of a tree between the pond and the green.
The 5th is long slight dogleg and returns towards the clubhouse with this green also guarded by a tree, whose branches overhang the approach to the green.
The 6th is a long downhill par 3, before the 7th where you drive downhill before the holes doglegs to the left with an uphill approach, well placed bunkers are waiting for drives that are too far right as well as ones where you try to cut off the corner of the dogleg.
On the 8th you drive from an elevated tee before climbing to the green. The front nine ends with a shortish hole but again a tricky one, with a bunker down the right and trees protruding into the fairway down the left.
The back nine begins with a par 3 over a valley, a steep bank in front of the green catches the short tee shot and leaves a tricky chip from the bottom of the valley and with not much room behind, an accurate tee shot is needed.
The 11th is another dogleg to the left with an uphill approach before the 12th a long dog leg right, the ladies tee is close to the angle of the dogleg although the men's tee is around 140 yards further back.
The 13th is a shortish downhill par 4 but again a well positioned tree in close to the green means you need an accurate tee shot to avoid having to go over the tree with your second.
After the par 5 14th, you reach the final par 3, probably the easiest of the 4 but with a bank and bunkers to the front and a steep bank behind an accurate tee shot is again needed.
The 16th is a long downhill dogleg right before the 17th where you drive up hill to a fairway narrowed by a well place bunker before dropping down to a slightly raised green.
The closing hole, in my opinion is the weakest hole on the course from the ladies tee, just a flat straight par 4 with a couple of bunkers by the green, however it is a different proposition from the white tee which is set 120 yards back and in the trees.
I also played the Pinhal course which is set around a housing development, you have to cross a lot of roads as the course threads it way between the houses. It is not as memorable as the Old Course but the greens are probably trickier.
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