Autumn Meet 2020 - Wokefield Park
The inaugural Aldwickbury Park Early Birds Autumn Meet took place on Sunday/Monday 20/21 September 2020 at Wokefield Park.
Prizes for each day: 1st - Box of Srixon AD333 Tour balls plus PGA Towel / Repair tool set. 2nd - 6 AD333 Tour balls. Front/Back 9 - 3 AD333 Tour balls.
Day 1
Tony Froud had already made his apologies for not wearing the trousers in his house and being unable to attend the first round due to "visitors." Unlucky Tony! Everyone else managed to make it to the first tee on time for our 13:16 start and in time to be told to stand further away from each other by a grumpy pro.
The weather was hot and windy and the fairways and greens were baked to a pavement like consistency making for some challenging golf with every wayward shot (and some not wayward) being exaggerated by the course.
Scoring was difficult and the average score of 28.09 reflected this.
Highlight of the day for me was Roger Gibbs warning us of the second tee that you should avoid the jigsaw puzzle bunker on the second fairway as it's the biggest bunker he's ever seen. Of course we drove straight into the bunker and I think he failed to get out of it.... he may still be there, anyone seen Roger? Roger had given up after 7 holes having only scored 4 points up to this point and sat down for a hamlet moment by the side of the 7th fairway. Martin and I encouraged him to continue with his new target of avoiding Andy Simpkin's record low score.
The most notable hole for me was the ninth hole which had the option of a very long drive over the water or the lay-up to the corner for a right angled dog-leg. The obvious option for our group was neither of those with all of us pushing shots right. Martin Lythgoe managed to go over the tree on the corner with a 5 wood! My 5 iron nearly made it but dropped dead on the corner (luckily.)
Roger Small managed to bump and run around the course, apparently hitting more trees than fairways but getting deflections that would've had Tony cursing all the way round. Roger managed a solid 38 points to take the prize on day 1 and put him at the top of the leader board. Well done Roger!
I managed second with 34 points thanks to my front 9 of 19 points and recovering after a wobble in the middle of the back 9.
The front 9 went to Coenraad with 18 points which could've been more had it not been for a blob on the ninth.
The back 9 went to Roger Gibbs with 17 points. Roger recovered his composure on the back 9 and there was no stopping him once he'd smashed through the 12 point barrier. Well done Roger, a great recovery, a tale of two Rogers!
We retired to the bar for prize giving and a well earned pint (or two) then off to the rooms to shower and return for dinner at 8pm, joined by Tony at this stage who was fresh from his trip down. The dinner was very good with table service rather than the customary Wokefield buffet. The two tables of 6 worked very well and we were all done by 12:30 which was very tame by Early Birds standards.
Day 2
We were treated to a continental breakfast bag delivered to the room and a breakfast bap (or two) collected from reception. Great setup considering the Covid situation.
The second day was hot! 25 degrees and no wind plus not a cloud in the sky. The course seemed harder than day 1 but the scores were much better with an average score of 31.36.
We set of in reverse order of merit, this time without Martin Lythgoe who apparently had to work!
Highlight of the day this time was another Roger, this time Roger Small. Apart from his customary shout "did you see where my ball went" off pretty much every tee and his ability to score despite getting himself into trouble on a regular basis, the highlight was definitely the tee shot on the 18th hole. Roger was determined to smash a drive further than anyone had managed for the day and coiled himself up so much that when he swung and missed the ball, he pirouetted several times around leaving the ball motionless on the tee. He then proceeded to duff his second shot just past the reeds, bouncing out onto the fairway.
Another highlight was my drive on the 16th - 310 yards up hill into the middle of the fairway. Of course my inability to chip resulted in the inevitable 5/2! I understand that James Miller managed to carry the water on the 9th and the 14th, both of which were a long way!!
First place on Day 2 went to Roger Gibbs with 37 points. Roger carried on Day 2 the way he ended day 1 and showed the course who is boss! Well done Roger.
Second place went to Pete Laurence with 35 points. Pete wasn't around to collect his balls so they've been handed to Coenraad to deliver on Saturday. Well done Pete.
The front 9 went to Coenraad with 19 points. Coenraad started well on the front 9 but I think he was fatigued from helping Roger find his balls by the time he hit the back 9. Well done Coenraad.
The back 9 went to Roger Small with 18 points. Well done Roger.
Overall Standings
We recorded scores over two days to decide who received the winner's trophy and the runner's up trophy.
The runner's up trophy is a keeper and goes to Andy Simpkin who scored 66 points, pipping Coenraad to take the prize. Well done Andy.
The first place shield, to be held until the next autumn meet, goes to Roger Small who scored 72 points. Well done Roger.
I've included the full table below. James takes the wooden spoon for those who played over two days
A great two days guys and I think it was unanimous that we should go to the same venue around the same time. I will put a shout out this week to see who is up for it.
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