Aldwickbury Park Early Birds

It was starting to feel a bit more like Autumn this week. The leaves are dropping, there was a damp chill in the air and the ground was damp. The wet weather in the week had triggered the ground keepers to put out the ground protection ropes so a few extra yards added for the majority of us non-carriers. Winter rules however are not yet in play. Happily they have cut back some of the rough on the right hand side of the 8th hole, elsewhere however the rough remains challenging.  Not much to remark on today as I missed the banter in the clubhouse due to having to shoot off to watch the latest Bond offering with Mrs G. There was one incident worth mentioning in our group. On the 11th hole I hit my tee shot very high and straight into the first bunker. The lie for the second shot was good but a bunker shot is a bunker shot! I measured the pin at 163 yards so figured that a 7 iron was in order to give myself a chance at getting close. I proceeded to nail the shot but forgetting that I was i

Paul Gardner on the 10th today It certainly feels like autumn now. The days are getting shorter and the leaves are falling yet still they haven't cut the long rough back!! Rain has been falling and the sun has lost it's intensity so the ground is now much softer than a month ago which is creating some better scoring opportunities although our scoring probably doesn't show this.  Before we get to the scores we have a few highlights. Firstly a shout out for the apples between 11 and 14. Trees planted 5-6 years ago are now delivering some tasty eaters according to the intrepid Jock Hunter who discovered this while exploring the rough no doubt looking for balls.  An unlucky break for Roger Small today on the 17th, apparently heading for the pin! Worth a mention is my experience on the 13th. I hit a wayward drive over the trees on the right of the fairway and discovered the approach to the green nicely blocked by trees. I took my medicine and chipped over the hedge onto the 12th

DAY 1 An overcast and damp start to this year's trip. 3 didn’t make it but we still had 13 turning out for the first day.  Groups for the day were as follows:       Tee 1      Roger Small, Martin Lythgoe, Duncan Miller      Tee 2      Peter Laurence, Brian Geddes, Paul Gardner      Tee 3      Peter Creighton, Stephen Brewerton, Mick Pond, Andy Simpkin      Tee 4      Steve Reynolds, James Miller, Tony Froud, Roger Gibbs Roger Small, last year's winner, led out the first group, this was luck of the draw but with hind-site should be the way of things going forward. Perhaps a ceremonial tee-off with the previous winner going out first? As we walked down the first tee a blanket of cloud rolled back to reveal clear blue skies. The wind was up but we were in for some sunshine to help the day along. We were very lucky with the weather, there was plenty of standing water in the bunkers but the course was receptive making play more pleasant than the baked fairways we've grown us

 Autumn is here! Forecasts of heavy rain have proven accurate looking outside my window as I type up this report. The weather was kind to us early birds but we were a little damp by the time we'd finished the round. Only 10 turned out in the end today and 3 didn't make a full 18. I'm guessing that Tony was distracted given his front 9, slightly worse than mine last week.  An enjoyable round today with some good banter and some unusual holes. For instance, on the 7th hole two of our party were on or around the green, one was in a bunker and one was in the rough not far from the tee. The strange thing was that only Pete, who was the player in the rough, managed a par. Jock 3 putted, Steve could only muster a 4 and I managed a 5 from the bunker.  On 14, the same happened but with a different player. I hit my ball way right into the rough and the others were up around the green. I managed to get up and down out of the rough then putted out. Steve managed a 4-1, the rest didn