JJ Cup 2024 - Day 2 (JJ Cup Day)

 

Day 2 and the weather had improved significantly. A breezy northerly wind was keeping the temperature lower than normal but the sky was blue and a great day's golf awaited our intrepid crew for the main event, the JJ Cup. No partial rounds on this occasion as buggies were permitted.

Andy, our organiser for this year's event, got off to a bumpy start, unable to see his phone properly due to his broken glasses, he forgot to ask at the pro shop if they could put the NTP and longest drive markers out. 

All was not lost as yours truly at Andy's request had them bring out the markers to the first group on the second hole. 

In addition there was a technical hitch with the scorecard which needed my attention and was duly fixed as the first group approached the second green. 

I don't know if this was a contributing factor to my ropey start or if I was still shrugging off Martin Lythgoe's attempts to scupper me the night before but I was 0 points after 3 holes. Despite being in position A after 2 on the first but shanking into the water with my 3rd shot, being on in 2 on the 2nd but hitting Tony's ball by mistake and despite a perfect drive on 3 then shanking the ball to the right nearly out of bounds. All was well in the end.

Tony was struggling to keep up with his duties as electronic scorer which made the front 9 look much worse than it was for our group. This wasn't fully really rectified until we got to the club house so there was some chatter about my scorecard until it was all corrected. 

The course was in excellent condition having benefited (and still benefiting) from significant investment over the last year or two. There was more than enough water to provide a challenge appropriate for such an important event in the EB calendar.

As for the golf, well this course proved to be a challenge and resulted in average gross score up at 97.1 and average stableford down at 26.94. the range of scoring was 18-33 with only 5 scores breaking through the 30 mark.  

There were 7 birdies: Brian (10) Roger Small (18) Pete Laurence (4) Martin Lythgoe (3) James Miller (5) Steve Reynolds (15) Coenraad (3) Well done gents! It's a shame they don't feature in the eclectic tables!

The format for the JJ Cup has always allowed for a couple of nearest the pins and a longest drive prize with front 9 and back 9 not counting. 

Our longest drive was Steve Reynolds. Andy and I both hit the fairway but Steve outdrove me by a few yards. No-one bettered this as I think the OB on the right and the water on the left were just too tempting. Well done Steve! 

James Miller managed the NTP on 5. Our group failed to hit the green, I think it was just too close! Well done James.

Paul Gardner took the final NTP on 14. Andy was concerned that no-one would hit the green given that we were playing off mats. Two of our group went in the water and had the pleasure of playing from the drop zone. Martin Deery's attempt from the drop zone is pictured below. Well done Paul! Andy was able to relax once he saw you'd hit the green.

Second place went to Paul Gardner with 31 on countback from Roger Small and Steve Brewerton. Well done Paul.

And in what should be his final year as a fully fledged Early Bird, Brian Geddes took the trophy with 33 points despite 0 points on the first three holes. Well done me.

Big thanks to Andy for organising another successful event, it was excellent.