The snow and ice all gone,it was a welcome return to the Divots Winter League for some, with a few familiar faces still absent, presumed abroad. The draw for pairings took place first thing, but there was a slight delay in getting play underway, due to most not having collected their new winter mat. The winter mats are to be used from the tees and fairways; this is rather than dropping from fairways, as done in recent years, to protect them during winter months. First away and first to experience the mats was captain, Rob Hall with partner Loz Phillips. Neither was put off by the plastic strip of turf and both hit their drives straight down the middle. Having to play as a two-ball, the two were around in record time and were already tucking into their cold meat rolls before the others had reached the 15th hole over the line. They would have returned earlier, had it not been for a trolley incident on the 11th hole. Loz is one of a small group at the club with a remote controlled electric trolley; these trolleys not only move along hands free, they are also extremely difficult to tip over! Not for Loz, he managed to tip it over in the rough to the side of the fairway (must have been looking for someone else's ball), and with the wheels still turning, it wrapped itself up in the grass. Fortunately, Loz had professional help with him; unfortunately, Rob's tools were all in the van and the two had to eat their way through the grass, the only way to release the trolley. Nothing spectacular to report on the golf, gross and net pars being the order of the day, and two equal halves of 19 points giving them an overall of 38 points. Second away were the partnerships of Richard Chapman and Gavin Field-Thomas playing alongside Clive Law and Gareth Rees. Usually there would be two more of the remote controlled trolleys in this group, with Gavin and Gareth the proud owners. Gareth's trolley, however, is temporarily off the road, so to speak, with him having problems claiming on the warranty, despite it being less than 12 months old. Gareth had bought his trolley second-hand from Gavin and, like cars, there is a limited mileage restriction of 60,000 miles in the first year! Strange that, as an average round of golf is only about four-and-a-half miles long? Mind you, I did say average. Gavin, where would we be without Gavin? You probably wouldn't be reading this report; there would be nothing to write about! If you feel that I give the guy some stick, don't worry, it's all a bit of fun and I know he takes it all as good humour. Plus he's thick-skinned anyway, very thick-skinned! Gavin was first in the group to tee-off using the new mat. He proceeded to nail it down the first, mat and tee both left intact. Clive and Gareth, however, both struggled for the first few holes to find a fairway, Gareth particularly complaining that the mat was distracting. Nothing spectacular on the front nine from either pairing, Clive and Gareth scoring a level net par of 18 points, with Gavin and Richard only one point behind. Richard did have a couple of birdie attempts, but the putter was not working at the time and could surely only get better. With solid starts on the back nine required, Richard chipped to within two-foot for three, leaving an uphill putt - three points must be guaranteed! Richard unfortunately missed the two-foot putt, followed by the one-foot return putt, providing only a single point to the pairing. Extra points picked up by Clive and Gareth on the 11th, 13th and 14th with a birdie from Gareth, a slip on the 12th meant a back nine of 20 points and 38 overall. Not such a solid back nine for Gavin and Richard, with a blob on 16, 18 points on the back and 35 overall - and Richard Chapman now added to Gavin's long list of under-performers! Last away were hot favourite Gareth Phillips and Nigel Ayers and Don Sigsworth and semi-pro Scott Davies, with Nigel looking to put to bed any suggestions that nearly all his points this year have been attributed to his playing partners. In fairness to Nigel, this week the better score on the card was next to his name on no less than three occasions, and thankfully one of those holes was the 14th, where Gareth had what's technically called a Walrus, otherwise known in the trade as an air shot! Gareth Phillips, an air shot? He did try to come up with the excuse of the mat moving, but that doesn't cut with a man of his calibre. A steady front nine of 20 points from Gareth and 19 points on the back, helped by Nigel, gave them 39 overall and the best of the day. Not such a good day for Don and Scott, only one blob, but single pointers on four other holes resulted in an overall disappointing score of 33 points. Apparently Don and Scott struggled from the 14th hole where Gareth had his air shot, the focus on the golf having been replaced by concerns for their own safety. Upon return to the clubhouse, there was an attempt by Mr. Phillip Marsden to re-negotiate the format for the annual Rabbits v Divots match; the use of words such as protocol, provocation and prowess were used, but all wasted on the Divots! Those who might be interested in next year's end of league trip, please contact captain Rob Hall, to enable him to get ideas of numbers. It's planned for the end of March 2006, the probable venue being the Gower Golf Club, Swansea, with accommodation for two nights, three rounds of golf and evening meals at a cost of around £150. The Gower has an established course and newly- opened facilities to cater for societies. More information will be available shortly and we would love to see the names of people not involved in this year's league as well as those who are. The draw for next week followed, with Gavin Field- Thomas or Loz Phillips expected to replace Gareth Rees at the top, Gareth having decided to miss a week to take a break or maybe to top up on those brownie points. This weeks results: G. Phillips and N. Ayers 39 pts; R. Hall and L. Phillips 38; C. Law and G. H. Rees 38; R. Chapman and G. Field-Thomas 35; D. Sigsworth and S. Davies 33.
