Divots hold all the aces... except perhaps one!
Sunday heralded the annual Divots v Rabbits match, true confirmation that the festive season is now over. It was a very cold, frosty morning, with a minimum of four layers required, except for the Walrus, of course, but even Gavin had more than a tee-shirt. There were a few shocked faces amongst the Rabbits, normally used to an extra hour in bed on a Sunday. The shock soon moved to the Divots faces when they learned how many shots were to be given to their opponents! Twice as many as first thought, due to a clerical error back at the clubhouse. The mix-up was soon sorted out amicably between each group out on the tees (well in most cases), before a shotgun start at 8.15 am saw battle commence. With 15 games having taken place, it is not possible to report on each without being allocated a pull-out supplement in this newspaper. It is safe to say, however, that they were 15 competitive, but friendly games. No reports of air shots, no eagles and not too many birdies (except for those that were stealing the Divots' Pro v's and the Rabbits' Topflites). There were, however, several reports of some white and red unidentified objects travelling at speed up and down the fairways. Following further investigation, it was found to be Gavin wearing his new personalised golf shoes, supplied by our resident pro, Mark Hawkey - Walrus being written on one and the Welsh flag on the other. Do these shoes help your game? Well, as reported, these shoes were only seen on the fairways and with Gavin winning his match, he is now undefeated while wearing them! Gavin and his partner Scott Davies weren't the only Divots to taste victory, the Divots team coming out on top by 11 games to four. As reported in previous weeks, the Rabbits are superior in numbers and the Divots had to pull out all the stops to gather a strong team to match their numbers. In fact, not only did we have to call upon the old faithful, we had to recall two semi-pro golfers in Scott Davies and David Ayers, and also had to fly back Simon Jones from the Middle East to brave what to him must have felt like Arctic conditions! Following the morning's play, we all sat down to a welcome hot meal of sausage, mash, onion gravy and mushy peas, wonderfully prepared and provided by Lynne and her staff, washed down by a drink or two from the bar whilst awaiting the speeches and presentation by the two captains. Up first was Rabbits captain, Steve Harris, who, sporting in defeat, presented the winners shield to a relieved Rob Hall. On receiving the reward, Rob thanked all his team, not only for supporting him, but also for playing so well. Special thanks went out to Gareth Rees for helping to organise the team and for liaising with Steve.
Well done to everyone who took part, and thank you to everyone who was able to stay afterwards to enjoy such a wonderful atmosphere in the clubhouse! To all the Divots, winter league resumes next week as normal. Afterwards, Rob Hall will be asking for a show of hands from those wishing to go on the trip this year, which starts on Friday, March 10. Results of Divots v Rabbits match (Divots names first) were as follows: M. Tucker and S. Evans lost to P. Carpenter and C. Smith. M. Morris and G. Phillips bt G. Pegg and J. Hunt. M. Barrett and A. J. Morris bt M. Edwards and J. Rolfe. D. Ayers and J. Stevenson lost to D. Moran and S. Hockings G. H. Rees and R. Hall bt S. Watkins and G. Price. A. Joseph and C. Law lost to J. Whitehouse and M. Harts. R. Chapman and R. Johns bt F. Adlam and P. James. R. Morton and N. Ayers bt R. Davies and M. Munroe. P. Brown and Steve Davies bt D. Evans and R. Murphy. S. Jones and L. Phillips bt S. Evans and J. Murphy. Alan Morton and D. Sigsworth lost to B. Beynon and D. Thomas. Scott Davies and G. Field-Thomas bt D. Morgan and A. Allen. Andrew Morton and R. Wilcox bt S. Price and P. Davies. C. Hughes and C. Davies bt N. Dickinson and M. Jones. N. Rogers and J. Thomas bt D. Lemon and P. Marsden.