October 27th 2007
DAVIE BLACK AND MURDO”HOLLO”MACLENNAN PREVAIL
The morning after the prize-giving usually sees a few call offs from play by those who either won too many trophies and had occasion to celebrate, those who won nothing but needed reason to commiserate and, last Saturday, those who merely opened their curtains and looked at the sky.
Whilst neither hangovers nor inclement weather are excuse in themselves to renege on playing; human nature, being what it is, will dictate how committed an individual is to their golf (depending on the circumstances). Different folk have different thresholds for pain and rain, and whilst the weather was poor, and some heads were sore, plenty golf was played on a day not suited for those of a fragile disposition.
When you are sitting joint top of the Winter League after the opening two weeks, then having your partner decline to accompany you onto the course due to a “spot” of rain to do battle for the points that will hopefully keep you there is obviously galling. Spare a thought then for poor Alan “Biddley” MacLeod, who ventured out on his own, bravely kept his game together for seven holes, and then faltered, only to narrowly miss out on any scoring points by just one shot. He was doing his level best to remain “diplomatic” about the affair. We knew how he really felt.
Alan regularly practices in the weather we experienced on Saturday, but must be seriously considering removing the heater from partner Kenny “5” MacIvers’ lorry cab to toughen him up for the long ( possibly wet) winter ahead. Several theories abound about his refusal to venture out, the most extreme one being that the replica football shirt of his favourite team (his traditional golfing attire), does not take kindly to immersion in water.
Last year, as mentioned all too often here in previous notes, saw the course closed on days where the greens and fairways could not cope with the incessant rain. With the course having been verti-drained using our new equipment, we managed to continue with play throughout the day, and whilst not conclusive evidence that the course will cope better under such challenging conditions, it is an encouraging start. It would be churlish at this point not to mention the local enterprise body who provided assistance with the purchase of this vital machinery, and the individuals who assisted us through the process. Many thanks.
Winners on Saturday, on a day when breaking par nett was never easy, were Davie Black & Murdo “Hollo” MacLennan, whose excellent gross 47 ( two under), nett 44 ( five under) was enough to pip runners up NT MacDonald and Neil Mackenzie ( nett 45) by a single stroke. Further back on 46 were the Johnson twins , Murdo& Magnus, ahead of a brace of teams on 48, and several others ( see below) some shots behind.
The top of the table after week 3 sees the top scoring team’s last weekend sharing top-spot and (short-lived?) bragging rights.
27 October 2007 Scores
TEAM Gross H/C Nett Points
D Black & M Maclennan 47 3 44 15
N T Macdonald & NE Mackenzie 52 7 45 12
N Munro & J Mackinnon 57 11 46 9
Mag Johnson & Mur Johnson 51 5 46 9
Ross Macrae & P O'Brien 56 8 48 7
J Maclean & P Maclean 54 5 49 6
A Macintosh & JD Macintosh 56 7 49 6
M Macdonald & I Macritchie 57 7 50 3
A Sim & SK Shetty 56 6 50 3
DJ Macleod & A Reeves 56 6 50 3
J Gillies & G Brown 62 12 50 3
Leaderboard
1= D Black & M Maclennan 30 pts
N T Macdonald & NE Mackenzie 30pts
3=Alan MacLeod & Kenny MacIver 26pts
Ian “T”MacKenzie & Zebo 26pts
5. Arthur & Duggie MacIntosh 21pts
In the junior section the weekend results saw the top of the leaderboard consolidate their positions by them all scoring points. Can anyone break into the top three?
27 October 2007 Scores
TEAM Gross H/C Nett Points
1. Stuart Macaulay 74 24 50 10 pts
2. Scott Macaulay 60 8 52 8 pts
3. Kenneth Macleod 79 26 53 5 pts
Leaderboard
2. Scott Macaulay 60 8 52 8 pts
3. Kenneth Macleod 79 26 53 5 pts
Leaderboard
1. Kenneth Macleod 24 pts
2. Stuart Macaulay 18 pts
3. Scott Macaulay 15 pts
2. Stuart Macaulay 18 pts
3. Scott Macaulay 15 pts
One of my playing partners on Saturday, on looking at his fingers after 10 holes commented that his hands looked like he’d been in the bath for two hours. This brought to mind a programme I saw on T.V some time ago about some golfing greats who all possessed “soft hands”. Now having just returned from the mainland, and having perused several large, and not so large shopping “malls”, I know I do not possess the aforementioned “ soft hands” , and not because some eastern European lassie who happened to be in possession of some dead sea salts told me so.
When presented with a shot requiring the ball to be gently lofted over an obstacle or hazard (say a bunker), and have it land softly on the green, “soft hands” (and a steady nerve) are essential. How many times do us lesser players fluff the shot (and move the ball three inches), half-hit the shot (and end up in the hazard), or “thin” the shot completely (and instead of it following a sweet, arc-like parabola onto the green, fly it at 80pmh, three inches off the ground to a spot, usually deep rough, some 50 yards beyond the putting surface)?
Luckily ( or unluckily if you are faint-hearted), the bunkers are classed as ground under repair this winter as the greens staff work to repair and improve them for season 2008. This leads to many interesting “scenarios” around the greens and some very interesting displays of (not so) soft hands have already put paid to many a score.
As someone who can hit his lob-wedge anything from 10” to 100 yds (and seldom anything in-between when required), I think I may see what the Dead Sea has to offer.
Stornoway Golf Club - Prizegiving 2007
Murdo Maclennan & Dave Black