Sunday Morning Challenge Golf

Well, the winter appears to be coming to an end. A glorious Saturday today and buds are beginning to come through in the garden.

The memories of the skiing holiday are still fresh, as we only got back last Saturday. That gave the chance to go up to the Verger on Sunday afternoon with Nick and Richard. The new toy for this year is the iphone app which analyses the swing and can compare it to many pre-loaded swings of top pros.

One golfing highlight of the winter has to get a mention on our revered blog. It was on Saturday 2nd Feb at Shortwood Lodge golf course, www.shortwoodlodge.com, which we used to know as Mangotsfield. Nick hit a 6 iron from the tee at the par 3 16th. It was a shot straight into the sun which meant that we couldn't track it's flight. "It felt good" was Nick's comment as we strolled down towards the green. As we couldn't see Nick's ball on the green when we got down there, we started looking in the bushes to the right. I chipped on and tapped into the hole (which was full of muddy water) and in reaching in to get my ball out, found Nick's ball! Unbelievable scenes! With no pitch mark on the green, it must have flown straight in. A moment of pure golfing joy not many golfers ever experience - a sumptuous hole in one!

Tomorrow is a big day as we have the first SMC of 2013 as we head to Chassieu for an 8.52 tee-off.

The anticipation is palpable. Roll on the morning and roll on the new season - happy 2013 to all golfers!

Since the breakthrough, the focus has been on consolidation as we turn our minds to the spring and the adventures ahead in the golfing world.

A midweek trip back to the Verger on 4th December with Stan was a treat. The course was very wet, though, so it was heavy going. Ian's class shone through as he was comfortably the best player, with a monster putt on the 4th particulalrly memorable!

Saturday 8th December may have been the fête des lumières, but it was also a chance to get some practice in at the Verger with a few balls off the mats and then fun pitching and putting competitions, both of which were won by Ian, the short game master!

9th December - a round at Chassieu, where the ground is still firm and the course in very good nick indeed. We played with 2 rather taciturn chaps, but had a very enjoyable round, in perfectly acceptable conditions. The strokeplay scores were Ian 88, Tim 86. The matchplay handshake took place on the 15th green. Having checked on the ffg website, 19.9 gives 17 strokes at Chassieu. An analysis of the card shows 38 stableford points for Tim and what would have been a reduction to 19.1. However, that's not the immediate focus. We want to work on taking the practice mat swing onto the course, particularly with regard to iron shots, where we both struggled a bit today. Stop that mind going blank, find a focus which enables a solid, straightish shot which goes the predicted distance!

Onwards and upwards! 

Forget the miracle of Medinah; don't give a second thought to Rory winning in Dubai - the BIGGEST golfing event of 2012 took place in humble Lyon at Chassieu when the Hughes-Russell pact of 1st Jan 2012 was finally accomplished.

Yes, after Ian's success in coming from 12 down to single figures, Tim had been stuck in the 20's for months in the battle to get below the 20 watershed.

Well, a carte rouge at Chassieu on 28th November saw the big moment arrive. Here's the historical card:-

Scorecard_28_Nov_2012

40 points brought the handicap down by 1.6 from 21.5 to 19.9!

Alleluia! 

What a day and below is the magical ffg screenshot.

Ian, Neil - thanks for helping me achieve this target - it has been a slog, but now 2013 has to be about the 3 of us really taking strides forwards!! With the SMC and lots of competitive fun, we can go places!

The mild November weather saw a trip for Ian and Tim to Chassieu as SMC went on tour again.

It was decided that the match wouldn't count as an official SMC as this would be unfair on Neil, especially as the SMC stands so delicately poised at 3-3-2.

So, it was to be a matchplay showdown from the yellow ties, with the Big Easy graciously allowing 9 shots.

The standard of play on this pleasantly warm Sunday was very high. Ian carding a 78 and Tim an 83. The matchplay victory went to Tim, 4&2. There's hope for the 20 handicap barrier as the scorecard added up to 43 stableford points with 19 "coup reçus", which would have brought the handicap down by 2.8 from 21.4 to a miniscule, McIlroyesque 18.7!

The challenge is there to raise the consistency and take such solid hitting to the Verger...

Here's the magical scorecard!

Chassieu_scorecard_11_Nov_2012

The weekend of the toussaint holiday saw plenty of SMC activity.  Firstly, the sense of anticipation was palpable as the golfmobile headed on tour to Chassieu on Friday morning.  Strong winds made playing conditions difficult, especially in view of the fact that cartes rouges were being played - it was counting!  Neil and Tim were playing the best and, despite  a couple of setbacks, turned in very respectable scores.  But imagine their disapointment when, on finishing their rounds, it was discovered that Chassieu had been re-assessed just 2 days ago by ffgolf and that the difficulty of the course had been considerably downrated to a much less favourable number of coups rendus.  We had to wait until Saturday before the definitive outcome could be determined  - a narrow one point win by Tim over Neil, with Ian far behind.

SMC score : Ian 3 Tim 3 Neil 1

Now to Sunday and the golfmobile took us back to the Verger for a weekend du Verger event.  Strong winds made were still a factor and it was again Neil and Tim who were in contention.  Tim couldn't quite hold it together over the remaining holes and Neil suffered in the earlier part of the round on holes 5 to 8, picking up only 4 points.  But well done to both Tim and Neil for solid performances this weekend in difficult conditions.  After countback, and taking SMC adjustments into account, victory on Sunday went to Neil.

SMC score : Ian 3 Tim 3 Neil 2

The Sunday Morning Challenge series goes on tour for the first time on Friday 2nd November with a trip to Lyon Chassieu.  Starting time 11.32 am.  Get ready for action!

With arguably the best performance of the Sunday Morning Challenge series to date, Neil shot a gross 85 at the Verger on Sunday 21st October (also a Weekend du Verger event) to secure his first  Sunday Morning Challenge. It was a relaxed and composed Neil who quietly crafted this fine score and in the process reduced his handicap to 16.9.  Well done Neil!  Series score now Ian 3 Tim 2 Neil 1.

Sunday 14th October saw a head to head SMC between Ian and Tim. A very solid start from Ian and a particularly strong front nine saw the Big Easy into a comfortable lead at the turn. There was almost a sniff of a fightback, but it wasn't to be and Ian won comfortably, taking a 3-2 lead in the SMC.

An excellent debriefing session in the Russell back garden - with particular focus on "back to the hole" and moving those hips - will hopefully help with the next SMC, which takes place tomorrow as Ian, Neil and Tim all participate in the 'Weekend du Verger' competition.

Tee off times are 8.50 for Ian, 9.40 for Neil and 10.00 for Tim. The points scored in the competition will dictate the winner of this latest edition of the SMC.

Good luck to everyone! Get those hips moving and sink those putts!

Yes, it's Sunday Morning Challenge Time again, this time the 5th edition.

Tee off deferred for half an hour at 8 o'clock - hopefully this time there will be some light as we tee off.

Will Tim or Ian retake the lead or will Neil start his challenge?

All to be revealed tomorrow

Well, it was just a bit dark when we teed off at 7.30 am on Sunday 7th October!

Ian, Neil and Tim almost needed head lamps.

Here's the first iron shot of the day...

Ian was Mr Steady, with a particularly strong front 9 (only 4 over at the turn). The ground was too much for Neil and Tim to make up and Ian eventually sealed a clear victory. Well done, Ian; a fine performance!

The medal was hung around the winner's neck at a lovely apéro ceremony chez Russell on Sunday evening. Speeches were made, hands shaken, a fine beer consumed and all resolved to get out there again soon!