Wednesday 14th December saw Straight Down the Middle Golf Society’s Christmas Competition and Annual Prize-Giving Dinner. Many of the members were unaware that there is more than one 7 o’clock in a day, so it came as a bit of a shock when they gathered in the car park on Camposol B waiting for the coach to transport us to Mojácar. That said, everyone was in good spirits (or were soon to be imbibing some!) as we set off. The word had spread from the people that attended the previous year’s event about what a great time we had, so the numbers were nearly 30% up on last year.
We arrived at Marina Golf Mojácar around 8.30am and were greeted by Kirk Lovell, the Director of Golf. The Tennis Club opposite opened early so that we could all enjoy a coffee and a bacon roll before we teed off. Our thanks must go to David and his staff at the Tennis Club for being so accommodating.
A team competition was played under Pinehurst rules, with the best three scores counting on each hole, apart from the par 3’s where all scores counted. Tradition states that everyone must have a brandy on the first tee, but many of the players in the later groups turned out to make it a mini Ryder Cup type start. They of course had to have a brandy as well! The second bottle of brandy already had a big dent in it by the time the last group set off.
Play got under way and the normal high jinks for a Christmas Fun Day ensued – putters going missing from bags being the favourite. The weather was a little overcast and we had a few spots of rain, but that did not dampen the spirits of the players. The course has some of the most spectacular holes and Ugolf have invested in making improvements to the course, with an on-going project to continue into 2023. Everyone enjoyed their rounds and some high scores were recorded, so our thanks go to Kirk and his staff for being so accommodating and making our day so enjoyable. Kirk had also arranged for us to have our Prize-Giving Dinner at The Delphin Dorado restaurant on Mojácar Playa, so after a couple of drinks we boarded the coach to the restaurant.
Prizes were awarded for a range of different categories:
Nearest the Pin competitions, Sweepstake for the total number of lost balls on the day (77), Highest Individual score on the day (49 points); both of which were won by Mick Wheeler!
The serious prizes were for the winners of the Team Competition:
J Niblo, P Gilbert, R Alderslade and M Lewis (guest)
The Order of Merit was competed for throughout the year and our thanks go to Rob Greatley for sponsoring this and providing the trophies.
Section A – Rob Greatley (on countback)
Section B – Phil Markwell
Our thanks go to Juan and all of his staff at The Delphin Dorada for staying open late to accommodate us and for providing such a great value meal!
The event has been booked again for 2023, when Kirk hopes we will be able to enjoy the new bar and restaurant facilities in the Golf Club itself. Once again, thanks to everyone that made it such an enjoyable day.