Aguilon was difficult in the sun and the wind
Our April outing was to Aguilon Golf, or ‘The Sparrow Course’ as it is known. The weather was sunny and windy. It is surely one of the best courses in the area and at 35€ a round with a buggy, it is also one of the best value golf games around. No surprise then that the course is always busy with members and visiting parties. The course is an excellent design with many difficult shots across ravines and water, but when the wind is high it is even more of a challenge. The greens were fast especially downwind and consequently the scoring was difficult.
Although our four-ball group was peppered with hip operations and cracked ribs, we managed to produce the winner and runner up. Ian Dally, by his own admission, has more iron in his hips and knees than he does in his golf bag. Despite this he managed to bag the prize for Nearest the Pin at the tricky 17th hole on his way to a majestic 22 points on the back nine. In the windy conditions it was a remarkable score.
Steve Carter played well and was on target for a solid 36 points when he unfathomably failed to score at 4 holes in a row. Maybe the fact that he broke his rib the night before explained his slight loss of form! Despite this he finished on a creditable 29 points in second place.
I thought I’d played a sensible, well-judged wedge on the 12th hole to pip Geoff Sharp for Nearest the Pin, only to watch Paul Allsop in the final group stick his shot 3 feet closer. I watched in anticipation as Jim Niblo paced the distance out, only to see him lift my pin marker and move it towards Paul’s ball. Good shot, Paul!
We managed to make sensible use of the new Rule E-5 (stroke and distance) to help speed up the game. Rule E-5 is a local rule that offers clubs or societies the option to drop a ball inside two club lengths of a lost ball with the addition of a TWO stroke penalty rather than the stupidity of having to walk back to the tee to play another ball. This is the equivalent of playing an imaginary provisional ball for ‘3 off the tee’ down to the estimated place where the first ball went missing, then playing your fourth shot from the place where your first ball went missing. It can also be used when you discover that your ball has drifted out of bounds, as mine did to the left of the 13th hole. I moved my ball back onto the edge of the course, dropped it at the new knee-height and played my fourth shot to the green. This is a sensible addition as part of the newly-introduced ‘ready golf’ and should help to speed up play. You can check out rule E-5 at the US PGA site
https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rules-modernization/major-changes/golfs-new-rules-stroke-and-distance.html
One group on the 17th fairway had to give way to a duck and her five little ones who decided to cross it at just the wrong moment!
Another group also found a young chameleon by the fairway!
The final Winner was Ian Dally. Runner-Up was Steve Carter and John Fisher was in 3rd place. Nearest the Pin winners were Paul Allsop and Ian Dally.
If you want to join a cheerful golf society with trips to excellent courses at discounted rates, get in touch with Geoff Sharp at hatters45@msn.com
John Brown