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| Lots of experience among these winners |
On another glorious June day, eight groups of players lined up for a Texas Scramble, their total handicaps across the group as nicely balanced as the captain could make them.
With a range of golfing ability within each group there is always a certain amount of strategy needed, especially when four chosen drives minimum from each player is a basic requirement. More often than not, though, the result hangs on the putting and chipping success of each group - the margins between the net scores of the groups in a scramble is often very fine.
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| This 3-ball nearly caught them |
And so it proved today, with a difference between 1st and 3rd place at only 1,6 in net scores. Sandwiched between first and third was a remarkable performance by the one group that had only 3 players, due to a late call-off by one member. They not only got their strategy right but obviously produced some great golf, including 5 birdies. You will see their names below. The winning group, however, not only produced 4 birdies of their own but had fewer bogeys giving them a well-deserved victory. The first three teams received the customary wines as prizes, along with those who got nearest the pins on the par 3s. Full results shown below.
Nearest the pins:
Hole 4: Jim Hurley
Hole 8: Elwyn Price
Hole 11: Richard Davis
Hole 14: Elwyn Price
Twos: François on Hole 8, and Elwyn on Hole 14
Team Prizes:
3rd place: John Garnett, Jim Hurley, François and Christiane (62,7 )
2nd place: The three musketeers - Jeff Murten, Helmut and Luc Verhaegen (61,7 )
1st place: Edi Rogers, Nino Andres, Brian Hines and Jim Reid (61,1 )
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| The barbecue rounded off a very good day |
Once the presentations on a sunlit terrace were over, around 30 of us descended to the Bonalba spa pool and garden area where we had signed up for a much-anticipated barbecue lunch. Would our new chef be able to produce the goods? - you bet your boots he could! A simple but lovely salad was just a forerunner of the outstanding quality (and quantity) of the meat courses - ribs, chicken and Argentinian beef, cooked to perfection and delivered with mountains of french fries and two barbecue sauces. Water, wine, and beer a-plenty were visible on all the tables, and the meal finished with plates of sliced melon. When I left, others were still basking in the sunshine and ordering more drinks.
My thanks to the chef and his staff for looking after us so well. It will be a hard act to follow.
