Thanks to all who travelled north last Sunday. Playing golf on a tough course is just tough – and it seems that the higher your handicap the tougher it gets!!!. Your organiser on this occasion is unapologetic about setting handicaps with the aim of having a nine way stableford tie with a score of well over 30 points each.

It didn’t turn out that way and the low markers were supreme. Aren’t they always, over 18 holes?

Handicaps: Considering the results of last year’s Newcastle Flyer and last week’s mountain escapade the handicap for Newcastle was arrived at by adding 10 strokes to each player’s handicap (a SMERG tradition) then adding 45% of each golfer’s SMERG handicap on top of that. Consequently low markers were relatively penalised eg Rick got 10 + 1 whereas Steve got 10 + 13.  I felt Steve was a real show on his handicap, but he struggled like all of us higher markers.

You will have correctly assumed from recent smergmail that there was consternation when a minor conflagration erupted concerning the best route to the course, the breakfast venue, the hit off times, handicaps, teams, temporary greens, incorrectly marked cards, the order of the day, the ball allocation for the front nine/back nine in the event of the tie, ball distribution for the team event in relationship to the coloured ball competition and the strokes to be lost by whom, when and for what.

Fortunately (again in the SMERG tradition) everyone was simultaneously gentlemanly, refined, diplomatic, gallant and convivial so that resolution of the conflagration hardly caused a ripple and an amendment of the announced results (definitely NOT a SMERG tradition) was negotiated honourably.

Nonetheless, the consensus was that the golf was great. The traffic around Gosford certainly wasn’t and I understand a bit of off main road driving was the order of the day. I hope you weren’t too late home.

Thanks again for making the trip.

Alan