Gentleman of the game

For those of you not connected to me on facebook (and that's probably because I don't really like you... I just tolerate you at the distance this place provides. ) I recently played a Thornton Cup match at The Burstead in Essex.

I got beaten but what a pleasure it was. I am a highly competitive person and losing always hurts but I played against a gent of 73 who had been playing at the highest club level in Essex for 50 years. The game was played in the way it should be... courtesy given to each other when deserved and with a smile on our faces. (Although I must admit when I thought he had hit it into a bunker on 15 after I knocked it to 12 feet I was feelign mixed emotions of joy that he missed the green and sorrow that the solid shot he played got unlucky. Most unlike me!).

At any rate it was a pleasure and privilege to play with a proper old gentleman of the game and an honour to have him describe me as gifted.

Truly the sort of person I would hope to be when I get to coffin dodger time.

Was that 'wing commander' Graylin, LJ?

Barry. That;s the fella. Great guy.

We've got you in the plate now.

Asked to go away to your track for that one. Fancy a beer when it's going on?

2nd June? Should be possible. I like that the plate is less formal and doesn't take all day. Hope our greens are a bit better by then though - too much grass on them at the moment, and too many bumps.

same as most places. That's what beat me in the end. That and fatting a 2 iron on the 17th to about 100 yards and then fatting a wedge to 40 feet. Good finish to make 4 on a par 3.

Garon Park (Southend) for us in the plate after being well stuffed by Stoke-by-Nayland in the first round.

I'm been asked to play away, not a course that I have been to before...anyone got any experience of playing there?

Played a match there a year or two ago. It was very firm under foot at the time, though I think the greens were a bit softer. They were doing a lot of work on some holes. Just won an award for best club or some such. Not a fabulous course but ok if it's not as dry as I found it.

Sounds like more essex clay from that playing description.

Yes, solid clay with very little top soil. Shame, as some of the holes look quite nice. Some don't, mind.

Lost 3-2 at Garon Park today (I managed to sneak a win) but the boys at home did the business winning 4-1 so we won 6-4 overall. Round 2 to look forward to now which I believe will be played on the 23rd June.

How did your match go?

The Essex at Earls Colne for us next on the 23rd June. Good course, played it a few times previously and a good test off the whites at over 7000 yards. Hopefully I will get selected to play in the away team and so will look forward to that.

I've played that a couple of times Blue, it's a nice place from what I remember. Hope you get your wish.

I like the Essex, at least the course if not the clubhouse/hotel. We play it most years in our society. This year though I think we're at Colne Valley instead.

lost to your guy Barry at Crondon SJ. Good player off 0.5. Took him to the 17th which wasn't bad considering my game at the moment. Particularly since I was 4 down after 10 and then won 4 on the spin from him (with a birdie on the 14th which was pleasant).

On the course side... The greens at Crondon are properly ropey at the moment! Sack the greenstaff!

Blue. The essex is hosting the EAC this year. I'm on the reserve list (with a good chance of a game) at the moment and would like to play it.

Yes LJ I was aware that the Essex Amateur was being held there just before our match. Good luck with that, let us know how you get on

LondonJonnyO wrote:lost to your guy Barry at Crondon SJ. Good player off 0.5. Took him to the 17th which wasn't bad considering my game at the moment. Particularly since I was 4 down after 10 and then won 4 on the spin from him (with a birdie on the 14th which was pleasant).

On the course side... The greens at Crondon are properly ropey at the moment! Sack the greenstaff!

Blue. The essex is hosting the EAC this year. I'm on the reserve list (with a good chance of a game) at the moment and would like to play it.

Sorry I wasn't about, LJ, had to go up north for a funeral on Tuesday. Always nice to make 2 on 14, though it's the kind of hole that you can make birdie or double almost more often than par or bogey, as is the 7th.

I dashed round 9 holes last night and didn't notice the greens were terrible, though we have been moaning about the green staff not cutting the holes properly, often not bothering to use the board. For a few weeks the greens were too firm to leave proper pitch marks but soft enough for the cumulative damage to leave them a bit bumpy. Maybe I'm just used to them, what in particular didn't you like?

They were incredibly slow and bumpy. There was an excess of poa on there which was going to seed making them unpredictable.

One chip bounced left by about 45 degrees to the line of travel on landing and then bounced 90 degrees to the right of new line of travel on the second bounce. That was a bit odd to say the least.

Never known anything like that happen. There are some funny slopes and they have been a bit bumpy but that's ridiculous. What hole and which side were you on?

They're overseeding the greens, but I can't remember whether it's with poa or to get rid of it. Seems to have been halted by the weather we've had this year. They're never fast, because of the amount of undulations on them, but they're slower because of the growth or lack of it. Our VC was going around in a buggy and remembers wanting to tell you to 'just f*cking hit it harder, then!'.

smithersjones wrote:Never known anything like that happen. There are some funny slopes and they have been a bit bumpy but that's ridiculous. What hole and which side were you on?

They're overseeding the greens, but I can't remember whether it's with poa or to get rid of it. Seems to have been halted by the weather we've had this year. They're never fast, because of the amount of undulations on them, but they're slower because of the growth or lack of it. Our VC was going around in a buggy and remembers wanting to tell you to 'just f*cking hit it harder, then!'.

Yep. That was amusing... But I'm not known for being short!

And it was all of them. One of our players is our head greenkeeper. He told them exactly what was wrong, why and then how to fix it. He even told us all the grasses on there that were fighting each other and making them so bumpy.

Let's hope they take his advice!

yeah. It's a good course. It deserves a lot better on the greens than was there.

LondonJonnyO wrote:Blue. The essex is hosting the EAC this year. I'm on the reserve list

Did you play LJ? I see Bobby Keeble won with nine over being the winning score. 20 over was enough to make the cut, a two handicapper shot 102 in the second round and a scratch player shot 91, 89! Didn't realise The Essex was playing so tough!

no. ended up the first two reserves got in and I missed out as 3rd reserve. Shame really.

IT does sounds like it was playing nasty. But I'm not shocked that young keebs won.

We've had a problem with a low handicapper putting in scores playing only with a regular partner, leading to doubts about his true ability. He played in the cc and on seeing his results on our club website I thought he'd been found out. Now I've looked at the overall scores it seems he wasn't alone by any stretch, and did at least make the cut and played all 4 rounds. The weather wasn't terrible on Saturday, I wonder why the CSS went so high?

Played at The Essex yesterday in the second round of the Thornton Cup plate. Apparently the reason why the course was set up so tough for the Essex Amateur is that they have a Jamega Tour event there later in the year and they didn't want the scoring to be too low. Some of the players were not too impressed at being made to look a bit silly and some of their comments were not too complimentary!
 
We lost the match 6 1/2 - 3 1/2 so that is the end of our interest in the Thornton Cup for another year. I won my match 4 & 3 and I do like the course. It seems to get better each time I go there and at 7100 yards off the back tees it is a real test and definitely a lot more difficult than where I currently play.