Friggin Weather

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Played a charity event on Saturday in brilliant sunshine, but the front 9 greens were closed so had to play on temporary greens. All this because we had a frost overnight, and it was hardly anything. Our course has always been all year around, including greens until last winter, but because the course has had deluge after deluge this summer, and the water table right to the top, the merest hint of cold and the greens are closed.

I imagine many of our courses are going to struggle this winter with closures, simply because they haven't had the time to dry out this year. So all you lucky guys and gals who have well drained sand based tracks will probably escape, but the rest of us are in for some garbage.

Sounds wonderful MG. I'm sure you'll come back and tell about the rest of the course. Those temperatures sound lovely.

BlueCoverman wrote:It must be a bit of a worry for the golf clubs with membership fees coming up for payment fairly shortly. With the courses suffering in such wet conditions and less golf being played I would imagine that even more people will be tempted not to renew when the invoice drops on the doormat.

Invoice for membership renewal arrived this morning! Same as last year £1000 with 'Early Birdie' discount if paid in full by 28th February. Number of free guest rounds reduced from 10 to 5. Going to be very interesting to see what percentage of members do not renew

Thankfully mine aren't due until the end of April - though looking at the fresh fall of snow this evening it could be end of April before we get another game!

Mine are due when we open in March or April but there's a "sweetheart" deal on at the moment so I can get a 10% discount if renewed by Valentine's Day.

There's not much prospect of me getting a game at the moment. The next time that we are likely to be as warm as freezing point is Monday

We're still closed due to snow and ice, and can't see it been open before next week unless there's a massive thaw. So only one round so far this year and it now looks like Feb 2nd before I can get another one in. Since October I've only been able to play 3.5 rounds due to weather, but I can only play weekends at this time of year. I can clearly understand why some members pack the clubs away in October until March.

-15 (in your money) when I woke up this morning and that's not taking into account the wind chill. We're not expected to get close or above freezing point until Tuesday now. A snow storm is expected on Friday; what joy and they can't work out how much we're going to get

If you will go and live in these extreme climates Grumps what do you expect?

Temperature in Essex is forecast to rise to +10 on Sunday, by the following weekend we will be back on the golf course positively sweating (Up to our ankles in mud though!)

I hope you've got the shorts ready then Blue. Long socks to match

Surely nobody has worn long socks with shorts since the last century! What a great look that was!

Football players; long socks with shorts. Must have been as recently as last night.

Bit sharp today aren't we? Wait until you are under about 10 foot of snow, don't think you will be quite as chirpy then

Thought you might like it Blue. I'm working from home on Friday so that's a bit of a result for me. God knows how I'll manage to do that without the missus asking me to do stuff around the house. Pee off about the depth of snow, it's sno laughing matter when golf season is less than 10 weeks away. :tellshimselfI'msureit'snotasbadasitsoundsshakesheadsmilie:

Did you not get all that DIY malarkey finished then, I thought you had a long weekend to get those few bits done?

I got lucky cos the missus was poorly sthick all weekend so I milked half a days work out into a full day on Saturday. I then did sod all for the rest of the weekend as I didn't have the use of a borrowed tool for the other main job, I have my mate to thank for that

Sounds like extremely poor planning to me

Or carefully planned and inspired forgetfulness

Our place has been open all this week, after being closed all last week. Its been hammering down overnight, yet again, but yesterdays winds and some more wind today may sort some of gloop out. I've booked a lesson for Sunday morning and may get a few holes in after, and hoping now that I can practice what I'm taught this year, because last year it seemed like ages after each lesson that I could get out.

Lets pray for a decent year weather wise, we deserve it don't we.

We are still closed so heading for the Suffolk coast on Saturday to play at Felixstowe Ferry. Can't wait after three weeks without swinging a club

We've had a brief warm spell and some heavy rain so the snow is pretty much all gone now. However the weather will turn colder this evening tonight and stay below freezing for at least the next week; what joy!

Interestingly I've just had a rather boastful email from my club saying that all 18 holes are open with 18 proper greens and 18 proper tees!

Considering when I played last Sunday there were only 9 holes open, and the amount of rain we've had this week that's a pretty remarkable effort! Will be interesting to see if it lasts! Rescheduled Captains' Drive-In this Sunday so we will see!

Also they have said that tomorrow we go back to the 1st tee as starting tee - for the last couple of months we have been using the 10th as the 1st, supposedly to even out the wear and tear over the winter - our front nine is much more susceptible to flooding than the back. I thought they may have kept to the 10th tee start for another few weeks yet but obviously not!

Have you got any wellies? More rain forecast for tomorrow!

Sorry for taking so long to finish my Mauritius golfing blog but I have been fairly busy since returning. Overall impressions of the Heritige Awali golf course was very good. As I think I mentioned previously the course is in immaculate condition and is perfectly manicured. The 13 th is a nice par 3 of approx 150-175 yds with water all done the left but looks lovely from the tee. The 14th is a 500 yd dogleg left par 5 that plays slightly up hill. If you have the length then you can take on a bunker at the corner of the dogleg around the 260 yd mark enabling you take the green on in two. 15 is final par 3 playing to a green 50 ft below, option of about 138 yds to 167 yds to put pin positions. Then tough 3 holes to finish, 16 445 yds, slightly down hill, slight dogleg left, looks really tight off the tee but opens up nicely at landing distance. 3 tiered green that has large trees close up right hand side. 17 th about 460 yds, depending on wind makes a massive differance. First day was good drive and 7 iron in. Last two weeks wind changed and was a driver , followed by rescue, toughest hole on the course but great if you parred it. 18 was an elevated par 5 with water down the left side of the green from about 160 yds out. Again wind makes massive differance, first day was definitely a 3 shot hole, for remainder of holiday it was downwind. Managed to hit a stinker drive one day to leave only 7 iron in, still missed eagle though. Last day, last round hit driver 4 iron to set up 12 ft eagle which finished off holiday nicely. Overall a great experience , island great for snorkelling given coral reef that surrounds island and some great quad bike/ jungle treks to be had. Went out for a day to see dolphins and whales, followed by BBQ on a racing catermaran which was superb. Couple of guys I met played another course called Tamarina , but was not up to standard of Heritage although both said it was very nice. As I mentioned I went because the golf was unlimited at this hotel. Green fees for no hotel residents are around 100 euro mark and although I would not pay those prices personally I would think the standard and setting would justify £60 a round I and I would have come away happy. Be aware that there are a lot of French and Germans who play here so you need to get out early if you do not want 5 hour rounds. We went most mornings at 0700 and was back on the beach( idyllic ) to drink the all inclusive champers by 1130. Course only 2 mins from resort and there is a constant shuttle service. Clubs and shoes cleaned gratis on daily basis and staff very friendly when they realise you a regular with some golfing ability, with this they do look after you very well when they realise you can play a bit and will challenge you for a game on there days off. Great to play with and you'll end up getting the drinks cart visit you more often on the course. Highly reccomend a visit if you can stand 12 hour flight. Given the the recent weather here and quality of the course and weather out there I would not hesitate to go back again. Anyone thinking of going and want to know more then please drop me a pm.

Nice one Matelot, and sounds like a place for the wish list.

More snow forecast for Sunday!

Hope it holds off - we have a Yellow tee Stableford qualifier scheduled for Sunday and I'm drawn in the same group as the only scratch player in our club - love playing with good players!

Waterlogged down here again, so I've got another session booked with the pro on Sunday. bastard laughed at me last week

Blizzard arriving today, somewhere between 1-2 feet of snow if the useless bar stewards are to be believed. So much for the little furry muppet seeing an early spring.

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:Blizzard arriving today, somewhere between 1-2 feet of snow if the useless bar stewards are to be believed. So much for the little furry muppet seeing an early spring.

I've heard some unusual name for it 1GG, but a little furry muppet????

Dammit - guess who just pressed quote instead of edit.

Punxatawny Phil, the groundhog, of Groundhog Day fame. He gets woken up on February 2 and he's asked if he sees a shadow. If he does it's 6 more weeks of winter, if he doesn't it's an early spring.

Ah - right - I was going a very diferent route there.

Steptoe, you diirrtee old man!

Grumps just watching Sky News and they are reporting that the blizzards forecast for the North East of the U.S could be the biggest in the areas history.

Sounds like the little furry muppet has definitely sold you a Soren Hansen. Good luck

At the moment it seems to be missing us Blue. It's hammering Kwini country at the moment. Boston is expected to be hit hard with around 2 feet of snow by the time it finishes tomorrow. I think we'll just get a nuisance storm. The good news about the weather was that I was able to leave work early today although the journey home took a little longer than I had hoped.

Guys and gals, found this video of the Heritage course in Mauritius that I was describing to you earlier. It shows some of the golf course at the start, then a bit of the Awalis sister hotel and then final shows you some of the key holes.
A nice video and I can vouch for the course being in this condition when I was there at the end of January. Mauritius is as beautiful as the video shows it. Worth a visit if you love your golf!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RhYtPNB2Hs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

So the snow seems to have stopped now probably got about 6 inches. What was the weather like for Felixstowe Blue?

You think that you have got problems with the weather Grumps, my game at Felixstowe was cancelled due to a light dusting of snow

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:probably got about 6 inches

Don't let Steptoe/old shanker see that he will go into Frankie Howerd overdrive

Sorry to hear that Blue, did you find out before or after you got there.

Got a text at 7am to say that Felixstowe was closed, had enough time to get to my home club for the 7.45am swindle. Course was pleasantly dryer than I expected and I managed 36 points, albeit we were playing off the ladies tees.

Just off to the footie now, that the most important 3 points of the day is yet to come.

BlueCoverman wrote:I managed 36 points, albeit we were playing off the ladies tees.

always knew you were a BGB

Good luck for this afternoon

BlueCoverman wrote:

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:probably got about 6 inches

Don't let Steptoe/old shanker see that he will go into Frankie Howerd overdrive

Ooer Missus

Always willing to oblige. Just took a box of downsizing house clearance stuff to the charity shop and was asked if it was full of mucky videos by the 80 year old female asisstant. Have you lot been talking out of school??

Who us

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:

BlueCoverman wrote:I managed 36 points, albeit we were playing off the ladies tees.

always knew you were a BGB

Our golf course manager has got the right idea. When the conditions are particularly wet and mucky he takes the mens tees out of play and so it is the ladies tees that get chewed up, leaving the mens tees in much better condition when the decent weather arrives.

Don't know how he gets away with it really. Suffice to say that he never gets a very warm welcome from the ladies when he speaks at the AGM!

Looked on the club website this morning and our stableford is going ahead. Steady but light rain at the moment but it's meant to be getting worse. Will be interesting to see what happens, lots of withdrawals already!

Good luck Davie, hope that you get your game in. Absolutely chucking it down here in Essex this morning

Well that was a wasted journey - glad I don't live too far away from the club!

First tee times were around 8am and plenty had gone off but as I arrived there were three guys walking off the 3rd saying even when trying to take relief from casual water there was nowhere to take it!

The club manager went out to inspect and came back about 15 minutes later saying comp was cancelled (but people could still go out if they wanted) - unsurprisingly, no one took the offer up!

The rain itself wasn't too heavy but the fact it had been like that for 12 hours or more meant it just couldn't take anymore - and the forecast was only for it to get worse

I played a medal in this sort of weather last year - went out fairly early, every hole was full to the brim with water, every putt raised rooster tails, there was absolutely no available relief on the greens for casual water, every bunker was a swimming pool. We completed the 18 and then found the captain had played 3 holes and decided to call the comp off!

I use a pay and play course with club membership. The owners of the course never close the course unless it is under 6 inches of snow. All the medal players were walking off having paid their green fees but not able to complete the round. Not only would the green fees not be refunded (comp. fees would be carried over), but there were at least 50 people waiting to drive off from 2 societies, all of whom had paid and would be playing regardless of the swimming pool in front of them.

This is on a course that regards itself as the best pay and play course in the country. To my mind, it's not surprising the greens are consistantly poor with the play that is allowed on them.

Sorry to hear you didn't get your games in this weekend guys. Least you've got two footie games on the telly, including one that just had miss of the season, and the rugby this afternoon.

oldshanker wrote:The owners of the course never close the course unless it is under 6 inches of snow

That reminds me oldshanker of the owner of a golf club near to me. The members there say that no matter how much rain there has been, he will never close the course unless "the tills are flooded"