SPRING CUP ROUND ONE

The Early Birds

 We had been warned to set those alarm clocks and boy, was it still dark when they went off this morning. 

What do you mean late? I'm here aren't I?

A 7:23 tee time is welcome in those months of summer, finishing before the heat of the day has got too intense.

Keith's nursing a cold. Earle's nursing Keith.

But this morning, it was still definitely "fresh" standing on that first tee.

The dew slowed down anything that tried to run along the fairway.

And we were teeing off straight into the sun on the first three holes.

However, it was a beautiful morning, the sun shone and those umbrellas came out, not too keep us dry, but to keep us cool. 

There was some excellent golf played by a number of players

in what is the first of a two round stroke competition. 

Golf in its purest form. 

Glen hands Frances the NTP marker on the tee. 

That's right, just count the strokes. No funny business like Stableford or Par. 

If you're in trouble, you're just going to have to get out of it. 

Now, here's a revival of the caption competition. No prizes, but let's see what you can offer. 

There were plenty of birdies, most of them by Paul Boquest.

The first, the 5th and the 12th. Great golf, Paul.

Andrea scored a beauty on the 4th, with a lovely pitch shot from 50 metres that skipped into the cup.

Paul Gardner (welcome back, Paul) netted one on the 12th. (Another on the 12th, index of 1!)

And Paul Cooper, with knee fixed up now, on the 11th. 

Talking of which, Peter Baird is doing his best to keep up with his recovery exercises, feeling the pain  a bit, but persevering. Hope to see you back soon, Peter. 

Frances covers her ears while Glenn explains how he incurred his groin injury.

Good to see Mark Wilson back from Europe, A reasonable effort today in spite of jet-lag, and wrangling daughter Isobel on long stretches to and from London. 

We missed Paul Gardner's birthday, so we gave him an acknowledgement today. 

Drive for show, putt for dough! 

Two places still available for the Country Cup, and three people still not paid. Next week, you'll be named and shamed, so transfer those funds into the SOS Booking Account asap, please. 

So, the novelties:

NTP in 2 on the 13th, Andrea, Glen and Frances all crept up to the hole, but Paul Boquest got even closer. 

Gardy manages to find the gap right here on the 18th.

Men's Longest Drive on the 12th: Glen Pope got right round the corner, but Mark Wilson unleashed a monster to beat it. 

Nearest the bunker on the 14th had Frances close, but Mr Jet-Lag got inside that.

And the women's longest drive on the 7th - Andrea put a huge drive down the middle, and unsurprisingly, no-one else got past it. 

Nearest the pin in 3 on the 5th saw Andrea on the card, Glen Pope inside that, beaten by Puggy but, as we've seen above, Paul Boquest trumped all by birdying the hole. 

Neither Golden Hole was captured today. 

And Steph managed to 5-putt on the 10th. She was also censured by Puggy for giggling while he was putting. 

So, today's results for the first round of the Spring Cup. 

Next week, 8:36 (phew) on the Tuart, for the second round - everyone still in it!

And yes, he won the raffle too,