Final Dinner Oatlands Park Hotel

Tonight we held our farewell dinner at the Oatlands Park Hotel which has been our home for the past 5 days.

Members enjoying the farewell dinner

Lee Kidman with some of the spoils of victory

Lee Kidman was runner up on the "Open leg", with Bob Murphy taking out the title.

Bob Murphy accepting his trophy

The overall award was hotly contested, with Patrick Carlisle claiming the runner up trophy.

Patrick Carlisle collecting his runner up trophies

After some very consistent performances Christine Sayer claimed the overall winners prizes.  Her final round of 34 points, off 1 shot less than her home handicap, helped her clinch the title.

Christine Sayer collecting her trophies

A big thanks to all members who traveled on the tour with us, a great time was had by all, and some great experiences were had by all.

A big thanks to Dean Barber our driver for all of his efforts for us, we were very lucky to have you help us over the past 2 weeks.

Dean Barber in action

A couple of shots of the Hotel and it's surroundings.

Walton Heath

Today we played at our only international reciprocal club, Walton Heath.

On the 3rd tee of the Old course, overlooking a green on the new course

Walton Heath was in great condition, having just hosted the Southern British amatuer.  This however meant that the rough was long and thick, and the pins were in difficult positions.

Thick, thick, rough

The staff were very welcoming to our group, and Stuart Christie, the General Manager was very friendly.

Walton Heath is a bit of a mixture of what we have played on this trip.  A bit of an inland links type feel, with a vast heathland setting.

One of the features of the bunkering is the heather growing up the faces, and the surrounds.

Looking up the 18th hole on the Old course

This was the final round of proceedings today.  Lee Kidman (46 points) narrowly edged out Pam MacKenzie (45 points) for the win.

The Berkshire

Yet another great day weather wise met us at the Berkshire.  There are two courses here, the Red & the Blue. These courses have similar characteristics to Sunningdale in terms of the heather lined fairways and the thick forest between holes.

The forest like setting with flowering heather

One unusual thing that the courses at the Berkshire possess is that they both have 6 par 3's, 6 par 4's, & 6 par 5's.

The view down the first hole on the Red course

I really enjoyed the course at the Berkshire, feeling like you are in a sanctuary, when in fact you are just outside the hustle and bustle of London.

I will let the pictures tell the remaining story.

Looking across the heather to a green on the Blue course

David Hill negotiating a bunker at the Berkshire

Sunningdale

Today we were at Sunningdale, with the group playing the Old course in the morning, and some crazy people heading back out to play the new course in the afternoon.  The fact that it was over 30 degrees added to their insanity.

What a treat this was.  A change from the links courses that we have been playing, we actually saw some trees today.

More similar to what we have at home with heathland areas

This would be one of the most spectacular courses I have seen, that does not utilise views of the ocean to help it be spectacular.

The view across the pond on the 5th hole

Sunningdale hosted the UK IFQ for the Open championship a few weeks ago, so the rough, although not as long as what we have gotten used to, was very thick and difficult to extract the ball from.

The view from the tee on the spectacular 10th hole

The courses were in great condition, both layouts are outstanding, and the staff very accommodating.  Many today have suggested that this may be the best 36 holes in world golf.  I must say that I was very impressed.

The approach shot on the 10th

The halfway hut on the 11th tee

The halfway hut has 3 staff operating it, with a kitchen and seating area.  The 11th hole is a short Par 4 with a blind tee shot.  So in order to let people know that you have cleared the driving area you ring a bell.  This also lets the people eating at the hut know that they need to get out and get moving.

The 11th tee with the hut on the right

The courses have vast heathland areas, and the flowering heath looked amazing.

The view from the tee on the Par 3 13th

The clubhouse has a real old world charm to it, and is dominated by a large clock on the front side facing the course.

The approach shot to the 17th green with the majestic clubhouse in the background

Scoring today was again quite strong.  John Gaffney & Jeff Faure finished on 43 points, whilst Christine Sayer & David Hill scored 45 points.  It was Christine Sayer who won today on a countback.

Nola Faure, Patrick Carlisle & Jeff Faure on the 18th tee

Tomorrow is a "rest" day, but there is golf on the schedule for some.  New Zealand Golf Club in the morning, and The Berkshire in the afternoon.

Royal St Georges

28 degrees, sunny and not a breath of wind.  Not quite the conditions we were expecting at Royal St Georges today.  I am so glad that we had this weather as it could have been torture if there was a strong wind.

Viewing the clubhouse from the 1st tee

Yet another day with knee high rough, but we found that the course was playing a little firmer and faster than most of the previous ones, Birkdale excluded, a bit more like the links golf we were expecting.

The starter's hut at the 1st tee

The layout was as brilliant as expected, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

The bunkering on the 4th hole.  It was the bunker on the right that Mike Harwood got his tee shot buried in the face of in the 1993 Open.

Just as Birkdale was my "hero" course, St Georges is Matt's.  He played a great game today and shot even par 72.  He was not the only one to play well.  Mike McCann and Richard Logan both carded round of 41 points.

T Mac, on his way to a staggering 50 stableford points

It was Tony McLean who dominated proceedings today. 50 stableford points were on his scorecard at the completion of play.  I played with him today and he played some amazing golf.  His round started with 4 point, 4 point, 4 point, 3 point, 3 point.  18 points after 5 holes!!!!  Needless to say the match was toast at this point.

Mike McCann valiantly trying to restore the balance in our match

Looking across the 13th fairway to the old clubhouse of the neighbouring Princes course

I was also there today to witness an event that occurs about as regularly as Haley's comet.  Geoff Vincent missed a fairway as was captured on film hitting from the rough!!

Proof that the bisector missed a fairway!
Considering this is a foreign shot for him he did really well removing the ball from this position. 

After golf we all showered and changed into Jacket and tie, and made our way into the clubhouse dining room for a lovely carvery roast lunch.  The is some great history at the club, with many distinguished names littering the honour boards.

Members enjoying the carvery lunch

Members enjoying the carvery lunch

Everyone looking very sharp on the lawn prior to departure back to the hotel

We make our way to Sunningdale tomorrow, where we all play the Old course in the morning, and some will continue on to play the New course in the afternoon.  For the first time we will see some trees, and move away from the knee high rough.

Royal Birkdale

This morning we said goodbye to our Southport home.  The Vincent Hotel.  If ever anyone is looking for a venue when in the Southport / Liverpool region, the head straight for the Vincent.
A magnificent building, very sleek decor, and very well appointed.

The exterior of the hotel

The hotel bar

While all of these things are great, it was the people that made this a special place.  Heading up a wonderful F&B staff was Andi.  Andi made huge efforts to accommodate our group each day, and nothing was a problem. The service continued in wonderful fashion with great help from Gabriel, Kate, Natalie, Laura & Jake.  The professionalism from these people, plus the others that work there, made our stay very very enjoyable.  A big thank you to the team from the Vincent.

I have been waiting 21 years for todays round.  My chance to retrace the steps of my childhood golfing hero Ian Baker - Finch, and his majestic 1991 Open championship victory at Royal Birkdale.

This was what I was trying to emulate today.

Birkdale is in Southport, only a few minutes from our hotel.  We had a lovely sunny day, but for the first time this tour were faced with some stronger gusts of wind.

View to the green at the 2nd hole

Again we played an Open championship venue that was in near tournament condition.  Faster greens would be all that was needed.

Rae Biggart & John Gaffney surveying the putting green at the 3rd hole

The wet and humid conditions have meant the the undergrowth in the rough is very lush and thick.  The rough was about the same length as Hoylake, but a lot thicker.  The staff said that the rough has not been this thick since the 1980's.

Libby McCann extracting her ball from the thick rough.  You can see the ball at the top of the shot, well done Libby

It was all that I had built it up to be, and more.  Great undulations, variety of holes, and a great layout.  The only thing that did not meet expectation was my score, but I loved it anyway.  Thanks to all on the tour for helping me enjoy this moment.

Looking back at the 11th green

A little bit of local wildlife on the 18th tee

After our round we had a quick bite to eat in the clubhouse, and celebrated the good scores for the day.
It was Anne Ryan who was champion today scoring a magnificent 46 points.  Bob Murphy scored 42, and Tom Pettigrew 40.

We then headed off on the long coach ride down to Surrey, arriving at our destination at 10.30pm.

Richard Logan catching some flies on the coach ride. (I did warn you that we would do this)

Off to Royal St Georges tomorrow for another brutal Open venue test.

Open Championship Round Four

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!  How did that happen??????????

Adam Scott was in control and doing all the right things, and then bogeys the last four to loose to Ernie Els by a shot.

Again today we were behind Adam at the range, but it was a different ball striking story.  He struggled to strike solid shots, and even blew a 3 wood out of the range on the right.
We had concerns that it would be a grinding type of day, and we were proven correct from the first hole.

Adam Scott making his way to the 18th green

A very disappointing finish, and a much quieter coach ride back to the hotel than expected.
Congratulations to Ernie Els, and commiserations to Adam.

Off to Royal Birkdale tomorrow.  I can't wait.