THANKS TIGER

HOLD THAT TIGER - MILLS BROTHERS

I played 9 holes of golf yesterday afternoon.

Level - 3 allows golfing subject to a lot of rules. 

• You have to ring first for a tee time. These are staggered to allow distancing. 
• You have to play within your 'bubble'. This was easy as it was just me.
• You have to check in with the club manager who ascertains that you are feeling well, that you have come directly from home and that you are going directly home afterwards.
• Name and detail is recorded in a register along with check out time.

I've got no problem with this as the whole concept of lockdown is the ability to 'track and trace' contacts if there is a transfer of infection.

The manager leaves at 4PM and so checking in is all supposed to happen before this time. If golfing is to continue after this time the manager puts down an ascertained time of departure. This information is posted on the golf club's website.

I was pissed off to see, as I was playing my eighth hole, a couple of groups of guys arriving, after the manager had left and who set off to play in two lots of four. These idiots deliberately waited until after 4 PM so that they could play together (unlikely to be in their own bubbles) without having to go by the rules. This attitude annoys me. I'm not the greatest follower of laws and rules but I do understand these lockdown rules and why they are in place. These idiots obviously don't, just like the morons who rush to queue to buy hamburgers.

Anyway, back to Tiger.

I've been playing my Play Station game 2005 Tiger Woods PGA golf over the last couple of weeks and I believe that it has really helped my golf. It doesn't help the mechanics of the swing obviously but it does assist in my approach to each hole, club selection, use of spin and the general way I play. As a result I played some of the best golf ever (for me) with birdying two par 5s that I've had difficult with before and just missing an eagle by inches on a par 4.

I also played some of the worst golf ever on some of the other holes though. I lost 4 golf balls not by hitting them into creeks, lagoons, bushes or the sea but losing them on the fairway. The autumn leaves are covering a lot of the rough and the fairways due, I guess, to the fact that there aren't staff to clear them. When the golf ball runs under these it's difficult to find.

Because of the structured tee times and the fact that everyone hurries along I wasn't able to spend too much time looking for the lost balls. I also didn't have time to go down into the creeks fossicking for other lost balls. Bummer. This course now 'owes me' 4 golf balls.

I told the Old Girl this when I got home and she wasn't sympathetic! 

"What do you mean the course owes you 4 balls" she said. "You've found hundreds of balls at that course".

She just doesn't understand.