CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2014
ST ANDREWS 4/6 SEPTEMBER
When we had a king and a chancellor,and parliamemt-men o' oor ane
we could peeble them wi'stanes when they werena gude bairns.
But naebodies nails can reach the length o' Lunnon(London)
-Sir Walter Scott-
Our club Historian asked our Chairman for permission to delay the publishing of this report till after the historic votes in Scotland on the 18th of September.
As it turned out the Royal and Ancient members decided by 85% to 15% to admit women members to their club across the road from ours.......which is now the sole "Men only"club in St Andrews....The Home of Golf...
This years Club Championship weekend was played in warm, if very wet for one day, conditions as the Indian Summer continued.
Harald ,Steinar and George were in Scotland preparing for a week(a seperate report will follow) while the others tuned their skills at Royal Birkdale and other hot spots. Gene was preparing for a further operation and Jan Randulf had a high school reunion.
Royal Eden,celebrating it's 100th Anniversary was chosen for our opening round.St Andrews Town Council set aside GBP 3000 for the construction of a new course and the famous golf course architect Harry Colt had the course ready for play of July 2nd in 1914.With the outbreak of World War 1 only a few weeks away it was decided to permit play on a Sunday to allow soldiers on leave,to play.Many controversial alterations have been made over the years ,resulting in the layout we have today.
Our members gathered there on 4th September and the opening drives split the fairways(including that of the nearby Old Course).In calm conditions scores were high.Harald and Bjorn (36) and George (34) showing early promise,while Steinar(31) was not far behind.Bamse and Soren were sure to improve and Ola ,delayed at Royal Birkdalewould have some catching up to do.
Day 2 dawned and heavy rain for the complete round made the day rather miserable.Itwas not helped by a party of 20 ladies from Missouri,who appeared in no hurry to go anywhere.Although Leuchars was closed down last September,the RAF were busy practising take off and landing most of the day.perhaps believing that the runway would be closed to them after the Independence vote on September 18.
Harald and Bjorn(37) consolidated their lead over George(36) while the others fell away.Harald put his score down to succesfully managing his Amen Corner,while Bjorn,with his new hip sent drives far and straight down the fairways.
Thanks to this round Harald wasable to pip George into 2nd spot and recapture the Herman Bouwmeester Trophy.
After cocktails wet the insides,while the outsides dried in the comfort of our club,paricipants were shocked to see the stain on the ceiling unrepaired following Mr Mc Graners complaints.The shop has been restocked after the Japanese visitors had plundered it,although they were disappointed that Jenny had run out of cashmere head covers and towels.Honorary Member Andy Aitken OBE was on hand to welcome us with his usual remarks ,which even our Chairman has difficulty to understand.
The club had satisfied our stomachs on the 1st night and Little Itlay lived up to the task on night 2.A very attractive Czech waitress doing our ego's and her tip a great job with her flirteous comments.As usual the Dunny was full of drunken R and A old farts who were competing in their famous Calcutta Cup match(perhaps Helen Riley and Gina Haig will be competing next year) when we arrived for the nightcap none of us really needed.However we were pleased and honoured to see that our scoresheert was on display under the bust of Tom Morris,while theirs was relegated to a far away wall.
The AGM was held in the privacy of the locker room on Friday night....a quiet affair compared to recent years and The Adamson,a new restuarant ,owned by a BBC award winning chef, provided the final night fare.
Our Chairman was concerned that next years event may have to be staged outside of Scotland,if Independence would put Visa restricions on him,however the Scottish people(at least 55% of them)saw sense
However before all this we had to decide the outcome of the Club Championship 2014.
Elie,a quaint seaside town down the coast,is the home of the Golf House Club and Earlsferry Thistle GC,who were holding their Monthly Medal behind us.In glorious sunshine we were played away by the chatty and informative starter,with the help of his telescope c/o submarine Excalibar.The course which was home to James Braid,5 times Open Champion and famous course designer,contains no par 5's and only 2 par 3's,but offers a great challenge with 2 classic par 4's along the seaside.Scores were better,with all participants enjoying the occasion.Harald put up a brave fight as George faded away.Bjorn was again in scintillating form and had built up a lead at the turn after driving the green at the par 4 7th.
His drives continued their long journeys down the middle of most fairways and he would have walked away with any Longest Drive Competition.As we strolled down the 18th fairway,Bjorn had the luxury of a few putts to win and used a few of them,before capturing his 1st Club Championship.Needless to say he easily won the Bob Charles Award too.Congratulations to Bjorn after a few months off for recuperation.....welcome back!!!!
Another very nice weekend drew to a close and part of the Norwegian group flew off.However the diehards stayed for more punishment.
Althoughthe New Course was closed for the R and A,we were able to get on ,in a beautiful day,luckily in front of the 20 Americans ,who where game for more torture,thanks to the intervention of a cute black lady......a possible keeper....
Bjorn(22) nothing to prove and it showed.Steinar(20) had other things on his mind and so Harald(28) and George (35)battled it out for the days honours.
The Seafood Resturant,proved a fitting close to a great day....well almost....
Monday 8th Sept was dry and bright enough for us to get in a quick 18 before Steinar and Bjorn had to depart for Aberdeen.To offer a more relaxed format to end a wonderful trip we played a Nassau.The variation of matchplay offers a uniquechance to confuse all non Americans.After Harald completed some creative bookkeeping it appeared Bjorn and Steinar defeated Harald and George onthe last green....and that was that.it only remained for Harald to drain the Ritz- Carlton of it's last drops of golden nektar and it was all over until the Season Opener...or maybe not.......
