Sunny Sunday in Banchory

It was pretty cold but it was a beautiful sunny day on Sunday for the first round of the 2009/10 Winter Grand Prix. As Syd reported, we even managed to get MSG along - he came to grief a bit with his drive at the (summer) 8th hole - and that's when we noticed the new monstrosity of a fence that had been erected round the garden of Inchmarlo "Cottage":

Questionable if this was really necessary - and there's even a hand painted "Don't Walk" sign behind the fence - as if we could!

Further on, at the 12th tee, the Dee was looking pretty spectacular through a combination of sun rays through the trees and drifting smoke from across the river:

(Click to enlarge photos).

IC XI - Dan's Ode

As is now traditional, Dan prepared a little ditty about our holiday. Previously he had composed a poem and recited it, but last year he set it to music - all together now - "Dressing Goooooowwwwnnn!". This year's version was also musical, albeit done in the dark:

IC XI - day 6

Our last day was back to our home resort of Desert Springs - and it was yet another beautiful day. Bill, Keith and Dick all had chances to catch up with Syd's lead in the Cup overall, but Keith started badly and never recovered. Dick did a little better early on, but found Syd in masterful form, whilst Bill was in the second group out with Malcolm, Peter and I, and he, too, found it tough to maintain the standard he had set earlier in the week.

We had all examined the tall cactus standing in front of the 5th tee all week and wondered who and when would add another ball mark to it. Well, in our group it was Bill who whacked it full square

By the time we got to the 7th hole, Bill was in resigned, relaxed mode:

The maestro never gave the other contenders a look in anyway, with a superb level par 36 points, to confirm his win - the 5th time he has got his name on the trophy. Here's Dick presenting him with his ball for winning today:

and, at the evening prizegiving, Malcolm presents the mocked-up relacement trophy to Syd:

After that, it was Malcolm's turn to collect - this time it was the Wee Cup:

The final night's dinner had been specially arranged by Dick and Richard - a paella in the Crocodile Club. Here's most of the group at dinner:

For some, however, it had been a long, hard week and they had to rest their eyes over dinner:

and, of course, there was the by now, traditional presentation of a golf shirt to me for organising the tour. I decided to try it on - complete with labels:

Thanks, guys - if fits great - and you won't miss me when I wear it round Banchory next year!

IC XI - day 5

We saw our first early morning clouds of the week as we set off for the short journey to Valle del Este. This short video features the two stars of the day on the 1st tee:

I took the buggy up to the tiger tee at the 3rd hole whilst Bill and Keith waited to play their tee shots off the men's tees:

The clouds soon cleared and we had another beautiful day and the overall scores were very respectable for a change. Bill was still struggling with his cough, but his golf was magnificent and his 38 points was the best of the week. Here's Dan presenting him with his ball:

I felt a bit hard done by in the matchplay draw - for the 3rd day in a row, I was up against the two best players of the day - Syd and Bill had been first and second on Monday, then it was Syd and Keith on Tuesday, followed by Bill and Keith today. Was I fated? - was it bad luck? - or do I simply bring out the best in my opponents? Seems they make exceptional efforts to beat me!

IC XI - day 4

The weather continued to be brilliant as we set off on the first of 2 consecutive away days - this time to Aguilon, which we subsequently discovered is the 2nd toughest golf course in Spain - harder even than Valderrama.

At the 1st tee, there was a mini weather station - the reading was absolutely zero rainfall and wind - just sunshine all the way:


We had some time to wait on the 1st tee and Jas decided to survey the challenge ahead:

The course was tough - lots of ravines to cross - this one was fairly straightforward, however - a short par 3. Malcolm is crossing over the bridge back towards the 5th fairway:

Meanwhile, Jas, Syd and Keith waited on the tee:

The round took five and a half hours and the lost ball count threatened the legendary total of 69 recorded in our first trip to Monte Mayor back in 1998 - it was just 5 short at 64. Our return coach was waiting and we had to scurry back to our resort pretty quickly, leaving no time for doing the prize-giving, so Syd presented Keith with his ball back at our villa:

In the evening, there was a bit of a schism, with most of us getting a bit stir crazy eating in the resort night after night, so we headed off to a local fish restaurant, while the others went back to eat at the Crocodile Club again. The fish restaurant was excellent - the waiter let us see the choice of fish available before cooking - John Dory and Turbot were the favourites. We retired to a local street bar afterwards and chewed the fat for a bit as we waited for our return coach:

IC XI day 3

Not many photos taken today - but this is me before breakfast, relaxing with a cuppa poolside at our villa:


Back to the home resort at Desert Springs today. Here's Dick and Syd waiting on the 4th tee, with the palomino statues beside the 3rd green in the distance:


Syd triumphed again and Bill presents him with his ball on the decking at the clubhouse afterwards:

IC XI day 2

Day 2 was our fun day down at Playa Macenas - a course with a whole bunch of par 3's, but also a number of pretty decent holes, and all the time with great views of the Med.

One of the Wee Cup nominations was for Bill, who played out of a bunker across the green, then thinned the return and put it back in the bunker he originally came out of. He was so pissed off and decided he'd had enough of this hole and tried to retrieve his ball from the bunker by using the rake to pull it out - the only problem was that he was a little heavy handed and managed to bury his ball. He frantically dug and dug with the rake, but could he find the ball? Ken and I could only stand on and laugh - even Bill saw the funny side - but soon realised that he had to find the ball, or he would very quickly become a leading contender for the Wee Cup - he did eventually, but it took several minutes of frantic scouring:



The buggy ride between the 16th green and the 17th tee was, we reckon, the longest distance we've ever experienced between green and tee - some thought it was as long as one mile. Anyway, we finally got there and this was our group on the 17th tee:

Richard took a dip in the infinity pool after golf, but obviously didn't pay much attention to his hair afterwards - as witnessed on the bus home:

Back at our resort, some of us went to the Crocodile Club to watch the end of the Liverpool - Man U match and the start of the West Ham - Arsenal game. In between the 2 games, we sat outside on the balcony in the sun and admired the views out to the Med:

Dick was the winner on the day and, belatedly, we got the photo of him receiving the ball in our villa: