We had been seventeen in all at one stage, but we ended up as a nice, neat party of twelve for our 55th official outing to Boat of Garten. We congregated at Grantown Golf Club on Sunday morning over tea/coffee and bacon butties, charmed as ever by the delightful catering staff - not.
We played behind a large-ish ex-RAF outing, all bristling handlebar moustaches and including in their party a Knight of the realm. Had he not been there we might have been a bit less polite, as their last fourball was slower than the Second Coming.
It was coolish, as we had expected, but the course wasn't looking too bad considering the poor winter and early spring weather. I had arranged for us to play in fourballs, thinking everyone would want to take the opportunity to play a match, but only the first group out did this, with the others citing too much confusion with team scores and individual stablefords to count as well.
Individual winner on the day was B.o.G. weekend debutant Chris Dickinson with 37 points, closely followed by Jack with 36 and Syd with 35 points. Malcolm and Dan got Nearest the Pins and Harry the Longest Drive. The team prize - best 2 scores at each hole to count - was won by the last group out - Malcolm, Jas, Peter and Harry.
We checked in at the Garth Hotel - a new experience for us, with our usual haunt, the Grant Arms, being fully booked. It turned out to be very nice - neatly refurbished rooms, nice restaurant and a cosy bar which had the added advantage of having Trade Winds on cask, which was just as well, because the plan had been to walk down to the Ben Mhor for some ale and to watch the footy, but we were told the Ben Mhor had closed down 8 months ago - obviously just after our last visit there.
Here's a couple of snaps taken in the bar at the Garth:
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| Dick, Jack, Harry, Malcolm and Peter |
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| Chris, Bill, Dan (hidden), Syd, me, Keith and Jas |
Monday morning was bitterly cold. The forecast was for sleet and hail showers passing through and although we managed to miss most of the showers passing over the mountains, we got a sharp one right at the end of our round, which gave us a good soaking. The wind and cold made scoring very difficult and it was unlikely that anyone was going to make a charge from behind to challenge the leading four who were last out - and so it proved.
Sunday's winner, and the youngest of the group, Chris, was the only person to break 30 points, so he ended up as runway overall winner with a very respectable total of 69 points. In second place some 5 points behind was Jack, then came Peter a further 3 points adrift. They were the only three whose aggregate score was in the 60's.
Chris and Bill got the Nearest the Pins and Malcolm got the Longest Drive on Monday. Surprise winners of the team competition were Sunday's 4 Dunces, who were first out on Monday - Malcolm, Keith, Dan and I.
I initially nominated Malcolm as winner of the Scratch prize - on countback from Syd, who'd had a bit of a disaster on Monday - but I inadvertently overlooked Chris, who, as it happened, not only had Sunday and Monday's best scores, but also won the trophy, and, to boot, was the real winner of the Scratch as well! Message to Malcolm - you now owe Chris a golf ball!
Jack and Dan respectively picked up prize balls for the best scores (excluding the overall winner) on Sunday and Monday - and that was about that.
The next trip to B.o.G. - our 56th - will be on Sunday 1st and Monday 2nd September. Chris, as winner, will be organising this one. Please give him your support. I know there's a few who might not be around at that time, but I hope we can again garner enough support for our flagship event - and surely it won't be as cold this time around?
Here's Chris collecting the trophy from me:
Full scores available on Yahoo database.
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