My chauffeur for the weekend was Rob and we left Banchory at 9am on Sunday, leaving us lots of time, which Rob helped fill with 3 separate pit stops, the first of which was to take a closer look at the strange new structures erected next to the standing stone on the road up to the Lecht:
The 4 structures on the right are, in fact, all seats with different views - some of distant Corgarff Castle (top left). Our next stops were at the Glenlivet Estate walks and then to view a hidden gorge just outside Tomintoul. Travelling with Rob is always a geography and geology lesson.
Arriving at Grantown Golf Club, bacon butties and much chatter preceded the Grantown Open. The course was in good nick, although if you sprayed the ball at all - as those of us in the first group certainly did - the deep rough inevitably ate the balls up.
Only one photo taken on Sunday - the first group out at the 7th tee:
After golf and checking in at the Grant Arms Hotel, we all met up for a couple of beers at the Garth Hotel - barring Peter, who had to go home to look after Val, who's not been well. The (relatively) new boys - Meaden, Dring and Riches - haven't quite got the hang of the routine yet - they showered and changed before joining us - a tactical error as the Trade Winds soon ran out.
The rest of us then went back to our hotel and showered and changed before meeting up again for G & T's before dinner. Grantown is always a busy little town and our weekend coincided with the Motormania Festival, which was attended by a large group of Dutch MX-5 owners, who happened to be staying at our hotel. Midway through our meal, the Dutch group started moving tables in the dining room and lined up wearing Jimmy hats etc with their pre-printed song sheets and proceeded to regale us with what seemed to me to be interminable dirges. We tried hard to enliven the affair with the Icelandic football chant made famous in this summer's Euros - hands above heads, clap and whoo:
I'm not sure whether our interventions were well received by the Dutch, so Rob spent most of the rest of the evening smarming with them to try to restore harmonious European relations. A few of our group sloped off to bed but most had at least one more nightcap before retiring.
On Monday morning the traditional batting order mirrored Sunday's scores, with the leaders going out last. Dick, Harry and Rob looked to be firm favourites for the trophy - especially once a strong wind blew up - although they would need to keep an eye on Malcolm, Ken and Jas in the group ahead. In the 3rd group, only Les looked to be in with a realistic chance, with Keith and I apparently just making up the numbers.
Before all that, however, time for the team photograph:
The front nine were tough, but the wind eased for the back half and scores generally improved - in the 3rd group in particular. At the 10th hole, Les inadvertently played my (provisional) ball which was to turn out to be an expensive mistake - we both blobbed that hole, but this seemed to inspire both of us and we finished the last 8 holes with 18 and 20 points respectively. Despite this, we never expected to be in the running for the trophy, but when we discovered back in the clubhouse that nobody in the two leading groups could score even 30 points, then that put us in pole positions.
I scored a best of the day of 35 points and Les 32, giving us totals for the two rounds of 65 (me) and 64 (Les) - enough for first and second place. Harry was next best - also on 64 points - and he also won the scratch prize. Here's the full list of 2 round totals:
| Stewart | 65 |
| Gray, Les | 64 |
| Salter | 64 |
| Grigor | 63 |
| Taylor | 60 |
| Pollard | 59 |
| Riches | 58 |
| Gray, Keith | 58 |
| Page | 58 |
| Meaden | 57 |
| Bhagrath | 55 |
| Fulford | 52 |
| Dring | 48 |
| Corbett | 46 |
| Simpson | 43 |
| Street (1 round) | 28 |
Nearest the Pin prizes went to Ian D, Jack, Dick & John M, with Harry taking both Longest Drives. The Monday team competition was won by Les, Keith and I,
Steve handed over the trophy - and the organisational responsibility - to me:
Celebratory drinks were, as usual, taken at the Boat Inn, Aboyne.
My score of 65 points was the lowest winning total since Syd's win with the same score in Sep, 2009. It is my 7th win, putting me level with Dave E and the all-time list now looks like:
| Syd | 10 |
| Les | 8 |
| Ian St | 7 |
| Dave | 7 |
| Dick | 5 |
| Malc | 4 |
| Terry | 3 |
| Ken P | 3 |
| John D | 2 |
| Steve | 1 |
| Peter | 1 |
| Mike B | 1 |
| Keith (M.) | 1 |
| Keith (G.) | 1 |
| Jas | 1 |
| Ian D | 1 |
| Dan | 1 |
| Chris | 1 |
| Bobby | 1 |
| Bob | 1 |
| Bill | 1 |
Next year's dates for BoG LXVIII and LXVIV are Sunday/Monday 7th/8th May and 3rd/4th September - put the dates in your diaries now.
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