No drenchings on the golf course so far this week but it’s been murky and foggy and not particularly pleasant; time to root out the mittens and hand warmers and the hair-crushing bobble hats. Fingers crossed for a bit of blue sky for today’s Friday Frolics Christmas Bash (Secret Santa included).

Golfin’ in the gloomin’ – it was a lot bleaker than it looks here but at least we were in sight of the clubhouse.
I thought I had it tough when I had to give 16 shots in a Round Robin match last week but Sue Spencer, one of our best golfers, an England international (senior division) and a sweet swinger, had to give an eye-watering 31 shots. Claire Hicks, her opponent, hasn’t been playing long but is proving a quick learner, hits the ball miles and uses a distance device, not for show but because she already knows how far she hits each club, a skill that still eludes some of us. Against Spenny she recorded her first gross eagle – a three on the par 5 2nd – and won 5 and 4.

Claire (right), more stunned than Spenny, made full use of all her shots.
Claire was a bit more wayward next time out and lost to the redoubtable Jenny Smale, who was only giving a shot a hole (!!) and admitted that she played damned near her very best. That’s one of the good things about the RR: you have to play well to win a match; it keeps the best players on their mettle.
There was some sad news earlier in the week when the PGA announced that Sandy Jones, their former chief executive, had died at the age of 74. Sandy, a Scot from Gartcosh, had a long and distinguished career in golf administration and was a fair player too. He never looked back after finding his mother’s old clubs stashed in a cupboard at home.
Dai and I played quite a lot with him and his – and our – great pal Bob Cantin. Every game they played was competitive and their long-running bet, with attendant bragging rights, lasted many years. I know the inestimable Pat Ruddy says there’s no such thing as a bad golf course but we were playing a particularly ghastly desert creation in Arizona and Sandy summed it up succinctly as “a waste of a perfectly good desert”. That still makes me smile. Condolences to his wife Chris and family and friends.

Sandy in his element. [PGA/Getty Images]
Cameron Smith, the Open champion, now a LIVer, who won his national PGA title in Queensland last week, is the star attraction but admitted that his golf was “pretty shitty”. He had a 71, one over par, in tricky, blustery conditions, to be eight shots behind leader David Micheluzzi, a local who is starting to find his form after struggling with performance anxiety when he first turned professional. If he’s still ahead of Smith come Sunday, he could well be holding up the trophy.
Admittedly, I’m paying more attention to the surroundings than the players, enjoying seeing proper golf courses that require a lot of imagination and variety in the shot-making. It’s a positive joy after the dreary diet of smash and gouge that makes up so much of day-to-day televised golf. And how lovely to see natural-looking bunkers instead of traps. Blissful. (And being thousands of miles away, in a different hemisphere, I’m in no danger of having to play out of them.)
The sublime, world-class courses are one of the reasons that there have been so many outstanding Australian golfers over the years, whatever the state of the track they started on. There’s a lot of competition, of course and heroes to emulate, so the Aussies have always more than held their own on the fairways of the world.
Dai and I loved our trips to Australia and he used to say that if he’d discovered the place when he was 19 or 20, he’d have been an Australian. Here he is at one of our favourite places, Historic Court Barns in Tanunda, in the heart of the Barossa wine country, not far from Adelaide. He’s wearing shoes, so Elvis, the tame, wing-clipped galah, who preferred pecking at bare toes, has to make do with nipping fingers.

The only thing missing is a glass of red.
That pic reminds me that I’ve been neglecting my Australian friends, so I’ll root out the address book and make a real effort to send them all a Christmas card and thank them for all their kindness and hospitality over the years.
And thanks to everybody for reading Mo’s and my blogs throughout the year and encouraging us to keep going. Now that we’ve hit December, we’re signing off for the year and hope to be back in 2023, fit and firing. I’m off to wrap up my secret Santa and unwrap the Christmas decorations.
Happy Christmas to you, Maureen and families.
Thanks for the delightful posts over these last difficult years – many memories of golf in the good old days.
Thanks Patricia for all the blogs this year. Enjoy the break but do come back in 2023! Happy Christmas.
Wishing you a Merry pre Xmas cruise and a Happy 2023 – with much Love – Eva x
Look forward to reading the blogs every week. Thank you both for entertaining us.
Thanks Sheila for being a faithful reader of our nonsense!
That’s fine. B6 the way you and your sister know my twin sister Janet Doleman… we played Welsh golf as juniors and I went to work as a journalist then PR janet carried on playing especially senior.
Never knew Janet had a twin! Hope her year is improving and that she’s back on the golf course…..and walking. Fingers crossed.
Thanks Fiona. Hope you and yours have a wonderful festive season.
I’ll look forward to your Friday blogs again in the New Year. They are brilliant.
Have a wonderful Christmas, not too much vino!! Hope to see you in 2023.
Thanks Diane. Seasons’ Greetings and a happy 2023.
Merry Wotsit Trish, By the way, that’s the first time ever I’ve seen Dai with a ‘bird’ on his knee. Huh, the secret lives of others…XXX Bill
Season’s Greetings reciprocated and please keep the blogs coming. Quite the highlights of each week.
C
Many thanks Caroline, all the best for 2023.
Very funny, Bill, all the best for 2023 and hope the Alliss book doing well xo
Thanks Eva, cruise was great. All the best for 2023 xo
Many thanks Alison, resumption imminent! All the best for 2023.