- the family silver
We’re now into the dying embers of the summer golfing season, the set-piece events long since behind us, the lead up to the winter league punctuated by low key competitions to keep the fixture card alive. Last week, for example, saw a Texas Scramble in which over twenty teams of four strutted their stuff in conditions markedly favouring the late starters.
Teams teeing off early suffered big style, soaked to the skin by a couple of sustained downpours, enduring the type of rain that has you feeling you’ve just stepped from a bath. Their scoring understandably suffered as they toiled through the opening holes and no amount of back nine dryness could recover their position. It’d be those teeing off later who’d benefit from largely dry and windless conditions, not least the eventual winners, namely my good self, my two sons Freddie (16) & Ernie (11) and cousin Kris Soutar (51).
It’d be somewhat boastful to deliver a blow by blow account of our seismic victory so instead I’ll summarise the highlights of our quite spectacular round of golf. Actually, no, on second thoughts I’ll give you that blow by blow account…
Hole 1 – Birdie 3. A quite magnificent drive by myself to the green’s apron, two putts, job done.
Hole 2 – Par 3. Ernie drills a rescue to fifteen feet but four attempts fail to locate the bottom of the cup.
Hole 3 – Par 4. Freddie’s piledriver to within 90 yards of the green is selected, Kris finds the dancefloor but again our putting is found wanting from fifteen feet, three of us leaving it lamentably short, a complete no-no in a Texas Scramble format.
Hole 4 – Par 4. Two adequate blows to the green followed by two putts, Ernie the man of steel, converting from three feet after the two adults had both muffed their attempts.
Hole 5 – Birdie 3. And now the fireworks start, we birdie ten of the next fourteen holes. Ernie is the catalyst for this mayhem, sending his tee-shot onto the green for us to comfortably convert in two putts.
Hole 6 – Birdie 2. Kris’s tee shot finishes on the fringe of the green and Freddie rolls in a twenty footer.
Hole 7 – Par 3. Freddie nails a splendid 5-iron over the gully, leaving us a snaky right to lefter which none of us come close to converting.
Hole 8 – Birdie 3. Once again I step up to the plate with a quite fantastic 180 yard hybrid shot that nestles eight feet from the hole. Taking full responsibility as senior member of the team, I dutifully convert the birdie putt before my awestruck teammates. Whos’ the daddy?
Hole 9 – Par 4. My drive is selected but only Kris manages to find the dancefloor with a skittish 6-iron that miraculously winds its way to the green. None of us can sink the twenty footer and a par is registered to send us out in 29 blows.
Hole 10 – Birdie 3. Freddie launches the drive of the day, cutting the corner of this dog leg par 4 to leave us with a short ranged nudge onto the green. Our chipping attempts are somewhat clumsy but Kris rolls in the uphill ten footer to return us to the birdie trail.
Hole 11 – Birdie 3. Stroke index 1 offers no threat to this confidence brimming quartet as we bring the hole to its knees. My beautiful drive, an immaculate draw around the trees, is rewarded by Kris’s splendid short iron to fifteen feet which is duly converted (I can’t remember by who but let’s just say me to be safe).
Hole 12 – Birdie 3. One of the putts of the day as Freddie dead weights his forty footer into the cup to signal much unseemly whooping and hollering from his ecstatic teammates.
Hole 13 – Birdie 2. The celebrations continue on the next tee as Ernie floats a beautiful pitching wedge to within ten feet with one of the shots of the day. He was last to play and the pressure was on after the rest of us had failed to make the dancefloor but this kid oozes courage. Kris rolls in the putt and we march on.
Hole 14 – Birdie 2. Every team needs a member to step forward and take charge from time to time, I duly oblige in this regard with a spectacular 5-iron to ten feet and roll in the putt. A single handed birdie.
Hole 15 – Birdie 2. And to prove that the previous hole was no fluke, I repeat the process on the 15th, declining to sign autographs at this stage, best wait until the round’s finished.
Hole 16 – Par 5. The relentless birdie barrage is halted at the 16th, two big swipes and a pitch onto the green followed by putts from twenty feet that never looked like going in.
Hole 17 – Birdie 3. Step forward young Ernie, almost single handedly birdieing the hole with a raker of a putt having been the only one to have plonked his ball on the green in two. His splendid round rewarded with a late cameo.
Hole 18 – Par 3. A big hit against a strengthening wind leaves Kris’s ball at the fringe of the green and a two putt completes the day’s proceedings.
Chatting to a few guys in the clubhouse afterwards ,they had our score nailed on as victorious. I was rather more circumspect given the number of good players on show but the weather defeated them so it did indeed come to pass that the Russon/Soutar combo secured the victory. The fifth major it might not be, but try telling that to an 11 year old boy playing his first ever competitive round of golf!
Final Scores
1. E Russon, F Russon, A Russon, K Soutar – 55 gross, 48.9 nett
2. D Gall, A Gall, M Gowans, M Innes – 57 gross, 52.5 nett
3. A McKenzie, G Foubister, L De Jager, K Duguid – 59 gross, 53 nett