Captain’s Away Weekend at The Belfry - 12th to 14th May 2018

After diligently monitoring the long-term weather forecasts weeks before, my weekend benefitted from stunning weather on all 3 days at the glorious Belfry golf resort.

Round 1 on the Saturday was on the famous Brabazon course, surrounded with Ryder Cup history and stirring up mental images of the winning Ryder Cup shots and holes, playing the Brabazon means negotiating a lot of water and presents a challenge to any standard of golfer. It was great to see a couple of my old RAF golfing mates on the weekend and it was particularly pleasing to see Rob James (a new member) and Andrew Grimbaldeston along with his 2 sons Joe and William taking up my offer to play the Brabazon.

As well as the normal first to third prizes and nearest the pins on all the par 3s for each round, specifically for the Saturday and Sunday rounds, I decided to track how many 3 putts (or more) and how many lost balls each golfer had on each day. Winners on the Saturday were;

1st Doug Poole with a very respectable 35 points
2nd Joe Grimbaldeston
3rd Paul Burnett

A special mention to Joe, who not only played the course brilliantly, but also took home a nearest the pin prize.

The 31 golfers collectively donated 89 golf balls to the Brabazon, tied equally at the top was John Tellett and Nick Wastling with 11, yes 11 each!

An evening dining in the room used as the European Team room during the 1985 Ryder Cup had Roger Valentine kindly agree to provide some after dinner jokes and thoughtful reflection. Some even braved the on-site night club whilst others merely proper up the bar!

Day 2 was on the PGA National, a different style of golf course to the Brabazon, yet still a stiff test of golf. Scoring, overall was better, yet still some 65 balls had been donated to either the water or the long rough. Winners on the Sunday were;

1st Jon Sharples 36 points
2nd Simon Bell 
3rd Nick Wastling

Winners of the weekend 3 putt and lost ball challenges were Chris Cuthbert and John Tellett respectively; I hope you make good use of the instructional prizes that you won?

The last round on the Monday (and the best of the weather) was on the Derby, the Belfry's third course and one that I had been told to not expect too much from. I must admit, after having wildly sliced my opening tee shot in going for the 284-yard first hole, I did not have a good feeling about this course, but how wrong I was! The Derby not only surprised me, but also a fair number of us, what a lovely parkland course it is, and it was in great condition and a fitting finale to a wonderful 3 days away. Winners on the Monday were;

1st Dave King with 36 points
2nd Mike Wallis 35 points
3rd Nick Wastling 33 points

And so, all of the planning and heartache over low uptake over the last few months had come to an end. I would wish to thank those members who supported me by partaking in golf and few beers over the weekend. I guess when you set out on something like this, your only goal is that those who attend have an enjoyable time and I do hope that you did, as I certainly had a great time.

Regards, Captain Ian.