Author: dcorfan

The undoubted highlight of the weekend was the performance of Luton Town at Norwich. The Town won 1-0 and became the first non-league side to ever beat a Premier league club. To win at Carrow Road was unbelievable, and a great confidence boost to the club’s ambitions for promotion from the conference.

Almost as soon as I wrote the previous post it started snowing and the course has been closed under snow for a couple of weeks. However, as if to prove how well it drains, the snow melted last night and the course was open again today. Well done to all the course staff for the work that they do to keep South Beds in tip top condition. It really is the best winter course in Bedfordshire.

On Friday 25th, 74 members and guests celebrated Burns Night with a wonderful dinner and great speeches. Particular thanks to George Young who delivered an Immortal Memory invoking his youth in Mauchline where Burns also lived. Thanks also to our piper, James Boyd. A short taster of the evening can be found in this video (opens youtube).

At this time in the last two years South Beds has been under a blanket of snow. Over the last few weeks, despite some torrential rain, the course has remained open and playable and members have been able to use their trolleys and buggies, unlike so many other local clubs. The Christmas season of social events were all highly successful with a great Christmas Dance on 15th followed by a packed bar on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Hilary joined me in the buggy to serve drinks (Whisky Mac was very popular) to those playing on Boxing Day, prior to the professional’s draw in the clubhouse. New Year’s Eve was another success with over 80 members and guests dancing the night away.  Congratulations to Mick Mooney and Kevin McNamara who shook off their hangovers to score an excellent 43 points and win the New Year’s Day trophy.  We look forward to a great year’s golf as spring approaches.

Friday 30th was the Men’s Christmas dinner. This is a long established event which was attended by about 50 members and guests but is a far cry from its heyday when apparently over 100 attended. The tradition is for the vice-captain to make fun of the incoming vice-presidents which he did with great success, drawing parallels between the President and his VPs and the characters from the Wizard of Bedfordshire, a tale drawing heavily on the Wizard of Oz. The scarecrow, tin man, lion, witch of the west, munchkins and of course Dorothy all took the ribbing in good part. The remainder of the evening was dedicated to the presentation of a number of awards for Slow Player of the Year, Things Ain’t What They Used To Be, Bandit of the Year, Most Relaxed Player of the Year, Movember Awards and Club Heroes. It’s probably best not to reveal the winners of these coveted awards online – if you want to join in the fun, come along next year. Our caterers did an excellent job providing excellent food and plenty of it. Thanks, Diane and Andy.

On Sunday 2nd December, around 20 youngsters enjoyed some entertainment and then received their presents from Santa at the Children’s Christmas party. A good time was had by all as the unusual sounds of excited children rang around the clubhouse.

Sunday 18th November was a lovely day to start my year as Captain. The sun shone and despite all contrary predictions, I hit a proper golf shot which landed just short of the 1st green. Those who have seen me play over the years predicted I’d be in the trees, top it off the tee box or push it into the hedge. I was delighted to prove them all wrong and reward Clark Crawford’s faith in my abilities with a bottle of champagne. The Captain’s charities collected £190 from those predicting where the balls (mine and Ladies’ Captain Christine Boyd’s) would land.

If there’s one thing that helped me hit a reasonable shot under pressure, it was being busy right up to the last moment, so I didn’t have time to think about the awful shots that I could have played.

Well, the AGM was on Wednesday 14th and I’ve played my first game as Captain. Being Captain certainly didn’t help me play better!

The main focus for the first few days is sorting out who will be chairing the various committees and making sure they (we) all know what we’re going to be doing.