Lady<strong>Golf</strong>erTee for two - mystarter’s guide to golfSharon McKee, Lady <strong>Golf</strong>er of Northumberland, shares herexperience of her first-ever round and how she has caught the bugIhave played crazy golf on holidayand read about Tiger Woods ‘offcourse’ antics - until recentlythat was the limit of my golfingknowledge.I then inherited a set of golf clubs andthough some may have called them ‘outof the ark’ I love their vintage solid look..Spurred on by an offer we couldn’trefuse for a round of golf for two onone of those voucher sites, myselfand a friend equally lacking in golfingexperience set off to play our first everproper round at Alnwick <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>Club</strong>.The day started off well, we didn’tget lost on the way and we gotcomplimentary coffee and a bacon buttyin the club house. I briefly mentioned tothe chap who welcomed us and gave usa card each that we had never ever donethis before. He smiled and disappeared.We prepared by watching out of theclub house window, hoping to spotanyone else already playing to give usa clue of where the start was. Gettingmy vintage set out of the car, we saw acouple of men with golfing type slacks,jumpers and shiny new sets on wheels.We decided we’d follow them ratherthan risk their mirth by asking where thestart line was. They made it look quiteeasy and in a few minutes they weredown a small hill, taking the flag out ofwhat we knew by then was the first hole.After that they quickly disappeared andwe decided we’d start a little bit closerto the flag, at the brow of the hill to giveourselves a chance, seeing as it was ourfirst time.There was some debate about whichclubs to use – a solid looking woodenone was my favourite while my palwas frustrated that none of them wereperfectly straight. Using different ones,we managed to hit the ball, after oneor two ‘practice’ swipes, for what weconsidered to be a long way.The disadvantage of my vintageset was that it wasn’t on wheels so wehad to carry quite a heavy load withus every time we moved. We decidedthis was just good exercise. My golfingbuddy was good at hitting the ballquite far, I was better at was getting itin the right direction. When it came tohaving to take the flag out of the hole inanticipation we were quite giddy withour success so far. We dutifully filledin the score card, though were a littleconfused about which colour course weSharon was sotaken with her firstgolfing experience thatshe’s enlisted the helpof Grahame Garland,Secretary and Professionalof Gosforth <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>Club</strong>,Newcastle in her quest tolearn the rudiments of thegame. Follow her progressin the next issue of<strong>Northern</strong> <strong>Golf</strong>er- it’s sure tobe an entertaining journey.were doing and whether it was the ladygolfers option. The sheet reckoned it wasa 4 par hole - we’d made it in 5 and 6.Rather proud of ourselves we picked upour baggage to head to the next one.There was no one in sight, and wewere back to the debate about wherewe should start the next one from. Wewalked past a rock, up a hill ‘surely wewouldn’t be able to get a ball up there’ toan area near some smooth looking grassnot too far from next the flag. It felt a bitclose but we couldn’t see anything thattold us where to start from. This time thesurprise was how difficult it was, eventhat close, to get the ball into the hole asit turned out to be on a slope.There was a bigger hill in front of usleading up to where we guessed the nexthole would be. At the top as we turnedto admire the view behind us, the skydarkened and it started hailstoning. We’dcome prepared with flasks and snacks(reckoning rightly it might be a very cold,very long day) and sheltered in sometrees for a coffee break.Waiting for the wintry weather topass we calculated that we’d taken nearlyan hour to get this far - given that therewere 18 holes in total we were headingfor a very late finish. After a warmingcuppa we set off again, spotting the flagahead – and then also spotting the menwho had been in front of us. They werenow walking back towards the clubhouse along a parallel path - surely theycouldn’t have already finished?After completing the third hole inwhat we considered quite impressivestyle and time we noticed there wasanother large rock – and it had a sign onit telling us how many yards away thenext hole was. The penny dropped. That’swhere you start from.We felt compelled to try and playproperly so we started from the rock.The next flag didn’t look too far away –but all the surrounding grass was quiteovergrown, or ‘rough’ as we startedtrying to use correct terminology too.Doing it ‘properly’ proved a challenge.Getting out of the ‘rough’ was extremelytime consuming. We did wonder ifthere was hidden CCTV and we wereproviding comical entertainment forthose in the club house. Eventuallywe finally ‘did’ the fourth and decidedmaybe to cut the course a little short..I’m sure in other people’s books wemay not have had a successful roundof golf but we enjoyed ourselves and onthe way back were discussing how weshould get some practice before bookinganother round - <strong>Golf</strong> courses of thenorth east.. you have been warned!30 <strong>Northern</strong> <strong>Golf</strong>er
GraemeStorm Working the land since 1837With more than 150 years experience, make the mostof your land using John Deere EquipmentGREENLAY (Grass Machinery) LIMITEDSpecialists in horticultural machineryBaker Road, Nelson Park West, Cramlington, Northumberland, NE23 1WLTelephone 01670 733330 Fax 01670 700067Email: sales@greennlay.co.uk www.greenlayco.ukOpen Saturdays 9am-1pmTOUGH TIMESRockliffe pro’s trials and tibulationsThe past month has seen me come up against someof the toughest struggles of my professional golfingcareer to date. It has involved a mixture of emotionsfrom success through to disappointment,Looking to build on my great result in SouthAfrica, I began March with a two week tour of theFar East, starting in India. Rather than improving mygame, I felt I had taken a step backwards and wasleft disappointed with my performance. I decided togo back to the drawing board and spent the followingweek on the driving range working on my drills andfiguring out where I went wrong; ready to step up mygame in Malaysia.Prepared to give the game my all once I arrivedin Malaysia, I received sad news about a closefamily friend passing away and decided to return tothe UK to support my family. I withdrew from thetournament but after a couple of weeks at home,returned to the game with my next tournament inMorocco.Fortunately my game got off to a good start onthe first day; shooting a 68 and seeing my nameshoot to the top of the leader board- my mind sethad changed completely. The following day was alittle tougher and I found myself fighting to make thecut, but I managed to negotiate the hurdle and wenton to finish within the top 30 players for the secondtime this season; another great platform I aim tobuild upon for the next season.Morocco has been a favourite venue for me sinceI won on the Challenge Tour back in 2004 whichsecured my card back on to the Main Tour. Thecourse I played on during the Tour is one of the mostprestigious courses in the world and is set within thepalace grounds of the King of Mexico’s residence.Following my success in Morocco, and with theEaster holidays upon us, my wife and I decided totake a break with the children for a few days nearSouthampton, which somehow involved a trip toPepper Pig world. Not usually my sort of thing butwe all enjoyed it. I also took the opportunity to put insome lessons with my coach at Rockliffe Hall; HeadProfessional Jon Stacey. He worked me hard on myskills and technique. And I played 18 holes on theirchampionship golf course, which even after a toughwinter was in magnificent form.Telephone the Secretary on 01677 422451or email: office@bedalegolfclub.comBedale <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>Club</strong>Leyburn Road, Bedale, DL8 1EZwww.bedalegolfclub.comPLAY & STAYSPECIAL OFFER2 Nights Bed & Breakfast staying atThe Castle Hotel, Berwick3 Rounds of <strong>Golf</strong> - 1 each at Duns,Eyemouth & Magdalene FieldsOnly £150 per personExcellent Party Packages AvailableNEW MEMBERS20% off Full Membershipie adult male £400 you pay £320Telephone the Secretary on 01289 306130e: secretary.m.f.g.c@hotmail.co.ukwww.magdalene-fields.co.ukMAGALENE FIELDSGOLF CLUBTHE MOST NORTHERN CLUB IN ENGLAND<strong>Golf</strong> Offers2013NEW Flexible Membership only £200Full Membership only £690monthly direct debit availableAttractive Summer Packagesavailable with or without foodfrom as little as £22.50 per personNEW web based tee booking systemMembers, Visitors and Opens<strong>Northern</strong> <strong>Golf</strong>er 31
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