Day 6 - Lochiel

Posted by Michael on 6 January 2010 | 3 Comments | Tags: , ,

Jamie and I are sitting in Hamilton library, enjoying the free wireless on offer. Despite me authoring the blog, I do not have the satisfaction of claiming the victory today.  We had our first half. 

The course was Lochiel and the weather was perfect. As we arrived the staff were welcoming, and informed us that a NZ Herald reporter was coming to interview us as we played. This is a recipe for golfing disaster, hurriedly starting a round at an unseen course whilst conducting an interview all whilst meeting our new playing partners who are not quite sure what they have got themselves in for!

Lochiel is a solid track with fair holes, good greens and a great club atmosphere.  The par 5s were mostly reachable in two, and a number of the par 4s were just a drive and a pitch.  I suspect that in the winter time the course would play much tougher.  A leading womenâ??s amateur, Emily Perry, played a few groups in front of us today and when we finished we were made aware that she had shot an amazing 64 â?? 8 under par! All that said, there are a number of tight tee shots on the course and definite â??no go zonesâ?? on many holes which make the course a good test.  An example of this was the par 4 16th, which required a tee shot down the left hand side of the already narrow fairway as any ball played to the green from the right side of the fairway was blocked by tall trees.

Our golf today was definitely helped by the local knowledge of two members, the father son duo of Barry and Corey, who guided us around the course.  These two were good company and also very understanding when our golf slowed to a crawl during the first few holes when Jamie was in his element posing for the press photographer as some rather scripted photographs were set up.

Playing at your home course is always an advantage, and it reminded me of our time playing golf solely at Russley Golf Club where we knew every part of the course inside out. Today will not be the last time this year we rely on some advice from some locals on where exactly to (try and) hit the ball.  Corey and I took out the four-ball match 4&2, and then it was left to Jim and I to battle it out down the last two holes. We halved the 18th hole in par fives after Jamie made a(nother) excellent up and down.  Jamieâ??s putting and chipping is rather good, and it is going to take me a few evenings practicing my chipping in Taupo to become really competitive.

For Corkyâ??s information, our scores were hugely improved on yesterday. I managed to beat my horror score of 95 at The Lakes and today had an 81, whilst Jamie had an 84 (90 at The Lakes).

After the round, we had a water in the clubhouse and then had a cheeky dip in the club swimming pool to cool down. Now we are off to the farm for some milkingâ?¦

 

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Comments

  • Nah just leave it at the bottom of your bag as thats the best place for it.....!!

    Posted by Colin Sutherland, 07/01/2010 12:01am (2 years ago)

  • When I dig the shirt out of the bottom of my pack I'll check and let you know. Certainly Hearts were no Barcelona when I followed them... (mum brought me the shirt back from Scotland a few years ago)

    Posted by Jamie , 06/01/2010 10:27pm (2 years ago)

  • When did Hearts ever get into the UEFA Cup?

    Posted by Colin Sutherland, 06/01/2010 9:01pm (2 years ago)

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