Hunstanton

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

Day 303 was at the Hunstanton Golf Club on the Northern Norfolk Coast.

After navigating the rustic Norfolk roads for over an hour we made it to our destination and quickly whipped onto the first tee on a fine and sunny day. 

Hunstanton is a traditional links course played predominantly out and back along the coastline with one particular sequence of sand dunes running down the spine of the course.  

The course is strong if unspectacular but is well renowned for being extremely well conditioned â?? particularly compared to its idiosyncratic neighbour at Brancaster.  Like other courses weâ??ve played of late it is a 2 ball course so the pace of play is very good.  Hunstanton does have touches of class which initially came through on the 6th and 7th holes.  6 is a great short par four played uphill to an elevated green.  It is drivable if you give it a good whack but missing this green on either side puts anyoneâ??s short game to the test.  If you lay up you bring numerous fairway bunkers into play â?? one which JP found and hit it out some 70 yards out right onto the centre of the green. The 7th is a short par three played to a fantastic green complex settled between the dunes and protected by a huge bunker short.  Downwind this was very daunting to carry the bunker and get enough action to hold it on the green.

If youâ??re interested in a blow by blow, there is a really good movie on the Hunstanton website which is worth a look.  Bartâ??s camera was out of battery today, and our camera has had yet another seizure and is out of action (Sony if you are reading this we are very put out and unhappy, Again).

On the back nine there is one varietal of golf hole that is always good fun to play â?? the 14th  a blind par three.  Reminiscent of those famous (or infamous depending on how you look at it) par threes such as #15 at Cruden Bay,  #5 at Prestwick, #6 at Lahinch etc...  You eagerly wait on the tee for the green light to flick up and then itâ??s bombs away with a long iron aiming at the stake in the distance.

One shank later I was pitching to the green, 60 yards from the North-West.  Only between me and the flag was also one J Patton (who had also missed right).   For those who have seen us the last month we are not in the greatest of shape and so today JP was getting any chance possible to get some exercises in.  So there I stood with a tight lie, hitting downwind to a green surrounded by swales and hitting over a truly strange sight of a golf clad young man on his back doing some sit ups!

It was one of those days out on the links where golf seems easy, that is until you make the turn back into the prevailing wind.  At Hunstanton the last few holes are well equipped at putting you fairly in your place and today they were not in a forgiving mood.  I was having a day reminiscent of the start of the year where my putter tortured every corner of my soul.  Hitting 14 greens and shooting 80+ can be a mentally trying experience and so for the last couple holes I gave my putter a much needed rest (after its heavy workload) and opted to putt with the front blade of my sand wedge.

After golf it was back to base came in Norwich where we are staying with JPâ??s eldest cousin, Si who is a truly good human.  On this fine day Si and Bart were like kindred spirits staying in and sharing their love of drum â??n base music.  Needless to say weâ??ve got plenty new material for our upcoming video blogs.

Norfolk on the golfing front has been an interesting experience and if Iâ??m being honest I am very much looking forward to day Monday day 312 and the flight to Dubai.  But first I will share this thought:  yesterday JP and I were talking about our time of late in England and how, despite tipping the 300 day milestone, we have simply stopped telling our story of 2 guys on a quest to play a new golf course every day for a year.  The reason? Because of the reaction weâ??ve been getting much of the time (from random people, as opposed to those who host us and who we share a round with) is often less than positive.  We thought about this today because we had a really enthusiastic guy from the club playing before us who was really interested and supportive of our quest and this was a really cool breath of fresh air from a random punter. 

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    Posted by X, 10/11/2010 1:28am (3 years ago)

  • Lads, loving what you're doing and the website- it's a pretty inspiring story and a great blow for blow. I'm Scottish with an English wife. We moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2006 and have a very similar experience to you every time we go back to England. For whatever reason it seems like people's goodwill and enthusiasm for others endeavours just isn't there. It's a great shame and a huge black mark against an otherwise pretty great place in my mind. One of the main reasons I'm enjoying working/living here so much is a good dose of "go get em". I didn't learn of your quest till you had been and gone through these parts - would have loved to have chewed the fat over a couple of beers. Best of luck with the next few weeks - loving the vicarious pleasure the website is bringing - you inspired me to commit to a game a week between my birthdays (October to October). 4 weeks in and going strong - I think that's about as many games as I got in last year! Nice work Lads

    Posted by Shaun P, 10/11/2010 1:16am (3 years ago)

  • I think people react negatively because your quest proves that its possible to be "crazy" enough to have a dream, do something about it and make it happen. People don't want to hear that! I think your story is amazing and i read the blog every other day!!

    Posted by Eugene - South Africa, 09/11/2010 7:29am (3 years ago)

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