Well as we all know from my previous blogs, I was heading to Slaley hall to play in the national finals of the de vere disabled golf championship. The final prize was to play with Harry Redknapp and Barry lane in a 3 hole televised charity game in which we took alternate shots on each hole, with Harry teeing off on the 14th par 3 on the hunting course ( which had been fully prepped for the seniors PGA championship on the course the next day ). .........
Whoa ...... Getting ahead of myself a little :-).
We don't even know if I qualified yet do we ;-)
The morning was a stableford event over the priestman course at Slaley hall. I played pretty well and scraped 34 points which qualified me into 3rd place behind Johnny ( without doubt a future pro ) and the stableford finals winner Paul ( an inspirational serviceman who lost an arm last year and is a true British hero ! ).
However the morning paled into insignificance when one of our fellow competitors ( nicki jones ) a very capable welsh player !! Had to leave mid round as his caddy ( Ben ) a cracking young Taff !! Had to drive urgently back to Wales as his brother was in a tragic car accident and as I write this I learn that he is still in an induced coma in hospital with serious injuries.
Kind of makes you understand the relevance and importance of things doesn't it. Keep fighting mate.
I will of course keep you all updated.
With slightly less enthusiasm than before I shall now tell you about the awesome final I was priveledged to take part in .......
As I started, Harry had the first tee shot , par three, uphill , trees left and right , bunker front left, elevation of a good 30 ft . I wasn't hopeful ;-)
Sophie horn went first for team mark James and bloody stiffed it with a peach of a 7 iron !!! Bugger
Freddie was next , a massive bloke but a crap swing , a pushed 6 iron saw the ball sailed beautifully into the trees on the right leaving no possible shot to a well guarded green for his disabled partner Johnny in his team with the pro peter fowler.
Ok .. Harry's go , I don't feel any easier when he says he wants to go with driver ... DRIVER !!!! Bloody hell Harry , calm down !!! He relents and goes with a hybrid and promptly stuffs me into the greenside bunker front left.
Team fowler find the ball in the trees and Johnny has an impossible shot through more trees than you can shake a stick at ( see what I did there ? ). So all the attention is on him as he is lining up the shot , I walk up to my ball with my faithful caddy Dunkles. And there it is, in the wet sand with a poor stance and not a lot of margin for error on the treacherous greens there !!! I was not calm lets put it that way.
I turn and watch Johnny about to play his shot, it seemed like he was aiming at the green which surprised me as he couldnt possibly get a ball through there.
Whack !!! .... This ball came sailing through the air, almost with its own guidance system and passed perfectly through any possible space and landed at the front of the green and rolled on. How he di it I don't know but bravo sir, one of the best shots I have ever witnessed !!!
So. It's my turn !!
My bum is going booooo !!!
I line up well left of target.....
I open my callaway 60deg wedge right up....
I'm thinking .. Please don't shank this !!!!!
There's a blooming camera from sky sports in my face !! Oh and mrs handa herself was in the throng of 30 people and 8 buggies following us along with a commentator oh and dunky had a tour bib on with my name on .. My bum was properly going boooooo
So I lines up.
One swing, here goes nothing.... Time slows down , the club slides into the sand perfectly, the ball catches and spins up the club face and the ball sails in a gorgeous arc towards the hole when it then lands softly as a butterfly and spins to a halt instantly , the crowd went wild, the ball is four foot from the pin, and I think I may have wet myself just a little :-).
The atmosphere was brilliant and kudos to Paul who rolled in a peach of a birdie putt on the 14th !!!
Anyway, off we go to the next hole. A 180yrd par 3 into a light breeze and well guarded by a bunker on the right.
It's my tee shot.
Paul and Johnny are in the trees left,
All of a sudden, my bag slams down in front of me,
This is how I remember the next 30 seconds.
Dunky: what you thinking ?
Me: umm either 6 or 7
Dunky: what you want to do ?
Me: I don't want to smash a 7, I think I want to go in with 6 iron
Dunky: if you going with a 6, you got to come in right to left, put it on the bunker on the right and let it come in.
Me: yeah, ok
Setup to the ball, I see and feel nothing but the ball, and in one exceptional moment of clarity we all love having as golfers, the swing and the strike was perfect, the ball followed exactly what we aimed to do and nearly dropped for the ace finishing within 18 inches of the hole !!!!
Get in !!!!!!!!
All recorded on camera by sky too !! Bonus !
I only had to play one more shot and that was just an easy chip shot ont the 18th after an awesome drive by Barry lane and second by Harry Redknapp.
Our team won our little end event with Harry knocking in the tricky 3 footer on the 18th
So as you can see, the end of the day was awesome !!!!
Harry Redknapp and Barry lane aswell as Freddie flintoff, Sophie horn and there two pros mark James and Peter fowler were all brilliant company and I think a great time was had by all.
But we did win ;-)
Monk out
Whoa ...... Getting ahead of myself a little :-).
We don't even know if I qualified yet do we ;-)
The morning was a stableford event over the priestman course at Slaley hall. I played pretty well and scraped 34 points which qualified me into 3rd place behind Johnny ( without doubt a future pro ) and the stableford finals winner Paul ( an inspirational serviceman who lost an arm last year and is a true British hero ! ).
However the morning paled into insignificance when one of our fellow competitors ( nicki jones ) a very capable welsh player !! Had to leave mid round as his caddy ( Ben ) a cracking young Taff !! Had to drive urgently back to Wales as his brother was in a tragic car accident and as I write this I learn that he is still in an induced coma in hospital with serious injuries.
Kind of makes you understand the relevance and importance of things doesn't it. Keep fighting mate.
I will of course keep you all updated.
With slightly less enthusiasm than before I shall now tell you about the awesome final I was priveledged to take part in .......
As I started, Harry had the first tee shot , par three, uphill , trees left and right , bunker front left, elevation of a good 30 ft . I wasn't hopeful ;-)
Sophie horn went first for team mark James and bloody stiffed it with a peach of a 7 iron !!! Bugger
Freddie was next , a massive bloke but a crap swing , a pushed 6 iron saw the ball sailed beautifully into the trees on the right leaving no possible shot to a well guarded green for his disabled partner Johnny in his team with the pro peter fowler.
Ok .. Harry's go , I don't feel any easier when he says he wants to go with driver ... DRIVER !!!! Bloody hell Harry , calm down !!! He relents and goes with a hybrid and promptly stuffs me into the greenside bunker front left.
Team fowler find the ball in the trees and Johnny has an impossible shot through more trees than you can shake a stick at ( see what I did there ? ). So all the attention is on him as he is lining up the shot , I walk up to my ball with my faithful caddy Dunkles. And there it is, in the wet sand with a poor stance and not a lot of margin for error on the treacherous greens there !!! I was not calm lets put it that way.
I turn and watch Johnny about to play his shot, it seemed like he was aiming at the green which surprised me as he couldnt possibly get a ball through there.
Whack !!! .... This ball came sailing through the air, almost with its own guidance system and passed perfectly through any possible space and landed at the front of the green and rolled on. How he di it I don't know but bravo sir, one of the best shots I have ever witnessed !!!
So. It's my turn !!
My bum is going booooo !!!
I line up well left of target.....
I open my callaway 60deg wedge right up....
I'm thinking .. Please don't shank this !!!!!
There's a blooming camera from sky sports in my face !! Oh and mrs handa herself was in the throng of 30 people and 8 buggies following us along with a commentator oh and dunky had a tour bib on with my name on .. My bum was properly going boooooo
So I lines up.
One swing, here goes nothing.... Time slows down , the club slides into the sand perfectly, the ball catches and spins up the club face and the ball sails in a gorgeous arc towards the hole when it then lands softly as a butterfly and spins to a halt instantly , the crowd went wild, the ball is four foot from the pin, and I think I may have wet myself just a little :-).
The atmosphere was brilliant and kudos to Paul who rolled in a peach of a birdie putt on the 14th !!!
Anyway, off we go to the next hole. A 180yrd par 3 into a light breeze and well guarded by a bunker on the right.
It's my tee shot.
Paul and Johnny are in the trees left,
All of a sudden, my bag slams down in front of me,
This is how I remember the next 30 seconds.
Dunky: what you thinking ?
Me: umm either 6 or 7
Dunky: what you want to do ?
Me: I don't want to smash a 7, I think I want to go in with 6 iron
Dunky: if you going with a 6, you got to come in right to left, put it on the bunker on the right and let it come in.
Me: yeah, ok
Setup to the ball, I see and feel nothing but the ball, and in one exceptional moment of clarity we all love having as golfers, the swing and the strike was perfect, the ball followed exactly what we aimed to do and nearly dropped for the ace finishing within 18 inches of the hole !!!!
Get in !!!!!!!!
All recorded on camera by sky too !! Bonus !
I only had to play one more shot and that was just an easy chip shot ont the 18th after an awesome drive by Barry lane and second by Harry Redknapp.
Our team won our little end event with Harry knocking in the tricky 3 footer on the 18th
So as you can see, the end of the day was awesome !!!!
Harry Redknapp and Barry lane aswell as Freddie flintoff, Sophie horn and there two pros mark James and Peter fowler were all brilliant company and I think a great time was had by all.
But we did win ;-)
Monk out