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West Wilts Golf Club Wagglers fight a rearguard action at Orchardleigh
Orchardleigh must be one of the most attractive courses in the environs, not far from Frome in a delightful parkland setting with plenty of mature trees and water to intimidate even the most experienced strikers of the small white ball.
Our team of 10 intrepid Wagglers from West Wilts GC set off last Thursday 18th August to meet The Stragglers of Orchardleigh. Home advantage tends to be a critical factor at golf and, unfortunately, this proved to be the case against Orchardleigh who won the match four and a half to a half. Captain Dieter Wakeling was the first to tee off partnered by the author in a hard fought contest which followed a rather unusual pattern. All square at the turn, Dieter and Martin had a purple patch to find themselves 2 up after 11 holes. They stood on the 17th Tee, a tricky little par 3, 2 up with 2 holes to play so the worst result was a half, only to have their confidence shattered as one of The Stragglers sunk his 40 foot putt to win the hole with a birdie. You can imagine the tension as we all stood on the 18th Tee with the outcome of the match on a knife edge. Disaster then struck, both Wagglers lost their ball off the tee and conceded the hole to The Stragglers thereby forcing a half. An interesting definition under The Rules of Golf is that a ball is deemed lost if “it is not found or identified by the player within 5 minutes after the player or his caddie has begun to search for it”.
To conclude, a story from the golfing legend Gary Player. The occasion was The US PGA Championship in August 1972 where Gary could not see the flag on the green in order to select the right club for his next shot. Always the mother of invention, he borrowed a chair from a spectator and stood on it to judge his approach shot, taking a 9 iron he hit his shot over trees and a small lake to within 4 feet, holed the putt for a birdie and went on to win his second US PGA Title. I’m afraid 17 handicappers of senior status can only dream of such brilliance, but keep playing just in case one day their luck might change.
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