In which, during the week of the 150th Open, golf101 meets with a childhood friend and sets off on a golfing trip to the West Midlands.
“In a better world we will find our young years and our old friends.”
Jean Antoine Petit-Senn
First things first, have you all managed to successfully navigate the oppressive, record braking (#andnotinagoodway) temperatures of the last few days?
I do hope so.
And I hope that, even if we can’t take ‘Gross Zero’ seriously (Gross Zero (golf101.co.uk)), we can all get behind making sure that ‘Net Zero’ (by 2050) is achieved.
It's a race none of us can afford to lose.
Regular readers of this blog will recognise that I don't know much about the science of the golf swing.
And I know even less about the science of climate change...so it's high time I did something about that.
Thankfully there's a couple of really inspiring people who have pointed me in the right direction. One gifted me this book.
The other is working on a brand new exhibition and educational project focussing on how crucial the oceans are to the world's biomass, plant and animal life
Check out: Charlestown OSC (oceansurfacecentre.org)
The scary temperatures last week inevitably led the media to reference the heatwave of 1976.
It's the benchmark summer always trotted out by the journos whenever we get a hot spell.
For the benefit of those too young to remember, the summer of '76 heralded drought conditions and water rationing.
I was nine in back then and living in Lynton Avenue, Northampton.
That summer was ten weeks of no rain, and temperatures regularly in excess of 30 degrees.
It was so serious that by the end of August the Government Front Bench had made room for a ‘Minister of Drought’.
An appointment that turned out to be arguably one of the most successful and certainly one of the shortest-lived tenures in Cabinet history.
Dennis Howell was stood down from post the following week...when widespread storms hit the country.
Anyway, I remember Lynton Avenue not for that long hot summer, but as a great place to be a young kid.
Why?
Location, location, location.
There were lots of other families in the street, a copse and orchard full of crab apple trees at the top of the road, a parade of shops a short walk away and playing fields a bit beyond that.
Childhood friends were made from the street rather than school.
And I hit 'amigo gold' in the shape of Mike T.
Mike's family lived almost directly opposite ours.
He was a bit older, and a lot cleverer, wiser, more patient and more generous than me – and he liked Subbuteo too.
Indeed, game playing was the basis of the friendship.
Football, chess, Stratego, Totopoly, Formula 1, Guess Who, Operation, playing cards.
We played them all, almost all the time.
That friendship with Mike definitely helped foster a love of games that has lasted a lifetime.
It’s something my kids have inherited too. And probably why my daughter recently gifted me some golf poker chips and golf 'Fore' cards.
But more of that later.
The family left Lynton Avenue and Northampton in 1977, and headed for pastures new in Sussex.
I hadn't seen Mike or manged to stay in contact in the 45 years that followed.
But, last week, the culmination of some recent email exchanges, led us to meeting up on the first day of a golf trip to the Midlands.
Golf has taken me to some great places over the years, but this was the first time it had taken me back to my past.
It was a genuine treat to reminisce and catch up.
One of the undoubted highlights of a great few days.
Talking of which...
The next day the six of us on the tour left our digs in Coventry and journeyed up to Retford Golf Club. (Home | Retford Golf Club).
From L to R: LiPee, GIT, BMac, SonofGIT, Phil, Santa.
Retford provided us with a tilt at the Ted Waterfield Memorial Trophy, a great welcome from the Retford Lions Club, and the driest fairways in all of Christendom.
The next day we played Leamington and County G.C. (Leamington & County Golf Club | Golf Club | Warwickshire (leamingtongolf.co.uk)).
Have you ever played with a Mulligan?
And I don't mean a member of your club, or a friend who bears that name.
I'm referring to the free, non-counting 'do over' shot - golf's equivalent of 'Get Out of Jail Free'.
Not the sort of thing you'd see at The Open of course, but quite fun to inject into a golf tour with mates.
Which is exactly what we did at Leamington using a combination of those golf themed poker chips and playing cards my daughter had given me.
We did the same thing again at the third and final course of the week - Ladbrook Park G.C.
What a great track! Not a weak hole on the course.
It's a venue I wouldn't hesitate to recommend, and can't wait for an opportunity to play again.
It was a great way to sign off our 'Open' golf trip.
And talking of The 150th Open...
Congratulations to Cam Smith for producing a brilliant final round of 64 to become the 2022 'Golfer of the Year'.
St Andrews was becalmed and the mild conditions at the weekend encouraged some low scoring.
It was impressive to watch but perhaps that benign weather should also been seen as a warning?
If we don't do something to stop the planet overheating, more of us might be compelled to watch golf's majors in our birthday suits.
The trouble is that, while you might be inclined to drop your kecks, (like this chap did at the 1995 Open), I'm not sure the R&A will be as inclined to drop their dress code.
So, at least for now, let's be resolved to save the planet and keep our trousers on while we're doing it.
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