Every time I tee it up whether in a medal or a friendly I record what happened to me and my partners.   Invariably there is a talking point or an incident which merits a few lines.   If the game passes without a hitch I will make something up anyway.

I make no apology to my playing partners as I call it as I see it.

FORE !!

                                                         Tynemouth Golf Club

The Club's website now has it's own forum for discussion and you can either join in an existing thread or start a new one of your own.   Go on, I dare you.

Boggy's Tip
 Do yourself a favour and register for free on the all new Howdidido site, it's excellent

To celebrate 25 years of heart transplants at the Freeman hospital in Newcastle I am going to hold a one off golf event to commemorate the anniversary.

FHLTA Charity Golf Day
Tynemouth Golf Club
Friday 14th May 2010

Anyone wishing to take part or offer sponsorship will be most welcome.

Willy Smith is now officially vice captain of Tynemouth Golf Club
Congratulations from all of the TOGS
Willy Smith: FTC VC TGC

Saturday 21st November
TOGS Week 8

Before we go any further please remember I am not a judge, nor am I the jury, so please do not shoot the messenger.   I am simply the bloke who records the scores and publishes them for the world to see.   I also, for my sins, take notes at our AGM's and write up any rule changes we decide upon and these are published for all to see at the bottom of the page which contains the league table.  

I have already received one anguished phone call from a concerned member of our brethren before I published these notes.   He is of the opinion that common sense should always prevail.   Who am I to disagree?  

To counter this point of view there is another school which requires that the Rules be adhered to and ignorance is not an excuse.  Who am I to disagree?

That Bob Whitehead (33 points) and Tony Sarginson our winner today with a magnificent TOGS score of 40 points did not play in the Club competition (he would have had a score of 43 points) requires that their scores be confirmed / ratified / accepted or disqualified before we move on.   

Rosco, despite not having a pom on his hat, had a fantastic score of 37 points  and sits menacingly behind our two pacesetters, with a round in hand.   Ed and Larry are the first two players to have posted six scores and Larry's excellent total of 207 looks lovingly up to Ed's magnificent 218 points.   Off the top of my head, I think this is easily the highest score posted after only six rounds.

Saturday 14th November
TOGS Week 7

No TOGS today because the course at Tynemouth was flooded, so half a dozen of us decamped to Longhirst for a plodge.   Honours were even as I won the front (17), Larry the Plec won the back (17) and Rosco the match with 32 points.   Others on this expedition to 'the course that never closes because of rain' were Le Frenchman, DMC and Mr Flog.

It was good to play and a return to this course in the summer would be something to look forward to.

Wednesday 11th November

Bob Best playing off 17hcp swept five of us away in our mini stableford competition this morning with an incredible 45 points.   A score which included only one birdie.   I have to say that Bob's short game is as good as I have seen from anyone, no matter what their handicap and it's not too difficult to understand that he is the current senior singles champion.   It was nearly a pleasure to lose to him.

The others who crossed his palm with silver were Vic (40 points), Le Frenchman, DMC, Doug Spivey and of course yours truly (36 points).

Monday 9th November

Larry the Plec, Le Frenchman and I enjoyed a game of chairman in the warm autumn sunshine.   As is normal it finished all square with Larry and LF scoring 1 point each, with me in the chair on the 18th.     Le Frenchman took the honours with back to back birdies at the 6th & 7th.

NB:   Le Frenchman's TOGS score has been reduced by 1 on Saturday as he played off the wrong handicap.

Saturday 7th November
TOGS Week 6

There are some people on the pitch ....they think it's all over.......

Our leader Eddy Stothert compiled a brilliant 38 points, playing off 6 and is now down to 5 hcp, and after 5 scoring weeks has amassed 185 points.   Ed was clear of second placed Dave Rowntree by 4  points and DMC by 3.   A simple calculation sets the projected target to beat at 222 points.   Can you do it?   The chase is on.

....We shall see.

It was good to see 'General' John Grant back playing and as soon is Daz is back from his travels we will all be on the board.

Oor Willy is now officially the vice captain of Tynemouth Golf Club.   All TOGS wish him well over the next two years and we will support him in most everything he does.

Wednesday 4th November

Vic, Ed and I played in a game of Chairman and something unusual happened.   That it ended all square as we shook hands on the 18th is not so odd but that none of us managed to score a point is.   Imagine that; no one was able to win two clear holes to score a point.  

We all had a spell on the settee but could not win a hole from that sedentary position.   It made for good golf and the only consolation were the birdies that Ed and I bagged therefore relieving Vic of his hard earned pennies.

Saturday 31st October
TOGS Week 5

It has to be said that the golf course on this beautiful October morning is in magnificent condition, despite Wednesday's skelping, and the greens are easily in the the best nick they have been in my 10 years as a member of Tynemouth Golf Club.   Definitely worthy of 9 on the Boggyometer.

Despite all of that the best score today was only 39 points by Tony Sarginson and he drops to 13.3hcp.   Don't get me wrong, Tony played beautifully for his score, but I mention all of this to back up my comments from last week about the leader board and 'some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over'.    A good guide of what is possible is to add the best front and back nine scores each week to see how the difficulty increases as we head deeper into the winter.   I seem to be in  a minority on this point but I am sticking to what I said last week (with the addition of Larry the plec)  but hope I am wrong. 

Steve Todd and Bill Fletcher both played very well for a pair of 37's and are cut by 1.2 to go to 20.3 and 17.4 respectively.   The only other handicap change was Dave Rowntree following his 35 and he is now off 11.8.

Wednesday 29th October

A beautiful day in Tynemouth was only spoiled by the state of the golf course.   For some reason it had been decided to scalp the fairways despite the fact they were soaking from yesterday's and last night's heavy rain.   Ploughed field doesn't even come close.   The first six holes looked like a quad bike track.  Luckily an ex committee man arrived in the nick of time and called a halt to this nonsense.

It has to be said that the greens are magnificent and as good as they have been all year.   They definitely rate 9/10 on the Boggyometer.   Shame about the fairways because they had been looking good of late too.   Let's hope no permanent damage has been done.

As for the golf, Vic and I won comfortably against Raff and Johnny Kidd (honestly).   I bagged three birdies and could have had two more having played as well as I have done for yonks.  

Saturday 24th October
TOGS Week 4

With preferred lies on the fairway and 'pick, clean and drop' in the rough, winter is definitely upon us and conditions today were reflected by the much lower scoring.   Ed's 37 points, taking him down to 6hcp, was excellent with Rosco's 35 not too far behind.   Because of the Newcastle match and travel arrangements by the three amigo's there were a few early starters today and that Ed came out on top in the much more difficult windy and wet conditions emphasises the quality of his round.

The rest of us toiled in the conditions and three of the early pacemakers all had a 0.1 increase in their handicaps, namely DMC, Larry the Plec and Le Frenchman.

I played with the Willy the FTC and the Cultured Caledonian and though none of us were that good I witnessed a putting display by the FTC of the highest order.   He never missed a putt from inside ten feet and his short game made up for some indifferent driving.   The Cultured one as always was a gent on the course and we trudged off extremely wet but in good spirits.

I will leave you with this mathematical proposition:

If Ed and Rosco add three rounds of 36 to their current totals, which is by no means impossible, they could finish with 221 and 220 points respectively.   Even more worrying, if Le Frenchman adds four 36's to his first two scores he will amass 225 points.  

Remember you read it here before the end of October and that two players have yet to hit a ball and two have only played once.

Saturday 17th October
TOGS Week 3

In the company of Cap'n Bob, Rosco and Steve Todd we played a very enjoyable fourball with Rosco and I lapping up the cream and Bob and Steve winning the battle of the birdies by two.

The overall scores have a certain symmetry with those posted last week but the average came in at two fewer on 35 points, but is still very high.

Oor Willy (FTC) making his first appearance of the winter scored a magnificent 43 to finish two points ahead of Le Frenchman who posted a second consecutive score in the forties which is good golf by any standard.   His new handicap is down to 9 which is a full 4 shots lower than when he teed off in week 1.     Rosco scored 40 points at a canter in finishing third just ahead of Cap'n Bob who loses a full shot as does Eddy and they are already down to 5hcp and 7hcp respectively.

Very early days but the scores posted at the top of the board will be crucial in 23 weeks.

Wednesday 14th October

Playing my first game since September 16th I feared the worst but apart from the first couple of holes my game wasn't in such bad order.   I tell a lie, my short iron play was hopeless but apart from that my game wasn't in such bad order.  

Partnering Vic against Bob Best and Doug Spivey we took the match on the 18th.

It was difficult to tell how good or bad the course was because it was one of those days when a light drizzle was falling and everywhere looked a little drab.    There were very few people on the golf course because of the poor weather but I wasn't going to miss out on a game today.

Apart from the putting my game was in pretty good order.   I tell a lie, my middle irons were poor but apart from that my game wasn't so bad.

All in all, "I was just happy to be here!"

Golf up to Sept '09