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 !!

Dates for the diary:

30th May - 1st June         Five Nations Golf  -   Forest Pines Golf Club - Format
September 17th              TOGS AGM -    Tynemouth Golf Club

Thursday 8th May

Spital Dene Investment Club competition at Bellingham Golf Club

Difficult course played in glorious sunshine and from being level 2's after 7 holes I imploded in the heat and struggled to get round, finishing with a total of 25 points and glad to make it to the sanctuary of the clubhouse.

Wednesday 7th May

Daz took the teacakes and Vic a scone as I was left in their wake and had to buy a 'club sarnie'.   very nice it was too.

Sunday 4th May
Foursomes knock out

'Tea bag' Marsh strikes again and brought Le Frenchman down with him.   Fair play to our opponents, Dave Belshaw and Hugh Collins, they beat us by 1 hole and as a reward will play messrs Archbold and McCree in the next round.  

Saturday 3rd May
The Moore Cup

My first medal of the season and I was not surprised by my gross 89 / 77 nett.   Disappointed yes, surprised no.   At least I now have something in common with the legendary Sir Garry Sobers by virtue of the fact that I also scored six sixes.

My playing partners did not fare much better, Le Frenchman also scored a 77 and Daz a 74.

Thursday 1st May

Played only 12 holes with Raff as we jumped onto the back nine to avoid some dreadfully slow playing by three groups of ladies who showed no desire to let us pass.

Saturday 26th April
Neil Read Putter

Fourball better ball competition played off 3/4 handicap in tough windy conditions Le Frenchman and I scored a steady if unspectacular 36 points.   We played with the Daz Ridley and Alan Ross pairing and they were very good in scoring a  creditable 40 points.   They also won the front, the back and the match with 2 birdies for good measure and as a consequence I have to stay in tonight.

Friday 25th April

The Golden Glove
 Royal Musselburgh Golf Club

It is always a pleasure to play the beautiful course that is Royal Musselburgh in this annual event and as always David Hill and Reg Chisholm, and I am sure with a lot of help from Jenny and Norma, organised a first class event for the couple of dozen golfers.  

It is an inevitable consequence that there will be cry offs from the transplant golfers as our health is a fickle beast over which we have little or no control and our best wishes go  out to those who had to withdraw because of ill health.   "There but for the grace of God etc...."

Playing from the new white tee boxes and in a very strong wind made the course very long and as a consequence the scores were at least 10 points lower than in previous years but all things are relative and the winners and losers were as follows:-

As you can see I came away with 'a prize' from the Golden Glove and was delighted to be in the exalted company of Roy Stevens and Willie White as a third of the worst threesome.   We hope not to be able defend our title next year.

My playing partners were the amiable twosome of Alan Moffat and Ronnie Walker from the Grangemouth Golf Club and Crieff Golf Club respectively.   I may not have played my best golf ever but I thoroughly enjoyed the company of these two jolly Jocks   I am  pleased to report that they were both placed second in their respective categories and fully deserved by their steady play.

My thanks to Reg Chisholm as always for organising a practice round on his home course of Winterfield and I should tell everyone that our mini competition was won by David Hill with his best ever round of golf as he came in with 44 points on a very tough scoring day.   With form like that he would have been in with a good chance of taking the Golden Glove to Scotland, which would have been a first.

As it happens that honour fell to Stuart Ross who lifted the trophy.   Well played Stuart.

On behalf of all of the golfers a big thank you to all of the sponsors and to James Currie, Kevin Willis and Gordon Scott who checked the cards and produced the results and of course to the committee of Royal Musselburgh Golf Club for hosting the event on this magnificent golf course.

Thursday 24th April

Practice day at Winterfield Golf Club, Dunbar.

Winterfield is an interesting experience if you have never had the pleasure as it has six par three's, five of which are over 200 yards long and either directly into or with a very strong wind at your back.

I played with 11 handicap Kevin Willis, a member, against Le Frenchman and Le Welshman, Ian Hillier and took great delight in relieving the Welshman of his currency.   My score of 37 points gave me great confidence for the Golden Glove to come tomorrow as my game was generally in good working order, or so I thought.

Wednesday 23rd April

Continuing my dismal form from Monday I was on the wrong end of another mauling.   This time I took Le Frenchman down with me and we were annihilated by Alan Higginbottom and Daz Ridley by the proverbial dog licence (7s 6d).

We had better get our acts together because we are heading north of the border tomorrow in search of the Golden Glove.

Monday 21st April

Update on Saturday:   I understand that 4 of the top 7 places were taken by juniors but they are not allowed to claim the victory because they are under 18.   This could be a portend of things to come this season and we adults may be in for a hard time winning our own trophies.   I wonder how other clubs run their 'majors' ?

Daz's 67 was placed third on countback I believe.   I also learn that no handicaps will be increased or decreased because of the local ruling we had in effect of 'pick, clean and drop in the rough' which is fair enough.

Aujord'hui:   L'homme de francais triomphe en cinq et trois.   Je suis trés miserable.

Saturday 19th April
The Lombard

I played with Dave Archbold and Alan Ross and was generally playing my approach shot to the green first in the company of these two beasts.   I finished with a gross 85 / 73 nett which considering the conditions wasn't too bad a return for the first game of the season from the white tee boxes.   Depending on the standard scratch score I may just escape a 0.1 increase.

Having said that, fellow TOG, Daz Ridley (7 hcp) fired a gross 74 for a nett 67 which is a fantastic score and must be in with a shout of winning.

Thursday 17th April

Playing against Bob Best and Doug Spivey, Gordon Smith and I earned an honourable half courtesy of my par at the last.

Chatting to Doug about his days as a player at Tottenham Hotspur in the early 50's he told me that he played a handful of games for the first team in the old First Division, which is no mean achievement.  

The full back in that team was a certain Alf Ramsey and the captain was Bill Nicholson.   Isolated in London, Doug was unhappy and soon discovered wine, women and song and returned home.    Great stuff.

Wednesday 16th April

Having started in the cold and rain I gradually peeled off a couple of layers as we finished in glorious sunshine at Costa del Tynemouth.   Unfortunately, Le Frenchman and I had to hand over the Euros to young Victor and his accomplice Gordon Smith

Despite a magnificent comeback by the two of us from 3 down to be 1 down at the 15th, somehow Vic managed a four par finish from behind trees, in bunkers and the middle of bushes with a brilliant display of scrambling golf to win the match.   You could say Le Frenchy and I committed a faux pas too.

Monday 14th April

Played nine holes before coming off shivering from the cold.   Having to stand around watching a fourball follow a threeball, behind a threeball, behind two and a half empty holes is no fun.    The man up there in the helicopter must be thinking, 'Why are Marsh and his mate Raff in a hold up when there is all that space up ahead?'

Why indeed?   The tee was booked for a seniors competition from 9.30 - noon and as we teed off at 9.10am I don't understand how there are seniors in the comp ahead of me.   Discuss.

Saturday 12th April

With four holes closed The Lombard Trophy is a wash out and I didn't much fancy carrying my bag round a muddy field, so gave it a miss altogether.

Wednesday 9th April

John Raffle and I were demolished by 5 in a game of chairman with Alan Higginbottom today and is definitely the biggest winning margin I have ever come across in this format.   Fair enough we weren't brilliant but Alan to win by 5 tells you how well he was striking the ball.   He is off on holiday at the weekend and as the pound hits a new low against the Euro we have paid for his first few drinks at the bar.

Since playing my first round at Lancaster on Friday, walking off the 17th was the 98hole I  have played since.   We walked down the 18th because it started to rain heavily and  the game was well over.    That's it till Saturday.

Monday 7th April
Forest Pines Golf & Country Club

What a fantastic venue for the Five Nations Golf tournament this will be, having played the course today with John Barnes and Keith Atherton my fellow committee members.   The golf course is made up of three 9's and we will be playing on The Forest and The Pines which are excellent.   As is usual with tree lined golf courses hitting it straight will be crucial to make a good score.   The greens are magnificent and I assume they will be lightning fast come the end of May.

The hotel complex is everything you would expect from a four star venue and I am certain everyone will enjoy their three days at Forest Pines.  

Friday 4th - Sunday 6th April
TOGS on Tour
(Weather:  Cold and wintry, course played long but overall OK)

Friday Trophy

Winner - Le Frenchman = 34 points
Runner up - Dave Archbold = 31 points

  TOGS on Tour

Champion - Dave Rowntree = 62 points
Runner up - Daz Ridley = 61 points

Saturday Winner - Larry Page = 35 points
Runner up - Duncan McCree = 32 points

Sunday Winner - Dave Archbold = 32 points
Runner up - Daz Ridley = 32 points

Longest drives each day -  Fri:     Daz Ridley
                                                 Sat:    Alan Ross
                                                 Sun:   Alan Ross

Nearest Pins each day -      Fri:     Alan Ross / Dave Rowntree
                                                 Sat:    Daz Ridley
                                                 Sun:   Dave Archbold / Le Frenchman
 

Not sure what everyone's scores were but for the record these are mine:

Friday = 31 points (3rd)
Saturday = 30 points
Sunday = 28 points

Respectable enough given the length of the course and probably puts me in 5th place behind Duncan and Archie.

Great weekend's golf and craic.   On behalf of all of the TOGS, big thanks to Daz and Rosco but I am sure even they will agree that without Willy Smith's input and dedication above and beyond the call of duty none of this would have been possible.   You're a star Willy and even though we may have an odd way of showing it sometimes, we all think you are lush.

Only 25 weeks to go for the new season, can't wait.  
 2008 AGM
Wednesday 17th September - TGC Clubhouse @ 7pm.

Wednesday 2nd April

The least said the better as Le Frencman and I were whopped 5&4 by the in form Alan Higginbottom who was unassisted by Vic Hillier.  

Next time out I will be attempting to defend my 'Friday trophy' at our TOGS on Tour weekend away at Lancaster Golf Club.

Monday 31st March

Congratulations to Eddy Stothert on winning the TOGS singles knockout competition today with a 2&1 victory over Dave Rowntree.

There was never much in it and I do know that at the halfway stage Dave was 1 up.

Ed has a remarkable record in TOGS matchplay competitions and this is his fourth time in the winner's enclosure in six years.

Saturday 29th March
 TOGS Week 26

"Some people are on the pitch.   They think it's all over.   It is now".

It's hard to believe but that's it for another TOGS winter league - tempus fugit.

On the 22nd December, Week 12, Alan Ross got to to 220 points and established a lead that he would never relinquish.   He deservedly took the crown for the second time in our six year history and no matter how we tweak the rules it is always the best golfer over the period that comes out on top.   Well done Rosco.

Daz Ridley ended up playing off +3 handicap and finished runner up just a single point behind which is a remarkable achievement.    Larry Page (218), Alan Higginbottom and Le Frenchman (217), Duncan McCree (216) and yours truly, Graham Marsh (215) played consistently well throughout the season but could not quite overhaul those above.

Our defending champion, Willy Smith, going for a 'threepeat' came out with all guns blazing on the last day again to shoot a magnificent 38 points and finish on 216 points just 4 shy of the winning mark.   Great defence Willy.

The rest of the field are some 5 points back on 210 and under with only two players failing to join the '200' Club, mainly due to injury and work commitments for Steve Todd and Bob Whitehead respectively.

I don't know what Doug Walker's total was in 2003 (Willy will let me know),  but for the record, previous winning totals with the winning margin in brackets are as follows:

2003 - Doug Walker   = 223
2004 - Le Frenchman = 222 (5)
2005 - Rosco               = 220 (4)
2006 - Willy                  = 216 (4)
2007 - Willy                  = 216 (3)
2008 - Rosco               = 220 (1)......7 other players were within 5 points.

How interesting is that?  

Next week it is our TOGS on Tour  weekend at Lancaster Golf Club and then it's only 26 weeks before we start all over again.   Can't wait.

Wednesday 26th March

Alan Higginbottom and I kept Le Frenchman and Eddy Stothert company whilst they battled out their singles knockout  semi final.   Eddy was fantastic and when they shook hands on the 13th green he hadn't dropped a shot to to par.   C'est magnifiqué.

Needless to say in the bigger game Eddy won the front nine and the match but I salvaged half a scone with 22 points on the back for a respectable 37 total but was still 5 short of Ed's haul.

Monday 24th March

How's this for a summary of our game today?   

"If it wasn't for these snow showers conditions would be ideal and it's not really that cold, is it?"

Six of us set off but only three of us reached the ninth.    The other three having baled out at the eighth where the word 'Help' had been written in the snow, presumably so that the air sea rescue team would be able to find us.     Le Frenchman, Duncan and I turned and headed in the general direction of the clubhouse through the blizzard following DMC's birdie at the ninth.   Le Frenchy and I both secured our pars so conditions weren't so bad........oh yes they were!

The trio who chose the clubhouse route first were Rosco, Dave Rowntree and Dave Archbold and we three soon caught them up.  

Will try again on Wednesday at 9.45.

Saturday 22nd March
TOGS Week25

Welcome to springtime.   Bloody freezing, blowing a hooley and about to snow at any second.   This is what the winter league is all about.   It is easy to say that when there is only one more week to suffer.

Today's winner was Bill Fletcher playing off 18hcp (down to 16) with 33 points to add 4 to his total.  The only other player to increase his tally was Paul Keenan, 30 points, who also bettered his lowest score by 4 points.   Yours truly, Boggy, finished second with 30 points and incurred a handicap reduction from 5 to 4.

It is still just about possible for one of  the five of six golfers down to me on 215 points to draw level or even overhaul Rosco's total of 220 points, I exclude second placed Daz who is playing off +3, but it will take take something very special for that to happen.  

Dave Rowntree, thanks to three birdies, beat the holder Daz in the semi final of the singles and awaits either le Frenchman or Eddy Stothert in the final.   In the doubles Paul Keenan and Eddy had too much for Bill Fletcher and David Bavaird in the strong wind today and will meet Daz and Alan Higginbottom in the final.

Wednesday 19th March

Vic Hillier went home wagging his tail like a puppy following his victory on a Wednesday morning for absolutely yonks.   Raff, Ed (9 holes only), Alan Higg and me were all put firmly in our place by Vic who, it has to be said, took advantage of some very ordinary play by the rest of us.   Well done Vic.

Anyone fancy a game in the morning about 9.45am?

Saturday 15th March
TOGS Week 24

Playing off scratch, Daz Ridley fired a gross 68 to come in with 38 magnificent points and now has the dubious honour of playing the last two gamers off +2, which is the best handicap any player has achieved in our 6 year history.   Daz bettered his lowest score by 4 points and moves into second place on 219 to sit a tantalising solitary point behind our, once, runaway leader Rosco.

Correction to above:   Daz, having scored more than 37 points is cut an extra shot and is now playing off the mind boggling handicap of +3.   So, tell me again what is wrong with the present system, I must be missing something.

There was a club Stableford competition today too and Daz's score of 45 points will take some beating.

Two other players improved their scores today;  Tony Sarginson by 4 points (210) and our runner up Dave Archibald by 6 points, who joins the '200' Club.   Finally, all of the TOGS have now posted their six scores with Paul Keenan posting 30 points and we can see a complete league table with just two weeks remaining.

Realistically all those (six) players with 215 points  or better are now the only one's who can catch Rosco and it will take a fantastic round  to do it.

Wednesday 12th March

It was far too windy to play, but we did.   Alan Higginbottom had enough by halfway and went to work but me and my son, Kevin, continued until the bitter end.   I ended up losing and was glad to finish.

Saturday 8th March
TOGS Week 23

Alan Higginbottom finally managed to beat his lowest score of 32 and he chose possibly the winter's toughest scoring conditions to do it in with his excellent 33 points.   Can he score any more points though, playing off a 4 handicap, to challenge our leader?

The day's only other improved score was from Dave Rowntree, with a 32, and he is now down to 10hcp.   A special mention for Eddy Stothert who posted a very creditable score of 31 playing off 2.

Daz & Alan Higginbottom beat Archie and Rosco 2& 1 and now sit waiting in the final for some opponents to play.

That the semi finals should have been completed by 23 Feb and there is still an 'either or' situation in the other half of the draw looks mildly ridiculous.   It seems to me that if players are not injured and are simply not turning up on Saturdays and if the games are not played through the week then they have to forfeit the match at some point otherwise what is the point.   There are only 3 more TOGS Saturdays of the season remaining and these games should be played in the winter or not at all.

Wednesday 5th March

Five of us completed our Stableford round and Alan Higginbottom and I shared the spoils.   Al scored 22 points on the front and I had a pair of 20's to win the back and halve the match with him. 

Those who were scrabbling about for some loose change at the end were Vic Hillier, Eddy Stothert and Dave Rowntree.

There was a 20 strong golf society following us and it turns out they were all policemen.   Ed and Alan have never played so quickly all season as they were chased around the course by the long arm of the law.   We thought Archie may  have known a few of them but we couldn't find him.   Obviously, he was playing undercover today.

Monday 3rd March

Yet another game of chairman ended all square with none of us registering a point.   Le Frenchman, Archie and I exchanged the ill fitting jacket a few times but none of us got to score whilst having a fitting.

Le Frenchy did relieve us of one birdie's worth of French francs and is now bombing down the M62 trying to catch the overnight to Zeebrugge.

Following our game we visited the clubhouse for light refreshments which is perfectly usual.   What was unusual, in fact, change that to extremely perverse, was this;   Le Frenchman ordered a hot beef sarnie with gravy but no chips.   He was told that he would be paying for the chips regardless so may as well have them.   Le Frenchman not wanting any French fries said he would have a bacon buttie instead.

How ridiculous is that?   How can any retail food establishment make a customer pay for chips when he has no wish to eat them?   At £3.95 it cannot be beyond the wit of man in a hat to simply deduct (say) £1.20 and even simpler, charge £2.75 for hot beef sarnie.

Is it just me or is that completely ridiculous?  

Saturday 1st March
TOGS Week 22

On yet another mild sunny but very windy day the golf was surprisingly good.   Dave Archbold with 34 points beat David Bavaird by just a single point and he in turn had beaten Doug Walker, Bob Whitehead and yours truly on countback.   With a scoring average of 31 points in a 14 man field it was only the second time since the beginning of December that it had been 30+.

All of those players mentioned above, except for me, improved their totals.   Archie (+4), Willy (+5), Bob Whitehead posted his sixth score and the Cultured Caledonian maintained his recent form to crash through the 200 points barrier by 2 shots.

43 points:   Alan Higginbottom & Larry Page
42 points:   Dave Archbold & Willy Smith
41 points:   Graham Marsh & Bob Whitehead / Daz Ridley & Le Frenchman.

Whether these scores are anywhere near  the top of the leader board I have no idea, but they are good scores nonetheless.

Golf in Jan / Feb '08