Frambois, Fores and Fin Bec

Round 6 at Gruyére GC

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Luckily it was not to be Fendant and Fondue , although as we drove down to Pont la Ville on the Saturday morning the weather could have been more mid-November rather than mid-August  with a cold wind and torrential rain in places making the journey a testing one.

Arriving safely at our destination, with only one small detour, as there always is when travelling Martin Tours, we planned with a few other Golf4Funners to play a practice 18 holes that afternoon. There seemed, however, to be some uncertainty as to the weight of precipitation that was to accompany us, depending on which weather radar provider you had on your smart phone or tablet, and eventually we settled on a compromise with the Secretariat to pay for nine holes with the option to extend to a further nine should we not grow webbed feet and start making quacking sounds. As it transpired our leader`s radar , that is probably hacked into some Hi-Tec North American intelligence agency  algorithmic  block chain programme, as opposed to the wet seaweed method , proved to be correct and we spent the next four and a half hours happily playing the fairways and greens of Golf Gruyere. Scores were all fairly strong and the prospects for the Sunday, that were forecast to see drier conditions, looked good.

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A quick shower, shave and a change of attire, time for dinner, with an excellent Menu du Jour for Euro 35, and a very appealing Merlot to accompany it. A fine meal was had by all and with the return of the wind and the rain outside, some sort of central heating for the body seemed in order. Having perused the possible options I decided to go native plumping for a Framboise. Having raised my internal body temperature sufficiently, I decided to retire to my wonderfully appointed hotel room, prepared for a great game of golf, and realising how much I enjoyed the taste of Raspberry.

Sunday, and the sun was shining as promised, albeit a tad chilly in the breeze. After a healthy breakfast, that is to say a light repast after the surfeit of fruit the night before, time for a trip to the Secretariat to donate CHF 5 to the birdie pot (Always the optimist!), and receive the goodies as generously supplied by Stamford and Focus water, as well my tube of factor 30 Ultra sun protection cream. Then off to the putting green for a quick practice.

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The first tee at Golf Gruyere, as many of those reading this would concur, is a spectacular start to any golf round with the raised aspect  and glorious panorama taking in the Alps and the lake. Hopefully this would inspire one of our members to ace this 189 meter handicap 13  par 3 and so be awarded the E bike donated by Raleigh, an award that has so far remained unclaimed for so long that nature is slowly trying to assert its hold. One hopes Waldkirch`s season final will find us a winner.

The opening holes at Golf Gruyere are sculptured across a number of parallel running tiers and so any wayward tee shots tend to fall off the fairways resulting in anyone looking for their shot placing themselves in possible danger from the tee box of the lower hole. Unfortunately, early in the round one of our members was the recipient of a sharp reminder, as he managed to take one (not from any Golf4Fun members) smack on the forearm and will ever have Callaway tattooed on his Ulna. Painful? Yes –as he`s a Titleist man. I am glad to report though that the incident did not adversely affect the rest of his round, indeed he went on to excel.

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One thing was for sure, no one would be going hungry today , with the golf club supplying each competitor with a sandwich, chocolate bar, banana, and a drink on the first tee, this before the mid round snack on the eighth, served as always by the smiling Nata . Once again the curried chicken got a big thumbs up!!

The round progressed at a steady level, with the occasional wait on the tee box. Still this gave us time to admire the scenery, smoke too many cigarettes, and take in the sounds of the countryside. Fortunately the local Gruyere  I’ve got a gun and I’m going to use it  brigade had decided to take the day off. As on Saturday`s practice round, sounds of 0.303 mm calibre ordinance being fired into a hill next to the ninth were a little disturbing. Thankfully no shouts of FORE !! from that side of the fence.

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Instead though we were to be treated to a flyby of the Lockheed Constellation C-121C, one of the only two flying of this model in the world today, in what I would like to think was a celebration for one of our members who was enjoying his birthday on this very date.

Round 6 was to end as it had begun with shouts of FORE!! This time from the 18th tee box, as Ron, our Inner Image photographer , deep in concentration over his artistic hardware failed to hear the above mentioned warning and caught one dead centre on the Fibula , no damage done though and a cold beer,courtesy of the Zurich International Beer Bar, quickly rebalanced the Adrenalin rush. Ron settled for some water!!

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The 18th green actually proved to be a tricky little tester, and players`reactions have been poignantly caught by the man with the lens.

Apero time and Charly from Fin Bec was once again in attendance, supplying us with a taste of their vintages and offering a discounted price for orders taken. This accompanied a very artistically presented assortment of Amuse Bouches created by the hotel kitchen. Top marks!!

Prize giving time     –Sound system? –Check    — Apero Spritz? –Check   Microphone? –Check   —     Fags? –Check    — All good to go!!

We had some fresh blood playing with us today, and it was good to see them walking away with a prize ( or even two ). We look forward to their return . Even this Tiger managed to walk away with a CHF 75 voucher from the Asian restaurant in Zurich  Beyond  —  looking forward to redeeming that beauty.

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Once again, my CHF 5 donation to the birdie pot ended up as just that , despite a few chances , still for those lucky winners it proved very profitable at CHF 15 a birdie , well played all.

Proceedings drew to an end, with competitors saying their goodbyes and making their way homeward. No doubt many will meet again September 17th –THAT’S A SATURDAY !!!! for the season’s final ,with a mountain of prizes to be won . Some lucky members though have opted to fine tune their game in the surroundings of Bulgaria before that for a week’s golf.

 

                           сбогувам се

Peter Martin, Hopeful Tiger 2016