Strictly Come Steisslingen…
Round 5 2016
It is slightly unnerving to be scribing this blog on an event that I did not actually take part in, and physically was around 1000km away from the scene at the time. However, a big thank you to all those of you who took the time to write down a little anecdote about their day on the forms provided, which gave a good insight into the day’s proceedings. I have managed, I hope, to give an account of some of the highlights from round 5.
I have taken the liberty of forwarding on the observations to an analyst friend who is writing a thesis on a study of the mental state of grown men and women who decide, voluntarily, to walk 5 – 6 km for 4 – 5 hours` purgatory in differing weather conditions hitting a small white spherical object into 18 small holes in as fewer strokes as possible. The madness on this day was intensified by the inclement conditions, beautifully summed up in one comment that ——-If the sun was shining you knew it was about to rain!!
Sunday July 31st was obviously a trigger date for the local insect wildlife, with Steisslingen proving a very popular spot for Tabanidae hen weekends (that’s the female horse fly to us) who took great delight in harassing the competitors as they were preparing to take their shots. The attempts to scatter the pesky intruders led to some novel pre- shot routines, best described by this entry —- slap thigh, bend knees, address ball, and slap other thigh, rub legs, clean glasses (optional), wipe face and repeat. Not an easy task, combing the skills of a frantic Morris dancer and a consummately proficient golfer. On Holes 16,17and 18 the insect activity was intense enough to start what appeared to be an impromptu break dancing competition amongst a number of flights.
Some of the Golf4Funners limbering up to ward off the wild life
Whilst the rest of the field were syncopating to the rhythms of 1-2-3/1-2-3 and 5 -6-7-8 / 5- 6-7- 8 , there was, as one raconteur commented , a lack of 4/4 time being heard, resulting in some close calls and near misses, especially around the triangle of the 11th ,12th and 13th .
Talking of close calls it was reported that the classic and almost vintage Raleigh bike was in danger of being won on the 12th, but it managed to remain unclaimed and moves on to take on all comers on the first tee at Gruyere.
Despite all the distractions around the course, be they winged or meteorological, it would appear by the scores that there was some pretty decent golf being played, with a number of multiple birdies recorded and with some scores resulting in lower handicap adjustments.
The clubhouse put on its usual grand spread for the Apero with the Finbec challenge and Manu`s special prize going to worthy recipients, and a certain Mark R walked away with a truckload of prizes for his fine day`s efforts , including the blog competition bottle of bubbly!!
As always, a heap load of thanks to the helpers, with Nata handing out the goodie bags on the first with our sponsors Focus Water, Ultrasun and Stamford all contributing, and to Collette for her help with the mid round snacks.
Congratulations also go out to Ryan, who was not in attendance for this tournament, as he was busy becoming a first time father.
The overall impression I received from the responses was that once again people had fun, and I cannot wait to join you all on the next tournament in Gruyere , hopefully not requiring the waterproofs and the insect repellent.
Finally in a week that has seen Nike announce it is to stop making golf equipment (which means my clubs could become classics) sighting a decline in the number of young people taking up the game I can leave you with this wonderful sketch drawn on the day from one of our more regular young attendees and hopeful Tiger of the future.
Peter Martin, Hopeful Tiger 2016