After enjoying the recent spell of unseasonably good weather it seemed appropriate that winter should return for the season’s finale of Indoor Golf, and so we moved inside to play 18 holes at sunny Valderrama. It would turn out to be a day tinged with a little sadness and on a personal note one of euphoria. Sad, as we learnt that Sandro, our Golf Indoors host would be moving on to what we hope will be better things in the future, and euphoric —  cos I won a case of Grolsch—- but more of that later.

Firstly, a heartfelt thanks to Sandro for making sure events ran smoothly (despite the odd re- boot) always offering a great welcome, and making a mean toasted sandwich. I think I can say that on behalf of all Golf4fun members we wish him well.

So, as the clock moved to 13.00 CET the players took up the challenge of Valderrama. Robert Trent Jones designed this course and while it is not that long, at under 6000 metres from the amateur tees, it still creates a challenge with very narrow fairways and undulating greens on almost every hole.

I was joined in my flight by Pedro , Nora and Dawn.

Pedro immediately threw down the gauntlet by booming one right down the middle and managing to bag 2 points with a net par. Every point was vital on this round as on the overall leader board he and I were neck and neck and over the next three holes he inched ahead.

The pressure was beginning to tell as my driver turned into a Saturn 5 booster rocket, determined to get my Titleist pro V as high into the stratosphere as possible. Luckily the machine did not register a number of those attempts which were proving to be a source of great amusement to my fellow golfers. The front nine completed, the scores were close and everything was to play for.

Luckily (for me) at this point Pedro decided to hold “A teddy bears picnic”, by managing to hit successive T- shots into the woods. We were all beginning to marvel at the wonders of virtual reality golf as we explored with Pedro parts of the course not many players have encountered. However, his powers of recovery, reminiscent of the late great Seve B, ensured the match remained tight until the very last where we stood equal on 34 points each. My rival once again found the lumber and, encouraged, I put my 3rd shot in the hole for a 4 pointer which sealed the match.

Nora, with a fine round herself, won the overall title but graciously declined the first prize and with Colt and Paul not playing (hope the shoulder gets better soon Paul) I found myself making the tricky decision between some balls, a CHF 30 Golf4Fun voucher and a case of Grolsch.  After a 5 nano second delay I was the proud recipient of the Dutch nectar.

And so to the outdoor season which begins in earnest on April 13th at Steisslingen (with, I hear, a full field of 60 players expected) for what promises to be the start of a great Golf4Fun 2014 tournament series.

Thank you once again to Sandro and Nora for running and organising a hotly contested indoor competition over the winter months and to Colt and Paul for not turning up !!!!!!

PROOST

Peter Martin, Hopeful Tiger 2014