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GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN LET NOTHING YOU DISMAY
Another excellent Christmas outing at MHGC - good food, drinks and company admirably hosted by our MC Paul Holmes.
But as for the golf - my how times and enthusiasm change. With Paul’s words ringing in our ears as we headed for the first tee “If the weather looks bad by the time you get to the 9th Green I suggest you go in”. And when we arrived at the first tee just about the only ones present were those about to tee off – not so long ago the full complement of golfers would have been there swishing their clubs and making impolite banter.
But by the second hole the tempo had picked up. Maurice hit a beautifully flighted shot to within about 3 feet of the hole - the Birdie Hole no less. But no quaking knees or yips here – his tried and trusted putting stroke guided the ball into the back of the cup to earn him the princely sum of £50. But on reflection was this a good deal. Some quick mental arithmetic back in the Clubhouse meant that a round of drinks would have left him approx £25 in the red.
Gentleman to the last, he generously donated his winnings to the Tour Kitty Fund. Thank you Maurice and well played on the day. Your Welsh partner in crime, who is currently recuperating, has some catching up to do!
On the guest front we welcomed Ray Woodhill another of Rob’s overseas visitors all the way from NZ. Ray is currently on a World Walkabout but kindly found the time from his busy schedule to honour us with his company. Don’t lose your new tie Ray.
And from the Eastern part of the Globe we welcomed back our very own Nighters on an even tighter schedule. Reluctant to demonstrate his Chinese golf swing he was only able to join us for the dinner. Has he managed to launder his dodgy currency yet – at least our Fines Masters weren’t taken in.
Another of our guests was Nick Tidey, whose father once captained MHGC. Although his local knowledge didn’t seem to help him with direction finding and unfortunately for him, after being persuaded to buy an HRCHGS tie, was then heavily fined for pretending to be a member of the Society. Life can be difficult.
Another guest, from the expanding Pitts Clan, was Chris Crowe who was heavily fined for being too good – perhaps Roger is in the process of remodelling his swing and is using Chris as a role model?
Our Fines Masters, Messrs Harman and Belcher, were on a mission to boost the Society’s Funds. And boy did they make hay – many a dusty old fiver was dug out of the recesses of various wallets. Thank you gentlemen. I can only hope that future fines masters will treat you favourably!
All in all a good day and perhaps the best thing was that out of a total of 24 players, 14 people collected some sort of prize. And some sort of prizes they were too. Thanks to Lord Stokes for some very innovative blow-ups.
Happy New Year to you all and your family and friends.
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