UK Knock-Out 2018

[Niall C]

I appreciate that we are still in the depths of winter as it is still only the 3rd of April  , but has anyone played there first round match yet ?

Niall

[Sam Krume]

Adam Lawrence and I have our match set for April 26th. Will report back there after.

[Mark Pearce]

Well done, Adam and Sam.


The first (of many, I suspect) reminders to others to get games arranged....

[Jon Wiggett]

Mark,


David & I are looking for a game at the end of this month presuming the snow has gone

[Robin_Hiseman]

Giles, James Boon and myself are intending to combine our first and second round matches into a single golf day. We're favouring the idea of Berkhamsted in early May. There is a single berth available if anyone is interested in rounding out a fourball.

[Andy Stamm]

Michael and I are set to play Pitreavie on the 27th. I'm certainly up for company if anyone fancy's joining.

[Ben Stephens]

Giles, James Boon and myself are intending to combine our first and second round matches into a single golf day. We're favouring the idea of Berkhamsted in early May. There is a single berth available if anyone is interested in rounding out a fourball.

I would be interested in joining you guys as I have not played Berkhamsted before.

[Adam Uttley]

Matt and I played our match today at Huntercombe. What a wonderful golf course it is - extremely fun and perfect for matchplay.  On many of the tees we didn’t really know where we were going and I’d certainly like to have another crack at it now I know the course.  The highlight for me were the green complexes which are great fun.  One difficulty was navigating from one hole to the next.  We actually came off the 7th green and made our way to the 14th tee (unbeknownst to us), played the 14th and then scurried off to the 8th after that once we realised our error.


In terms of the golf we had a fairly close match most of the way round, but despite having to fight off an unwanted bee on one hole and an unwanted lady member on another, Matt’s short game won out on the 15th.  It was a fantastic day in good weather and good company.  I’m very grateful to GCA for bringing this course onto my radar, I can’t wait to play again.

[Matt Dawson]

but despite having to fight off an unwanted bee on one hole and an unwanted lady member on another, Matt’s short game won out on the 15th. 

That was a rather surreal but quite flattering moment!


A real pleasure to play with Adam. Despite finding almost every one of Huntercombe's famous hollows, I managed to get my nose in front and holes just ran out. There were some challenging approach shots that really made you think, and we both loved the greens sloping away from you in gradual waves


Look forward to playing the victor of the Hiseman/Payne/Boon challenge - venue TBD !

[Michael Whitaker]

[Robin_Hiseman]

Look forward to playing the victor of the Hiseman/Payne/Boon challenge - venue TBD !

I somewhat doubt i'll be playing you Matt, given that I've drawn the "Group of Death", but well done for getting through.

[Rich Goodale]

To Clyde J.


Compadre


I shall be on a flying visit soon to Scotland arriving on 27 April and returning to Florida On 8 May.  I will be in the Central Belt from April 30 to May 3, and then May 4 to May 7 in Dornoch.  If you are around then and there and want a game, let me know.


Of course, if you are involved in the massive restoration currently undergoing of Foulpointe, I will be happy to wait for late May or early June.


All the best


Rich

[Rich Goodale]

Michael and I are set to play Pitreavie on the 27th. I'm certainly up for company if anyone fancy's joining.

I might make it Andy, depending on the 26th, but as an observer rather than a player.  What's the time?


rfg

[Sam Krume]

a bit late in the day I know but Adam Lawrence and I are playing our knockout match at Knole Park tomorrow(thurs 26th0. We are being joined by Robin Hiseman and Mr Arble. There is a free spot to make up a 4ball with the afore mentioned following straight after Adam and myself. Tee off is at 13.30. The golf will be free as the club have kindly granted me courtesey. Please message me if you want to come and see the wonderful Knole. 1st come 1st served im afraid.

[Sam Krume]

Adam and I played our match at the wonderful Knole Park yesterday. Unfortunately Adam's game was not on where as mine was I and I ran out winning, shaking hands on the 10th. For those that have not been to the Knole, may I suggest you go and have a look. There are some great land forms/fairway movements for an inland course and the vista's are definitely not to be scoffed out. Hole wise i feel it quite reminiscent of The Add but on a grander scale. 6 par 3's from Aber once again. It does feel like it has just been layed on the land, nothing forced. We did mention that we felt there were a couple of holes that with a small re work would really ratch up the course, the 14th being the one we all mentioned. Push the back of the green 10 yards to the edge and as Mr Lawrence said "That would be one green site that every one would talk about".........
Hopefully some photos to follow (Mr Arble!!)

[Michael Whitaker]

[Andy Stamm]

Michael and I had our game at Pitreavie on Friday, which I managed to win. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, particularly the chat. The course has been well discussed before. I'll say that the greens are the defense, and they're good. Hit the right shelf or get below the hole, and it's easy enough, but miss it and you can make a fool of yourself, which I duly did a couple of times. On the 13th, I proceeded to putt from the lower level to the upper, only to underhit it, and have it come back to my feet and keep on going! There was a fair bit of blindness off the tee, which brought interest considering tee to green was fairly straightforward. For those that don't like blindness, it'd be an interesting question, because without that it would have been a bit boring off the tee. At the end of the day, Pitreavie's an enjoyable round of golf, excellent value, and exactly the type of place that makes golf here so special.

[Michael Whitaker]

[Jon Wiggett]

David and I played our game yesterday on a fine spring afternoon over the Rosemount course at Blairgowerie.

The course was in reasonable condition for the time of year though the greens were a little bobbly after recent aeration. The course played quite firm despite the rain the area has seen in the past few weeks. The Rosemount course is a good example of heathland course been choked by over planting which is still going on. There is still plenty of heather under the trees and plenty of potential if a chainsaw were to be extensively wielded. It has some excellent long par 4s broken up by a few very good short ones.

Pick of the holes were probably two which is a short par 4 with a very good green complex, the 10th which is a round the corner par 5 with some classical Braid fairway bunkering and the short 15th which has a delightful green with excellent internal contouring.

I would still recommend the course as a stop of to play if passing by.

We were both a little rusty to start with and David was unlucky enough to loose a couple of balls from wayward shots early on leading to a couple of lost holes from which he never recovered. I had a solid round completing the 18 holes in one over par which was enough to close out the match 5&4.


The club were very welcoming and I would like to thank them for letting us use the course and their excellent clubhouse.


 

[Michael Whitaker]

[Mark Pearce]

The Ben Stephens vs Andy Levett first round game will be accompanying my second round game with Duncan at Headingley this afternoon.  Will be interesting to see one of the lesser known Leeds courses.

[Ian Galbraith]

Myself and Marty will be sampling the delights of Pumpherston after work tonight for our tie. Forecast looks excellent so should be fun!

[Marty Bonnar]

Myself and Marty will be sampling the delights of Pumpherston after work tonight for our tie. Forecast looks excellent so should be fun!

From Royal Melbourne to Pumpherston. How the mighty have fallen!
Should be fun though. See you later, Ian.
Cheers,
F.

[Jon Wiggett]

The Ben Stephens vs Andy Levett first round game will be accompanying my second round game with Duncan at Headingley this afternoon.  Will be interesting to see one of the lesser known Leeds courses.

Mark,


I am sure you will enjoy Headingly which still has much of Dr. Mac left in it though it suffers a bit from tree encroachment or at least the last time I saw it. Pick of the bunch has to be the 16th with a great green complex though all three of the closing holes make a strong finish.


Enjoy

[Ian Galbraith]

Marty and I were treated to a glorious warm evening to contest our tie tonight. We’d booked a late tee time at Pumpherston now that Marty is back from his adventures down under. Neither of us had played there before and it is a course which had been extended from an original 9 holes to a full 18 in 2002.

I managed to get my nose in front after a few holes and got to the turn 2 up.  The real Marty returned early in the back nine and got things back to a onehole deficit before a regulation par 5 on 17 saw me secure a 2 and 1 win.

The course itself was a mixed bag. Conditioning was by and large decent except for the greens which were very bumpy and pock marked. Putting was a bit of a lottery on some of the surfaces which was a shame. There are some lovely open aspects and views to the Pentlands and across West Lothian. Once or twice the scene was very remiscent or Auchterarder which is a compliment. The newer holes are (to my mind) rather over bunkered I could imagine scrapping almost half of them without affecting the playing lines too much. Must take a lot of effort to maintain them (indeed they were in pretty good shape) and perhaps some time spent taking more care of the greens would be a worthwhile change.

The course held our interest right to the end and I would happily play there again as there are a few holes which I would play differently knowing the layout now.

For the very reasonable price we paid it’s easy to see why the course was pretty busy – that and the warm sunshine !

Thanks to Marty for an enjoyable few hours, I hope you enjoyed the fish supper you were planning on the way home. I got to North Berwick and the bank holiday tourists has stripped the town bare of haddock so sadly it was a healthy option for me.