UK Knock Out 2019

[Niall C]

James


I'm very envious of you and Giles. I played there last year and absolutely loved it. Great routing over interesting terrain and with lovely expansive green complexes.


Mark


Clyde is presently engaged digging up and re-arranging part of Ireland on behalf of Mr Doak. We're hopefully going to play our match on his return which from memory should be some time in September ? (need to check with Clyde)


Niall

[James Reader]

If anyone fancies joining Giles and I at Beau Desert - 10.30 on Friday 23rd - you’d be more than welcome.

[Mark Pearce]

If anyone fancies joining Giles and I at Beau Desert - 10.30 on Friday 23rd - you’d be more than welcome.

Damn!  I'm in Birmingham on the 23rd but have a meeting at 11.

[Giles Payne]

James an I plaid our round at Beau Desert on Friday in beatiful weather and had enough of a gap on the course to go round without running into any other groups - millionaires golf on a lovely track!


Both of us fell foul of not knowing our way round and sometimes hitting inappropriate clubs of the tee but we had a very enjoyable round with James Prevailing on the 19th hole in a much which could easily have gone either way with some rather mixed golf and not many halved holes.


I had never played there before and thought that it was a lovely course with my only real issue coming on the 18th with two fairway bunkers which looked ver out of place and I felt detracted from the hole.


The rest of the course was lovely with some really interesting green complexes - the only think I might have like would be a little more movement in some of the fairways.


Congratulations to James and good luck in the next round.

[James Reader]

Thanks for a very enjoyable game Giles.  It even made suffering the M6 on a bank holiday Friday worthwhile.


First time at Beau Desert for me too and I was really impressed (can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get there given I grew up not too far away). Fabulous green complexes, as Giles says, but my driving was such that I’m not sure I saw enough of the fairways to comment on an absence of movement!  I certainly look forward to seeing it again soon, once the tree work that Sean recently referred to on his course tour post has been completed.

[Michael Whitaker]

[Garland Bayley]

Oops Whitty, forgot to put Reader's win in.

[Michael Whitaker]

Oops Whitty, forgot to put Reader's win in.

Thanks!

[Mark Pearce]

Jon Wiggett and I met half way ish this afternoon on a course neither of us had played before, the 1562 Course at Montrose.  It was breezy all afternoon and, for the first half wet.  Despite giving me more than a dozen shots, Jo seized an early 3 hole lead (aided by a block out of bounds (the beach is OOB on the run from 2 which has the North Sea as its right boundary) on 2 and a lost ball (rather more mysterious) on 3.  I rallied a bit from there and, at 2 down on the 15th green, with a 10 foot uphill putt where Jon had a tricky 25 footer downhill, with a shelf to descend off, thought a late come back might materialise.  At this point the pro showed what makes a pro by holing that tricky putt (and it wasn't going an inch past) and then hit the heart of the green on the 235 yard par 3 16th to close it out 3/2.


I really liked Montrose.  From the Royal Montrose clubhouse (the links is shared by a number of clubs) you can see that it has good land.  Properly linksy but with moderate sized dunes and plenty of undulation.  We played the white tees (around 6500) and they were plenty long enough in a strong wind.  Aside from 15 and 16 (which is wild) the greens are flattish, which is slightly surprising as the fairways have the rolling undulations so beloved of some here (me included).  Only the slightly peculiar benched, offset 17th green (adjacent to some fabulously rolling fairway, looks really manufactured.  The course is well bunkered (though a few of the greenside bunkers are a little small) and I'd be very keen to get back soon.

[Jon Wiggett]

As Mark said, Montrose is a really solid course which I certainly will look at returning to. Tee to green it is extremely interesting and whilst most of the greens are fairly flat this does not detract from the overall experience. I think we both had the same thoughts about the negatives of the course regards some of the greenside bunkers and the 17th green but all in all a course well worth visiting.


As for the match, Mark was a little unlucky at the start especially the lost ball on three which was really the difference between us in the match which could have gone either way.


Jon

[Michael Whitaker]

[James Reader]

I’ve been trying to direct message Mark Chaplin but I don’t think it’s working for some reason - user error I suspect!


If you read this Mark, do you want to try messaging me and we can try to find a date for our game.

[James Reader]

Mark and I are playing our match at Worplesdon on Tuesday.

[Niall C]

I'm presently looking into going over to Ireland to play Clyde over there, hopefully sometime in the next month.


Niall

[James Reader]

Mark and I are playing our match at Worplesdon on Tuesday.

With a forecast for torrential rain and thunderstorms, we decided to postpone on Tuesday.  As it was, I played 36 at Swinley instead and the weather was actually pretty good - there were downpours nearby though, so we might well not have been so lucky at Worplesdon.  We’ll try to find another date soon.

[Jon Wiggett]

I'm presently looking into going over to Ireland to play Clyde over there, hopefully sometime in the next month.


Niall

Any news Niall?

[James Reader]

After cancelling our planned game at Worplesdon, Mark and I have unfortunately concluded that we’re not going to be able to get our game played before the end of the year, so Mark has very gracefully conceded.

[Michael Whitaker]

.

[Jon Wiggett]

Its spot the difference time 

[Mark Pearce]

Niall, Clyde,


Any news before I toss a coin?


Mark

[Michael Whitaker]

I guess an IM was too much trouble?

[Michael Whitaker]

[Jon Wiggett]

I guess an IM was too much trouble?

Didn't think it was so important. Sorry if it offended you Mike.

[Clyde Johnson]

Myself and Niall lined-up to play our match at Cambuslang this afternoon...!


Nine holes, sub-6000 yards. About 15 minutes away from Glasgow city centre.

[Clyde Johnson]

In the true spirit of this competition, Niall and myself headed into the unknown...


Cambuslang is a nine hole oasis to the north of the former coal mining town, seemingly unknown to all but their members - the club doesn't seem to advertise for membership, and certainly not green fee payers.


An electronic fob key sees you into and out of the course - it's pretty compact with not room for too many golfers, though I suspect that is in part to keep any unscrupulous locals out.


The terrain feels relatively flat on first impression, though some bold rig-and-furrow adds a touch of interest. The routing must play perpendicular to the axis of the lengthy first, bringing a little more drama at the par-three third...:





...and after driving across the second, again with the steeply uphill approach to the fourth:





A second cross-over ensues where the seventh plays back across the sixth, and then beyond to a simply tilted green:





After the cute eighth, the final hole angles beyond a stream before demanding a fine approach over a deep, grassy gulley - sadly this one was on the winter green:





A pleasant course, and no doubt a fine evening getaway during the long summer days.


Playing generously off scratch, it was 1 up to Niall at the turn. We exchanged the same holes a second time, before Niall pulled away to an easy 4 and 2 victory! Well done.