The 2017 'Away LEGS' weekender trip revisited Ryder Cup history on 15 - 17 July as we played the Belfry and Forest of Arden courses.

Coloured trousers & shorts were the required dress code and most joined in.. so much so that it looked like an explosion in a dulux factory on the first tee.  There were more colours than in a Benetton store...

On the Saturday morning, we played the famous Brabazon Course - and in fine form it was too.  On the 300 yard (284 from the yellow) tenth hole, those who chose to (and for a £10 donation to charity) could attempt to win a free round of golf for two (or four?) by recreating Seve's famous shot in the 1985 Ryder Cup, when he cleared the brook to land the ball next to the flag.  Many attempted but only a few succeeded.  Terry Portway was one in our group...

It was good to play the holes seen on TV all those years ago - the 18th was a particularly historic hole, famous for when Sam Torrence held his arms aloft when he finally won the Ryder Cup back for Europe for the first time in over 20 years.

The four NTPs were won by Ian Bowden, Donald Allen, Matt Hooper and Mark Bignell.  The front nine was won by John Capstick (19) and the back nine won by Chris Bertie (18) but the overall winner on day one was Tony Bowyer with 31 points.  Pauline Morrow won Group 2 with 9 points.

On the Saturday evening, some ate in pizzeria and in restaurant and later on, some decide to bust a few moves on the dance floor at the adjacent Bel Air night club.  Videos of the guilty parties have been posted on social media...  The more refined of us (or wiser or older?) decided to give the disco lights a wide berth and crack open some good red wine and watch the Chris Eubank Jnr fight in the bar.

At check in earlier in the day there was some errors in room booking which resulted in six of us having to sare two bedrooms.  We were compensated with free buckets of beers & bottles of prosecco but in reality nothing could really compensate for listening to John's post-dancing-and-drinking snoring throughout the wee small hours.  Ian Bowden clearly had experience of such situations and came prepared with ear plugs to block out Hurricane Capstick's vibrations...

On the Sunday morning, all enjoyed an excellent cooked breakfast - well, all except John 'never again' Capstick who spent most of the time asking that age-old rhetorical question "Why of why do I do it?"... answers on a postcard...

Day two saw us play the PGA course - being a mainly heathland course it was a very different prospect than the Brabazon  but still a course to challenge the very best... and the very worst!  After the round, we all afterwards enjoyed the warm, early evening sun on outside patio - taking in the atmosphere - brilliant stuff!  Discussion centred around golf balls but went hushed after Gretchen confessed to holding on to the 'Pink Don' longer than others - and managing to hold on longer than others by not playing with it near water.  Donald was unavailable for comment...

The four NTPs on day two were won by Ian Bowden, Donald Allen, Matt Hooper and Peter McBride.  The front nine was tied by Donald Allen & Shaun Bookham on 17, the back nine was wn by Nigel Halliwell with 22 and the overall winner of Day Two was Mark Bignell with 33 points.  In Group 2, Laura Cave won the front nine (6), Gretchen Jones the back nine (8) and overall winner was Pauline Morrow with 19 points.

  

We ate in the restaurant some inside, and some outside - and at the end of evening after some went off, there was an unpaid bill outstanding for some drinks...  Those left suspected Mark (well, why not?) but the culprit isn't know at the time of writing!

On the Monday we drove 10 miles to the Forest of Arden course.  A course well known to many of us from a previous 'awayday' trip there a few years ago, but it looked very different in a sober light compared to the previous Leffe-affected time!  The course was a picture postcard and very pretty - again we were blessed with great weather and we even saw herds of deer alongside some of the fairways and greens... The round culminated in the intimidating 194 yard 18th hole over a large lake.  

Gretchen enjoyed hitting her first ever birdie on the 2nd hole - unfortunately the goose in question was unlikely to have been able to sit down for a week afterwards...

The four NTPs on day three were won by Mark Bignell, Tony Bowyer, Ian Bowden and Donald Allen.  The front nine was won by Ian Bowden with 16 points, the back nine by John Capstick with 20 points - and the overall day three winner was Tony Bowyer with 36 points.  In Group 2, Gretchen Jones won the front nine (4), Laura Cave the back nine (5) and overall winner was Pauline Morrow with 12 points.

The results for the three days overall were that in third place was Donald Allen with 92 points, second prize went to Mark Bignell with 95 points but the overall 'champion golfer' for the 2017 Away LEGS Event was (drum roll...) Tony Bowyer with an impressive 100 points across the three days.  Congratulations and well done Tony.