Autumn 2013 – Somewhat unexpected….

Given the Shorty mans run of form in the Lannock’s links competitions this year, a solitary best finish of 5^th and a bunch of mid and lower end finishes, it seemed like we were just going through the motions. But persist we did and unlike last time tiredness was not an issue and Chief coach daddy, was back in the caddy seat.. Thus with limited expectations (ie a 45/44 for a 5^th ish finish) we waited for his tee off. What followed was quite impressive. Four pars off the first four holes and plenty of happy dances! 5 & 6 were in the Boo-boo territory (oddly enough a 5 & 6) but a finish of par, bogie, bogie finish meant the cheeky chappie went home with a quite impressive round of  34! And first place in his age group! Whilst the Order of Merit may be out the window this season, at least he going to get a medal (his first Gold in the Lannock links!) Well done Aaron!!! Uncle Pete better watch out!

Autumn 2013 - Evolution of the Golf Garden

Goodbye pesky lawn....

After the excitement of Foxhills, came the reality check of the Lannock links Championship and a lowly 3^rd from bottom finish. Tiredness and missing head coach (Daddy) seemed to be the main causes of this not so hot performance, however the next stage of the plan was under way.. Earlier in the year we had been on the Phone to Huxley Golf and sized up a putting green in the back garden. And thus the master plan was put into action. ‘Daddy’ had the fun job of lifting the turf, to help out the ‘Huxley Man’ (As named by shortie). Thus followed three days of lifting shifting, rolling digging brushing etc.. but the final result was a nifty 15 by 18 putting green with 4 holes and plenty of cheeky challenges.. Would it be enough to help the Wee man with his Achilles heel.. time will tell. It did however meet with wide eyed wonder when completed and putting fun began in earnest. The next job of painting the house was far less exciting....

....Hello putting green.

Early Autumn 2013 – Operation Foxhills.....

No fear on the first tee!

Given recent highs and lows of the Wee golfer, the trip to Foxhills was undertaken with a pensive air. The early signs were not the most encouraging either. Arriving the day before to have a cheeky look at the test ahead Family E took on the interesting looking nine holes and the Short man set about finding just about every bunker, ditch and tree in true adventure seeker style (Daddy wasn’t much better). After a wee stop for lunch we decided to revisit the scenes of our worst crimes and to some relief things improved. The following day arrived and annoyingly so did the rain! However as soon as it came to pre match Photo time the clouds began to thin and the little golfer / showman began to emerge. With the good shots from the day before firmly loaded into his little noggin, the battle of Short man Vs course began. It was as ever a round of highs and lows, but eventually all lead to a tense presentation in the club house. After a plate of chicken and chips and what seemed like the longest five minutes ever, the winner of the Tiger club Championships 6 & under was reviled to be …….Aaron Evans, needless to say he didn’t waste any time rushing off to get his little mitts on the prize!

Summer 2013 – Mixed bag

So Mini Me, What shall we call this Evil Design.. yes Nailcote Hall sound perfect..

Despite the positives of recent performances, the fickleness of the golf gods was once again highlighted over summer. A somewhat under par performance in his local completion and a trip to Cambridge Lakes Par3 course on for the Wee wonders saw the little golfers hopes of a trip to St Andrews slide off the green. Though a week later at his home course he was once again able to sing the ‘Aaron is a winner’ song as he marched home first in his age group at another Tiger club event… Sensing an upturn in events we headed to Nailcote hall with high hopes only to have them quashed on course designed by Dr Evil… 18 holes of par three hell and scores in triple figures says it all. Rumour has is other plays did in fact see sharks with lasers on their heads in some of the water hazards….Finally at the end of the Summer holidays the short man seemed to be finding his way again as he played to his handicap in another local comp and narrowly missed the out on a top three finish. Summer has thus left us with much to think on, but the little fella seems unperturbed by all this and so all eyes are now on the Tiger club Final at Fox Hills

Summer 2013 - Watching the Experts

With the final day of the school summer term drawing to a close it was time to frantically pack the bags and head off to Sunny Scotland..  yes I did say ‘sunny’. Muirfeild was the destination, with the aim of catching day three of the open. Much to the Short mans delight there was the chance to see most of his favourites, Ian Poulter (and his funny pants), Bubba Watson, ‘Big Lefty’ Phil, ‘Tubby’ Lee Westwood and of course Tiger. Excitement abound we toured the tents at Muirfield and nearly missed the big names warming up due to the fact the short man was rather engrossed in the various challenges on offer in the HSBC (Skills) tent…

Early Summer 2013 – Big Golf .. the full 18.

On the back of his maiden “W” and somewhat renewed interest in white ball bashing a trip to the ‘big course’ was once again in order. So on a suitably sunny Friday after school, Wee man and daddy pack up the clubs and hit a twilight session with the intention of taking on the front 9. As usual the cheeky chap was not put of by distance and went about the course in the usual fashion we hired a buggy because it’s a long way to walk, and then he spends more time running around the course than sitting in the buggy…Any how after a none to shabby 65 on the front nine, which include a Par for the audience at the 125 Par 3 ninth ….(daddy bogied it…)  he looked up and said can we do three more holes…Later at the end of the twelfth the question pops up again and given that we weren't doing bad for time we pressed on, completing the 18^th dead on 4 hours from tee off. Final score for the full 18 stood at 131… Any thoughts of the wee man being tired after this completing this feat however, were soon quashed when we were handing the buggy keys in and daddy is thinking about his dinner, a little voice piped up, “Can we do 50 on the range daddy.” ………..Unbelievable!!!

   

Late Spring 2013 – We have a WINNER!

Recent individual performances have to date not been the best and conscious of that, we decided a cheeky practice at the South Herts Reese course, was worth a go. Thus on a sunny Monday half term afternoon we gave it a go. We soon discovered it was different beast to the usual Lannock Links course. Longer scarier and loads more trees! At least the sun was out, unlike the day of the Tiger club competition, where grey clouds and persistent drizzle were order of the day. However the new experience of a more sponsored event made up for the weather in the Little golfers mind. BIG flags pronouncing the PING brand and a Photographer  along with cheerful sounding chap announcing the wee peoples names on the first tee was just the start the short man needed. Where the added ceremony clearly played on some of the other competitors minds, this was not the case with Mr ACE golfer. Hole 1 Perfect tee shot bang down the middle and only a few yards from the green, coupled with a cheeky grin at the camera! Whilst not his best round over all, he did enough to win (albeit a smaller field than usual) and once again he saved his best for the man with the camera…. The ninth hole was designated as the longest putt hole, so needless to say the little glory hunter did his best to put the ball as far away from the hole as possible, though he was not alone in this tactic by any means. With twenty-plus feet to the hole and mean right to left to contend with I didn't really hold out much hope… Shorty however had different ideas and only three inches stopped him from nicking longest putt!. All in all a first place, a natty Ping boot bag and entry to the final in September, had him singing “Aaron is a winner” all the way home…..

He maybe the shortest one there.... but he's still a cheeky winner...

Spring 2013 - The Road to Recovery

The big boof stick was not required as often, much to shorty mans delight!

Sadly round 2 was on the Lannocks event was a carbon copy of round 1, a pretty much bellow par performance ending up second from bottom in his age group… had the golf bubble burst? Well after a chatter with the management team it seemed he was still interested and as such we persevered. More range balls took a hammering and the 100 yard marker found itself under more frequent attack from the Mini driver. This was noticeable in the family pair's competition (an alternate shot format event) when the short man launched his drive over his the first green by 15 or so yards... A range rethink was required. Once again the competition provided a mixed bag of golf ability (From both players), but more than a few hidden gems were apparent in the mini golfers shot armory. The day ended with team Aaron and Daddy managing a creditable mid table finish, and a much needed chocy bar and bottle of fizzy..

Spring 2013 - Not quite....

Considering the little-fella’s off season activities the lack of practice was a concern for the coaching staff. However a very creditable par 4 bogey at the end of nine holes at Stondon (Mount Pleasant – 9-hole course) beating daddy on that hole to boot, gave us some faith. However a medal winning return to action the following day was not to be. After recording only 16 pts (36 when handicap applied) he finished 10^th. Reaching for the Sir Alex Ferguson book of excuses, we blamed lack of practice and nasty pin positions on some of the greens.. on the positive side however his bunker play was none to shabby and a 4 for 4 bogey on the final hole, courtesy of a ‘members bounce’ from the tee shot left him just of the edge of the green, we felt confident that the happy dance would be seen again soon. Watch this space for round 2!   

Spring 2013 - Ready, Steady, Goa

Back in the swing, shorty man happy with the putt!

After the adventures with space hoppers (and six weeks away from golf related activities) the wee man confessed to missing his weekly golf fix. Thus after a few outing lessons his next swing in anger was due to take place on holiday. Thus with golf clubs packed family Evans headed of to warmer climbs… As previously described family holidays now ‘must’ include beach, pool & golf course.. and in Goa that was nicely achieved, though in order to avoid the heat golf had to tee of either 07:30 or 17:00. We tried playing at 10:30 one day and nearly melted… Shorty mans Highlight shot was on the third day when he realized he could clear the pond on the first hole from the tee and almost reach the green… times one happy dance!

The wee man somewhat happy that his drive in the 1st was better than daddy's (ie not in the bunker at the back...)

Winter 2013 – DISASTER!!

When you were a kid, there was always that one toy your parents hated wasn't there, whether it be the tatty old teddy you took everywhere with you, the Thomas the tank engine that learn how to fly, the football that repeatedly  ruined next doors hydrangea etc etc… in the short mans case we have the curse of the bouncy hopper. Though to be honest the broadly grinning evil face on the front of thing should give away the heart of darkness lurking within that bloated air filled belly. One bounce to far and whoops there’s a fractured collar bone! An incident which put paid to any golf for nearly two months. Though on the flip side, the weathers been a little to rough for a game round our way so he’s not been missing out that much.. Now with only a week left before the competition season starts and a (hopefully) healed collar bone we wait to see what he’s got up his (thermal) sleeve…Well win or lose we hope he does his best, has fun and finds time to come out with a few more words of ‘Short man’ wisdom…

Christmas – New Year 2012… Chilly but still playing

The shocking thing about the south of England is that the weather can actually remain good enough for golf even when the rest of the country is covered in that funny white cold stuff, which falls from the sky and sends the place into chaos. Any how, the Wee man managed two quite remarkable rounds during this particular period, the first being on the Par 3 course.. It’s His first time out  since the ‘Sniffy nose day slump.’ When asked if he would do better he nodded and gave the usual “Of course I will daddy” before making good the threat and scoring a useful 50pts on the competition system which equates to a not to shabby score of 42 in real terms. This included a cheeky Birdie 2 on the short 7^th. Not content with that, he took on the front 9 on the ‘Big’ course and carded a quite amazing 60 off the reds! Looks like uncle’s George and Pete best polish up their game! 

Winter 2012 – Awards Night…

It’s all a bit of a buzz at the Evans household as the clan prepare to descend on the end of season awards night, with none of us really knowing what to expect. Upon arrival the mayhem begins almost immediately, Mini-me’s eye light up as he notices balloons on the table, crackers and a job load of party poppers. Plus these dozens of other kids also enjoying the mayhem. mind you some of those ‘kids’ were definitely  not in the junior section...(Daddy included). After a festive feed, the Wee man, along with all the other medal & trophy recipients, happily got his little mitts on the Order of merit trophy. As is customary, the last word on proceedings went to the little guy, who never being on to undervalue himself, told mummy and daddy (With a cheeky-yet-serious expression) “I very proud of me.”

The cheeky chappie armed with trophy and medals..

Later Autumn 2012 - League round up....

Despite his slow start in the world of competitive golf the wee man  puts in a pretty good shift for his first season. Despite missing out on a first place in any of the competitions his relatively stead display (Marred only by a sniffy nose day on his last match in darkest November) earned him three medals 2 Silver and 1 bronze and much to the coaching teams surprise, he sneaked the number one spot on the leagues order of merit for his age group. Well done the Wee man.

Thus this seasons results were as follows

DATE	H’cap	Pts	Pos
25th March	27	47	4th
6th May	27	41	8th
20th May	27	44	9th
10th June	27	45	5th
8th July	27	47	2nd
15th August	26	47	4th
7th October	26	49	3rd
11th November	24	49	2nd
25th November	20	41	11th

Time to book a table at this years awards dinner then! (Though we’ll be leaving the George Pig shirt behind this time me thinks…) 

Late Autumn 2012 - Holiday Hits

A little WABOOOOF practice on the range.

Do you find that holidays with children predominately involve beaches, pools and that usual parental game of finding food the fussy short ones will actually eat? In our case that latter usually means something that bears a resemblance to Nannies cooking or chips & chocolate and once again this proved to be true..

This time however we had the added dimension of a spot of golf in the sun. Of course golf in the sun in the U.K. and golf in the sun nearer the equator are to very different endeavors…  None the less, WABOOOOFS and plerdonks were aplenty and the slightly exaggerated number of tippy tappys on the tricky green at the ninth and final hole, was understandably forgivable in the slightly warmer climate. Fizzy drinks and chocolate however provided the cure, and paved the way to sight seeing and a deserved splash in the pool.

The Ninth on the Faldo course proves a good finishing point! Now wheres that pool?

Autumn 2012 - Big Golf

After a string of improved results in the cubs league 5^th, 2^nd & 4^th (George Pig was involved…) The little guy showed some interest in the course the big people played on. Sadly for Daddy and Uncle’s Pete and Max the shots he witnessed us play of the first tee, were not exactly our best..

One week later he took the plunge and took on Chesfield’s front nine with the big people.. all in all a 72 on his first ever front nine was quite creditable, even more so was the fact he didn’t even lose a ball in the dodgy water guarded 3^rd. The highlight of the day was watching his Uncle Pete sweating to make bogey on the short par 4 seventh. This putt was required in order to avoid losing that hole to the wee man. In the aftermath if this inaugural round, Shorty went on to outline his plans for world golf domination

“First I’ll beat Uncle George, then Uncle Pete, then Tiger and Rory.”

When asked about a timetable for this blitzkrieg through golf’s finest, there was a pause and a thoughtful scratch of the head, before a serous look accompanying the answer.

“Uncle George and Uncle Pete when I’m six, then Tiger and Rory the next year.”  

There’s nothing like ambition I guess!

Summer 2012 - Getting in the Swing

After a promising start to the league, 4^th in the Gross competition of the first event, things looked rosy, but a couple of lower finishes 8th and 9^th  followed. Not perturbed the little golfer spent some more WABOOOFING time on the range, and slowly the distance travel by the little white projectile began to increase, as did the general sounds of excitement made by the launcher controller.. 

After three events, he was still on a local Competition Handicap of 27 – (the Max). Though when we asked him if he would win the chirpy chap responded with a cheeky ‘Of course I will daddy…” that told me then it seemed. So with The now infamous ‘George Pig’ shirt washed and ironed, we waited for the next round with some excitement.

Spring 2012 - Party Golf

 

Glen bringing order to the chaos!

Have you ever had that fear of what to do for your Childs 5^th birthday? It’s there first year at school and you know they are going to invite half the class? Well being that both his parents are somewhat of a disaster when it comes to organization, we hit upon the perfect solution…

A party at the golf club consisting of 3 cunningly planned stages...

1. A room full of balloons,

2. A trip to the range for group ‘lesson’

3. Jelly and ice cream for afters.. (tea and coffee for the grown ups of course)

Strangely it all went rather well, which leaves us with the question of what on earth will we do next year! Special thanks have to go to the two brave souls (Glen and Tara) who successfully dealt with/managed the gaggle of excitable, club wielding youngsters.

Spring 2012 - New Year, New Clubs, New Adventures

After ironing out his little oddities and concocting interesting new ‘Technical’ terms for various shots such as...

The Drive:- The WABOOOOOF!

The Pitch:- The Plerdonk

The Chip:- The Chippie Chipper

The Putt:- The Tippy Tappy

Armed with such a killer vocabulary and rather cheeky ‘Happy dance’ reserved for those especially good shots, the little guy was ready to take on the Lannock Links Lions Cubs league… Would the power of the WABOOOOF, and the crazy bottom waggling happy dance,  be enough to tame the field? If not perhaps the lucky 'George Pig' shirt would suffice. Time would tell.

Summer 2011 - Time to get serious… well nearly…

Now we’re getting somewhere! However there’s still a few things that aren’t quite right, firstly how can he hit the ball so far with a cack-handed grip and there’s a bit of wobble going on, thus it’s time to call in the experts.. back to range and a chat with the fellows at the Crown Golf Academy – (Chesfield Downs – Hertfordshire)  and sure enough the little chap picks up the grip and becomes less wobbly on those pins. Note to self lessons are good it seems… perhaps I should have some too…..

Ps Watch out Tiger..

Summer 2010 - Welcome to jungle! (Par three if you prefer)

With the range ‘tamed’ the world of par three golf was now ready to be tackled, a chance to combine the big hits with the little hits… Also it provided a chance to sample the caddy service ,provided by Nana. On our journey around the course we also discovered that the putter can be used as a toy gun, and a walking stick. Also it appears that rabbits like to hide from cheeky three year old’s brandishing metal, club-like objects.

Late Spring 2010 - My first clubs…

As the weather began to drift from cold, horrible, torrential, heavy and depressing rain commonly associated with Winter in England, to a slightly less depressing form of precipitation, the ‘fair weather’ golfers began to emerge from their winter hibernation and head for the fairways.

This was a fact not missed by one their newest devotees, the little guy. In truth is was more of decent on the golf range rather than fairways and at this point the back garden had become somewhat more damaged than previously anticipated. And so with the new clubs ‘fully tested in the Argos special net, the mini golfer and his equipment were rapidly introduced to the excitement of the golf range.

Without to much preamble the wee man was loaded up with 50 balls in his bay (it wasn’t a busy day) and left to do his worst…Once again I was to be amazed, as a typical ‘hack’ my first few warm-up swings were tops and fat shots, whilst the cheeky mini me blasted ball after ball a consistent 40 to 50 yards with his three wood….the joys of youth!

Summer 2009 - when the clubs were just a little too big…

Daddy! look what I found!

Once upon a time in an unassuming garden in Hertfordshire, a golf obsessed father lay his trusty seven iron on the floor and nipped inside to answer a phone call on the land line. As is usual with daytime calls, it was a cold call from an automated sales system, and thus quickly cut off. However in that small space of time, an even smaller set of hands had found the resting golf club and had begun attempting to a hit the little white ball in the somewhat larger white net, the little monkey also, (perhaps inadvertently) had managed a little hedge trimming in the process. Naturally the aforementioned father was both impressed (as the ball had left the floor) and more than a little concerned. After all, a two half year old with a full size golf club and a ear to ear grin is a recipe for white hairs and signs of early ageing to appear…A situation only made worse by the fact that the plastic ELC set and foam practice balls, now lay truly abandoned in favor of this new weapon of mass garden destruction… Golf it seemed was now on the list of back garden activities… and for rainy days, (a common phenomenon in the UK) Tiger Woods 2007 on the PS2 proved to be the ‘obvious’ alternative.

No more Plastic Clubs for meeeeeeee