Golf: What is the point?

The title of the this post is probably a little bit disingenuous. That is because I can answer the question from my point of view relatively easily. Many greater experts than I have written about golf in the past and this post is really only about how I enjoy it even with my extremely limited capabilities.

Last week after the ten pin bowling triumph I took my son and his best mate for a round of golf on a pitch and putt course in Mansfield. The King George V course is on Blackscotch Lane in the Berry Hill area of town. It is set in a very tranquil part of town and the course is covered in trees. Wildlife can be seen all over the place. Last week there was an abundance of fungi on every hole. The course is well maintained and the staff there are generally very friendly. The price is pretty good and you can hire clubs should you need them.

The course is generally a benign one. None of the bunkers are too taxing. The rough is sparse and light. If you make a mistake you are never far from being able to get back to where you need to be. It is a good place to learn to play and make mistakes. You can also practice your short game. The greens vary but are generally relatively welcoming.

I enjoy a round of golf. It gets me out walking and in the fresh air. For me golf is not necessarily about beating your golf partners but of challenging yourself and the course. This is not the course I first played golf at. That honour goes to the Grianan Golf Course at Burt in Co Donegal. The picture on the top of this blog is the view from Grianan Castle and the golf course played on the side of the hill leading up to the castle and so the views were equally as good.

When I came back from that holiday I started to go up to Berry Hill to play the course there. It was a half hour walk at most and I would spend an afternoon hitting golf balls around the course which is a par 3 course. My best round was 58. I remember one round where a group of elderly gentlemen were ahead of me and caught them up. The convention in golf is to allow somebody to play through if they are quicker than you. These gentlemen invited me to join them for the rest of the round. Golf is a friendly game when played in the right spirit.

So  last Thursday on a dank overcast Nottinghamshire day I returned to the course after a couple of years away. In fact I have only played golf a couple of times in the last decade. Time, family, finances and all the other pressures of modern life got in the way.

My opponents golfing pedigree was slim. Tom had previously only played on a course at Moville which had some very short holes. His friend had never played. So if we examine the evidence closely:-

• I had played the course many times
• I had had a golf lesson once and so had some technique
• I generally didn't use any club bigger than a 9-iron (except for a couple of holes where I used a 7-iron)
• I can read greens and can get height on my drives

My opponents had some good aspects to their game. I did suggest that they played alternate balls but they didn't take my advice. Matty was the better driver of the ball. They were about even in the middle and Tom was better on the greens.

My son kept asking how did you do that every time a played a half decent shot. As with most sport and most pastimes there is no mystery to how you improve. First you need to get basic techniques right. Then you need to pit yourself against people who are better than you are. That way you can see your improvement.

The final scores weren't close. In matchplay terms I won 6 & 5. However, credit where it is due around the turn the lads won a couple of holes to keep the match alive. In stroke play I was about 30 ahead of my nearest challenger. That being said it was as if I hadn't played for a long time and so I need to get back on the course more often.

So what is the point of golf? Does there need to be one? It is a fun activity. Maybe when I am older I will spend my days on the golf course. The upper body workout I got from the round was great. The walk and fresh air was great. I also enjoy challenging myself. I want to improve how I do on each hole every time I play. That was how I got down to 58 in the first place. I would like to play that well again but it will take time.

Travels with Jonathan

I have in the last few weeks been doing a bit of travelling up and down the country observing places and people as I went. My first trip was to a school reunion in Mansfield. The reunion was something of a washout. I was the head boy of the school at which a teacher attacked and injured three children.

Mansfield was always something of a hole largely because its council refused to recognise that since it had lost its two main injuries (coal and textiles) the town was nothing more than a dormitory town for Nottingham. Most of my fellow students left Mansfield and have rarely returned since leaving for Huddersfield back in 1992 I have only been back about a dozen times. What shocked me about the place is that around my school it feels like somebody just let off a limited nuclear device. Most of the houses and shops around the school are empty or rather the old terraces are. The better houses seem to have remained largely unaffected.

Whilst in Mansfield I drove round some of my old houses and haunts to see what has happened. I didn't visit the Ladybrook estate. Our bungalow in Pleasley has remained largely unchanged from what I could see but the village in general has suffered the same problem located by my school. The police house where I grew up is now an industrial estate which is a terrible shame. The last house in Mansfield where I lived again hasn't changed much. The Nottingham Road end of town has remained fairly constant. The only bizarre change was the sudden appearance of a palm tree in my old front garden.

I had a round of golf at King George V on Berry Hill and rediscovered my enjoyment of the game. The peace and tranquility even though I hadn't hit a ball for about 5 years was great. The hotel where I stayed was functional and had a cat called Marmalade and the service was good as on Saturday they opened up the restaurant for me.

The town centre is stuck in a time warp though. The broken glass makes a scene reminiscent of Kristalnacht but without the poignancy. That is just the way Mansfield is. Those who care can't do anythign because those who don't care about anything shout loudest and everybody has to listen. The chavs queuing outside Greggs for their sausage rolls make the ones elsewhere in the country seem positively cosmopolitan. The interior of the Four Seasons Shopping Centre hasn't changed at all since I left all those years ago.

Another delight of the trip was the chance to go to St Phillips church again. Having attended some relatively humble establishments in recent years it was an oasis of calm in the storm that is life in Mansfield. The clergy may have changed but many of the congregation were there when I was a boy.It was great to speak to people I hadn't seen for years. The particular delights were to speak to my what would be now Y4/5 teacher and one of my headmasters.

Once Mansfield accepts what it is then change may come but if it doesn't then I foresee Mansfield breaking up into lots of small villages with a kind of separation between the areas people want to live and where those who have ambition live and those where the neanderthal indifferent residents currently reside.

More musings from my recent travels later