A full week has passed since our return from Spain and I trust that you have all fully recovered from the experience.We had a total of forty members on the trip and judging from comments it seems to have been the best overseas trip to date. Our thanks to Bob Fagan and  Ailesbury & Ashbury Retirement Homes for the generous sponsorship without which we could not operate to the standard that the members are accustomed to.

Spain!! What words could I possibly add that will further enhance the great time we all had both on and off the golf course. The overseas trip is debated at length after each visit and taking all views on board Marbella still ticks all the boxes. Great golf courses excellent affordable restaurants and bars if you decide to stay off the main strip in the Port – where you get to pay €12 per drink for the privilege of looking at someones boat. The committee invite suggestions by return mail regarding the venue for the overseas trip in our Silver Jubilee year.

The day trip by coach to play in the official outing at San Roque proved to be a huge success. Arriving at 10.00am and departing at 11.00pm. In fact many members who were there may not realize that the coach driver had to be held captive as he had expected to leave at around 9.30pm. He was eventually persuaded to hang around when Bryan Kenny offered him the choice of a large bribe or being locked into the boot of the bus. He wisely took the envelope. The main problem we encountered is that San Roque golf club is a truly exceptional place offering a world class course with off course facilities to match. Quite simply no one wanted to leave the place. However the threat of cattle prods finally persuaded everyone to reluctantly get on the bus. Even the lure of the bright lights of Puerto Banus failed to motivate the crew on this occasion.

Earlier that day Bryan Kenny got the ball rolling and had the buggies bouncing down the fairways at eight minute intervals.
We had an unofficial competition on the first tee called  the shortest drive that strangely no one wanted to win.

In front of a large crowd Niall McAndrew was looking like the clear winner with a quality four foot drive until your Hon Sec successfully eclipsed him with a slightly better drive that went a good foot shorter. Not to be outdone Niall went on to win Nearest the pin hitting his ball within ten feet of the hole. Did he get the two? No; but he did manage a respectable five!

Rumour has it that since your Hon Sec has started using Bridgestone golf balls the company is looking at the possibility of ceasing their tyre production. If you found any Bridgestone balls at San Roque they probably came out of my bag! As you can see from the comments this was not my day. However San Roque is a fantastic golf course and I look forward to returning and giving it another go.

The winner at San Roque was Ian Mackey with a great score of 35 pts.

The scramble at Rio Real proved to be yet another great day out for all concerned. It is worth noting that not one member missed his tee time which has got to be a first in the history of the scramble event. In past years a lot of brains got scrambled the night before with a few members surfacing just in time for the presentation dinner.

On that note our thanks to Derek Mooney who liaised with Christian in the Aloha Grill where we had our presentation dinner. Great food and atmosphere. If you have’not tried it and you are in the area it is well worth a visit. Mention Derek and you will get the five star treatment.

The Winning team displaying the clearest of heads at Rio Real were Philip McGowan , Jim Stanley, Stephen Mooney & Tom Bruton.

We had resident photographer Philip McGowan shooting anything that moved. Check out the Gallery to see if he got your good side. Our thanks to Philip who spends a lot of time after the events making the impossible presentable. If you want a darker tint to your hair a better tan or the ripped look give Philip a call.