North Wales Tour 2009

Golf tour this year visited North Wales with all participants arriving ready for battle.

Day 1 - Porthmadog

In attendance were Chris “The Butcher” Matthews, John “2-ball” Walsh, Matthew “The Money” Morgan, and Ben “The Whizzer / Comedian” Morgan. Lunch of pie and sandwiches was devoured before being welcomed wholeheartedly by the Pro in the Pro shop with the comment of “Better get out there quick lads as it is definitely going to rain heavily very soon. It is going to be nasty out there”.

Suitably heartened and warmed by our Welsh welcome, we all stepped onto the first tee. 20 minutes and about 500 practice swings later between all of us, we were ready to tee off (and the fairway had been free all that time too!). Matt struck the ball with as much control of direction and pace as a blindfolded 3-year old who had been spun 20 times. The result was a lovely OB on his first tee shot. Ben on the other hand struck one down the middle to follow up with a wedge to 10 feet and then a deftly struck putt into the centre of the hole. He then followed this up with an 8 iron to 12 feet on the second but unfortunately could not manage birdie - birdie to start. He was not too upset by this point as the blood of his competitors was boiling and discussion around how many shots of Ben’s handicap were going to be cut were already in full flow.

The rest of the front nine went reasonably well with not too much damage being done to anyone’s scorecard. At the turn Matt again showed his remarkable composure on the tee, at the start of a front or back 9 when the pressure is on, to not only hit one tee shot way out of bounds to the left but he managed to follow up with a second. The back nine was a totally different proposition at Porthmadog. No course planners in stock at the shop (we are still convinced that Chris bought them out of stock the week before and then memorised the course) and plenty of blind tee shots is never a happy proposition. Plenty of lost balls were racked up and at the end of the day John came home in the lead with Ben in second, followed closely by Matt. Chris then came along a good distance behind that - his handicap of 8 was proving a step too far for him. His focus appears to be now doing all he can to play really badly through next year to increase his handicap to give him a chance for Golf Tour 2010.

First Evening

Our first evening consisted of a few beers in the local boozer. We checked into our Fairway Country Hotel and exchanged pleasantries with our new host for the weekend. Upon entering the bar area of local boozer we were greeted by a lot of staring faces and Welsh comments which was slightly frightening so we retreated to the food area and proceeded to order fish and chips. A few beers followed with “First Friday football team” tactics and strategy discussions. The manager took some stick for his “laissez-faire” attitude and he seems to have taken it to heart as at the most recent matches he has allocated positions (albeit badly) and given out tactical instructions. Sir Alex Ferguson watch out as Matt Morgan seems to know a thing or two having been heard to say “keep it simple boys” and “let’s tighten up at the back”. This was all followed up with a game of pool at the hotel. Very soon, all went to bed fairly early due to tiredness.

Day 2 - Royal St David’s, Harlech

Day 2 was an early start. A cooked breakfast all around was followed by a drive to Royal St David’s in Harlech. What a course. It was an absolute treat with the castle in the background on the hill. This time it was Ben’s turn to lose one on the first and play 3 off the tee. All others started well. The greens were not ideal but the course in general was in fantastic condition and proved a challenge for all players. At the end of the day this time Ben took the lead with John close behind. Matt followed next with Chris having such a low score it was not really even worth adding it up. All was set for a challenging final day. Shot of the day was probably John’s rescue club into the teeth of a biting wind but landing it softly by the flag from about 180 yards.

Saturday Night - Meeting Pat

The lads knew that there was some serious drinking required for the second evening (Saturday). The afternoon started with the group heading down to Porthmadog to rendezvous with another tour member (Stu) who could not make it this time. He managed to just be leaving Porthmadog to head back to Harlech just as we arrived and called him. So reliable. Unfortunately just after that, Chris, Matt and John discovered an Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Ben had to leave them while for a good 20 minutes they tried on flat caps and tweed suits. Back at Nefyn and a cheeky hours kip each for all of them later, they met in the hotel bar to start the evening.

Before long X-Factor was on and 1 hour and thirty minutes later of “just one more song” they were seen heading to the local Nefyn centre where they partook in the local curry establishment’s best and greatest offerings. They then proceeded to challenge the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest curry ever eaten with the first pint still wet on their lips as they finished up and went to find a local hostelry serving more alcoholic sauce. A local hotel provided great warmth and beers and just as the lads were polishing up their last beers (with the bar having closed some 30 minutes before) a certain Pat came and introduced himself to the group. He turned out to be the manager of Nefyn golf course and seemed to know a few lads from Ringway golf course. He managed to persuade the owner of the hotel to serve us all another round. The owner also joined us and drank a bottle of wine himself in the 10 minutes it took us to blow the froth off our pints. He knew a thing or two about drinking and rugby. Pat also told us that the current condition of the greens meant that we would need a sledge hammer but he informed us that he would call his mate (at 12:30am) and ask that the greens were cut for us the next morning. All of us had absolute faith that this order would be taken seriously by Pat’s employees.

Pat then offered us all extra refreshment back at his house so we all walked back watering the trees on the way. Pat showed us into the front room and then spent 20 minutes on the floor by his chest of drawers looking for photos of him and his boys on a Barbados and Monaco trip. Photos of the club pro were also presented to us. While all this was happening his daughter entered the room and switched on X-Factor. She had been on a girls night out in Caernarfon and the boys were told within 5 seconds of her being in the room that she was divorced. It didn’t take her long before she then joined us again on the sofa wearing her dressing gown and slippers and the boys then proceeded to watch X-Factor for the second time that evening. Watch out Ozzie Osbourne!

Before long the lads were asked if they would follow Pat as he wanted to show us his winter lounge. This led to puzzled looks between the group and one or two of them wondering if they were actually ever going to make it out of that place alive. Luckily, Pat wanted to just show us his winter lounge. Still not sure why you need one lounge for winter and one for summer! Any ideas anyone?

The lads finally made it home via a back passage (which was a bit scary) but again the overall preparation for the next day’s golfing (10 pints and a curry) was perfect. This level of professionalism is something that Tiger Woods and his entourage are still yet to find.

Day 3 - Nefyn

And so to the final day’s play. Pressure was on Ben this time to buckle with him having the final day lead. The weather at Nefyn was not great and a fair bit of rain and wind was in the air. However spirits were high especially when meeting the golf pro whose photos we had seen the night before. He was quick to tell us that Pat was mad. Very reassuring for us all to hear that! The greens were long (they must have been very long indeed before Pat’s keen staff members had been at ‘em at dawn for us). John played a beautiful drive over the corner of the cliffs on the peninsula. He managed somehow to top it 20 yards directly down the cliff face to his left. What a shot! Solid golf was played and Ben managed to extend his lead so that at the halfway point he was a full 10 points stableford in the lead. He closed off his back 9 with a birdie on the famous par 3 at the end of the peninsula.

John managed to avoid a trip down the RNLI ramp to recover his ball only due to the fact that his ball nestled in a ridge on the road.

On the 18th all the boys hit driver to a short par 4. It was a fearsome wind into the boy’s faces and with a path down the left side of the fairway full of walkers the boys were unsure how not to kill the local Welsh people. Unfortunately it was not after dark and the boys were not in Chester on the wall with bows and arrows (work that one out!). The group in front nicked John’s ball but all finished well with Ben taking the trophy with a missed birdie putt on the last. The presentation was made in the club house with the trophy passed from John to Ben. All then headed back to Manchester to rest and recuperate for next year.

Champion’s Notes

A memorable victory for Ben Morgan in what would become one of the most entertaining tours in First Friday Golf history. The tale of meeting Pat and his winter lounge has become legendary among the group!

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