In total contrast to the almost
idyllic conditions enjoyed during the Dalhousie Anniversary tournament on March
13th, the ‘season opener’ was as close to a golfing horror show that
could be imagined. Freezing winds, driving showers of rain and sleet and the
total absence of either enjoyment or quality play made for a pretty awful three
or four hours out on the links. Only seventeen hardy – but clearly unhappy –
Dalhousie members completed the task of achieving a result from the introductory
match which kicked the new season off.
As things turned out, the last
couple on the course (Tom Wotherspoon and Campbell Ford) battled their way
around to be the only members who completed eighteen holes. Thus, arriving back
in the warmth of the Golf Hotel about an hour after all other combatants,
little did either of them know that their result was to decide the winner of
the whole affair! With the match score tied at 6 points each, Campbell’s
victory duly sealed the narrowest of wins for the Juniors.
After a splendid buffet and
countless cups of warming tea and coffee from the hotel staff, Mike Sinclair
duly collected the trophy on behalf of his fellow ‘youngsters’. The awful
conditions endured made the destiny of the Captain’s special award for the ‘shot
of the day’ a fairly simple decision to recognise. The aforesaid Tom
Wotherspoon’s superb tee shot to four feet at the short thirteenth – plus the
holed putt for his two – was widely approved by all concerned.
It is fairly safe to say,
therefore, that few will recall the 2018 ‘official’ launch of a Juniors versus
Seniors fixture as a season opener with any sense of enjoyment or warmth.
Surely, it cannot possibly be subject to worse conditions in the years to come?