Junior News

The Modern Alchemist : A Downland league tale.

Many kind and considerate members have given the juniors literally hundreds of golf balls and we are grateful, because we need them. They are mixed in with our own contributions, then cleaned, sorted into make and model batches and then distributed to the needy. The Juniors are also really grateful. A golf ball is a golf ball, so the juniors tell me, no I say, it is not that simple. Having cleaned literally thousands myself and played and lost zillions on my own, I know that there are differences. The manufacturers make them with different properties, out of different materials for different purposes to achieve different results from a vast multitude of different swings and abilities.That is why we sort them into batches, so that the juniors play the same make and model of ball, that is an appropriate match for their individual requirements to promote consistency and success. However, I suppose at the end of the day the balls are played and lost or worn out and are much of a muchness, such that a ball is just a ball and generally no special attachment is placed on any one individual golf ball.

On Sunday, the 20th July, CBGC played in the Downland league match away at Cooden Beach golf club. We had a team of 5 playing. For 4 it was not a particularly memorable day, they liked the course and had a great time, did a grand job representing the club and advancing junior golf but they did not come in with winning scores. They all really like winning, so not a particular day for them in that sense.

Previously that week, I had played with Jonathan Toplis and could see he has really put some serious work into his game with noticeable improvements throughout. His putting has always been very good and he is a controlled consistent player. Now he has beefed up his driving distance a lot and worked hard to master the short game. During the round we talked about golf balls and he was using a Srixon Distance. I have also been using those balls and think they work well and are also very inexpensive, so ideal for golfers on a budget who want reasonable performance. So I dug him out a wine box full of Srixon Distance to use. These have been accumulated and amassed from all the generous member donations and years of our own foragings.

Jonathan played well at Cooden, the best of our bunch, not surprising as he has hit a good patch of form. What marked that day out as special was the 7th hole par 3, 159 yards on the day to the pin. Jonathan took his Srixon Distance, probably one from the hundred or so in the wine box…. just A. N. Other Srixon Distance, just another golf ball. Then using a 6 iron with a precise flourish of alchemical skill he transformed that humble Srixon Distance into pure gold by hitting straight at the flag and onto the green, two bounces and in the hole. For a Hole in One.

As fortune would have it, our roving organiser Jo Osborn was patrolling the course at that very moment, by that very green and witnessed the feat. She shot out of her concealment in the reed bed like a startled moor hen, squawking and shouting and waving “it's in the hole, I saw it, I saw it”. JT knew that and was also jumping and waving and was rightly proud of his achievement. A hole in one at 16 years old is fantastic, something that many old golfers never achieve in all their years.

Our hosts at Cooden were very gracious and awarded JT with a 4 ball guest voucher for his success.

So one of our many ball suppliers, be it Roy Cottenham, Dennis Newnham , Geoff Taylor, Neil Martin and so many others, who now give us their spare balls, probably provided this ordinary golf ball, that Jonathan, through dedication and practice and patience and courage and mastery and a bit of magic, transformed into something special that he will treasure for ever….or at least until he gets another hole in one and another and another …..

Congratulations to Jonathan Toplis “JT”,  a member of a very special club.

Thanks once again to all our club members from all the juniors and organisers for your ongoing support.

Mark Patten and Jo Osborn.

Return to News Page

Created by intelligentgolf version 10.1.2.