St Mellion Monday

St Mellion

The Nicklaus Course

Monday morning saw us up bright and early to play The Nicklaus Course. 

Sunrise on Monday

Sue had split us into groups roughly according to handicap. 

Some took buggies and others walked. It was a long course but I know some found the buggies ended up being a frustration rather than a benefit. 

Looking down the second

However we were blessed with another beautiful morning. Sunshine and a breeze. By the time we finished it had clouded over and our coats had gone back on... some were very cold indeed.

There had been a heavy frost/dew overnight and our trolleys left tracks on the shadowed fairways.

Looming back up to the second tee.

There were an abundance of bunkers  on the course, and ditches which either ran alongside the fairway or across the front of the green... or in some cases both!

Fi about to play to the third green.

 There was also plenty of water... we were relieve to see that the Ladies teed off from half way along this lake! You can see how beautiful it was at this stage... no wind, wonderful reflections... and extremely wet ground.

Preparing for the 5th

 I probably used up all of my luck on this hole! The second shot onto the green I miss -hit and the ball flew at speed into the ditch in front of the green, the ball hit the stones and ballooned up and over into some trees the otherside of another brook! At least I had a shot!

Eyeing up the second shot... 

Looking back at the 5th tee.

It was lovely to have Viv's company for some of the holes.

We spotted you!

 The 8th hole was nearest the Pin for the Bronze group (handicaps 27 and above) Eight ladies parred this hole and Sue D got a birdie!

Well done all, and the winner of the Nearest the Pin competition was Liz!

Nearest the Pin winner - well played Liz!

Nearest the Pin for the A group was on the 11th. A beautiful par 3 with a carry over water on to the green. We all struggled in our group to select the correct club... and we all hit long!

But I'm glad to say that others got onto the green and Val F was nearest the pin.

Well done Val! Nearest the Pin on 11.

Sue had also arranged longest drive competitions, and the winner of the B group on hole 16 was Frieda!

Well played Frieda.

 For the A group it was the 18th for the longest drive. I for one had no energy left at this point but Hilary hit a beauty. 

However, this was out-distanced by Bev who was the winner of the longest drive competition.

Well played Bev!

  By this time we were wrapped back up in coats and we certainly needed them - but we had stayed dry and altogether were very fortunate with the weather.

Sarah, Lindsay, Judy and Chris on the 18th fairway

Here they are!

Chris, Sue, Jayne (checking her ball) and Ros waiting to play on to the 18th Green

Bronwen and Pam

Cold ladies checking their cards.

They told me it was water?

We met in the Nicklaus Suite for the prizes as soon as we were all in...

In second place in the B group was Jayne with 18 points.

And winning the B group was Frieda with 22 points!

 In the A group, Lyn was second with 20 points

and Sarah was in first place with 21.

Jane was the winner of the lost ball count 

And a big thank you to Jean who did all the cards over the weekend. Great job Jean!

And so to our winner of the Trophy!

With a score of 23... it was Claire!

Well deserved - well played Claire!

 It was really good to play this course even though the underfoot conditions and greens were not the best. I (and I know others too) would love to play it again when it's in top condition! And I know some would walk rather than use a buggy!

It is interesting that our best score was 23. Some of the ladies were talking to the folk in the pro shop and they said that 24 is a typical score for the St Mellion ladies on the Nicklaus course... so I don't think we did too badly when all is said and done!

We also had a number of pars... 24 plus one birdie (Sue D).

Hilary and Lindsay scored most pars with three each!

Well done!

I'll finish with photos from our final evening... sadly Una and Hilary were unwell and couldn't join us.

Jeannie!!!!!!!

The rain had started during Monday afternoon and continued all night which meant that playing again in the damp morning was not really on. Some went for swims, others headed home.

Thanks Sue for a lovely weekend!