Newsflash

Tomorrow I am off to Auckland to help my mother celebrate her 86th birthday!

The Dunedin story will have to be put on hold until my return.

Of course there will be even more stories to tell by then as I am taking my clubs in their little travel case in the hopes of managing to play another couple of rounds.

By all accounts several of the Brothers are keen to take a day off and take me to some of the more scenic and quiet golf clubs around Auckland .

How exciting!

The other news  is that I purchased a couple of second hand clubs today.

I popped into Economy Golf on St. Asaph St just to pick up a couple of new tees as suddenly my supply is low again having snapped several last week.

Well we got talking about Golfer's Elbow and he said was I using Graphite clubs? Cos it would certainly be a good move.

Indeed I have noticed that it is easier for me to use my 3 Iron,which  has a graphite shaft than it is for me to use my blinking 5 Iron with the steel shaft.

What a salesman!

He just happened to have a 3 and a 7 Iron (from the same set) on special today.

I would post a picture of the beauties but they are out in the car and the precipitation is persisting so I  shall leave them there for now.

They are eagerly awaiting the possibility of a small trial tomorrow if the weather permits.

But check out this new tee I purchased:

 

Is this a lipstick? I hear you ask.

No

It is my new Brush Tee!

Ooops, yes I forgot to tell you about that purchase Wilma.




Stay tuned for more adventures on the fairway.....................

 The Highs and the Lows of Dunedin

Hmm!

I have been finding it hard to get up to date with  the  recounting of the Dunedin adventure.
In part this is because it was quite an emotional time for me and I am a little at a loss as to know where to begin my tale.

Obviously there are the golf courses themselves , both the hilly and the flat I could write about.

And certainly if you are only interested in my scores to date I can tell you that in Dunedin,
despite the mizzle and the graupel(yes you may have to get out your dictionary at this point) that in 8 days I managed to play :

7 golf courses

A stirling effort and as my osteopath noted, not surprising that I now have a slight touch of Golfer's Elbow! 

I am now under strict orders to have rest days between games and possibly be prudent enough to only play a couple of times a week until my elbow heals.



I took some LOW roads  to golfing happiness....

..the flattish courses that did not require Leki sticks to clamber up the fairways:

Lower Waitaki

Otakou

Ten and counting- at Twelve Oaks

There was some MIDDLE ground at Waikouaiti with mixed terrain:

 




And of course there were the HIGH roads , the arduous and muddy tracts
of golfing heaven:

Mt Cutten overlooking Port Chalmers

Port Chalmers-perspective is deceiving

St Clair-going up the 12th

Steep Gradient to the flag-Belleknowes 8th

Those of you following this journey  and counting along the courses with me will know  that the overall courses played now number.....

23

 But that is just part of the story......................

















 

The Road Least Travelled 

(and definitely not recommended.)

There were two paths through the forest!

 

 Every picture tells a story.
 So, this looks like a perfectly delightful scene and oh so innocent on a sunny afternoon!
Two roads leading down the hill from the Belleknowes Golf course-one might think perhaps a high road and a low road(and here I am tempted to burst into a wee Scottish song about Loch Lomand.) 


However, looks can be deceiving, especially in the gloaming of a Dunedin twilight.

Leaving Belleknowes

You will recall from the previous entry, that I finished my round of golf just on dark:
























As I headed off down the road from the golf course I happened to see these roads and thought perhaps if I took the left hand one it may lead down to near the top of where the steep footpath commenced, thereby giving me easy access  to where I believed my poor luminous Pinnacle ball rested.


Good idea Ariel!

Driving carefully, as the road seems quite narrow and  darkness is rapidly descending, I edge my car down the left hand path.

Hmm I think" that is quite a drop to my left " but I continue to cautiously advance toward the happy moment of ball retrieval.

The road is becoming narrower and lo! there is a ditch to my right as well as the drop to the left. 

Oh well, once around the next corner I feel sure there will be a small car park in which to turn around after I dash down the hill to grab my ball. 

Around the corner...

 there is another corner and the road seems a little overgrown.

As I negotiate the next corner I gladly note a clearing to the right.

Ah the carpark!

Wrong!

OMG.

And there on my right are those tricky little steps.

I recognize this place and that steep road.

It is the footpath.

Och eye -well I'm here now.

Leaving the headlights on I run off down the path to see if the ball is awaiting my return.

It isn't.

Heading back up toward my car I see just how very narrow this footpath is and just how difficult it is going to be to 

 BACK UP

 negotiating those little corner ,avoiding the steep drop to the left and the ditch to the right.

 Well the challenges of the golf course pale into insignificance  stacked up against the situation I now find myself in.

Carefully,carefully I manage the first few metres and even get around the first corner quite well.

Of course I have to say backing is not the easiest driving challenge for me since all the surgery on my neck - scar tissue makes a full range of movement tricky.

I double bogey it.

I end up in the rough(read ditch)

But fortune smiles on the brave and foolish(sometimes)  

Miraculously, I manage to drive forward and get out of the ditch and  with miniscule surges of power I painstakingly ascend the  hill and am finally back at the real Road.

What a workout. I am pouring with sweat despite the evening chill.

I shall have to admit my foolishness to my friend with whom I am staying as it will make her feel so much better about the previous ditch I was in on this golfing odyssey.

A ditch that she, my caddy, put us in as we headed off on an early morning mission to play

Waitoa Park. 

Now that is Rough!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Mystery Object #2

 

Indeed! It is a souvenir from the Dunedin trip.

A beautiful new blue golf towel to contrast nicely with my Blue Shark bag.

The writing on it reads"Scotland .The Home of Golf"

Well there I was in Dunedin-the Edinburgh of the South!
And incidentally, Otago was the first province in New Zealand in which the Royal and Ancient game was played.
So on a cold wet day when no golf could be played I took myself off to the Scottish Shop on George Street to try and find a lovely pair of Tartan socks in the family tartan (either Sinclair for my paternal side or Rose for my maternal side) or perhaps a new scarf.
  Alas such socks do not exist much to my surprise and the scarfs were a tad pricey for my golfing budget. Perhaps a Tam'o'shanter then? But none to be had in the correct tartans.

Then I saw these golf towels-a fitting and affordable souvenir and a much needed replacement for my lovely St Andrews one which had become a casualty of the arduous terrain of the Belleknowes Golf Club.


Let me explain.....

On the 4th day of June,with the full moon due to rise on Queens Birthday Monday, I took myself off to the 9 hole golf course situated in the Green Belt of Dunedin city.
Belleknowes in fact is the closest course to the original site of the Dunedin Golf Club,the first to be established in New Zealand(1871)
My scrapbook records the  words-"super challenging and like nothing I have played before! A full body workout just getting up and down the course."
My golf book notes that 'a tin hat would be desirable on a busy day' as this is a very short course with many criss-crossing fairways. Luckily it is 4pm on a holiday Monday so it is not super busy and with the shortest day not far away I will need to keep moving to complete the round in the daylight.

For some reason I thought this course would be easy after the arduous Port Chalmers course I had played the day before.

 But this is Dunedin we are talking about.
It is a hilly place! 
No long,wide flat fairways with a few dips and hollows as we experience in Canterbury.
No gentle rising slopes up to the greens.Nope we are talking serious hill climbs here.


So ..........

The most challenging holes for me were the 7th and 8th.


To get to the tee box of the 7th involved dragging my trundler over a road and down a set of awkward steps:

 
Then down a long steep path. 

 

My drive then had to clear a deep gulley but the downward slope certainly helped the ball to carry and I made the green in one miraculous shot.

The Green in One

But if you walk down a big hill you have to walk back up it.

The 8th was gruelling!
The slope gradient so great that at one point as I pushed my trundler up the hill with the handle totally parallel to the ground I trip over my own golf towel,ripping it right off the chain attaching it to my trundler and falling into the mud myself in the process!


And that was the tragic demise of the lovely St. Andrews souvenir golf towel.

Upward to the 8th!

 
When I finally holed out on the 8th I turned to see the full moon rising over Dunedin city.
Perfect!

Mostly I played my Dunedin games in the late afternoons so was often finishing my round just as the magic colours of twilight played on the hills and water.Sometimes I quite forgot the game and just became immersed in the beauties surrounding me and took endless photos trying to capture the magic.
Mark Twain supposedly said that golf ruins a completely good walk but not so for me when I play at my preferred pace! I get to play a round of golf AND see all the birds stars and moon I desire.
However,occasionally this distractedness leads to unforeseen consequences!

Take this innocent attempt at an Arty shot:

Luminous ball and Moon

I was so busy trying to line up the moon and the luminous ball for this shot that I had to play the 9th in much faded light.Not only that but having dragged the trundler back up the steep path and the steps and across the road I discovered that I had forgotten to put the ball back in my pocket and my luminous Pinnacle is now lost somewhere between the 8th and 9th.

Bugger!

And just how all this led to me taking a precarious road least travelled will have to wait until the next installment!

 Mystery Object#1

What is this?

 

Spiked and Ready to Drive

Went to my favourite Golf shop on Wednesday   (http://www.fairwaygolf.co.nz/home.bsp) and got Eric to put some new spikes on my golf shoes,as I happened to actually look at them for a change and saw that the wee spiky things had worn right down. I had wondered why they no longer made that funny noise and why I was feeling shorter!

So tonight I have also given my shoes a polish AND
cleaned my clubs too.

Soul Care

Why all this fuss you ask?

Early tomorrow morning I am hitting the road and heading to Dunedin on my next Golfing Assignment.
Today  I was told that another member of the Nine Hole Ladies Club was also heading south in the morning so we have arranged to meet for a game.

We shall play at Lower Waitaki after having a coffee break(or in my case a hot chocolate break ) at Riverstone Cafe.

When I consulted my club handbook I saw that Lower Waitaki is a "sister club" of Avondale.

This means we get to play a round for Free.

But right now I must get to bed as I have a long drive ahead in the morn and I promised my loved ones I would get enough sleep so I did not nod off on those long boring straights between Christchurch and Timaru. 


The weather down south does not sound especially promising but I feel sure I will be able to squeeze a few rounds in between the squalls and mizzle.

I plan on playing only 9 hole courses of which there are at least 6 to choose from.
They are also cheaper!
An important consideration on discovering it now cost $86 to fill the tank of my little blue car.


I really need to get some sponsership for this venture.


Stay tuned for more tales from the Fairway.

Southward Ho!

 

 

The Score Thus Far

So isn't this Blog all about playing 50 golf courses!
Has there been any mention yet of how many I have played to date?
Where am I up to on this Nine Hole Golf Odyssey of mine?

Obviously my recent back injury has hampered proceedings somewhat and I am in danger of falling behind schedule if I don't get back into it very soon.


According to my reckoning I have about 36 weeks left until my 51st Birthday (the date by which I hope to have completed the challenge).




To date I have played   16/50 golf courses.

I have a further 34  play. As you can see it is a tight schedule.
So I really need to be managing to play one a week from now on. 
Or play blocks of courses as I plan various trips about the country. This is how I have been doing it so far.

My first trip away was to Kakanui , just outside of Oamaru.
We hired a little cottage ( Molly's) overlooking the estuary and beach, with views of the resident 20 Spoonbills.
Some dear friends from Dunedin came up for  the weekend to graciously caddy for me and to provide sterling evening entertainment with some wicked games of Canasta, leaving  us all nursing sore stomach muscles from excessive laughter.

Over the four days I managed to play 4 different courses, although I actually played 5 games  because the North Otago Golf Club is so stunning and challenging that I wanted to play all 18 holes of it.

St.Andrews on Friday afternoon

N. Otago's challenging 3rd-uphill dogleg.

Stunning 15th at N. Otago

Waitoa Park-very tidy for a Sunday stroll.

The disastrous Dam-Waimate's 5th.

My second golfing trip took me to Auckland,although the real reason for my journey was to celebrate my Dad's 89th birthday and to also be there with the rest of the family when he received a Gold Bar service award from the RSA,for his many long years of dedicated involvement.

However, much golf was also played.

My family have been very encouraging of my great adventure, and with generous financial 
support for green fees whilst I was in Auckland I was able to play a further 7 courses during my ten day stay.

Phew! 

I roped in 3 of my brothers to be caddies.
However, two of them opted to hire some clubs and actually play a round of golf with me which was really great fun with the added  bit of good- natured  sibling rivalry. 
Third brother felt golf was really not his forte. But caddying certainly was as he proved to be my most dedicated and diligent caddy to date as he ran ahead to read the Fairways for me on the most challenging course I have ever played! 
That was Waitakere.
A beautiful course completely surrounded in Native Bush and the air filled with the sound of Bellbirds and Tui.

And Oh! that 6th hole has to be played to be believed.

I let a couple of guys go ahead of me at this point as I needed to see someone execute a tee shot off the fake grass tee box and clear the ball up and over the bush line and out to the fairway that dropped away far below, before I could believe it was possible to do it.
 I only lost one ball too!
Cleared that bush with my trusty 7 Wood to get sufficient loft and distance.

Walking thru Nikau to get to No6,Waitakere

Hamish the Left-handed natural at Howick

Wild seas on a stormy Monday-Muriwai

 

 

Brother  Putting on 9th, Muriwai

Dad, not to be outdone and wanting to be part of my golf odyssey wonders if we play both 18 hole courses at Albany Mini-Golf together could I count that as 1 of my courses.
Well it is not everyday your 89 year old father wants to play golf with you.


Of course it counts!

Dad on the course at Albany Mini-Golf

 And then as if that is not enough he volunteers to come and caddy for me at Takapuna on an intensely hot afternoon.I ring to see if we can hire a cart to make it a bit easier for us in the heat as I am concerned it will be a bit much for Dad.
Yes all good we can hire a cart.
But when we get there none are available.
I am worried about the effects of heat on poor old Dad but those 23rd Battalion fullas are pretty tough and despite being blind in one eye and with only partial sight in the other he manages to negotiate the uneven ground of the course with admirable style.
As he admits he is not a great caddy as he is unable to see where any of my shots go but he is fine company nevertheless.
A lovely afternoon is had by us both beside the roaring motorway.

Fine company on a sunny afternoon,Takapuna.

 Dad arranges for an RSA buddy of his to take me out to play Waitemata .
 It is a drizzly Sunday morning, and the whole exercise is executed with military precision. The fastest nine holes I have ever played and certainly no time for photos.




I finish my Auckland tour with a much more leisurely paced 9 holes at Whangaparaoa on a perfect late summer day the morning before I fly home to Shaky City.
I am my own caddy and  spend a lot of time taking photos and drinking in the views and watching the pukekos in the swamp.
I score a lovely 59 but alas no point handing in my card without a marker to verify it.
Such a relaxed atmosphere at Whangaparaoa after the fast pace of  city clubs like Howick.
This is golf how I like it.
Leisurely.
With no one in front and no one behind.
Just me and the Fairway.

Just me and my shadow,High Noon,Whangaparaoa.

.