Captain's Trip to Celtic Manor and The Bristol (Part 2)

Ok, so where were we? That's right, down in the Sport's Bar awaiting the results at the end of Day 2 from I'l Capitano. Bit of a trek to get there wasn't it? For those that have not had the experience of staying at @CelticManor it could also benefit from a map when you are inside the hotel! It was noted that a couple (Mike & Wilf) of our 'men' had gone for a romantic dinner for two at The Lodge, unfortunately they did not return to us that evening so one can only assume they had an "early night".  In all seriousness though, Mike, Wilf I am sure the ambience was indescribable and you had a wonderful time ;) 

There were a couple of stragglers left upstairs, none other than one of the captains! Everyone take note at the angles and please give a big round of applause to the "Leaning Tower of Chester"

                                  "Blumming 'Eck, does my bum look big in this?

So, sat around the beer barrels converted into tables, supping our pints, the banter was good and I'l Capitano decided the time was ripe to announce the results. It was done with aplomb, and as tradition dictates for such occasions team results were delivered in reverse order. 

Bringing up the rear by a considerable distance (think mileage from Earth to Moon) were the Welsh Leeks. 

Even though it was so close after Easter, The Bunnies Rabbits were evidently finding difficulty in dropping their eggs in the baskets, and had fallen down to 3rd after a disappointing day.

The Dragons had produced a steady effort over the 36 holes, but did not set the course on fire (sorry)....and settled for mediocrity maintaining second place....

Which meant only one thing, that in the hills of Wales, as expected, the Sheep had gambolled ahead, certainly not out of sight but just, you know, at that teasing distance.... Baaaa! Hold the mint sauce!

Conversation then turned to the order of play for the final round on the 2010 course. It was rounldy agreed that we would tee off in reverse order so that the duffers chaps who had not had the best of fortunes over the first three rounds would go out in the first group and then subsequent four-balls would be determined according to current standing. In keeping with golf tournaments globally this made sense to everyone apart from one crying geordie esteemed member who had played well and as such was destined to be in the last group. He really seemed to want to go out early, so he had a bit of a moment.... :) 

We dallied a bit longer in that salubrious venue and after Steve McM and I really showed the quiz machine what we couldn't do, we all became aware that a couple of chaps, Ade and Barry, had taken up the challenge of the pool table so, as lads do when there is competition involved between such gladiators we all went over to "actively spectate" - also known as heckling. Mistakenly, I expected a bit of cut and thrust and some quality on the table. Sadly, it didn't transpire - the pool was about par to their putting and we left them to it. Had they not turned up for golf the following day I would have thought they were still at it!!                                                                                

The 2010

It was the dawn of the day we would all demonstrate that the Ryder Cup was no fluke and that Europeans were naturally made to play the 2010, right? We'll come back to that later! And on this momentous day, so it came to pass....(literally) I finally got rid of that curry! Just thought I would share.

Morning routine was as per normal, "Burglar Jones" was at it again and we all had our breakfast, packed and left. 

To the next patron of room 578,  when you walk in and think "pungent" I do hope you enjoy my parting gift of underwear and socks in the top drawer of the bedside cabinet! Also left my phone charger plugged into the socket. These two moments would have really annoyed me but as I did not remember until Thursday I cannot blame them for scoring "averagely" :)

I have played the 2010 once before in February 2012 but it was frozen over (even the water - think of the sea lake on the right of 6) so I left that time disappointed and really left with the feeling that I wanted to come back and play the course in normal conditions. Not for one moment did I think it would only be just over a year to wait so good choice Andy! :)

Nigel and I did not hang around and drove up to the 2010 in plenty of time

The first hazard, it's bloody closed???

After a bit of difficulty getting through the gates and what felt like a 16 point turn in getting to the intercom, compounded by the fact that at the passes 1-15 the driver's arms were not long enough to reach it, we were granted entry. Anyone else remember this drive down the hill? For those that do, I think the adjective 'steep' is bandied around too lightly in my opinion, you hear it all the time - golf coverage "oh he was a bit steep on that", or whatever else, well go and take the privileged drive down to the 2010 that = steep.

Brilliant service on arrival, with being told to leave any golf stuff that needed ferrying down to the tee at the door, and then a walk through tour of the clubhouse and locker room with polite instruction to be ready for the shuttle pick up 30 minutes before tee time. The locker rooms were fantastic and they explained how it had been split in two with a soundproof screen down the middle for the Ryder Cup, they had also retained the name plates on the lockers that the players used as a memory of who sat where when the Europeans won :)

Maybe next time Tiger...

The intro and tour to the clubhouse certainly added to the nostalgia and raised the anticipation levels in preparing to play the 2010. So whilst waiting for shuttle down to the 2010 and "practie area" where we were assured our clubs would be. And, after Ady assuring I'l Capitano (who as a result did not bring his waterproofs) that the forecast was dry, sure enough it started raining and when we got to the first tee/practice area half our  clubs were not there yet. I'l Capitano was not amused. The shower soon passed though even before we got to the first tee and it did stay dry throughout. Clubs also turned up after a photo session against the backdrop of the first tee (Credit for photo below to Mr C Crowhurst)

Wales, but there's blue sky? We are the  business aren't we?! If your business is under-performing then boy did we we overachieve ;)

Right that's it for now, details of course report, performance scorecards, the presentation, and who could forget Andy "tin Cup" Ward on the 18th, to follow