Duxbury Golf Day – Golf, Glorious Golf… and a Little Rain!

Duxbury is a beautiful parkland golf course, and it had been several years since we last played there. Naturally, we were all looking forward to a glorious day of golf in warm sunshine.

There had been some heavy rain the night before, but we were confident that the weather forecast had got it completely wrong. Surely, after all that rain, the sun would shine!

And, amazingly, it did — at least for the first couple of holes.

We arrived at around 9 o’clock, teams were announced, instructions were issued and high hopes were experienced by all. We set off in warm sunshine, optimistic and full of enthusiasm.

Then came the fourth hole.

As we wandered up the slope towards the green, a few spots of rain began to fall. Within seconds, those innocent little spots had developed into a torrential downpour of biblical proportions.

Golfers scattered in all directions in search of waterproof clothing. Umbrellas suddenly appeared, waterproof jackets were hurriedly assembled, leggings were pulled on and hats were rescued. After all, you never play golf without your waterproof gear — even when the forecast promises glorious sunshine!

Unfortunately, it was all rather academic. The rain was coming down literally stair rods.

We eventually took shelter under the trees and waited for around ten minutes for the worst of it to pass. Although we had reacted with remarkable speed, it was too late. We were soaked. Golf gloves, hats and shoes were drenched, and several golfers were beginning to resemble members of the local pond-dipping society.

But this was a U3A golf day. We are made of sterner stuff.

We holed out and moved on to the fifth hole.

The course, however, had changed dramatically. Fairways that had previously been forgiving were now decidedly unforgiving. The ball simply refused to roll and, on occasions, became firmly plugged in the soggy ground. Getting to the green in regulation now required not only a good golfer but, possibly, a small excavator.

The greens were no better. They had become considerably slower, and the pace we had so carefully become accustomed to was now nothing more than a distant memory.

Still, we persevered.

We were understandably reluctant to remove our wet-weather gear because the clouds continued to look distinctly threatening. Eventually, the sun came out, and some of us decided to keep our waterproofs on in the hope that the combination of sunshine and body heat might eventually dry us out.

Then, somewhere around the sixth or seventh hole, the heavens opened again.

Those who had bravely removed their waterproofs immediately put them back on, umbrellas were deployed and we hurried beneath yet another collection of trees to wait for the latest instalment of the Duxbury monsoon season.

By now, the greens were becoming something of a challenge. In fact, they were so flooded that using a putter required the sort of force normally associated with a driver. A delicate three-foot putt was no longer an option — you had to give it a mighty thump and hope it reached the hole before the water stopped it.

But that's golf. What can you expect?

Eventually, the rain stopped, and thankfully there were no more torrential downpours. The warm sunshine returned, and we were able to complete the course in the conditions we had confidently expected at the start of the day.

The scores, unsurprisingly, were not quite up to our usual standards. Still, as in every great competition, there was a winner.

And the outstanding individual performance of the day came from Steve Lowe, who produced a magnificent 35 Stableford points — a superb score considering the conditions and thoroughly deserved.

So, would we go back to Duxbury?

Of course we would!

It's a beautiful course, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and, despite the weather, there was plenty of good humour and camaraderie.

After all, it's golf.

What do you expect?