I have an old friend called Ed (Woody) Bayley who has joined us for a number of rounds this year (Gleneagles, The Hon. Company, and walking around Carnoustie, St Andrews and Aberdour). Woody grew up playing his golf at the Rangiora Golf Club. His parents are members there and many moons ago I used to go out and have a hit with them at Rangiora.  Rangiora is a satellite town of Christchurch, a farming hub and a place I know well after playing cricket there (next to the golf course) for about 5 years.  It is about 20 minutes drive from home and so when I was aged about 13 I was stoked when Woody joined up at Russley, our local course and we could ride our bikes down to play at the golf course.
Rangiora is a good country track and I remember Ed used to wax lyrical (yes, even as a 13 year old) about how good the greens were. Over the years nothing has changed.
Another thing that hasnâ??t changed is Edâ??s name on the NZ Golf system â?? Woody Bayley. Woody was a nickname when Ed was young but one that very few of his mates have adopted nowadays. So it always cracks me up to see his name up on the membership board at Rangiora as Woody.Â
Unfortunately one thing has changed for Woody and that is his golf. He was a golf snake aged 13 off a four handicap. Heâ??s now about 6 foot 2 and Iâ??m not sure that his swing has fully adapted yet as his handicap has blown out to 15. He should be playing better golf than this but like many guys our age he struggles to find the time amongst a hectic social and working calendar.
Some of the strongest memories about Rangiora are playing it in a howling Norâ??wester with the course bone dry and the ball rolling forever, harbouring false hopes for gangly teens that hitting the ball 300m was normal.   Today it was dead calm. It should have been a festival of birdies â?? plenty of roll, great greens and no wind. Alas it was not â?? a solitary birdie for myself on the 2nd hole, although JP fared better with 4 including a closing back-to-back. Key.Â
Playing Rangoon with Woody is crucial as he, like me, is known to hit the ball very wide off the tee. Indeed he hit a few shots about 150m off target. But the point is, he could give some invaluable advice about how to play various holes the Wrong Way - i.e., down the neighbouring fairway - and then what club to hit back over the trees to the green. Superb.Â
Woody and James Turner and myself played a skins game. The lads came 2nd and 3rd, although should have fared better had JT been able to roll a few putts in. To be fair he was a bit shaky after a morning cleaning up the store after another powerful earthquake rattled the shelves. Iâ??ve felt earthquakes in the past, but probably nothing as severe as the two that rocked CHCH at 2am and 1030am early on Boxing Day.  Some excitement to the day and at least weâ??ve got the â??CHCH experienceâ?? of late.... Thankfully nobody was injured again..
In the group behind was Geoff Burns, another who has had major involvement in pg2010 (Remuera, walking Titirangi, Jacks Point, Otatara, Oreti Sands and Rangiora) and JPandas whanau, father Mike and uncle Nigel. I think the Irishmen took the money and more importantly the pride - when they all rolled in birdie 2's on the 17th. Off 18 handicaps..
Of course a day at Rangiora wouldnâ??t be complete without seeing John Bayley senior and Margie who were out playing a few groups ahead of us. The surrogate family from uni daysâ?¦ they thought theyâ??d seen the end of JP and I when we shifted to Wellyâ?¦Â
Tomorrow we start our drive back up north to the Cape. Â 90 holes to go - Bring it on.
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Chisholm Park
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