I??m afraid it??s true. Michael and I are only human. Well I am anyway, jury??s still out on y??er man. Though we??d like to be shining beacons of enthusiasm to you, dear friends, every day...sometimes it??s just not possible. Or even appropriate. This journey you see can be challenging. It might be a tumbling of rain from the skies; a quarrel over something petty; bad news about our solvency; doubts about our ability to Succeed; negative feedback from a Doubting Thomas; or any combination of downward pulling factors. Or, even, just an ??off? day. 99 times out of a hundred life on The Road is frighteningly good, and our spirits soar high. That other lone per cent though is just as much part of the journey as any other ?? and we??d be naïve to ignore it.
No apocalypse, don??t worry. Just reflections on a day where I??d perhaps rather not have been half of puregolf2010. In this instance, no trigger event to point to either. J D Patton on Day 306 was just flat as a pancake; to those who shared the day with me, then, please forgive me.
Our new friend Phil Adcock who has so handsomely look after us in north Leeds teed up a visit to Moortown: site of the first Ryder Cup on English soil in 1929. A Dr. Alistair MacKenzie layout, no less. Or so the story goes. Peter Rishworth is the Secretary at Moortown, and what a good natured Yorkshireman he is too (Peter if you??re not from Yorkshire please forgive my ears ?? must be all the music I bounce off my ear drums with terrifying regularity and intensity). He explained to us a bit about the history of the club and that Dr. MacKenzie laid down next door Alwoodley ??as practice for his real masterpiece.? Who am I to question such an assertion?
Well over the subsequent few hours I found myself doing just that. Try as I might, I just couldn??t ??get? Moortown. Where the other MacKenzie courses we??ve played ?? The Alwoodley very much included ?? have Atmosphere at every turn, Moortown was...different. I??m no course reviewer by any stretch of the imagination, but can only talk to my experience. The dodgy weather didn??t so much bother me (well used to that by now, and having grown up in bonnie Scotland). Nor was the hospitality anything short of marvellous (Peter upon taking his leave organised bacon butties and coffee for us, to line the stomachs). The company too was grand ?? Phil and his pal Alex being perfect gentlemen and not short of a pearl of banter. But every dog has his (off) day. And this day was mine.
Later in the evening we caught up with a tremendous South African lad by the name of Cameron Roy, whom we??ve been in contact with throughout the year. He??s a huge great strapping lad that came across here to play cricket; and who married an Irish girl (lucky sod) and got stuck. Despite having two young nippers he made the time to come and meet us for a beer in central Leeds at none other than the Neon Cactus. Sounds like time is very precious hwen there are little ??uns about... Cam had jacked up our happy visit to the Alwoodley yesterday, along with a couple of media slots. It was nice then to get the chance to thank him in person and put a face to the name (so many people we come across this year are just the name on their email address until we actually meet them in the flesh...). In my next life I think I??d like to be a South African ?? love the accent...
Ganton tomorrow...should be a blinder...
JP
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Posted by brian , 09/11/2010 8:19pm (3 years ago)
Chisholm Park
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