Katie Reillys Golf Society monthly meeting

 
Having delayed our monthly meeting for a week or so to allow more guests to arrive from the old country, twenty hardy souls from Katie Reillys Golf Society made the short trip to Font del Llop just north of Elche. And what a magnificent new course it is. Some wide open fairways, some which narrow at an inopportune moment, hazards strategically placed in just the wrong place (well, they were for my drives) and greens which rise and fall to make putting a severe challenge. All in all a real test of our golfing ability.

Of course it helped that we had clear blue skies, warm sunshine and a light cooling breeze which blew in almost every direction, mostly straight in our face when we were about to drive. The course only opened in April but somehow it has the feel of somewhere that has been around for many years, an old friend or foe - depending on your point of view.

Some of us wondered about the name "Font del Llop" and a little investigation enabled us to glean that llop is a derivative of the word lobo - old Spanish for Wolf. We already knew that font could mean fountain, waterfall or even waterworks, so it wasn´t too great a stretch of the imagination to consider that "Font del Lop" could actually mean "Wolves´ Waterworks". Now we know why it is so green and lush.

That aside it really is well worth a visit, so get up there and test your golfing skills against a course which has been designed to bring the best out of every golfer no matter what your ability or handicap.

And so it was back to the Great Banqueting Hall at Katie Reillys for the meal - superbly supplied as always by Carmel - and the prize giving.

Three KRGS members had actually attained the same overall score of 32, so it was all down to countback over the back nine, where it turned out that resident pro Ryan Boal had only carded 18, Nigel Hubert had just edged him out on 19, while bar owner Jim Hough - cue cries of cheat - had somehow scored 20 points. After three recounts the scores were confirmed. Of the guests, Brian Harrison came out on top with 30 points. only just beating Don Keating, whose 21 back nine points was the best of the day.

Final Scores

Members - Jim Hough 32 points (on countback)

Guests - Brian Harrison 30 points

Nearest the Pins:

Hole   3 - Brian Harrison
Hole   8 - Graeme Clark
Hole 12 - Les Doherty
Hole 16 - Rob Neill
Hole 17 - Graham Cox

The next society outing will be Presidents Day on Friday 18th June, at our local course of Las Ramblas, while we also have the Murcia Matchplay on the previous Monday - 14th June. Anyone wanting to participate in either event is asked to come into the bar in cc Rioja or email Captain Graeme Clark at challenclark@aol.com
 
Graeme Clark
Captain
Katie Reillys Golf Society