HULL GOLF COURSE (YOU NEED A BIT OF LUCK)

HULL GOLF COURSE	https://www.hullgolfclub.co.uk/		Kirk Ella
Type of course	PARKLAND	18 holes
Course distance	White 6223 yds	Yellow 6026 yds	Red 5499 yds
Holes	2 x par 5	12 x par 4	4 x par 3
Claim to fame: One of the finest golf courses and highly regarded golf clubs in the North of England
Today was my first adventure in playing a game with a partner against two people I’d never met, on a course I’ve never played. For this course to be called Hull Golf Course is a bit of a misnomer as it is situated in the village of Kirk Ella, some five miles from the centre of Hull. With a 9.00 am start on a fresh autumn morning, after passing the large individually named detached houses and gated communities I waited patiently in the empty car park. To my left stood a large Georgian Hall, to my right the large single-story pro shop and directly ahead with its rising slope disappearing into the heartland of the course, the perfectly cut first tee box. As I considered what might be, my partner for the day turned up in his Mercedes E class and then the opposition in the Audi Q7 and Mercedes 4 x 4. As we entered the pro shop the thickly carpeted floor bounced under foot. The clothes racks, shoe racks and gear stands were spaced so far apart you would have difficulty pitching from one to the next. In the distance the counter awaited and as I handed over my crisp £20 note I’m sure the portrait of Adam Smith winked at me. Smith who currently occupies the reverse side of the note wrote “The Wealth of Nations”, a book that offers one of the world's first collected descriptions of what builds a nations' wealth. I’d hazard a guess that here it sits alongside the new PGA rule book, in every member’s bag. Money seems to be no object at Hull Golf Course.   Between the four competitors handicaps were shared and match play begun. Match play for the uninitiated is a game in which the score is reckoned by counting the holes won by each side   The course opens with a 493 yard Par 5, SI 11, with my partner in trouble from the off it was up to me to circumvent any difficulties here and I thankfully came away with a win allowing us to go one up. Job done, I would have been happy to go home there and then but 17 more holes would have to be undertaken before this could happen.   Feeling confident the 2nd 412 yard, Par 4 SI 7 therefore held no fears for me. A quality drive saw me sitting on the righthand side of the fairway in a fold of land. The iron to follow was struck well enough and clipped the branch of a tree, however in the rising sunlight no one could follow its path and after 5 minutes of fruitless searching I abandoned all hope of a score. Thankfully my partner took control and we were two up.   The 4th Par 3, SI 13 at 157 yards again held no fears and a good wood off the tee box flew towards the two-tier green only to continue the journey beyond. Not to worry, we all had a good idea as to where it had landed. Autumn leaves of bronze and gold however were in abundance and another fruitless search saw me two balls down. At this rate, I would be going home early, as I hadn’t anticipated such great losses early on. Balls aren’t cheap!   Thankfully, no major mishaps occurred from here on in and by the time we took the turn we were 3 to the good.   Reaching the 13th 128 yard par 3, SI 18 the game was almost over.  Taking the honour at this hole I didn’t connect particularly well but the skidding ball hit the front bunker and rolled up and over onto the green. My partner who by this time was firing on all cylinders hit a wayward 9 iron to the right of the green only to see it hit an overlying branch and bounce to within a foot of the hole. A despondent voice was heard to say, “You two need a bit of luck!”.  Wasn’t it Gary Player who said, “The harder I practice, the luckier I get”, and he won a few games in his time.   Putts sunk and we were dormie five. As legend has it, keen golfer, Mary Queen of Scots, introduced the word dormie to the game. It appears French was her spoken tongue and the word is derived from the French dormir (to sleep or relax).   The 14th 357 yard Par 4, SI 2, dog leg left, was circumnavigated well and sure enough with my handicap we comfortably swept the opposition aside.   Having won the first and last and halving holes where necessary I felt as if I had contributed well to the overall result.   Hands shook we played out the last four and retired to the Georgian Hall with all its finery and maid service to enjoy a lovely cup of Darjeeling, well, Yorkshire tea to be precise.   As we exited the club house one of our opponents stated he would go to his car and get my winnings. Little did I know, that we had been playing for money. Wow, winnings! I’d never heard of such a thing before. Surely in these salubrious surroundings I would be filling my wallet with some big bucks. As I nonchalantly reversed out of the parking bay, I wound my window down and was handed the immense sum of one English pound. It appears those that have, clearly keep, what they’ve got!   As a footnote to this game I met up with my golf partner and others one Sunday, for a couple of beers and as we chatted about the game, he informed me, that even before he had left the car park, the phone had rung to enquire why he had brought a ringer to the game. Me, a ringer? High praise indeed. This was worth so much more to me than the winnings. Obviously!   I had visions therein of our despondent opponents going home and practicing putting on their highly manicured lawns or pitching into the personalised 3 hole course in the grounds of the gated community. Do you get the feeling I might be a bit of an inverted snob?