Non Golfing bloggees will be delighted to read that Huttonian's trip to Norn Iron has been postponed until April. With the very cold weather promised for February by the neo-Fishes at the BBC Bad Weather Centre the prospects of golf were not all that good anyhow. The Royal County Down (PBUI) will be hosting a major championship this year and the Walker Cup next, so at the slightest hint of frost the course is closed-except of course on Saturdays when the Belfast members (95% of the total) come down for their gin and golf. Duns by contrast will stay open under several feet of snow thanks to the forbearance of the Gnarled Old Countryman-the Greenkeeper-what he lacks in formal qualifications from the Thames College of Advanced Golfing Technology and Gin Consumption he makes up in common sense. Frost and snow never harmed a course yet-especially a tough seaside one. If Newcastle really wants to protect its hallowed fairways and greens I suggest it bans a certain sort of muscle bound male player and a large proportion of the the distaff ones. They don't so much damage the course but redesign it with their earth moving equipment aka golf clubs. The Committee of the RCD have a fierce dress code for what garmentary is acceptable on the golf course (never mind in the Club House) no jeans, shirts
tucked into trousers-trousers
not tucked into socks, no sleeveless shirts, no logos, energy better spent in ensuring that golfers using the course can golf, even if just a bit. Just a thought.
Anyhow I shall have the pleasure of monitoring, at close quarters, further progress on the Village Hall. It it some times absorbing to spend one's waking hours watching cement dry. Beats paint anyday.
