Great Moments In Sport

It shows how long it has been since the Pig was last in contention for even a piddling little prize that he felt the nerves when he teed it up as leader in the Dunmore Shield at Bull Bay on Wednesday. I had accumulated a meagre two point advantage over the opening three days and, after some intervening drama, I had by the end increased this to nine. It had been down to just one after eleven holes but an unlikely long putt on the twelfth kept the lead intact and turned out to be the turning point. Now it has to be conceded that I beat Big Willy with his chronic bad back, and the Boy Bacon who was incubating a strong cold, and that ViperJohn had been prevented by ill health from even turning up. But still - the Pig won.

Ynys Mon proved a fine host to our mature high jinks. I doubt that we will return to St. Deiniol any time soon, but The Anglesey was a pleasing new experience and cracking value for money at twenty-five pounds per head. The best was kept for the final two rounds however - Holyhead was as good as first impressions had intimated those few years ago; and Bull Bay which hosted the finale was, as ever, a quality venue. Worth every bit of the forty pound green fee.

Holyhead Golf Club

This festival of inept sporting endeavour was made all the better by food at the Tavern on the Bay and a gargantuan takeaway from The Talent House. Where to next year?

18th at Bull Bay - scene of the Pig's triumph

 

Fever Pitch

The Dunmore Shield is under way and the shock news is that Big Fat Pig is the leader after two rounds of patchy golf. Mind you the weighted points system we are using means that the opening skirmishes are of far less importance than the remaining two challenges - Holyhead today and Bull Bay tomorrow.

Day one saw all three of us (ViperJohn is hors de combat and resting up at home - we miss you mate) struggle at St Deiniol, Bangor. I think it fair to say that this course will not be appearing on anyone's list of favourite venues. Technically speaking we would have to descibe it as bloody hilly (this is something of an understatement) and the Pig, as he usually does, carrying his bag (the other two were in a buggy) was well knackered at the end. The scoring was dire but the Pig took a slim lead. You get a feel of the terrain from the photo below. Trust me it's all like that. The day was however brought to a fine conclusion by the beer and curry consumed by the Pig and the Boy Bacon - Big Willy had returned to his new digs in Criccieth but is now part of the full party camping at Plas Piggy.

Day two's venue received far more favourable reviews. We were at The Anglesey, the island's only true links. Big Willy (who knows a thing or two about golf courses) said it put him in mind of Westward Ho! A fllattish piece of duneland with rumpled fairways, it was well-received by all competitors.The Pig's long-game deficiencies were papered-over by a stellar putting display and a marginal improvement in his lead was garnered. A good day was made yet better by fish and chips from the Golden Fry in Benllech.

The Anglesey

Today it will be Holyhead Golf Club followed by a meal at the Sea Shanty, Bring it on.

'We Are Penn State', Other Sporting Triumphs, And A Significant Anniversary

Number nineteen ranked Penn State travelled to number twelve Wisconsin and won 16-10 with a glorious defensive performance. After last year's near disastrous record, things look better for the Nittany Lions. We are Penn State.

While the cosseted stars of the PGA Tour spent their weekend chasing the obscene $15m prize at their Tour Championship, the better spectacle was to be found in Toledo, Ohio where the women of America and Europe battled it out without recompense for the Solheim Cup. For once the often anodyne Iain Carter gets it spot on - Solheim Triumph 

Can you remember what you were doing fifty years ago today? As it happens I can - 7 September 1971 was one of the very best days of my fortunate life. On that date I started at King Edward VI Aston School. Not a day goes by without me being grateful for the companionship and learning that School gave me. Long live the name of Edward, our founder and our king. Silly but you've got to love it.

The Kipling Test

When Donald Trump expressed his 'America First' doctrine, the sane world winced at the moral inadequacy and the cowardice of it all. Now Joe Biden unapologetically takes a page from the Donald's book and oversees a quite craven retreat from Afghanistan. 

I will not enunciate the Kipling Test because its terminology would cause proper offence. However there is, beneath a racist carapace, a method in Kipling's entreaty to America. Or to put it in the phrasing of a more modern fable, Spiderman, 'With great power comes great responsibility'. 

The word 'Taliban' apparently derives from the terms for 'students' or 'seekers'. That which they seek is a perverted Islamic fundamentalism that relegates women to enslavement and condemns music as unholy. Is the world safe with these people in charge of Afganistan? Of course it isn't. Being the 'Home of the Brave' ought to have meaning beyond the confines of America. And as America discharges its burden, so ought we.