Rarely in life have I encountered things that are genuinely too good to be true, but today I experienced just that.
As I write this I sit in Peek Cabin, to the left of the 10th fairway at Augusta National Golf Club. Yes, that cabin is the one Rory McIlory hit in the 2011 Masters.
I am full from a superb dinner and accompanying wine, and today have witnessed almost magical golf on a magical course.
I have coached Jacob Severn since he was three-years-old and when I was invited to come to Augusta National for a couple of days with him and his father, I naturally jumped at the prospect.
Jacob, as I have written here before, has been on a surge of form recently, and this date with Augusta has given him motivation unlike any other. After ripping his tee shot down the first, the 15-year-old never looked back.
He turned in 1 over par, and after a super up and down on 10, he followed with pars through Amen Corner. The 12th was an especially good up and down from over the back of the green. And then came the fireworks!
Birdies at 14, the par 5 15th and a near hole in one on 16, and suddenly he was 2 under par with two to play. The hole on 16 was in its Masters Sunday position, and Jacob hit his ball on to the top tier, and the ball trickled down the slope just rolling past the edge of the hole.
A safe par followed on 17 and the end was in sight. Despite a little bunker trouble at the 18th, he tapped in for bogey and carded a 1 under par 71.
To witness his round, albeit not quite as proud as his father was, gave me such joy. The fact it came at Augusta National made it 100 times more special, and that it was his first time ever breaking par over 18 holes, is just phenomenal.
We are lucky enough to have two more days here, I can only imagine what delights they will bring.
During this trip I was also inches away from a hole in one and Jacob hit the flag on the full with the ball stopping dead, denying an ace of his own, that would have been special!
Haverhill GC
Congratulations go to Lynne Hart on winning the Ladies Turkey Trott competition played over a midweek and weekend date.
Lynne scored an impressive 42 points to claim the victory with Elaine Ward in second place with 40 points on countback from Lindsey Rushmore.
Meanwhile, the Junior stableford was won by Fraser Darling with 32 points, with Oliver Stroud in second place on 29 points.
As for the The Men’s Monthly Medal & J Houchen, that was won by Dave Pipe (currently well on form) with an unbelievable nett 61, which has resulted in a well deserved handicap cut.
In second place was Neil Owers with a nett 65, with Mark Carpenter in third place after scoring a nett 66. Some great scoring all round really, well done!
The Men’s MKM Stableford was won by Terry Archer with 39 points, with some assistance from The Count, as Trevor Broomfield also returned 39 points. In third place with 38 points was Jim Walker.
The Suffolk
There was another busy week of competition for the members at The Suffolk.
First up was a Midweek Medal, which was won by James Laflin on nett 77. Mark Rothon was second on 80 and John Dale third with nett 83.
The start of a new month also brought with it the weekend Monthly Medal.
On Saturday, it was Brian Hay who topped the leaderboard with a nett 72, Chris Carnaby was second on 74 and Ray Burns was third on 76.
The scoring got even better on Sunday as Glen Barker recorded the best score of the weekend, a nett 69. Warren Howell was the runner-up on nett 72, with Terry Hall third on 73.
If that wasn’t enough, The Suffolk Seniors had 2 Stableford events. Firstly, David Broster scored 33 points to be victorious, while second spot went to Trevor Wright on 31.
In the second iteration it was Bob Hope again on 33 points coming out on top. Second was Neil Mawson on 33 points.
Stowmarket GC
Stowmarket held their usual weekend of competition, with three divisions on both Saturday and Sunday.
Giles Pates returned the top score in Division 1 on Saturday with 39 points, one ahead of Matt Pizzey in second on 38.
Division 2, as is often the case, saw the best score of the day with 41 points from Oliver Skinner. Steve Beaumont was second on 39.
Division 3 had Greg Thomas atop the leaderboard on 38 points, with Dave Withers a shot back in second on 37.
On Sunday, Matt Holbrook took Division 1 by storm shooting 41 points, followed by Ben Morgan in second on 37.
Joe Castillo, in Division 2, had the round of the day with 42 points, with Damon Large settling for second on 38.
In Division 3, Jake Simpson topped the board with 32 points, with a little help from The Count, from Liam Jones on the same score.
As always, have a great golfing week.