Welcome to Golfington “Why do you even call this Quarterly?” Issue 6! All of us here at Golfington HQ hope that you have had a good off-season and stayed safe and healthy during lockdown(s).
We are very excited to announce that the Autumn Championship 2021 at Highgate Wood will be held on Saturday the 18th of September. Everyone is welcome to play, so if you would like to do so, please let me know! Golfington HQ has a lot of racquets and shuttlecocks for use at events, so no need to bring your own but of course you are welcome to.
In this issue we take a look back at the inaugural Autumn Championship of 2020 held at Highgate Wood, which was a lovely respite from lockdown. We also bring you an instructional video from the archives, and an update on the Golfington app from our research department.
Highgate Wood Autumn Championship
When lockdown eased last year, a few intrepid players ventured out to Highgate Wood to see how the course was holding up after a few years. Keeping guidelines in mind, a maximum of six players kept appropriately distanced on a couple of practice afternoons, with the championship game scheduled a month later. Here is a quick overview, and a longer report is on the Autumn Championship 2020 page.
On one of the hottest days of the year, Lars very kindly brought along well-chilled ingredients for mixing Margate Mules, his favourite Golfington drink. All players appreciated the deliciously chilled cocktails to kick off the day’s play. Golfington Racquets are very useful for measuring social distancing in these circumstances.
Peak Golfington badge-wearing was achieved during the final practice game… although one idiot held his racquet the wrong way for the picture.
The course had held up well in the intervening three years, with all holes still playable in their original form.
The championship game had a bit of a tricky start due to a passing canine named Milo making off with one unlucky player’s shuttlecock and chewing it to beyond repair. It has been many years since canine involvement has affected a game in elite golfington and the members of the rules committee were sent scurrying off to consult the small print, particularly in subsection II paragraph C, entitled “Where the interfering canine’s owner thinks it’s all very amusing and gleefully announces ‘you’ll have a hard time getting that back from him’”. Thankfully there were plenty of spare shuttlecocks available.
Lars won the championship Golden Leaf for 2020, having showed consistently superior play through practice rounds, carrying through to the competition itself. Here he is, proudly displaying both the Golden Leaf award and also excellent lockdown hair.
A modernising outcome of re-playing the course was the decision to reverse the direction of play for the notorious “Corridor of Uncertainty” second hole, making the tee easier to find and reducing the overall amount of between-tee walking for the course.
How to Play
From the Golfington archives, we have unearthed an instructional film that was filmed some years ago but never released due to issues both contractual and, er, time-management-related.
App Update
Thanks to those who downloaded the golfington app for testing. We managed to use it to some effect during the Highgate Wood Autumn Championship 2020. A new version will be released soon, which includes new map styles, a South London Ruskin Park course that is overdue a competitive game, and the full rules of the game right in the palm of your hand.
Bye for now!
Hope to see many of you at Highgate Wood on the 18th!