The COVID pandemic affected golfington as it did all sports in 2020. Just as sport was starting to open up again in August and September, a few intrepid players headed to Highgate Woods to see how the course had held up over the past few years. At the time this seemed like a new dawn; the second, third and seventeenth lockdowns had yet to be announced.
Keeping the guidelines of the time in mind, a maximum of six players kept appropriately distanced on a couple of practice afternoons, with the championship game scheduled a month later at the end of September.
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 second practice game, although one idiot held his racquet the wrong way for the picture:
Pre-game drinks for the final were some delicious chilled Manzanilla Sherry:
The course had held up well in the intervening three years, with all holes still playable in their original form. Particularly pleasing was the first hole “stumped”, presenting one of the most natural “holes” in world golfington.
The 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.
In the interests of continual improvement, we reversed the direction of the second hole, “corridor of uncertainty”. This brought the dual advantages of a lot less walking from the end of the first hole to the start of the second, and also giving a larger target which is something of a relief after the restrictions of the “corridor”.
Identifying the wrong V-shaped tree for the final hole was initially embarrassing for the course designers, but these, ahem, minor inaccuracies can be explained by the, er, never-ending quest for invention and, um, experimentation.
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.
Scorecards…
