Updated: May 29, 2023
Another early start saw all the boys up and ready for the taxi pick up at 8.15am before some of the girls had even got up. I managed to eat my porridge and toast just in time. We were more organised than before in remembering to take bottles of water and snacks with us.
Today we were heading back to the same place as before but to play the Millennium course. The weather was superb again. I was going to drive the buggy for the first 9 holes and then swapping with Ian again play the back 9. Confusingly we were starting our round on Hole 10 meaning I would actually be playing the front 9.
Anyhow before we started the others decided to while away the 10-minute wait on the putting green. I opted out on the basis that the putting green was in superb condition whereas the greens we had played on before were awful. I assumed it would be the same today as we were at the same place. I was wrong though and the practice would have helped.
On about the 5th hole we were ticked off by the course Marshall for having Alex riding on the back of the buggy, so after that one of us had walk each time.
When we came to the halfway point which was Hole 1, I readied myself for my first shot. Yet again it was poor. In fact, it took 5 holes before I started to show any form at all. Golf is as much a mental game as a physical one. I was very worried about protecting my knee which was still very sore. I had applied topical ibuprofen cream and taken a couple of paracetamols to try and get through the round.
The trouble is that if even one small part of your swing is wrong then the whole thing doesn’t work. When I have lessons, the instructor always says if you hit a poor shot take a moment out to work out what you did wrong. The trouble with me is that I don’t always remember to do that and just walk on to the next shot.
On one hole where I took 7 shots, this included 4 shots in which I hit 4 separate trees. Then on a short par 3 over a lake I managed to hit it in the direction of the lake, where it hit the sign saying deep water in the lake so hard that it bounced straight back onto dry land.
The last 3 holes were better but I let Team Ian/Karl down and we sadly finished last with a combined total of 110.
The round was much quicker today so we had 40 minutes to wait for the taxi during which time we had a cold drink and shared 3 bowls of chips.
Whilst we had been away the girls had been for a walk to the harbour and found a lovely café on the beach.
Once back we joined them chilling around the pool. The other boys went off to play tennis for a hour whilst I rested my knee and read for a while.
At one point I was using the laptop inside when Ian offered to make a cup of tea just as Karen came also in. He made us both one and then said there are 3 custard tarts left and why don’t we have them with our tea. He pointed out they were best eaten whilst fresh and said if he put the box in the bin nobody else would remember they had been left. He was wrong as we were to find out.
Before going out for dinner we had G&Ts outside. I got the drone out and became more confident flying it around the garden. Graham then took over and became even more adventurous but sadly not as well as he hoped. First, he hit one of the trees, then managed to fly it at speed and hit Karen hard on the shoulder from behind. She whelped quite loudly and it did leave 2 deep marks on her. Graham was mortified and very embarrassed. All I could say was that I was glad it was him and not me flying it.
For dinner tonight we walked to Castizo which was a Mexican/Argentine restaurant that had received very good reviews. The reviews were spot on. I had their signature dish which was Skillet Steak pieces cooked in a red wine reduction with garlic and lemon. It was as good as it sounds. Karen had Chicken Quesadilla which was very adventurous for her and she really enjoyed them.
Over dinner there were all sorts of conversations ranging from the Royal Family to HRT. It is very interesting hearing about some famous people like many of our ex-PM’s that people around the table had interacted with on several occasions. Many times, though the conversation ended up with poor Alex being the butt of the jokes around him hoarding and eating out of date food.
Then somehow the ‘missing’ custard tarts came up in the conversation. I misheard what was being said and admitted I had eaten one of them but only under ‘duress’. There was much laughter and debate as to what had actually happened. Ian and Karen both kept quiet, denying everything with both trying to suggest it might have been other people. It was all very funny but you probably had to be there.
After this we wandered back and sat outside all having hot drinks. After having a practice performance earlier in the afternoon with Karen, I impressed everyone with the ‘mentalism’ trick I had learnt. It went well and no one worked out how it was done.
Then after the early start everyone was tired and so we all retired to our rooms at 10.30pm
