В клубе La Finca завершилось седьмое соревнование в разгар летней жары и ожидание затмения

Summer was well and truly in full swing at La Finca, with a slightly smaller field than usual as holidays – and very sensible caution around the heat – kept a few members away. It was our 7th Eclectic competition, giving those who did play a useful chance to improve their scores while others were absent. With temperatures nudging the early 30s and the sun doing its best to test everyone’s stamina, it was a proper August golfing day. There was also plenty of chatter about the much-anticipated eclipse, with some members proudly armed with their super-duper safety glasses and ready to watch it without risking their eyesight! The course had been hollow-tined and scarified a couple of weeks earlier, and the maintenance work was still making itself known in the slightly slower greens. That said, we all know it is part and parcel of keeping a course in tip-top condition, especially with the busy high season just around the corner. After the round, everyone headed back to the lovely, airy terrace bar for the presentation. As expected at this ever-popular course, there were some excellent scores to celebrate: Gold: John Osborne (42 pts on countback, sharing the day’s best score with Ben Price) Silver: Lee Eastman (38 pts) There were no “Twos” today, so that pot rolls over to next week. Nobody managed Nearest the Pin on the 3rd, but Pete Baldwin found the green on the 6th, Freddie Ljuhs on the 13th, and Ben Price on the 16th. Adrian Roberts clearly fancied a glass of red later on and took the McBride Bottle home, while Matt Lowe picked up the best prize pot of the day from the football card. We also had two Best Guests to recognise: Gary Cornforth and Freddie Ljuhs. For the second week running, we received sad news: former member Steve Higgins passed away last week. Many will remember Steve whizzing around the local courses on his Golfboard. Although he had stepped away from golf for a while to take up fishing, he stayed in touch with several members. As they say in Leicester, where he was from, “Goodbye me Duck.” We raised a glass to him. Keep up to date with SMGS at www.smgs.org. Sponsorship opportunities are available for upcoming games, so please contact [email protected] if you are interested. We are also proud to be supported by Michaela Schmidt at www.golf-hotspots.com for all your golf travel needs. Next week we head down to Lo Romero, where we will be hoping for more great golf, more good company, and – no doubt – a few more impressive scores. Pictured left to right: Freddie Ljuhs (Best Guest), Peter Turbefield (Gold 3rd), Lee Eastman (Silver & President), John Osborne (Gold), and Adrian Roberts (McBride Bottle).