Early on October 17th—8:30 am, to be painfully precise—a bevvy of Otters braved a soggy tee-off for our annual Stableford tournament.
I realise not everyone gets the golf handicap system, and to be fair very few golfers fully understand it. So while Otter’s honorary handicapper relies on a mix of stats and pure intuition, the golf world prefers strict, unyielding maths. There are two points for par-equivalent hole, extra points for glory, and fewer for... well, let’s not dwell on those.
The weather turned around quickly, swapping early rain for glorious sunshine by the start of the back nine. But the course hazards weren't just weather-related and to make the round more interesting some extra challenges were added for fun:
Longest Drive (Hole 7): Must hit the correct fairway. Simon Rich hit a monster drive, but technically on another fairway entirely. Peter Rae took the win by actually finding the correct fairway!
Nearest the Pin (Hole 18): Must land on the green. With a lightning-fast surface and a pin tucked away in the corner, the green keeper won this round. Zero winners—again. It’s worth mentioning that Roger Sharpley and Simon Rich both only narrowly missed the dancefloor, though Simon was practically knocking on the door from the fringe.
The day belonged to Mike Reys, who scooped the win with 37 points. After months of struggling, a totally relaxed mindset yielded a nearly flawless scorecard. Mike took home the Otter Golf trophy, the coveted Otter headcover, and the ultimate punishment for winning: write the match report yourself!
