Dyke Golf Club, Brighton

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One of the standout features of the Z30 is its seamless integration with compatible Garmin watches ⌚

Flag distances are sent straight to your wrist, giving you a fuller picture before every approach shot

The first thing that stood out when we tried the new adidas CODECHAOS? The comfort 👟

The Ultraboost midsole delivers an incredibly cushioned feel that's hard to beat.

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Congratulations to all the 100 club winners in the July draw!

Well, the 72 hole challenge came a little earlier than I had visioned. I thought I had months to prevaricate until Kevin W pointed out I would need miners’ lamps to do the 4 BDGS courses in September. Thankfully the wonderful secretaries/mangers and ground staff of the BDGS courses were understanding and supportive, and within hours we had agreed Thursday 2 July would the day, and that was soon…..
Jane and I arrived at East Brighton GC at 4.30am on 2nd July in our skorts/short sleeved shirts and gillets, ready for the dry, sunny and windless start to our day, per every forecast on the internet…. 13 holes of rain, fog and strong winds later we wondered whether meteorology really was a degree!!!! But being soaked to the skin (no waterproofs deemed necessary for our keep it light carry bags) did not dim our enthusiasm, what a privilege to be the only people on a golf course, too early for the green-keepers even. It was a relief when the rain stopped, we weren’t sure if we’d manage four rounds in that weather… A brisk 3 1/4 hours and we had completed our first 18 holes at East Brighton, Holly waved us off and on our way to West Hove we went.
Per instructions from Kevin again, I had my first change of socks and shoes and Jane a complete change from wet clothes and then we were off onto the West Hove GC. Some lovely gentleman members asked if we were the 72 hole challenge ladies and invited us to go in front of them, many thanks to them. We were warming up now, both in temperature and in our golf. I continued to keep pace with Jane but already knew I would not be carrying at the next course, I would leave that to the fit youngster…. We’d chosen the limited number of clubs to carry well, not really missing others not in the bag. This time it was the General Manager and the Men’s Captain who waved us off, with a gift of jelly babies to see us through the next two rounds.
We were well on time for our next round, 1pm tee time at Brighton and Hove GC. We had been keeping hydrated and nourished but took a few moments to sit and have some food and drink, a halfway pause as we reflected on how different all these four courses are. I was now onto the electric trolley to tackle the ups and downs of this course, I know my limits…. My lost ball count was increasing as my old buddy the shank returned and Jane was now starting to hit the ball into the stratosphere with the welcome caddying of Martin, her husband, for a few holes. Interestingly the notoriously slow starter (me) played better in the earlier rounds and the person more likely to reach single figure handicap (Jane) played better and better as the day went on. It was a bit Deja Vus being at Brighton and Hove GC, we played 36 holes there for the BDGS mixed only a few weekends ago…
And then home we came, to our beloved D**e. What a joy it was to see our course in the sunshine, very little wind and lots of friendly faces to celebrate this last leg of the challenge. How grateful I am that Val Harris offered to caddy for me and that Martin came and insisted on carrying for Jane for the last few holes. Jill moss supplied us with more goodies, gosh that ginger shot was fierce, and hugs from Bali, Linda, Geraldine et al were so welcome. And what a joy to have our D**e buddies walk round with us in those last holes, Carol, Kay, Jane R., Ali, Don et al. There were some tired shots from me to end our golfing marathon and some ever more impressive ones from Jane, I think only my putting was more consistent than hers!!! And at 8.09pm we finished our challenge. We did it in less than 16 hours, including driving between courses, we walked all the way and we putted out on every hole. There weren’t much practice shots or lining up so we didn’t do too bad…
And then our day was done. 72 holes of prime Sussex golf courses, all a credit to this special centenary year of BDGS. We are proud of what we did, it’s not common for women golfers to undertake such a challenge, especially not at different courses, so we have done something a little different from the norm. We also feel privileged to be members of a wonderful golf club, the D**e, where the women’s section is valued and applauded for its contribution and success. We are honoured to have done this in recognition of BDGS, a phenomenal milestone to be in the centenary year, something that takes dedication and passion from volunteers. And finally, we are grateful for the support given to the Captain’s charity, MIND in Brighton and Hove, every little bit of money raised by folk like us makes a difference, I know that as a not for profit leader. £2141 will make a real difference.

If you would still like to make a donation, the link is https://www.justgiving.com/team/paulalaird?utm_medium=TE&utm_source=CL

Paula an Jane

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