La Sala Super League picked the perfect day to start off the 2017 year long tournament, commencing at the Marbella Club Golf Resort in the Benahavis hills.
Team Tee R E turned up nice and early at 8.15, and although it was somewhat cold that early in the morning the sun was already shining and the mood was good. Lindsey was already at the venue with her friendly smile waiting to greet the golfers and tell us about the new sausage sandwiches for this year.
Team Tee R E has now been a regular at the La Sala Golf League for four years and the award winning team comprises of Steve MacKenzie, Bill Padley, Bruce Mack and me, PJ Lopez. When I say award winning I mean we have won the wooden spoon on a few occasions and possibly a first place in one individual round, but it is all a bit hazy now.
We of course headed straight for the café to get some nice warm coffee inside us, although it was a little disappointing that the kitchen was closed until 9am so no chance of a ritual bacon sandwich before we needed to tee off at 9.30.
Two coffees later and having paid out our annual subscription of 65€ and 85€ for the days golf we headed back outside.
It was nice to see a good turnout for the first event with many of the regulars including the La Sala management team Ian Radford, David Bentley and Stephen Carr.
We headed for our buggies with Bill looking more like he was about to hit the slopes of Sierra Nevada than play 18-holes at Marbella Club Resort. Bruce had donned the brightest pair of trousers he could find in his wardrobe in a clear tactic to dazzle the other players. Our starting hole was to be number 6 so off we set along the lush fairways until we got to our start point. It was a nice par 4 to get us underway and we all hit the fairway and played a decent hole (apart from me topping twice in succession, but still managing to score a point).
The team managed to score a respectable 4 points on the first hole but that was probably the peak of our game so I won’t report on any of the other scores.
As we progressed around the course the sun started to warm up and Steve took off his jacket, then put back on his jacket, then took it off and then put it on. This went on for at least twenty minutes until eventually it stayed off.
Our golf was average with some great holes followed by some disasters. Later in the round we headed for the par 3 where Lindsey and her team were there to cheer us all on (and ply us with beer and G & T’s). Bill hit the green, Steve was just off the green, I hit a perfect shot, but sadly with the wrong club and it soared well over the ravine, the green and the trees behind the green. Bruce is always consistent on beat the pro or the ‘manned, par 3’s. His ball travelled about 20 metres even though he had hit great tee shots most of the way around the course.
At hole 10 the girls were waiting with another drink stop and a few pork pies. We stayed for a nice leisurely chat and a couple of drinks, which I don’t think went down so well with the team directly behind us.
We played out the rest of the holes and finished the round. Our golf was average but the day was great, as always. For us it is not just about the golf, it is about spending time together outdoors and meeting up with some nice people. It is a great way to really get the best out of living in Marbella.
There was a bit of extra excitement for Bill and Bruce when their buggy got stuck in the mud and they took an impromptu mud shower.
It was Steve’s birthday celebration in the evening so we did not head back to La Sala for the free tapas and open bar before the awards ceremony, we had a couple of drinks on the terrace at the golf club instead.
Team Tee R E final results were Bill in first place, Bruce second and myself and Steve tied in third.
Next up is Los Flamingos on 18th February so we better get some much needed practice in before then.
