Allendale in Celtic tongue was the “Valley of Shining Water” because of the traces of silver and lead ore in the streams.
The bright sunny weather faded away as we neared Haydon Bridge to be replaced by full cloud cover with dark rain clouds in the distance.
We were all welcomed with free coffee, biscuits and a sweet treat that got the afternoon off to a good start for the 11 members attending.
For a course that only has one full time green-keeper and one volunteer the course was in remarkably good condition.
With no one else on the course we enjoyed uninterrupted views of the North Pennines and surrounding farmland.
We played off the white tees and whilst only increasing the yardage from 4498 to 4711 this did bring a change of perspective to last year’s match. The single bunker on the course did not seem to cause any major problems.
The freezer box of cool drinks on the 10th tee was welcomed by many players.
Some good scorecards were handed in with Robin Down and Mike Storer fighting for second and third place on 38 points leaving Jim McMichael the clear winner on 41 points.
Paul Holmes justifiably won the title of “Ball Finder General” after finding my balls (golf) at least 6 times and picking up at least a dozen others from the rough!
The evening rounded off with a light three course meal and a few drinks to close at 7.30 p.m.
A very pleasant outing was had by all.
Noel Stevenson
Honorary Secretary