June and July have been busy months for the Boundary Lakes Seniors. Nine Roll Ups, 363 completed rounds and, between us, an impressive 11,113 Stableford points. Eleven thousand, one hundred and thirteen points sounds even more impressive if we quietly ignore the number of golf balls required to produce them. Over nine weeks the Seniors marched out onto Boundary Lakes armed with clubs, optimism, questionable knees and the absolute certainty that this would be the week everything finally clicked. For some, remarkably, it actually did.

When Summer Arrived

Early June belonged firmly to the golf course. Scoring was hard work, the opening three Roll Ups produced averages in the high twenties, pars were being treated with appropriate respect and birdies required independent witnesses. Then summer arrived. The ground hardened, the fairways became faster and drives began running to places many of us hadn’t reached for several years. A well-struck tee shot could suddenly gain another twenty or thirty yards, allowing its owner to retrieve the tee casually while pretending this was exactly what he’d expected. Unfortunately, badly struck ones gained another twenty or thirty yards as well, usually in a considerably less helpful direction.

By late June the scoring began to rise and Boundary Lakes entered what can only be described as its generous phase. The Seniors naturally assumed this was down to improved technique. The field average climbed above 30 and stayed there for several weeks, peaking at 32.58 on 16 July, while by 23 July the median had reached 34 points. Half the field scoring 34 or better was becoming dangerously close to collective competence. The weekly best scores tell their own story: 37, 38, 41, 41, 39, 43, 41, 42 and 42. By July, 40 points was no longer showing off. It was becoming an entry requirement.

The Men Who Found Something

Nobody made better use of the summer than Jeff Rowlands, whose five appearances produced 40, 31, 39, 42 and 36 points, an extraordinary average of 37.6. Four times out of five he scored 36 or better and twice broke 40. Most golfers regard 40 points as one of those special days when the swing works, the putts drop and the golfing gods briefly stop laughing. Jeff apparently regarded it as something worth having another go at. By the end of July, seeing his name near the top of the leaderboard had stopped being a surprise and become an administrative convenience.

If Jeff provided the sustained excellence, Antonio Falco provided the plot. June offered absolutely no warning of what was coming, with scores of 26, 30 and 19. Nineteen Stableford points is the stage at which the competition stops being a competition and becomes emotional support. Then July happened. Antonio produced 35, 32, 35, 42 and 42. From 19 points to back-to-back 42s in a matter of weeks. Whatever he discovered should have been confiscated, examined by the Committee and made available to the rest of the Seniors. One 42 is a great day; two consecutive 42s suggests you’ve either cracked golf or accidentally started playing from somewhere considerably nearer the hole.

Others took a less dramatic route. Clive Blackmore returned 34, 34, 30, 30, 32 and 34, squeezing six rounds into a four-point range. That’s not consistency, that’s cruise control. Graeme Cook played eight of the nine Roll Ups and averaged 33.38, quietly accumulating points while others visited both the penthouse and basement. John Knight developed an unusual attachment to 36 points, producing it three times in succession, at which point somebody could probably have completed his card before he teed off. Peter Cooper, meanwhile, went 29, 33, 35, 38, 40, 35 — less a collection of Stableford scores than a progress chart. By the time he reached 40, his regular playing partners presumably had the good sense to stop offering advice.

And there were other moments worth remembering. Robert Perriam produced the biggest score of the entire period with a magnificent 43 points on 9 July, one of those days when drives find fairways, approaches find greens and six-foot putts behave as though they’ve been doing it all their lives. At 43 points the traditional clubhouse greeting changes from “Well played” to “What’s your handicap again?” Kev Palmer was another making hay while the sun shone, returning 35, 42, 35 and 34 for an average of 36.5. No drama, no crisis and apparently no need to announce on the seventh tee that he’d completely lost his swing. Just points.

And Then Golf Noticed

Which brings us neatly to Adey Gray. Adey’s summer included 37, 41 and 34 points. Excellent golf, good form and presumably growing confidence. Then came 30 July and 14 points. And there, in four numbers, is the entire game of golf. One week you’re wondering whether the handicap committee has noticed how well you’re playing; the next you’re checking whether bowls clubs accept beginners. Adey’s 14 shouldn’t therefore be regarded as a poor round. It was a public service — a timely reminder to every Senior enjoying a bit of form that golf is always watching.

Appropriately enough, 30 July didn’t just get Adey. After weeks of increasingly healthy scoring, the whole field average dropped back below 30. Boundary Lakes had apparently seen enough. For much of July the course had allowed us to believe that years of experience, careful course management and accumulated golfing wisdom were finally paying dividends. Then it reminded everyone that the trees were still there. Firm summer fairways, after all, have two personalities: hit one straight and you can spend the next five minutes explaining how you’ve picked up twenty yards; hit one slightly crooked and you can spend the same five minutes walking towards a hedge.

11,113 Points Later

And perhaps that’s the story of June and July. Jeff kept troubling the leaderboard, Antonio apparently changed golfer halfway through, Clive selected cruise control, Graeme just kept turning up and scoring, John established a production line for 36 points, Peter steadily climbed to 40, Robert reached 43, Kev quietly averaged 36.5 and Adey demonstrated on behalf of everybody that however well you’re playing, golf always retains the right of reply.

Across it all came 363 rounds and 11,113 Stableford points, along with thousands of putts, hundreds of bunkers visited and enough lost balls to make a measurable contribution to the local economy. There were magnificent drives nobody saw, terrible drives everybody saw, putts that “had to break”, balls that were “definitely around here somewhere” and provisional balls that immediately produced the best drive of the day.

Nine Thursdays, 363 rounds, 11,113 points and countless hours discussing how many we would have scored if only we’d played the other three holes properly.

After two months of extensive research, one thing is absolutely certain.

The Boundary Lakes Seniors still haven’t solved golf — but we’ve gathered a fairly impressive amount of evidence.