Crazy Golf

There is only one way to describe the weekend I have just experienced... In fact, there's 2. Good. Just good. And also, slightly awkward. (I will not vandalise this blog with a ridiculous word I could of used..)

We'll start with the reason we went on holiday in the first place. The golf. This 18-hole course, situated fairly near the sea, was a bit blowy and the first 9 holes were fairly simple. Short holes with the occasional longy thrown in and it was going OK. The Friday round, where it was extremely windy and a bit drizzly, made us look a bit stupid or made us look as if we were playing at St Andrews. The front 9 that day went OK, but the back 9 was a different proposition. Full of holes with amazing hills and drops and picturesque views, there were a few holes that really surprised me. Take the 13th. A 148-yard par 3, usually an 8-iron, but this hole had a huge valley in the middle of it. After I had taken my shot, I managed to fall down the steep path with my trolley and then managed to fall up the consuing slope.. Amazing.. The Saturday and Sunday rounds went much better, with the weather set perfect, I really enjoyed the experience and I got used to the holes and scored much better scores.

My only concern with the golf were, I'm afraid to say, my playing partners. 3 of them, one of which was fine if his usual quiet self, seemed to be more interested in getting smashed rather than playing and didn't seem bothered some of the time. Beddoe laughed at others when he was playing well and others weren't, then turned moody when the tables turned and Colin went from being "on it" to "not fussed" every other hole. Adam was fine. As usual. But the contradiction on the golf course annoyed me to levels that I wouldn't usually expect. The etiquette was useless aswell, from the same suspects, and that annoyed me aswell. I know, I'm turning into an old man. But a bit of manners goes a long way.

The problem was the same in the hotel. Hilton Avisford Park Hotel, a posh 4-star, so a bit of upper-classiness would of been useful. First night, dinner. I went down in a shirt and shoes, albeit with jeans, and Beddoe comes with his iPhone and trainers. When you're in a posh restaurant, the last thing you want to wear is trainers. Then he decided to get a bottle of mineral water, thinking it was free, when obviously it wouldn't be. £4.50. Pure brilliance from him. Then his fussy self decided he didn't like anything but the chicken. Was slightly awkward and I think the waiters and bar staff knew it. They all seemed to look like a celebrity though. The main waiter person was a lookalike of Colin Murray, the Radio 1 DJ and BBC TV presenter. Another one looked like Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter and another one looked like the Turkish footballer, Emre. A strange mix of people for a strange, and posh place.

The food in this place, however, was exquisite. I'm not used to posh dining, I'm more the Burger King and M&S sandwiches person, but the food here was amazing. Ok, I stuck to the salmon, (don't laugh!), but only because it was phenomonal. The staff were a bit slow, as my Mum had pointed out before I left, but otherwise, superb. The rooms also, with their widescreen TV's to watch that Saffie win the Open and a fantastic documentary on Brian Clough last night and comfortable beds were also worth every penny. Usually, after a holiday, (admittedly the last one was a long time ago), I'm happy to sleep in my own bed after a week, but these beds were so nice, that tonight is going to be like sleeping on concrete..

Ok. The nightlife. As I stated earlier, I reckon these were the parts that the others were looking forward to most, unlike me. On Thursday night, we stayed in Brighton before making our journey to Arundel the following day. I was tired following the drive down earlier and I knew I had to drive again tomorrow. I was always going to take it easy. Hardly drinking at all and not staying out for very long. I am still recovering from that ghastly night 3 months ago aswell.. Obviously though, Beddoe clearly didn't understand and got moody when I decided to call it a day. Being sarcastic and the like, it annoyed me, like other things, but at the time I wasn't that fussed. I was incredibly tired and all I could hear was my bed on Floor 2. Sleep was needed.

I was fresh as a daisy on Friday morning, surrounded by groggy friends, the golf later was ours! They had recovered by then though. We didn't go out on Friday night, for some reason ... can't remember why, but Saturday night was a different story...

We had just finished our 2nd round of golf for the weekend. We had re-arranged dinner to 7pm to give ourselves enough time. Dinner was taken care of, in another awkward and ungentlemanly fashion and we were ready to go. Brighton here we come. Of course, we forget to take into account how much transport would cost. It was way too expensive.. Our night was heading towards ruins. Up until, one of the waiters, (Emre I think it was), told us about a place called Bognor Regis. I had heard of it before, but I never thought of it as a huge place with loads of clubs and to be honest, it sounds like a bit of a farm.. Still, what could go wrong? We got a cheap-ish cab down there and went to their only bar. It was fairly busy and I had a few JD and cokes, double it up for £1 extra, you can't go wrong. I had told myself I was being paid to party so let's go as mad as I dared. Obviously, I got drunk very quickly having gone back to my lightweight days and then we moved on to their one and only club. Because it was their only club, it was rather busy and it turned into a good night. Beddoe worked his magic and everyone was happy. The antics at the end, I shall put down to drunkenness and also probably me being tired and wanting to go to sleep. No one shall take the blame.

Sunday was a bit of an anti-climax. Everyone a bit rough and towards the end of the 3rd round of golf in 3 days, just a bit tired. I failed to get my first birdie of the weekend, the course was that tough and we went back to the hotel. Our final day. Sad times.

Except it wasn't. We decided to elongate the holiday by spending today in sunny and boiling Brighton and it was good. We went in the sea and laughed at some girls who screamed at the prospect of seeing fish and I shouted, "Fish in the sea?! Nooo!", and got a few evils back.. Mwahaha! Funny times...

Overall, it was a very good weekend. I knew there were going to be points where people got a bit annoyed and egos clashed but to be honest, it was less than I expected. I think we're already organising next month's exploits... Oh dear..

Ciao x