We are all very aware that “Chinese whispers” are nearly as prevalent as their shops in this area, so when talk started a couple of weeks ago about a new fleet of buggies shortly to arrive at Villamartin, the anticipation leading up to our visit there last week was quite intense. On arrival at the course my first vision was a colleague chugging along in one of the faithful old bangers warning me to get one quick because as the remaining number diminished, so did the quality. Caddy-master, Oliver, who I hasten to add is definitely not Chinese, otherwise it would be Oriver, did assure us that new buggies were due last Monday but, surprise, surprise, the delivery date had been put back a week…. Maybe in time for our next visit, we’ll have to wait and see. A roasting hot day greeted our three dozen players and we were even given the privilege of teeing off on the first hole which, having started on the tenth for so long, seemed like we were playing the course back to front! Seriously though, it was a rare and welcome treat. The course stood up well to the hot and dry conditions and whereas this allowed an extra few metres of run on the fairways, I couldn’t get any of my approach shots into the hard greens to spin back. Still, nothing unusual about that as it doesn’t matter how receptive the greens are – mine never spin back! I tell a lie, the nearest I ever got to a spin-back was when I over-shot a green and bounced back off the boundary wall to within three feet of the flag – but regrettably all greens don’t have walls behind them. It soon became obvious that teeing off from the first was having a very beneficial influence on my game, the drives were straight, approach shots were hitting the greens and three putting was a thing of the past! My rare achievement of 19 points on the front nine was only surpassed when I birdied the par 5 eleventh – 25 points in total was my norm’ lately, but having that tally after only eleven holes was quite a novelty. Unfortunately I couldn’t sustain the momentum but still finished with a pretty reasonable 38 which made it my first under par finish and subsequent “trim” in well over twelve months. Being very conscious of how this course has a knack of bringing out the “forty pointers” I was not holding my breath about being in the prizes, especially when the rest of the committee didn’t agree with my proposal of disqualifying anyone with more points than me! What’s the sense in having a committee if you can’t all get together and agree on one or two contentious decisions now and again?Collectors of NTP’s were H. Gillespie (6), P. Hagart (9), B. Price (13) & A. Rixson (17) with the specials being claimed by N. Padmore (7), F. Davies (16) & A. Rixson (12). H. Gillespie also won the visitor’s prize. In ascending order the winners of the main competition were: BRONZE – J. Hagart (38), P. Hagart (39) & P. Cobain (40). SILVER – M. Birtwistle (36), F. Davies (38) & G. Rapley (44). GOLD – P. Birtwistle (38), J. Jones (39) & J. Whitaker (41)……As the missus hardly ever reads this column it should also be noted that she was well and truly out-pointed by hubby this week!The society’s gratitude is extended to Sñr Buendia and his team for making us so welcome as usual. As June is a five meeting month for us, it’s La Finca next followed by La Serena and El Plantio with our first visit to the new Las Colinas course booked for the 30th. More society info is available by emailing info@smgs. org or visiting www. smgs. org or calling the match sec. on 966719604.