St Athan Tour to S Carolina; Sep 11

With Hurricanes Irene and Maria hell bent on causing disruption, the 2011 MOD St Athan Golf tour took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Having undertaken previous tours every 18 months in Sept 2008 and April 2010, it was decided to once again visit the golfing Mecca of the USA, set in the forest marshlands of the East Coast. Myrtle Beach, famous for boasting over 100 courses architected by some of the greats, the 12 RAF men had courses by Arnold Palmer and Gary Player on the list and booked. As it happened, Irene and Maria went their separate ways and other than 20 minutes of torrential rain 8 rounds of glorious golf happened.

The tour was primarily based around a Ryder Cup matchplay theme, with a strict handicap system enforced, -2 for a win, +1 for a loss, and the teams were split up into Celts and the Rest Of the World (ROW). Unfortunately for Mike ‘Taff’ Edwards, due to the required Diplomatic clearance, his real place of birth was discovered. For many a year he had been masquerading as a Welshman when actually this was not the case and reluctantly he took his place on the ROW team. Any mention of his nickname ‘Taff’ was to be fined accordingly. Another iconic tourist was the St Athan Green Jersey better known as the ‘Donkey Jacket’ (see photo Gallery) - this has been worn at various Inter-Station events and during its 3^rd tour to the USA it was passed on for the worst golf of the day.

The Celts got off to a flying start on Day 1 at Aberdeen GC. With 3 points left up for grabs, there were 2 points in the bag with the last group out, and final group all square on the last green. Jack Lavis offered Celt Si Slade a honourable half. Fancying his putt Si declined but his greed proved somewhat unfruitful as he proceeded to 3 putt the last hole to lose the match 1 down. That 3 putt also attracted a fine, all fines being voluntary, with the fines pot paying for the function on the final evening.

One of the bonuses of Myrtle Beach is the close proximity of the local eateries and nightlife, whether it be a Brazilian BBQ restaurant or a Duelling Piano bar. The guys made the most of first busy weekend on tour which was coincidentally US Labor Day.

Back on the courses the first thing that strikes you is the politeness and professionalism of the golf club staff. Upon approaching the ‘Bag Drop’ area, the guys were welcomed to the club and briefed on the order of the day. Once they realised we were military, they could not do enough for us, ‘’Thanks you for your service” was always the parting gift. Americans aside, there was plenty of wildlife to be cautious of. The Witch GC had a sign on one of the holes which stated ‘Beware of Snakes, Crocodiles and Brown Bears’. Instruction from the Pro Shop was not to enter the woods without taking a club to protect yourself; however, after some of the golf on display, I would fancy my chances as a snake!

The coveted Green Jersey passes hands many times over the week, mainly for bad golf, but on occasion total buffoonery - a special mention goes to Mark Croft who managed to be the only person on tour who was successful in retaining the Jersey. Each member of the tour was charged with bringing two special items to be worn on tour, an item of pink golfing attire and a loud shirt for the closing function. The pink day was a resounding success. The tourists showed their true colours at the distinctive hole #6 at Kings North GC, a sweeping par 5 around a lake (see photo Gallery). Nicknamed ‘The Gambler’, this hole contains an Island fairway which allows the brave a chance at a shortcut to the green in 2 - sadly all 12 pink wearing golfers failed to make the challenge.

As the tour moved along, it was obvious the handicap system would play a vital part in the outcome of the event. Some of the Celts had been chopped 6 shots in the first 3 days which proved crucial come the last day, with everything to play for at 6 v 6 at Wachesaw GC. The irony of Taff Edwards and Jack Lavis winning the final point on the last green was too much for the Celts and tour rookie Adam Davies even won the Green Jersey to rub salt into his wounds. Special mention goes to the highest points collector Celt Kev Matson with an impressive haul of 4 points out of a possible 5.

The last day of the tour was at the John Daly signature course. All handicaps were reverted to playing handicap and the scores stableford scores started flooding in, the best being: 36, 37, 37, 39, 42, & 43. It’s amazing what 8 rounds of golf does to bring the bandits out.

On a serious note, the tour was a fantastic experience. It’s a very rewarding project, the support from the PEd Flt, SIF, Sports Board, RAFGA, British Embassy is great and everybody is helpful and willing to ensure the tour is planned and executed smoothly. There are also companies out there such as Yourgolftravel that are wiling to offer good Military discounts on tee-time packages. As an example, with all of the subsidies and grants the Junior Ranks personal contribution was as little as 53% of the overall cost. I would highly recommend other Stations organising such events. St Athan has taken a total of 38 people on tour over the last 3 years and feedback has been nothing but extremely positive.

See the evidence in the photo Gallery.....

Words: Tour organiser, Chf Tech Keith Davies