Autumn Golf Meeting — 2002
The day dawned fine and clear, with a gentle breeze, for the dozen participants at the Society’s third and final golf outing of the year. The venue was Kyo Country Club, close to Narita Airport — in fact so close that at times a well-flighted approach shot appeared capable of causing a major international incident.
Aircraft passed low overhead, and several players decided to keep their shots prudently along the ground. Some swore they could see passengers applauding their restraint from the cabin windows.
Upon arrival, a notice warned us that our scores would likely be 5–10 strokes higher than normal. In many cases this proved optimistic. Tim Minton, making his golfing debut, might have been forgiven for thinking the warning referred to 5–10 extra strokes per hole.
It may have been the enormous, undulating greens; or the plentiful water hazards (eleven holes in all); or the wind, which rose to near gale force by the end of play — but everyone agreed it was a very tough course.
We played the “in” course first, perhaps giving us a false sense of security. Scores on the “out” course were almost universally higher. It is to Tim’s great credit that he was one of only two players to improve in the afternoon.
Play was slow (through no fault of any of our groups), and we finished around 3:30 p.m. in increasingly chilly conditions — a long day considering the 9:15 a.m. tee-off, but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.
After enjoying the Clubhouse’s excellent bathing facilities, we gathered in a private room for the post-game party and prize-giving — or more accurately, prize-taking.
Initial calculations named Sir Stephen the winner, but he showed admirable honesty (and diplomatic poise befitting his rank) by pointing out a handicap error, moving himself into third place.
This unexpectedly elevated your correspondent to first place with a gross 88, net 76 — despite earlier lamentations about atrocious putting. A handsome trophy was awarded by Dr Ohtawa. Your correspondent briefly attempted to claim a Regency cabinet and a set of Staffordshire porcelain from the room décor before being guided firmly toward the actual prizes. A bottle of champagne proved a perfectly acceptable alternative.
Yasuzo Takeno secured second place with the same net score, losing only by a mysterious ruling known solely to the scorer.
In a fiercely contested team event, Oxford edged out Cambridge, moving ahead 11–10 in the overall tally — a deficit Cambridge fully intends to remedy at the next meeting.
Special thanks go, as always, to Terry Nakamura for his excellent organisation, and to the Ambassador for negotiating an outstanding “all-in” package at the Club.
The next tournament is tentatively scheduled for Saturday 15th March 2003, venue to be announced.
Players (in tee-off order)
Toshi Ohzawa, James Lawdon, Terry Nakamura, Sir Stephen Gomersall, Tony Fordyce, Tomo Imai, Yoshi Shimizu, Tim Minton, Stephen Thomas, Simon Dunn, Miko Fordyce (guest), Yasuzo Takeno.
— Tony Fordyce