Addiction

So as I completed the 3 courses in Yorkshire and battled unreal headwind I tried to take my mind off the pain of riding by thinking about my own and what seems like everybody else's addiction to mobile phones. As a side note, my score continues to reflect my handicap but I'm having an awesome time playing these amazing courses. I've just played Moortown and completed its par 5 in 4 shots. The members had a whip round and donated over £100 pounds which blew me away. The total is now over £1200.
It was while battling the wind that the addiction thoughts came to me. We have now become reliant on mobile phones for most of our daily chores. They bring with them more positives than negatives as they make a massive difference in how we function but I now think they are the biggest addiction we are engaged in. Imagine for a moment that a mobile phone is a bag of cocaine and that every action of using one is the same as sniffing a line. You arise from bed and before you have made your breakfast you have done a line. After breakfast and before you get to work you do a few more. Once in work you constantly check the phone either when it beeps or not, more lines. This pattern continues through the day until you get home when you probably do more lines than ever. Repeat this daily and the addiction is confirmed. Now a lot of the lines have benifits but how many are just simply the addiction of interacting with the phone. I would suggest more are just pointless lines to keep you engaged (high). Go down any street and now imagine all those people sniffing lines. Stand at a bus stop, go to a supermarket or just stand in a bar. What do you see? Now tell me we are not addicted.

Walton Heath to Wolverhampton

Pushing onto my next two courses took me from Maidstone to Kent. I arrived at Walton Heath a day earlier than arranged but instead of playing the hole I went a found a wild camp spot on one of the many heaths. I scoped out a clearing for later and chilled out with some noodles and waited for it to start to go dark. The site was perfect and I didn't see anyone all night until I was making breakfast and said hello to a dog walker and two joggers. I went back to the course around 9am to meet the club pro and play my hole. I ended up playing the courses first hole. A very long par 3 with quite a big green which seem difficult to miss. True to form I missed it and had a chip and two putts for a bogey 4. Not to disappointed though as it would have been a good hit to reach the green with my tee shot. I was filmed on taking my tee shot and looking back at the footage I notice that I look up to see where the shot goes a fraction to early. I'll need to remember this going forward. It wasn't to bad through the day riding to Windsor where I stayed with my great auntie and we spent the evening overdosing on her favourite crappie TV shows CSI, Corrie and Walker Texas Ranger.
It's times like these I'm glad i dont have a TV.
The push to The Belfry took me through Leighton Buzzard then Milton Keynes where I had the unexpected pleasure of not having to see either town that much as the bike lanes went along the canal, through the parks and followed the train line. As Milton Keynes is mostly famous for road and islands I'm thankful that the cycling infrastructure is in place. The weather held out for my journey to the belfry where I had a great hour being shown round the club house by the director of golf Ian Knox. The venue is stunning and it's no wonder it's hosted the Ryder cup 3 times. I had a choice of the 18th or the 10th holes so I chose the 10th. It's the really famous par 4 hole where the legendary Seve Ballesteros drove the green in one shot and this has made it something all golfers want to try. I took an iron and laid up but then had an unofficial drive at the green just to see if I could do it. I can honestly say if I had been in the right direction it would have reached but unfortunately it went straight down the fairway to the side of the green. I left the course after taking a disappointing 7 but my spirits are high after just having the chance to play the hole. My total raised has now gone over the £1000 mark and is still climbing with only 5 holes played which is amazing. Next up the Yorkshire Triangle.

3 courses, 4 over par and crap lanes

From Dover I set off along National cycle route 1 to Royal Cinque Ports to play the first hole of the tour. The hosts the previous night were David and Rebecca and what I thought was their cat. I found out later that it was just a cheeky local moggy who popped by on hunt for food. Rebecca is a teacher and I could spot this a mile off when she got out the craft box out and made 2 signs for my bike with the charity details on. Proper old school Blue Peter style. Rebecca had mentioned the steep climb that I would have to overcome right at the start. She advised to take the road instead as it would soon join the cycle path but me being me I missed the road and took the path. 80 steps of carrying my fully loaded bike almost had me taking a header off the white cliffs and putting me out of my misery. I already had nerves about playing my first hole but at this point I was more concerned with being able to swing the club back without screaming in agony.
I arrived at the course and met the clubhouse steward and the course secretary and got ready to tee off. A member asked me about my bike as it had my kit, clubs and bags on and was pretty taken aback when I described how long it would take, which courses and how far I would be going. That's some round he said, I struggle with 18 holes on the same course let alone 18 different courses all over the country.
My first hole was a par 4 with a tricky second shot over a stream. I hit a nice tee shot but bottled out of going over the stream and laid up and hoped for a chip and a putt. Unfortunately it ended up being a chip and 2 putts for a bogey on the first hole. I'm sure better players than me have taken more on the hole so not to much to be annoyed at.
It was a short ride to the next two courses which was good as the coastal head wind could stop a truck. On the tee of the 2nd hole at Princes the head wind had turned into a cross wind which only added to the difficulty as from the view I had it looked as though the fairway has disappeared and turned into deep wispy rough. It was a par 5 and after 3 shots I was short of the green and hoping once again for a chip and a putt. History didn't quite repeat itself and it ended up being a chip and 3 putts. Once again my lack of practice had cost me a shot or two but just being on these fairways and greens makes up for any short comings in scores. My third course was Royal St Georges. The course that had Greg Norman and Darren Clarke amongst it's champions. The par 3 third was my hole to maybe claw a shot back, at least that's what I thought or hoped until I stood on the tee. These holes are unreal to play but so difficult it's insane. I ended up with a 4 which puts me at 4 over after 3 holes but so glad to have taken on the challenge as it's not my scores that are important but the cause I am doing it for. Course number 4 is Walton Heath in Surrey. I had a host arranged for Maidstone which would put me at 65 miles for day one and would give me 50 miles to get to the next venue. After cycling in the bicycke paradise of Switzerland, Germany and Holland for the last month I have become used to a certain level of cycle lane and bike infrastructure that is clearly lacking in the UK. We have the National Cycle Routes and the local bike systems but my gripe is the upkeep of these is terrible. Riding along the foot path of a "B" road which shows as a cycle route should not entail that I have nettles and thorn bushes dragging across my legs or that I should crouch down to dodge tree branches. This is made even worse when the bike route takes you onto the footpath on the side of the road that faces the oncoming traffic. Ducking branches and swerving brambles all the time while being aware of oncoming trucks makes for scary stuff. I survived this afternoon of cycling hell and made it to my host in Maidstone where I was treated to shepherds pie and vegetables and an apple pie with custard pudding. It was a great evening of conversation with Andy and Sue and I wish them well on their upcoming Lands End to John O'Groats trip. Next tee off Walton Heath.

Putt and Pedal The Prologue....

It was while in New Zealand that I had the idea for Putt & Pedal. A charity tour mixing golf, cycling and camping. I had seen other people doing charity events but I had never heard of this being done. There are 14 courses that have hosted the British Open and quite a few that have hosted the Ryder Cup. All I needed would be 18 of them to agree for me to play one hole and this could arguably be the best round of golf in the country. My first task was to send out my request emails to the secretary's of the courses to find out who would be open to letting me play. I was amazed at the response. I think that out of 21 requests only 2 said no. It turned out I had more than the required 18 courses which was good because I could then plan various routes and choose the best one. There has been a lot of emails back and forth but now all the dates are agreed, the charity has been chosen and the train tickets purchased to get me to Kent.
My goal is to raise £1000 plus for Children with Cancer UK. The twitter and just giving accounts are active and I have been only local radio pushing it out. https://Twitter.com/@PuttandPedal123
www.just giving.com/PhillipGardnerPuttPedal
Text PUTT54£10 to 70070

I'm so excited to be playing one hole at 18 amazing courses. These are places where all the greats have been. So many stories and so much history that has been played out on TV screens all around the world and here I am cycling to each and playing a hole. If it goes well then I may try a US Open your at some point.