McCafferty’s Golf Society at Vistabella

Only 16 of us made our way up the road to another fast becoming a Society favourite and since they have made it a full 18-hole course, Vistabella is gaining a good reputation and deservedly so.

The course was in good condition although there were one or two comments about 4 of their greens, but in the main, there were no real and hard complaints about the course.

There were some very good scores recorded and it appears that the course appeals to the higher handicapper. It is a fairly ‘short’ course at just over 5,700 metres, which is some 350 metres shorter than La Finca, and that equates to a Par 4 difference. That said,  although it might be shorter, the chances to lose balls are greater! This was evident when members mentioned that they lost their ball in the rough that was only ball high, but it swallowed the balls like quicksand and you needed to actually step on the ball to find it.

Back at the pub, we were treated to some of Fenton’s Famous Stew which went down very well, so thank you for that Fents.

We had the normal 4 NTP’s plus one for the 14th, a par 5 in three and all were claimed. Jim Barbour, Bob Kemp and Pat Brennan (twice) claimed their sleeve of Srixons and the NTP in 3 sleeve was claimed by John Saunders. Well done to you all.

It was certainly Pat Brennan’s day, not only did he claim two sleeves, he also split the Two’s  pot of 32€ with Jim Barbour, 16€ each. Well done lads.

In the Silver Division you needed 33 points to claim the Close But No Cigar award and that went to Keith Crossan. Tom ‘Moose’ Burke’s 36 points was only good enough for the Runners-up slot in that Division and one point ahead of Moose, with 37 points was Mick Coady.

In the Gold Division the scores were about the same as the Silver lads and Blue Smith’s 35 saw him claim the CBNC. On the same score of 35, but with a better last six, saw Pat Brennan step up (AGAIN!) to claim the Runners-up slot. The clear winner in Gold with 37 points was Brian Kiernan.

Moving on to the Overall winner and this was always going to be on the cards, he has been very consistent over the last few weeks and the course must suit him for with a cracking score of 41 points, Mick Phelan was announced as the Overall winner. Time will tell now…..his handicap was cut by 3 shots!

There were three members in the running for the Happy Golfer award and to see the Vice-Captain, Andy Brown squirming in his seat was a sight to behold and when the winner was announced, he punched the air in celebration for the winner was Alex O’Rourke with 24 points.

Next week, we make the long journey south to a firm favourite of the Society and a course that looks after us so very well, Altorreal.

The week after that, the 13th, we are off to El Valle and this is followed by a trip to La Finca on the 20th and we close October with a visit to Mar Menor.