An early start at La Sella, with a chill in the air on the first tee, but still some of the optimists were wearing shorts and they were proved to be right as it turned into a perfect day for golf which makes it all the more difficult to work out why the scores were so bad.

Despite heavy overnight rain El Plantio was in a playable condition, there were some very wet patches off the fairways but in the main it was good. The competition this week was the Autumn Trophy generously sponsored by Steve Cliffe, with some excellent bottles of wine as prizes.

The club house at Alicante has taken on a new form, the bar area and restaurant have been completely updated and they have brought the outside inside with all the greenery, quite spectacular and the free coffee and toast is always welcome.

What a great day was had by membership 33 players turned up to dark skies and potential thunder storms, but blue skies came out and stayed and shone just like Malcolm Monti despite recent reduction in handicap scored an amazing 42 points with 2 holes not scoring.

A full house for our visit to Bonalba Golf this week and a very hot day to boot, many thanks to the sponsors of todays event, Margaret and Robin Wheatley, for the large array of prizes on offer. Bonalba generously reduced the price of the green fee because the seventeenth green was on a temporary.

The Charity Cup is two events really, we play golf to win the trophy and then we have the charity raffle and auction to raise money. This year we contrived a way to allow even more members to get involved by allowing people to buy raffle tickets on line and also put in bids for the two silent auction items over the net.

During the ride up to El Bosque we encountered a rain shower but it looked OK where we were headed, sadly on the tee at 10.00 it started to rain again and it turned into a really heavy downpour that lasted for about three quarters of an hour. This resulted in the course being flooded and the bunkers declared unplayable, we did eventually manage to get on the course around eleven fifteen and as is the way the sun came out and we were poached.

A nice early start for a change meant we were at least cool for about an hour till the sun arose and warmed us up, it would have been better to have played the course the other way round then we would have had the shade from the trees on the old course when the sun was at its hottest.

Wednesday provided the opportunity for our long awaited return to this very popular golf course, it is usually presented really well except for the bunkers which have been a bone of contention for a long time, if you are going to install that many bunkers on a course then at least maintain them in a playable condition.

With the children off school the journey to Alenda for this weeks game was much easier and quicker. The weather was extremely kind to us with cloud cover providing a respite from the heat of previous weeks, we were promised rain but fortunately that never materialised.

Week two at El Plantio this time with extremely generous sponsorship from “Studley Holdings” courtesy of Michael Taylor providing gifts for everyone attending and reduced green fees to boot.

A smaller than usual field turned out this week to play El Plantio, I think the heat, holidays and guests has finally taken its toll.

Alicante Golf was the venue for this weeks golf, we got off to a slow start as the course unfortunately allowed a four ball to tee off 8 minutes late and they did make very good progress, thereby holding up the Warblers, the marshal was summoned and the offending group left the course at the ninth.

This week the Warblers were warmly welcomed back to Bonalba where they are playing the “Eclectic” competition this year, there were many opportunities to improve the scores this week with the temperatures manageable and a slight breeze blowing to keep us cool

As has become the way La Galiana was beautifully presented and with the changes to some of the tee boxes the course is even better, the overall sensation is spectacular.

A somewhat depleted field played Alenda golf this week, I do not know whether it is the hot weather or we are just missing the support of our overseas members who are sorely missed.

A change of style this week as we played our version of the Ryder Cup away at La Marquesa near Rojales, 32 golfers and 2 golf groupies boarded the coach at Benissa for the Away Day match. The format was four ball better ball with the teams not announced until the coach was well underway, former captain Bob Edwards selected his blue team and the current vice captain, Arthur Sullivan selected the reds.

This weeks match saw the Orba Warblers competing for the Bonalba Cup one of our major trophy events, there was a strong field of 30 golfers who braved the increasing temperatures of warmer weather.

27 Warblers were treated to a great day at Alicante starting with Breakfast, continuous blue skies and a course that was truly in stunning condition, but only a third of the field managing to top 30 plus points.

Once again it rained on a Warbler day most unusual but it did not spoil the day. Sadly our dear friend John could not be with us but he was there in spirit and we all raised a glass to him.