Yesterday was one of those amazing English days when at the beginning of February you get a sudden preview of the Spring to come. Especially by mid afternoon when the early strong wind had died down it was a lovely day for golf; with luck it was also a preview of my golf for the coming season.

“Her indoors” needed the car for the day so I ended up being dropped off at the course at nine and picked up at five; the plan was twice round the nine-hole loop in the morning and again in the afternoon. It’s a short, flat easy walking course and in the end I felt good enough to throw in an extra 9 at the end in a very Bulldoggish (where is that boy?) bit of golfing overkill; interestingly I was carrying not pulling.

Anyway of late I’ve been stuck either side of 45 for this nine holes – reflecting a notional handicap of 20-22 - and my first 9 was no different.

Started par, par, treble, par (couldn’t miss an “up & down” putt for the first 4) but ended up with a 46 that included that treble, two doubles and a really daft 3-putt. So it seems that a golf game is in me but my mistakes are costing me dear.

Off I went again. Another 46; this time almost “perfect” bogey golf until the last, where an out-of bounds cost me a treble. Only the one single-putt though, which cost me some pars and a better score.

Treated the next as a practice round, playing two shots, changing the lie to create the shot I wanted to practice etcetera.

The fourth round was the one I liked, and is why I went round again. Including 3 doubles and again not putting well I carded a 43 and then promptly went and carded another 43 this time with two doubles.

So on the plus side my golf’s becoming reasonably consistent (at least at “home”) and if the two 43s had been part of a proper 18 then that would have matched my PB - hopefully well placed to get the “22” down to mid-teens this summer.

On the minus side using the 4 wood off the tee means that I really struggle to reach the green on longer “fours”; there again for now I’d be willing to take the accuracy v distance trade-off if I was getting the up and downs from Round 1. As the doubles and trebles show I’m throwing shots away on the bad holes. A quick analysis shows that these occur mostly on the Par 5s where the failed attempt to get on in 3 is costing big time.

Memo to self: Use your handicap, play to get on in four, take the bogey or, if putting well, the par.

As Scragger always says, "Thanks for reading"