Went to Hersham "Home of 3Skills" Village yesterday where I bumped into Kevin - always nice to put a face to a name.

First proper round of the summer - a "friendly" four ball with the beers at stake we won convincingly, my partner and I neatly alternating our good and bad holes - the bad holes (5 Sixes and a Seven) ensuring I missed out on my away course target of 90 by 1 and was well off the bogey golf I'm hoping to better this year.

However at the end we worked out that I was into double figures for 2nd putts under six inches; OK half of them were just great lag putts 15 - 20 footers to get there; the other half were easily makeable though and I kept leaving them short to record a 34 ppr - even hitting 30 would have had me in the eighties before we consider the other six inches.

The six inches between my ears that is.

Three times I went to take my medicine and pitch more or less sideways to the fairway, three times I took a lofted club and hit a branch and ended worse than when I started. Trouble is I use (reasonably well) a lofted club around the green a lot and just reached for it without thinking.

Ah well there's always another week and if my putting gets better and I engage my brain then I'm sure a decent score is just round the corner.

Apart from a couple attempts to muscle it and one pathetic attempt to steer the ball I was getting away off the tee pretty well including the shot of the day carried to the heart of the 196yd Par 3 17th - now that brings you back next week , even if missing the birdie putt doesn't.