Last weeks summary :Walk:fall:suspected cracked rib:meetings:golf:history being made

Ever had that Friday feeling every day?  

I did last week, starting with a walk in the field with the 6 month black lab puppy, tripping over my
own shoe laces and falling flat on my face, much to the dogs delighted as he bounced on me wanting more play time whilst I was on his level.  Fun to start with, and very funny when he tried to flatten himself to the ground and sneak up on me on his toes, a bit like an oil slick.
Trying to get back up was hampered by said (not so small!) puppy, but like a beached whale I floundered around and finally made my way up onto my knees and onto my feet - clutching my left side.  I think I must have hurt myself with that fall, but I carried on with the walk anyway, besides I was playing golf the next day and I had lots to do to enable me a half day out of the office.  Next day, my side still hurt, especially when coughing or sneezing but again I decided to ignore this and got ready for golf anyway.
Now I must have been in a time warp or something as I had totally got the tee time wrong and my playing partners were off down the fairway with another playing partner as I drove into the car park.  I quickly got changed into my golf shoes, and guess what, I'd picked up my husbands shoes instead! Needless to say with him having bigger feet than I do, I waddled along somewhat clown like, but I
was late and had to get on, so I played in his shoes regardless.  Not to be deterred by my lateness I ran (clown running if you can picture that!) after my playing partners and caught up to be told, too late.  It wasn't their fault, they were quite right, I was late, so I played a few holes with other friends.  All this jolting meant my rib had been put through the wars a bit more, and after a few holes I was ready to call it a day, fortunately for me, we were only playing 9 holes anyway!

I went home and sulked, nursed my sore side, worked for the rest of the week in a fairly uneventful fashion, but I did achieve quite a lot being office bound!  

The weekend dawned and I had a meeting on Saturday (joys of your own business), my rib was feeling a little bruised and bashed, but rarely do things stop me going about my work, so dinner out that evening and to bed after a few glasses of wine (well actually it was Guinness but that doesn't
sound so lady like, so maybe Irish wine will be my compromise!)

An early morning tee-time and not at all wanting to get up, in fact struggling to get up, literally.  Showered dressed and out ready for my 0815 tee-time for the second in a series of 5 qualifying comps over the winter period.  What ever happened to Sunday lie-ins did cross my mind as I stood in the car park that early.  I contemplated backing out of the comp, after all, I didn't know how I might get along with this sore rib, so just wanted to play for fun - but I didn't back out, in fact I also signed up for my electric, what a glutton for punishment I was being; and I can only blame the late night, the Guinness and the extra ordinarily early start for a Sunday, possibly coupled with ibuprofen?

Hole 1, swing, ouch, tried to pick the tee up with my left hand, not happening, so switched and did a curtsey type bob to pick the tee up with my right hand - much better, off I went playing golf.  The 5 wood was a nightmare off the ground, again, I think I was favouring my ribs replacing my usual over-swing with keeping still and not flinching, especially on the follow through.  The ball wasn't that easy to get out of the hole either, but I managed, and was racking up the points, a steady 19 points on the front and 19 on the back to give me a grand total of 38 stableford points which included 1 birdie on a quite hard par 4 hole, few pars and no-blobs, but I was exhausted and just wanted to go home.

Here is the twist in the tale..

I had signed up for a competition that was for male and female golfers, I didn't think  much else about that if I'm totally honest, I was just happy that the club were being pro-active and maybe even listening to my nagging about ladies golf not being easy to play at the weekends, especially over  winter when the days are shorter.

The Barnfield trophy was a mens competition, this year they changed that to include women and extended the field to be available over Saturday or Sunday - how progressive is that?  I got 38 points and came 7th out of a field of 107, and qualified to play in the finals at the end of March and got  a handicap cut too.  I was delighted, then I saw a press release and realised something else - I was the first and at this stage the only women to qualify to play in this competition, ever.  That doesn't mean more women won't qualify over the remaining 3 weekends, but I was making history - and all with a suspected cracked rib.

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