From the clubhouse: I’m going to be captain. Help!
I AM having this recurring nightmare and suspect I’ll one day bawl it all out to a therapist.
It’s April and I am standing on the first tee at my club, Sandburn Hall in York.
I am aware of a rumbling around me. There’s a crowd of people watching. I can barely grip the club as I start the swing.
Everything is shaking. It’s fast, awkward and makes contact with the ground way before the ball.
That little white object is supposed to fly straight and true but, instead, it goes about 20 yards. Looking round, everyone is in fits. I wake up screaming and in a cold sweat.
I could tell myself this is only a dream but, in just three months, it could become a horrible reality. It has snuck up quickly. What was once only a nagging beat in the back of my mind now has its own rhythm section.
Captain’s log…
The Captain’s Drive-In is one of the time-honoured traditions of club golf – a way of ringing in the new season.
This time, it’ll be me hitting the first shot. There’s no getting out of it now. My name’s already been stencilled up on the club honour’s board. Help.
When our current incumbent flighted a lovely drive right down the centre last year, a former captain gave me a nod and wink and said ‘no-one’s hit a bad one for years now, Steve. Good luck’. Cheers Colin.
I’ve read that club skippers were originally chosen through competition. The last ones standing, they were invariably the champion golfer.
In this story, the drive-in is now a competition in itself. The chosen one tees it up, hits one away and, if there is no challenger, he is declared the victor and assumes office.
There’s a small part of me that’s hoping it could all still turn into a free-for-all.
It could be worse, of course. The captain of the R&A has to compete with a cannon when they hit their first shot. I’ll only hear the cat-calls of gentle mocking, should it all go awry.
But for any members thinking of entering the charity guess the distance sweep, my advice would be to go low. You may end up pleasantly surprised.
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.