High Noon

My dad loved a western. I have fond memories of spending weekends in our living room at home with Clint Eastwood, John Wayne or Gary Cooper on the screen and the rasping sound of my dad snoring in his armchair. To be fair to him he worked hard all week but it always fascinated me how he would doze off when the film was reaching its climax. The best way to rouse him from his slumber was to change the channel, which was a surefire way to have him wake in start and tell you to turn his 'flim' back on as he was watching it.

I remember watching High Noon with my dad a couple of times in my youth and we then studied it as part of my English Language A level. The study focussed on how ground breaking the film was, depicting a tense story in real time as the clocked ticked slowly towards midday.

This weekend I'll be hoping that rather than the fine upstanding sheriff of the small town, my golf will resemble that of a rogue bandito. At 11.56 I'll be teeing up on Saturday and at noon I'll most likely be marking my scorecard after playing the par 3 opener.

After a lot of practice, lessons and time on course I feel it's time I stand and delivered. Ironically some of my best rounds at Waldringfield have been played after disasters on the first two holes. Here's hoping this time I can complete a card without any nightmares.

There will certainly be a crescendo of tension if I start well, which will slow intensify as I get nearer to the 18th. Plenty of six shooting on the longer holes married to some solid pars on the shorter ones will suit me just fine. Here's hoping I'm sitting down in the 'saloon' afterwards, sipping a whisky and toasting an important milestone.