The Badger's Set: April 2007

It's going to be easy to review this golf course. Are you ready? Here comes the review.......

Cotswold Downs is the best golf course I have ever played in my life. Better than Princes Grant, better than Durban Country Club, better than Wentworth for that matter. There you have it, review over!

Other relevant info:

Cotswold Downs is situated off Inanda road in Hillcrest. They'll rush you R250 during the week and R300 on the weekend. This price includes compulsory cart and the carts come equipped with iced water bottles for it's passengers.

The course isn't particularly long, although between tees there are some good distances. The fairways have placing (not needed) and the greens are also, quite simply, the best I've ever putted on. They hold nicely and once you've hit your putt the ball stays true all the way to it's final destination (Not often the hole!).

Feature Holes

This Par 3 on the left here has to be the course's feature hole for me. I reckon depending on wind conditions this baby could require you to hit anything from a 6 iron to a wedge. From the tee box you drop almost vertically down and between you and the green (approximately 40m below you) is a small section of water guarding the dance floor. Not a difficult hole by any means but such an enjoyable one to play.

Another great looking hole is the stroke one 17th. It too has an elevated tee box and the fairway leads you to a series of well place bunkers. It dog legs right and your second shot sees you pop one over the water again and although not a lengthy hole, it is definitely an intimidating one. I pulled my tee shot left, it bounced on the path into the bush and I walked the hole - looking forward to the next time though.

If you get the chance make sure you play this course. What's also great is that it's not like driving to the Wild Coast or heading North to Zimbali or Princes Grant, it's just around the corner for us guys. Shuz you're gonna have to come out of retirement for this one I'm afraid, you won't regret it.

The good news is that I made it out alive of yet another festival and just because Splashy is about one tenth the size of Glastonbury doesn't mean that it's any easier on the body and soul.

It all started on Thursday afternoon. I met Braura (Bren and Laura) on an off-ramp along the N3 near Assegay and we started the trip to Underberg. A pretty uneventful trip really other than the near hit of a cow by one of the cars behind me. The sack of biltong I had to keep me company did what it said on the box. It really is a pity that I'm now a responsible South African because I could have easily taken down half a dozen beers along the way.

When we arrived we hooked up with Gerard who had missioned there on the Wednesday in a bid to secure the primest of prime real estate that was on offer. I think the view above confirms that he did in fact secure this particular section with brilliant success. This was my first Splashy but the veterans among us all agreed that this was definitely one of the best spots available - nice one Gerard.

Thursday night was spent in typical fashion on the first night of a festival. Way too many beers get consumed and the fact that you're here for a long time seems to elude the human brain. Candice and Doug had "kindly" lent me there circus tent for the weekend and I was told that without one of them being there to assist, there was no way I would put the tent up. It's a 10 man and I think it even comes with a study....it's flippin massive!! After about an hour in the dark, 4 of us finally admitted defeat and I reluctantly made the call to Durban. I was greeted by hilarious laughter and once it had subsided I got down to business. It was with the sour taste of smugness that I learned from Candice that they had in fact given me a 10 man tent with only enough poles to erect a 3 man tent. Apparently a whole other sack of poles were standing idly in a garage in Hillcrest. The laughter from Hillcrest turned to apologies and it was time to make another plan. Luckily I had gone down in the ballie's bakkie and this was to be my new sleeping quarters for the weekend.
If we look confused it's because we were. It took 5 of us an hour to erect this thing

Friday morning we woke up with hangovers and opened a beer. Most of the other guys arrived on Friday and in total there must have been over 20 of us. On this day we just did festival stuff and generally passed the day away with eating, drinking and walking around catching the odd band. A good day for a Friday.
Saturday we woke up feeling a little bit frailer and at the half-way point you could definitely start feeling the pain of the slog of a festival kicking in. I suppose the "highlight" of the day (other than the Sharks score against the Reds) was the case of the squatter in a certain person's sleeping quarters. Saturday evening around 7 we decided to make the mission to the bands. I started packing up and taking the cooler box back to the bakkie. When I got to the bakkie I could see a pair of shoes inside on my mattress which I thought was a bit odd because I was wearing the only pair of shoes I had brought. Upon closer inspection I realised that there was someone sleeping in the back of the bakkie and he had laid out my mattress and was in it for the long haul. No matter how much pulling of legs and shining of torches in his face he couldn't be woken. Eventually myself and Bren had to literally drag him out and then pick him up and carry him over to a section of grass and lie him down. The crazy thing was that as soon as he hit the ground he instinctively woke up and tried to get back in the bakkie. He told us through dazed facial expressions that this was his mate's bakkie and to please just leave him alone because he wanted to go to bed. In the end we managed to lock the bakkie up and had to leave him still standing at the bakkie trying to pry open the windows and unlock the doors. Crazy stuff!!!!!!!! When we got back that night he wasn't there and I would love to know where he spent the night.By Sunday you could see by people's expressions that it was time to leave. I'm sad to say that we couldn't last til the Monday and so in a mass evacuation we all legged it back to the safety of our homes, not before a 2 hour drive though, which was mentally and physically challenging in it's own right.
I've never had a bad festival and this one wasn't an exception. Even though you don't get the international bands like you would in Ireland or the UK, this festival seems to be more about the fact that you're just simply camping with your mates and that there's music there whenever you feel the need to go and get some. Even though the fetival crushed us on the penultimate day I don't think I've been beaten forever and I'm sure I'll be there next year again. Make sure you guys overseas make it back by then.