When I was young my family used to take their holidays in Blackpool, it was the done thing in our area. One of the major reasons was that we used to spend most of our time on the beach, it was cheap, the sand was soft and it did not matter how much you dug in the sand the holes would be filled up by the incoming tide.  I got quite nostalgic at Eastern Star on Friday as the Bunkers were just like the sand on the beach. Soft, full of holes and no tide to flatten it. It would not surprise me if a beach here has a big hole on it.  This is all sad because with over a 130 players this was an ideal time to show case the Course, and so much work has been done on the Course it is now close to being a very fine Course indeed. Sad that in addition they did not cut most of the greens  This is a fine Course with a great layout that is one of the most difficult around and over the recent past much effort has been put in to make it the finest Course within the area.  Back to the beginning, and a good beginning as the players turned up to find a very efficient organisation there to book them in. Tim was as usual at the desk and the girls who took the green and caddy fees were also quick and efficient, so it was a quick change and down to the start.  Here both Tees were used and the players were soon off with only the minimum delay as we started a little late. The Course as said is in excellent condition at present, with only the problems already noted to detract from it.The fairways are well grassed, the rough punishing, the greens basically are good but on this day some were cut and some were not. All in all this is one tough Course. Well worth a visit with Winter Rules in the Bunkers.  Round over it was a quick shower and then down to the Restaurant to top up on the calories. As I have said before, this used to be the finest Restaurant with the best food at any Golf Course, and while it is not quite that good now, some of its pedigree still exists. You can eat here.   The Competition on the day was a '2 Ball Better Ball and this proved a very difficult day for most of the Teams, still someone had to win and it was obvious it was going to be close.  The Emcee,Nigel, got the session off by introducing the Golf Chairman, Tony Oakes, who thanked all his Helpers and Sponsors, and handed the mike back to Nigel to declare the winners. In fifth place was the team of Anders Pederson and Perry McNeely with a creditable 40 points, but they lost Fourth place to the team of John Dearden and Gordon Kerr, also 40 points, on countback. In third place was the team of Tony Oakes and Paul Kraft who had 41 points. In second was the Team of Ian Halfpenny and Tom Fanning with a fine score of 43 points.  So to the winners, and the winners scored a very fine 45 points and were Vincent Smyth and Doug Lynch.   Nigel then got on to the important part of the day, the 'Lucky Draw' and we could then depart into the Friday Night Traffic.  T.T.F.N. Long Drive     0-18    Barry James     19-36   Steffan Lystram        Ladies     Kung Fanning  Near Pin       Paul Caffrey     Gunnar Morero     Borg Bendt      Vincent Smyth      Norman Beast       Andy Spence     Paul Kraft                     Alan Lord        Bibbi  Wimmerstedt     Chaemran  Duangsuda