Par for the Course staged by St Vincent's Dramatics Society

The play by Peter Gordon opens tonight is based in a golf club where the personal relationships OFF the course are more dangerous than the hazards on the course.

All the action takes place on the club house patio of the Seven Lakes Golf Club during the Captain’s Day Annual Competition.

The day gets off to a bad start when the men’s captain is indisposed. Club secretary, Simon, relishes the chance to take over but is soon thwarted by the arrival of Vice Captain, Nick and his girlfriend, Tiffany.

Ladies Captain, Fran, as well as enthusiastic but hopeless golfer Barry add to the confusion as a series of disasters mount. With the unexpected arrival of Simon’s wife, Laura, tensions build and things go from bad to worse.

Love it or loathe it, golf will never seem quite the same again!

A spokesman for the society said: "You don’t have to be interested in, or familiar with golf to enjoy this play. However, if you are a golfer and/or a member of a club, then the goings-on may strike a chord. It’s more about the relationships between the characters who just happen to be golfers, or golfers’ long-suffering partners.’

"We were lucky enough to present the play “Outside Edge” by Richard Harris in October 2008, another sports-based comedy, which was very well received at the time. This is one of the reasons we considered this latest play, and we are glad we chose it. We have really enjoyed our rehearsal time with it."

The society has been producing quality local amateur productions since May 1996, normally putting on up to two plays a year.

Affiliated with and members of Bolton Amateur Theatre Societies (BATS) and National Operatic and Dramatic Society (NODA), the theatre group received several NODA nominations for their previous play ‘Murder Room’ by Jack Sharkey, attending recent NODA Awards events, both at district and regional level.

However, the last few years have been hard for the society, as it has been for so many other local amateur dramatic societies.

The spokesman added: "COVID has had too much press in recent years, so let’s not dwell on that.

"However, in recent years we have missed several members who contributed so much to past productions. Last autumn we initiated a recruitment drive to bring in new members to our society. Without these new members we just couldn’t have put on this play – we are profoundly grateful to all our members, new and old, for their hard work and support, but we are still looking for new members who wish to join us too.

"We are also thankful that we have this venue for our play – we recognise that so many local societies are struggling to find suitable venues now, even just for rehearsals."

Performances will be from Wednesday, May 31to Saturday June 3 at the Parish Centre, Rutherford Drive, Over Hulton, BL5 1DJ.

Tickets include refreshments in the "19th Hole" and a programme. They can be bought online from TicketSource at www.ticketsource.co.uk/stvincentsds, or by ringing 07958 111971 / 01204 594922 – further details are also available at www.stvincentsds.weebly.com.