A heavy downpour of torrential rain at an English city golf course at the weekend, confirmed for one man a sneaking suspicion he already had about an umbrella he had acquired from a charity shop for just 50p: that it was not 'fit for purpose'.
The brolly, a colourful affair, was constructed from nylon panels stretched over a metal frame, had a factory-carved wooden handle, and was now the property of Moys Kenwood, 55, who had arranged to play a round of golf with a friend at the Royal Springhead Municipal Golf Course in Hull.
It also had a 3-inch tear near the center of one of the panels - this was to prove crucial in its future.
The round started well enough with both players taking 7 at the par-4 first hole - as usual - and they had reached the fourth by the time clouds started to gather. Kenwood prepared his cheap umbrella as they teed off at the fifth.
Suddenly, the sky broke, and a biblical deluge swamped the course. The golfers were on an open fairway with no trees in sight. Kenwood huddled under the nylon, but it was then that the tiny, 3-inch tear was cruelly exposed for what it was.
The phrase 'drowned rat' springs to mind.
Kenwood said:
"It's fair to say the umbrella wasn't fit for purpose. Still, we soldiered on, and at least I didn't need a bath once I'd got home!"
