The glorious weather seemed to inspire the ladies today (the 2 additional strokes they receive don’t hurt either). Lia Donath went out as one of the early starters and put together a superb round of 84 gross to take a well deserved win. Furthermore Lia’s handicap gets a healthy cut. Another early starter, Habe Crocker, matched Lia’s score. But an uneven performance on the 14th hole pushes her back into 2nd place based on the countback rule. Eric Lit came out firing on all cylinders. But the moment someone shouted Excelsior to him his round fell apart. Since Keith no longer brings Stella along with him he seems to be able to focus on golf again. His round was quite volatile though: 4 birdies in one round deserve some serious praise. But two triple bogeys and one double bogey ruined any chance/hope of winning today’s comp. Jay Barker put in today’s lowest gross round. Jeremy Ryan and Jon Cooper complete the Top6. Results…

Two final notes:

• For the second competition in 3 days a female member recorded a double digit score on a hole …
• The prize of the tackiest golf shoes go to a South-African whose first name start with P … (pictures available on request)

CSS: 67 (Men) – 69 (Ladies).

Ladies

Everyone was duped by the forecast which promised much and failed to deliver until the round was well and truly over. How much of an effect this had on the scores is debatable but as with the men, the CSS remained at SSS on 69.

Winner by two shots and seeing her handicap reduced to 21.9 was Cheryl Woodhouse with a net 67. Lia Donath was 2nd with a 69. Most of the field chose to play the Lady Captain in the Barton Bowl, but with her finishing in 3rd place it was not a good idea. Results…

Men

The field were met with ominous clouds at the start of the competition. The sun only broke through when all of the field had completed their round.

Scoring proved pretty tricky. Mark Rosamond backed up his bold predictions by opening with a birdie 3. He kept at it for the rest of the round and recorded score of 65 (Net – 84 Gross). That proved enough to replace Peter Harrison as leader in the clubhouse. Peter’s score of 66 (Net – 74 Gross) was the result of an excellent front 9. But he will regret the 14th and 15th holes. The late morning starters were led by Dave Faure (67 Net – 84 Gross) and John Ahad (68 Net – 87 Gross). No other players came close to threatening Mark’s 1st place. Barry Page and Lee Eden complete the Top6. So the cocktail glass and sweep money go to Mark. Results…

Congratz to the other players who qualify for the NAPGC Final at Woodhall. A couple of the players birdied the 4th today. FYI: someone recorded a double digit score on that hole today ….

CSS: 67

It almost felt like fall on the course today: dropping temperatures, thick clouds, threats of rain and a wind that became stronger as the day went on (the 12th was reachable in 2 for the afternoon starters).

The early starters took full advantage of the better weather conditions. Brett Colley rediscovered his form. A consistent round (no birdies, 13 pars) results in a score of 41pts (21pts out & 20pts in). Jon Cooper decided he needed some extra practice and joined the early starters. His round was a bit more volatile: 3 birdies were offset by 3 double bogeys. In the end a score of 40pts is an excellent reward for a “practice round”. John Ahad played consistent golf to post a nice score of 38pts. The late morning starters Paul Graham Cook and Darren Enthoven, who recovered from his disappointing result in the Men’s Pairs Knock-Out, posted decent scores of 37pts. Usual suspect Habe Crocker, had no problem playing to her new handicap. 36pts is enough for her to finish in the Top6. Peter Osgood showed today how quickly he can go from hero to zero in this game. An unbelievable left-handed (!) recovery put him in a position to walk away with a bogey on the 7th. He finished the hole with a … 3-putt. Jack Evans in his 1st competition as a new member showed Peter how it is done. His birdie 2 gets him a mention in this competition report. Results…

Thanks to the furious start of the early starters CSS initially went up to 37pts. The “sub-par” results of the late morning and afternoon starters brought CSS back down to 36pts.