Conditions to play golf were very good. However the field of 34 players (another big turnout – thank you all) struggled to master (!) the course. Only 3 players managed to shoot below their handicap today. The late starters faced some issues with an unpredictable water sprinkler on the 1st hole. Fresh from his NAPGC win (teamed with Brett) Mark Rosamond posted a 71 (Net) to become leader in the clubhouse. His score was matched by Richard Owen who went out early to prepare for Sunday’s Clapham Common Pairs match with Mike S. Not sure how an 18-hole medal round can prepare you for such a test. Shout-out to Joseph Shin who had a tap-in birdie on the 14th after he stiffed his wedge approach 2 feet away from the pin. Toby Hunt put in a steady round of 70 (Net). Jeremy Ryan finishes in the Top3 (again) thanks to his score of 70 (Net). The only player to master today’s course was Patrick Poletti. A storming score of 40 (out) was followed by steady back 9. His end score of 69 (Net) would’ve been better had it not been for an untidy 18th hole. Patrick’s playing handicap gets cut by 1.5 strokes and now stands at 18. Well done. Mark Rosamond, Richard Owen and Seong Lim complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 71 (Men) & 73 (Ladies)

Conditions to play golf seemed very inviting: mild temperatures, freshly cut fairways/greens and no winter tees. Surprisingly scoring proved tricky today. No winter tees meant that the course played quite a bit longer for the men (playing the 17th from the original back tees again was an unwelcome surprise).

Danny Deprez recovered from celebrating carnival in Belgium and played very consistent golf. A score of 69 (Net) was good enough to become leader in the clubhouse. It didn’t prove good enough to win today. His score was bettered by two ladies. Habe Crocker continued her good form by going out +1 (36 gross). A “softer” back 9 meant a total score of 68 (Net). That score was matched by Joan Mulcahy, who recovered from an untidy outward 9. Joan’s superior back 9 (43 gross) elevates her into 1st place. Brian McMahon (69 Net), Stephen Mason (70 Net) and Tenesi Karakaneva (70 Net) complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 71 (Men) & 73 (Ladies). Lots of handicap changes.

The field were met with freshly cut fairways and greens that are drying quickly thanks to those ever present swirling winds (no sun today unfortunately). Watering the course/the greens wouldn’t hurt (trying hard not to mention the “R” word).

Conditions clearly were no problem for the field. CSS increased with 2pts. 38pts were needed to play to your handicap. These are the days that make a midweek captain proud (guess that’s what I have to cling to if my own round is awful). Good to see Alison’s game getting into the grove. Just keep this form going for the Mixed KO’s please.

Tamas Ladacs put together a great round of 43pts (24pts out & 19pts in) to set the early pace. His playing partners Eelco Snijders (41pts) and Ray Esin (40pts) also put up great numbers but couldn’t match Tamas. Crushing the front 9 clearly was the theme of the day (23pts – Ann Gardner, 21pts – Darren, Paul Cook, Cheryl, Jeremy Ryan).
Only a few players were able to master the back 9. Keith’s eagle on the 14th enabled him to score 20pts on the way in. MIke Jones and Jeremy Ryan netted 22pts on the back 9. Jeremy’s consistent play helped him to 1) match Tamas’ score and 2) take the day’s win based on countback. As a consolation Tamas’ handicap gets a healthy cut. Jeremy on the other hand sees his handicap drop to 12. Well played everybody. Results…

CSS: 38pts (Men & Ladies)

A big field for the 1st of this year’s Top Dog events.

Tony Berqvist played 17 very good holes. A net score of 63 and a position as leader in the clubhouse was the result. Peter Osgood had 3 birdies to put him on route to a score of 65 net. Pete Davis played solid golf and ended on a score of 65 net but is beaten by Peter on the basis of countback. Anis Driaa and Mike Cullinane both finish on 66. What about the ladies you ask? Only one lady finished in the Top 10 today. Congrats to Habe Crocker who put together a marvellous round of 61 to become today’s Top Dog. It could’ve been a totally different story if Tony had kept it together on the 18th… Habe’s handicap drops down to 14. Tony now plays off 12. Results…

CSS: 67 (Men) & 69 (Ladies). Lots of handicap changes. Please take note of your new handicap.

17 players braved foul weather for today’s Midweek Sweep. Seems like the weather got the better of most of the field. Only 3 of today’s players remained inside their buffer zone. Shaun Dupreez will probably thank Peter Osgood for dragging him out to the course today. He was in a league of his own: 22pts out & in equal a well earned victory. The best of the rest were Tore and Jeremy. All other 14 players unfortunately finished outside of their buffer zone and earn a +0.1 on their handicap. Shaun’s handicap gets a massive 2.7 reduction and his new handicap now stands at 19. Results…

CSS: 36pts (Men), 35pts (Ladies)

Ladies

The rare opportunity for both a non-qualifier and pairs competition brought several ladies out of hibernation for the 4BBB. Having already won the singles stableford, Val Riziotis made it a matching pair with her partner, Cheryl Woodhouse, scoring 40 points. These two made it look easy and it was 2nd place that was a close run with Doreen Dolby and last week’s medal winner, Deborah Potter, taking it on the back 9 from Veronica Mitchell & Susan Smith on 36 points.

As is traditional, the ladies gathered for some chips & dips as prizes for both legs of the Spring Meeting, along with outstanding eclectics and medals were awarded. With the weather severely reducing the field in a number of weeks, those who simply turned up or were out of the prizes were rewarded with chocolate eggs from the lady captain. Results…

Men

Tricky conditions for Round 2 of the Spring Stableford. The wind that became stronger during the course of the day caused a lot of trouble. The 15th almost played like a Par 5 today (the 17th on the contrary was there for the taking). Steadying yourself over the back 9 proved to be very good recipe for success.

Lee Marshall went out as one of the first starters and absolutely nailed it today. 20pts out and a glorious 22pts in made him a runaway winner today. As a result Lee’s handicap gets cut by 1.8 strokes. On top of that his recent form gets rewarded with a additional 0.5 cut. So Lee’s new handicap stands at 12! Very well done. Julian James confirmed his excellent form by finishing second today with 38pts. Despite numerous obvious breaches of etiquette rules Richard Owen posted a very balanced round of 37pts to finish 3rd. Peter Osgood’s excellent front 9 was followed by a steady back 9 to take 4th place. Shout out to Keith Cassidy whose excellent back 9 (21pts) allowed him to finish 5th. Paul Green completes the Top6. Results…

Over the 2 rounds Richard Owen finishes with 75pts to overtake 1st Rd leader Tony Kopczak and win the Spring Stableford. Results…

CSS for the day: 36pts

Weather conditions were excellent to play golf: the field were met with mild temperatures, sun and drying fairways. Scoring proved very good (again).

Henry L-B played a very consistent round (19pts out & 20pts in) to set the early pace. Richard Owen was able to recuperate his ball on the fairway of the 15th after someone had mistakenly used his ball (that’s what happens if you mix up the fairways of the 7th and the 15th Richard). Remarkably Richard stuck to it and came home with a very impressive 22pts on the back 9 (total 38pts). Mike Jones also had a very good back 9 (20pts) to score 38pts. Darren and Jeremy had less (!) impressive back 9’s and therefore were beaten into 5th and 6th based on countback. Shout-out to Ann Gardner who had very good round but 37pts was not enough to get into the Top6 today. Henry’s plea to Kim Chaffart to take it easy had the reverse effect. Kim recovered from a poor start and a no score on the 16th to better Henry’s score by 1pts and take today’s win. Results…

CSS: 37pts (Men & Ladies)

Ladies

Eleven competitors in today’s Ladies Monthly Medal. Congrats to Deborah Potter on her victory. Her consistent round of golf gets rewarded with a nice handicap cut. Her new playing handicap is 28. Well done!

Congrats also to Habe for remembering to sign her card today and more importantly for her birdie on the 16th. Results…

CSS: 70

Men

Another week, another comp and another ace at RPGC. Congrats to Tony Berqvist for acing the 4th today. He joins Richard Owen and Chris Jones who have scored aces this year.

Weather didn’t turn out as bad as forecast. That seemed to inspire the field to some really good scoring. Some stats: in order to finish in the Top6 today you had to shoot 65 (Net) and there were 10 (!) Two’s recorded today (amongst them 2 eagles on the 14th and the 18th). Playing your handicap was not enough today to be in contention.

There’s 2 ways to shoot a 63 (Net): Julian James choose the Seve/Arnold Palmer way with birdies, eagle, bogeys and double bogeys. Paul Brown on the other hand emulated Nick Faldo at Muirfield: not a single birdie today. The Paul Brown/Nick Faldo way prevailed. Paul Brown beat Julian based on countback. As a reward Paul receives the prize money, a cocktail glass and a new playing handicap of 11. Early starters Mike, Ray, Roger and Richard Owen complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 66 (Net)

Congratulations to Chris Jones for acing the 7th hole today! Ignoring the ominous weather forecast proved to be an excellent choice for a brief moment. Peter Osgood nearly aced the 16th hole to cap off an eventful day (as a consolation he did birdie the hole).

On to the normal order of the day. The early morning starters probably faced the worse weather conditions. Brett Colley & Peter Osgood both scored net 72. Jeremy Ryan played a very consistent round to take the lead in the clubhouse with 82 strokes (net 68). Although the greens were not his best friend today Tamas finished with a 86 (net 69) just one stroke behind Jeremy. Late starters Jay & Keith knew what they were up against and delivered. Keith finished on 79 (net 67) to become today’s runner-up. Jay wins the comp & the RPGC cocktail glass thanks to a blistering 72 (net 66). Toby Hunt & Stephen Mason complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 69 (Men) & 73 (Ladies)

Ladies

A mere 6 brave and hardy ladies took to the course in the rain, however it wasn’t long before the sun came out no doubt making those who cried off regret their decision. Not that conditions underfoot were great and the wind shortened many a shot such that CSS went to 34 points.

Winner with 32 points was Val Riziotis who had a storming 19 points o the front 9, but couldn’t capitalise on it. Sheena Harrington was 3 points behind in 2nd place. Results…

Men

Notwithstanding the ominous weather forecast a reduced field went out for the 1st leg of the Men’s Spring Stableford Round. Mud, rain and strong winds met the field. Conditions gradually improved over the course of the morning. The later starters therefore arguably had the better playing conditions.

Tony Kopczak had a stellar score of 40pts (20 out & in) to win today’s comp. Richard Owen finished 2nd with an excellent score of 38pts (21pts out & 17 in) in the trickier conditions. Paul Brown seems liberated since giving up the Men’s Captaincy. Another solid round (37pts) gives him a Top3 finish. Roger Rojas, Jon Cooper and Paul Green complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 36pts