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.

Conditions to play remained fairly clement: still lots of roll on the fairway and improving greens. The only added complication today was a swirling wind that became stronger during the course of the day.

The front 9 seemed there for the taking: an impressive number of players scored at least 20pts on their way out. Barry Page netted a massive 23pts. Lia Donath and Jim Fogarty both scored 22pts. Brian McMahon, Tim Meyer and Jayne Maxwell “settled” for 21pts. The effects of the swirling winds growing stronger were visible on the back 9. Henry L-B, was freed of the “intimidating presence of Habe, Peter & Mike” and scored a very impressive 21pts on the back 9. Jon Cooper, Deborah Potter and Habib handled the tricky conditions on the back 9 well by scoring 20pts. Barry P. ended birdie-par on the back 9. That brought his inward score to 19pts. A total score of 42pts is enough for Barry to push Henry back into 2nd place. Henry’s strong back 9 allow him to hold off Brian McMahon (41pts) based on the countback rule. Jon Cooper. Caroline Stilwell and Lia Donath complete the Top6. Results…

A few other bits:

• Roger: the blue box belongs to Putney Park Golf. The RPGC cards go in the green box …
• If you need a custom fitting for the correct loft on your driver get in touch with Kerry. It seemed to do the trick or he just passed his vicious hook off the tee to poor Richard O. today.
• Pete H. managed to score 25% of his points on the back 9 on 1 hole (birdieing the 14th does help)

CSS: 37pts (Men & Ladies)

The field were met with a noticeable drop in temperatures and strong winds. Looks like the course is finally getting the irrigation it badly needs. Greens are slowly recovering from last week’s works (they should be in nice shape in a couple of weeks).

The early starters probably enjoyed the better of the weather and put in some decent scores. Habe Crocker is keeping up her excellent form and posted a very respectable score of 2up. Richard Owen seems to be gearing up nicely for his upcoming Knock-Out matches and became leader in the clubhouse with an excellent score of 3up. Amongst the late starters Keith Cassidy braved ominous clouds and birdied the 1st hole. He kept at it for the rest of the round and matched Habe’s score of 2up. Jeremy Prescot played all or nothing on the back 9. He either won or lost the hole against the course. Scores 3up over the last 9 holes and 4up over the last 6 holes allow him to beat Richard Owen based on countback. Well done. Kim Chaffart and Mike Jones complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 2up (Men & Ladies). There are no changes in any competition handicaps.

Ladies

With conditions underfoot more reminiscent of mid-summer run than April mud on the fairways, the state of the greens were slightly easier to deal with, and it was probably those that hadn’t been treated that caused more problems. There was some good scoring from the field of 10 and with 3 of the field beating the SSS, it is no surprise that the CSS went down one to 68.

Habe Crocker continues her good form to record a net 67, but she was piped into 2nd place by Sheena Harrington who came in with a 66. Both players receive playing handicap cuts. Caroline Stilwell was the third lady to beat SSS with a net 68. Special mention to Cheryl Woodhouse who kept within her buffer zone despite recording a 10 on one hole. Results…

Men

The effects of the works that Glendale carried out this week were still visible. Greens were slow and unpredictable on the front 9 but sped noticeably on most of the holes on the back 9.

A lot of the players who played Saturrday’s Greensomes seemed to struggle today. Nigel Ward put on a show. A net 64 (gross 79) would be good enough on any day to win a Medal comp. Today however he was only able to hold off Damian Hackett based on the countback rule. So the prize money and cocktail glass are yours Nigel. Damian will have nightmares about the 15th hole (just don’t blame your 8 on the players who you let play through on that hole!). Jim Fogarty’s solid round of 66 puts him in 3rd place. Kim Chaffart, Keith Cassidy and Brian McMahon complete the Top6. Roger Rojas thought he was playing a links course today and tried to use his 3-iron off the tee on most of the holes. The results speak for themselves. On a final note: if you need any advice on how to play flop shots please get in touch with Kerry Sargeant. Results…

Nigel Ward’s handicap gets cut to 14. Damian Hackett gets a healthy cut completed with an Exceptional Scoring Reduction of one stroke. His new handicap now stands at 10. Well done to both of them.

CSS: 67

Spring Mixed competitors faced a nippy start to their round on Saturday but finished in glorious sunshine. The format, American Greensomes allowed the teams 3/8ths of their combined handicaps with the ladies receiving an extra shot.

Strong pairings meant that there was only 7 points difference between 1st and last place. Mike Shabani and Lia Donath proved that dressing in team colours really does intimidate opponents and drive performance, achieving top spot with an excellent 41 points. Deborah Potter and Peter Osgood, winners of last years mixed knockouts worked out who was the stronger in that pairing when Deborah and her partner Nick Rogers beat Peter and Joan Mulcahy to second place.

Thanks to the club for providing food and refreshments for the day. 

Maintenance work by Glendale meant that the course was inundated with temporary greens. As a result today’s comp became a Non-Qualifier.

Tim Vaughn-Spencer rebounded from a tough loss in the JH Taylor comp to post an excellent score of 67 (Net – 73 gross). God knows what his score would’ve been if his driving hadn’t been sub-par today. Gunnar Sundberg came out firing on the front 9: eagle on 2 and birdie on 3 vaulted him to a gross 38 on the front 9. He faded a little on the way in. A few wayward holes mean that Gunnar has to settle for 2nd today based on the countback rule. Alexander Krasnenkov played steady golf (2 birdies didn’t hurt) to finish 3rd with a 69 Net. Sure you want to order those new clubs Alex? Peter Osgood, Dominik Leisi and Jay Barker complete the Top6. Henry L-B’s round was excellent except 2 holes which cost him a place in the Top6 if not more. Results…

CSS: n/a

The course keeps drying out providing extra roll on the fairways. Although the greens seemed to be improving slightly it remains a challenge to hold the balls with your approaches.

A few players (Paul R., Roger R. & Kim) played good front 9’s but faltered on the way in. Saving energy for the back 9 proved to be the way to go today. The leaderboard was extremely tight. Four players ended with the same points total (37pts). Tenesi wins today’s comp based on the countback rule (her score over the last 6 holes proved to be the tie-breaker). The Mexican sun hasn’t affected Darren’s good form who has to settle for 2nd (keep that going during the Midweek KO comp please). Lee Marshall played consistent golf (19pts out and 18pts in) but a poor 18th hole knocked him back into 3rd. Ray was able to follow up an excellent front 9 (20pts) with a consistent 17pts on the way in to take 4th. Jayne M. and Kyojung Lee complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 36 (Men & Ladies)

The course is starting to suffer from swirling winds and lack of rain over the last couple of weeks. Therefore Prince’s is starting to dry out quickly. Once the field were aware of today’s competition format the scoring proved to be decent. Ann Gardner is keeping up her excellent form (I pity the team that will face her in the Ladies Double C comp). A storming front 9 (score of 4up) combined with steady back 9 (2up) equals a score of 6up. More than enough to become today’s runaway winner . Ann’s playing handicap gets cut to 28. Well done! Adrian Hurley went out in one of the early groups and posted an excellent score of 3up. Henry L-B, still riding high after his win in Sunday’s Clapham Common comp finishes 3rd with a score of 2up. Alexander Kransnenkov, Seong Lim and Ted Holt (see Ted it wasn’t too difficult to keep up your score?) complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 2Up (Men & Ladies)

The glorious weather seemed to inspire a reduced field. Birdies and eagles galore were the result. Nobody proved a match for Brian McMahon today. After a “slow” start Brian came alive on the back 9 to score 23pts. His total of 40pts earn him a well deserved victory. David Sandifer was even hotter on the back 9 (25pts !). His weaker outward 9 (total score 38pts) means that he has to settle for 2nd. The last member of today’s Top3, Martin Heinrich, came out all guns blazing (21pts) but softened inward. Based on countback Martin has to settle for 3rd. Paul Rockett (who eagled the 9th), Eelco Snijders and Barry Page complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 37 pts (Men & Ladies)