Ladies

A reminder that we are in November today, with a cold wind taking a lot of warmth out of the sun. After the additional run of the ball during the long hot summer, remembering that more club is required is a definite requirement. Looks like only 3 ladies achieved this and with them no more than a shot apart and the winner on 37 points, CSS went to 36.

In 1st place was Caroline Stilwell who shot 22 points on the front 9 and was looking set for a good score on the back 9, but finished with scoring 15 after the 16th, blobbing both 17 & 18. She is rewarded with 0.4 cut in handicap to take her back to 21 after spending several weeks on 21.5. Cheryl Woodhouse continues her recent run of form with 36 points and 2nd place. Results…

One further shot back was Habe Crocker; she leaps to a 6 shot lead on 75 in the accompanying Eclectic after the first round. R1 Leader board…

Men

The field met some nippy weather, cool breezes and some very unappealing pin positions. The one on the 16th was particularly brutal.

Today was really a tale of two halves. The early morning starters struggled badly. Caleb Mills was the only one of the 8.00am starters to play his handicap. His score of 37pts was good enough for take the clubhouse lead. Scoring proved to be so bad that around 1.30pm CSS was estimated to be 35pts! (For a reminder: SSS for Prince’s is 37pts). Thankfully the 9.00am starters put on a better show. Three players matched Caleb’s score. 20pts on the back 9 vaulted Sean Thomas into 1st place. Caleb holds onto 2nd. Gunnar Sundberg confirmed to his recent good form and captured 3rd place. Ollie Griffin was the last member of the 37-gang and finishes 4th. Jon “steady” Cooper had an excellent back 9 to claim 5th place and Julian James completes the Top6. Results…

A few bits and pieces:

• Nigel Ward, Tony Kopczak and Mike as per usual went out together and all three of them recorded the same number of points. What a coincidence …
• Captain Nick made it past the ladies’ tees with his 1st shot on all the holes …
• Roger’s round was all or nothing: he recorded 3 birdies but the rest …

CSS: 37pts

After 2 rounds Tamas Ladacs is the leader of the 2019 Winter Competition with 69pts. R2 Leader board…

Round 1 of the Prince’s Eclectic– report due soon. R1 Leader board…

Mild, bright and breezy conditions prevailed for the first round of the Midweek Winter competition. Alexander Krasnenkov shot a convincing 41 points to win the round from John Curry 37. Countbacks settled Toby Hunt, Oliver Khan and Jonathan Rivers with 36s. Cheryl was best placed lady 33. Results…

CSS was unchanged from SSS at 36pts, both Men and Ladies.

In the associated Duke’s Eclectic positions are reversed with John 74.0 leading Alexander 74.5 with James Barker making an early move 75.5. R1 Leader board…

Ladies

There were only 6 survivors from the original start sheet, but those who withdrew because of the weather were probably kicking themselves when the day turned out to be gloriously sunny & dry, if a little wet underfoot in places.

Habe & Sheena should probably have joined them, but the remaining four adjusted quite easily to the new soggier conditions. With 3 of the 4 in their buffer zones against SSS, the small field adjustment came into force resulting in CSS going to 37, pushing all but Val Riziotis with 34 points and today’s winner, out of their buffers. Results…

Positions of 1st and 2nd are reversed after the first round of the accompanying Eclectic, with Jayne Maxwell leading the way. A result of the half handicap allowance. R1 Leader board…

Men

42 players weren’t scared off by the weather forecast and the prospect of soaked greens and muddy fairways. Truth be told the course held up pretty well: the fairways offered no roll and the greens were very receptive. Some of the bunkers had some casual water. The wind made things pretty tricky too.

Barry Page went out (really) early and recorded a superb 41pts (19pts out & 22pts in). As a result Barry’s new handicap drops to 15. Pete Harrison put up excellent numbers: 18pts on the way out and 21pts on the way in to finish second with 39pts. Bruno “Rain Man” Clerckx proved again that he’s at his best in wet conditions. 20pts on the way in offset an untidy front 9 (17pts). 3rd place is his based on the countback rule. James Anslow and Damian Hackett netted 37pts too. Jeremy Thompson closes out the Top6 with 36pts. Results…

Captain Nick Rogers’ day was made up from a high (eagle on the 17th) and a couple of lows (it took him two shots to make it past the ladies’ tee on the 15th and another unspecified hole).

CSS: 36pts. 14 players remained within their buffer zone.

Round 1 of the Duke’s Eclectic – report due soon. R1 Leader board…

Early rain may have reduced the size of the field. But the day turned out blustery with sunny spells and spits and spots.

Stephen Haworth and Chris Phillips-Jones had excellent 65s with countback last 9 deciding the November Medal for Stephen. Mike Jones. Hassan Mouilah and late contender Dylan Merchant took positions 3 to 5 again decided on countback. Hassan took honours for lowest gross = 74. Results…

Cheryl Woodhouse led for the ladies with 73 whilst CSS was unchanged from SSS @ 67 Men and 69 Ladies.

Ladies

There was an excellent turn-out for the first team event of Winter and we took that opportunity to play the Autumn 4BBB which was abandoned in September due to shocking weather.

Nine pairs took to the field with varying fortunes and two teams came in on 43 points. By virtue of a better back 9, Fiona and Alison edged out Ronnie and Cheryl. Some of the ladies enjoyed a tipple of mulled wine on the 13th tee provided by Gina and Alison.

After the games we enjoyed sweet potato fries and prizes were handed out for the Autumn Medal and today’s competition. Thanks to Susan for buying the prizes. The much anticipated “Swap Shop” also took place with shoes, waterproofs, books, tees, clubs, balls, mittens all changing hands.

Men

Conditions were calm and mild. Some exceptional scoring on Prince’s resulted. Early clubhouse leader shot a seemingly unbeatable 62 but Gunnar won the November Medal on last 9 countback. Jonathan Scriven had a very commendable 63 to take 3rd slot from Peter Needham 64. Oliver Maskell started 3353 and returned the lowest gross71 net 65. Results…

CSS remained at SSS 67 with Gunnar cut two playing shots.

Early competitors would have been out with the frost still on the ground, but the 10.00 crowd enjoyed a lovely sunny day albeit with a wind that was decidedly chilly in the shade.

An early clubhouse leader, Bruno Clerckx posted a 37, retaining his lead for most of the day but slipped to 3rd place after a 39 and a 38 from Sheena Harrington and Rocky Marshall respectively. Five players were contesting 4th place on 36 points, with Mick Abrams having the best back 9. Results…

CSS remained at 36 points.

The Beast from the East was back with a vengeance today. Conditions were pretty miserable: cool temperatures, strong winds, rain showers and hail towards 3pm. So scoring proved to be tricky.

VC Nigel Gaymond was still on a high from his recent visit to Beantown and the positive results from his beloved Patriots (aka Deflategate cheaters) and Red Sox (on the clinch to winning the MLB World Series). He followed up a strong front 9 (20pts) with a decent back 9. Margin of victory would/could’ve been bigger had it not been for a 7 on the last hole. 36pts earn him a 0.3 cut on his handicap down to 12. Captain Nick was +1 gross after 6 holes en route to 21pts on the way out. Pressure clearly got to him from then. The back 9 was steady until he decided to copy his VC by carding a 7 on the 18th. Based on the countback rule the Men’s Captain has to settle for 2nd. Nigel Ward confirms his good form with 36pts that earn him 3rd place. 1st lady today (and 4th overall) was Cheryl Woodhouse who keeps racking up the good results. Jim Fogarty and Jon Cooper complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 36pts

The final of the Barton Bowl was also played today and the winner on 34 points was Habe Crocker, with Tina Neeson in second place on 33. Over the course of the Summer the ladies can pick a day to challenge the Lady Captain. And then, at the end of the year, the top 8 ladies who have fared the best against the Lady Captain on their chosen day compete in a play off for the Barton Bowl. Well done Habe.

Pleasant autumnal conditions prevailed with mild temperatures and sunshine. In a similar vein to the 3 clubs and putter comp played on Sunday, the winner emerged from a late game – Tamas shooting a splendid 63 dropping only 5 shots on the back nine.

Alan King again tapped into a rich recent vein of form with a glorious 65 and improver Jeremy Prescot a very commendable 67. Best lady was Sheena Harrington (last year’s Lissaman Cup 3 clubs & putter winner). Results…

The field enjoyed some nice weather. The course proved to be in ok condition. Was it me or were the greens really slow? Some players made some excellent club choices. Luke Baker set the early mark with an excellent 64 net. The Ladies’ handicap secretary went one better and recorded a very tidy 63 net. Where was that kind of form in the Autumn Mixed Foursomes? Brian McMahon had an interesting 40 (gross) on the way out. He managed to follow that up with a remarkable 35 (gross) on the back 9. A score of 62 net (75 gross) would’ve put him into contention in any regular medal comp. But one of the later morning starters Jennifer Wood snatched victory from Brian with an unbelievable 60 net! Her score would even have been better had she had not recorded an 8 on the 17th. Pity for some of you that today’s comp was a non-qualifier. Top10 was equally split between men and women. Results…

CSS: N/A

Some other highlights:

• Paul Brown finally tamed his ladyboy, aka the 16th hole (a ladyboy in golf is a hole that looks easy but is not exactly what it seems)
• Tamas’ tee-shot on the 11th looked like Kate Moss, aka a bit thin. But just like OJ Simpson he got away with it by holing his chip from the rough (his tee-shot landed next to the big log in the rough). Quite remarkably on the previous hole he had hit 2 tee-shots OB!
• Mike Shabani and Liam Bridger were the Brothers-in-Law of the day: they showed up but they know they shouldn’t have come (they did play their Men’s pairs KO final earlier this morning- and rumour has it they won …)

In the Men’s Top Dog Trophy, after winning the Men’s pairs KO comp last year Tony Bergqvist added another trophy by winning the 2018 Top Dog. Final leader board…

A good charitable collection of £173 today for MacMillan.

Those playing at the two ends of the day probably enjoyed the better weather, as the majority played 18 holes in the wet, but at least it was light drizzle most of the time.

Early player Henry Lindesay-Bethune posted a 38 to take the lead, holding off a challenge from a probably very soggy Kim Chaffart (no waterproofs, no brolly), but to no avail with Alan King showing a return to form to win the Charity Cup with 42 points. Proving that a good night’s sleep is not required before 18 holes, late starters Charlie Renton and Dylan Merchant both recorded 40 points and Charlie’s consistent 20 out & back gave him 2nd place. Results…

Despite these good scores, the rest of us kept the CSS to 36 points for both men & ladies – but quite a few handicap changes. Dylan gets an ESR of an additional 0.5 of a cut for his consistent play.