The field were met with quite windy conditions. The theme of the day seemed to be: go broke on the front 9 and see what happens on the back 9. No less than 7 players recorded 20 or more points on the way out.

It only seemed fitting that on the day of their national elections that the Swedes would steal the show. Christer Larssen netted 24pts on his front 9! Through holes 4-9 he scored 3pts on each hole. He got off to a great start on the back 9 with a par (giving him 4pts). Two no scores (13 and 18) “only” yielded 17 in total on the way in. His total score of 41pts still proved to be good for the rest of the field. Christer’s handicap gets cut by 2 strokes to 29. Kerry Sargeant played consistent golf (20pts out and 19pts in) to take 2nd. Phil Flanagan recorded a chip-in eagle on 17 (rewarding him with 5 stableford points!) on way to 18pts on the back 9. 21pts on the front mean he has to settle for 3rd. Gunnar Sundberg (Swedish too – cf remark above), Tony “sausage roll” Kopczak and Martin Heinrich complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 38pts (Men & Ladies)

Hollow-tining and sanding of greens had been freshly completed and within weeks the positive benefits will be felt. Scoring was good and CSS was pegged back one from SSS as a consequence. No fewer than 12 playing handicap changes arose.

Ted Holt had another good round to win the September Medal 67, one ahead of Damian Hackett and best lady Elaine Elborn 68. Results…

Jay Barker consolidated his lead in the associated Midweek Grand Medal, his 72 [best gross of say] replacing a previous 76 to now lead on 339, 11 ahead of Ted with Toby Hunt and Jeremy Ryan one further back. R7 Leader board…

Perfect conditions for golf at the park today: some patches on the fairway are drying up again generating some unexpected roll but the greens were fairly receptive.

Ray Esin set the mark with a solid 38pts (20pts out & 18pts in). Susan Smith’s front 9 included birdies on the 1st and 6th. 21pts were a just reward for a solid front 9. Even with a no score on the 12th she still netted 18pts on the way in to take the lead on 39pts. The President felt a real desire to hold on to his putter. His score of 38pts unfortunately was not enough to keep his beloved trophy out of the grasps of new member Kamil Naidoo. In his first comp Kamil used the countback rule to win the 5th of the Top Dog competitions. Peter Needham and Caroline Stilwell complete the Top6. Results…

Collapse of the day has to go to the MW Captain, Kim Chaffart. After recording 32pts over 14 holes he ruined any chance of victory by scoring 0pts (15th), 0pts (16th), 1pt (17th after missing a tap-in par putt) and 3pts (18th misreading the birdie putt).

CSS: 37pts (Men & Ladies)

Results of the President’s challenges:

• Ladies:
  Nearest the pin in 3 on the 6th: Susan Smith, birdie
  Nearest the pin in 3 on the 15th: Lia Donath
• Men:
  Nearest to the pin 7th: Peter Jagger, using his driver to delicious effect, and he did make the birdie putt
  Nearest to the pin in 2 on the 18th: Keith Cassidy, missing the birdie putt
• Men & Ladies:
  Nearest the pin 10th: Sheena Harrington

Some early rain challenged very early starters but otherwise it was fair, facilitating some good scoring.

The Captain’s Day was won by John Curry with an outstanding 45 points [24 alone on front 9 and 5 birdies overall], just ahead of an improving Paul Grand 44 (cut 3 playing shots). Countback separated Kenny Du from new member Pralb Barua and Graham Swindells 39s. Alison Chadwick took ladies’ honours on 37. Results…

Captain Kim provided challenges for the field of 39:

• Longest drive on the 5th
  Ladies: N/A
• Nearest to the pin in 2 on the 7th
  Men: John Curry (a rifled 6-iron second to within 2 feet and yes birdie)
• Nearest to the pin 11th
  Ladies: N/A

• Nearest to the pin 16th
  Men: Kenny Du

Drinks and cakes were taken in the clubhouse and there was even a Midweek Committee Meeting!

The August Bank Holiday and the Ladies away weekend reduced the number of competitors. The field faced some fresher temperatures. The fairways didn’t yield the massive roll from a couple of weeks ago. But it looks like the receptive greens made up for that. An impressive number of birdies were recorded. Peter Harrison and Richard Owen each recorded three birdies just on the front 9.

Pete Harrison’s 39pts made him leader in the clubhouse (again). Brian McMahon and Alan King matched that tally but recorded better back 9’s. The round off the day goes to John Ahad. After a score of 22pts on the front 9 another player may start getting a bit nervous. But the VC remained in total control: 21pts on the way in earn John a well deserved victory. Results…

John’s handicap drops to 17. Well done. James Anslow and Jon Cooper (who recorded b2b birdies on 13 &14) complete the Top6. First lady was Joan Mulcahy (just make sure to keep that form for 6 more days … #HawtreeFinal).

CSS: 38pts (Men & Ladies)

Good mid-season conditions prevailed for round 2 of Midweek Club Championship.

The net (& sweep) for the day belonged to the Ladies with Elaine Elborn carding 65 and just beating Lia Donath on countback. Ollie Maskell shot 66 and best gross for the day followed by Paul Grand. Net Results…

CSS was reduced by one with Ollie now playing off 6 with 6 other changes.

Division 1 of the Men’s scratch for the 2 weeks sees Ollie 145 crowned champion followed by Jay Barker 147 and Paul Cook 148. Men Results…

Division 2 saw Stephen Mason emerge clear winner 178 ahead of Chris and Mike Jones (183 and 186 respectively). Men Results…

The Ladies Club Championship was won by Habe Crocker167, 2 clear of Sheena Harrington. Ladies Results…

The overall Handicap (Net) Trophy goes to Ollie 131 with Sheena Harrington just piping Eelco Snijders on countback 135. Handicap Results…

The Men reversed the trend of the last four years with a clear win. Photo… | Report…

Round 1 of the Midweek Club Championship on Prince’s saw very good scoring generally and in particular from Eelco Snijders who won the handicap (i.e. Net all competitors) with 60 followed by 63s from Mark Rosamund and Avi Murphy with 9 handicappers John Curry and Bruno Clerckx on 63s. Net Results…

Gross (‘Scratch’) results show Paul Cook leading Men division 1 with 70 followed closely by Eelco Snijders and Jay Barker 71s. For men division 2 John Ahad piping Nat Street by one on 84. Men Results…

Habe Crocker leads the Ladies scratch on 82 with excellent 83s from Angela Flynn and Sheena Harrington. Ladies Results…

Eligibility for the midweek championship is limited to those having completed 3 midweek rounds this year so Patrick Murphy and John Maxwell who did not meet the criteria are excluded from the scratch event but shown on Net result which doubles as a ‘sweep’ tally.

Ladies

A small group of ladies ventured forth on what had been forecast to be a miserable day and although they did get to remind themselves of what it’s like to play in the rain, it was light albeit with gusty wind at times. For such a small group there was a wide range of scoring and with 3 of them below the SSS, it was enough to drop the CSS to 68.

Susan Smith finally managed to keep a good round going for all 18 holes resulting in a win by 2 shots, courtesy of 7 pars, from Jayne Maxwell in second place. Susan’s winning score of 65 sees her handicap cut by 0.9 to 19.2, Jayne on 67, gets a 0.3 cut to reduce her playing handicap to 14. The last of the good scores was Fiona Coombe on 68. Results…

With the Bontor imminent, it was not good timing to get cut, but does indicate how well some, at least, are playing at present.

Men

The ominous weather forecast led to a couple of last minute defections. The competitors who did show up enjoyed spring conditions: milder temperatures and softer fairways/greens. The competition itself was a tale of two parts/halves. The early pace was set by Chris Lordan and Jay Barker. A cold putter prevented Chris from improving on his 72 (66 net). His stable back 9 allowed him to take the clubhouse lead from Jay. The pair were later split by an in form Richard Owen and Bruno Clerckx. None of the later starters were able to challenge Chris. Except for two players coming from the final two flights. Peter Needham recorded an excellent 79 (63 net) to push Chris into 2nd. But today’s winner is the club’s secretary. Peter Harrington’s round had a little wobble in the middle (7’s on holes 9 & 10). But apart from that he couldn’t be faulted. A score of 81 (62 net) reduces Peter’s handicap to 17. Results…

CSS: 66

In the Grand Medal Trophy Jon Cooper (332) has a sizeable lead over Cuneyt (342), Toby (344) and Chris Lordan (347. Some other competitors have only recorded four scores. Of those players Jay seems to be in prime position to mount a serious challenge in the last two rounds. R6 Leader board…

Conditions were at last cooler and players could aspirate and concentrate on their game. Greens and surrounds were immaculate with recent rains having added to green staff’s efforts.

Anyway, Rajinder Sehmi pulled a game out of the top drawer to clinch round 3 of the Midweek Anniversary Accumulator on 66 with Tamas Ladacs a shot behind. Jay Barker had lowest gross and led 68s on countback from Henry Lindesay-Bethune, Jonathan Rivers and Sheena Harrington. Results…

CSS was one below SSS with Rajinder cut two to 20 and Tamas trimmed to 16.

With just one round of the Midweek Anniversary Accumulator left, Sheena Harrington commands a one shot lead from Jay Barker on 213. But it’s wide open and who knows – the winner could emerge from those having only played two rounds. R3 Leader board…