The rain of the last few days didn’t bode well for the playing conditions. But it has to be said that the course was in surprisingly decent state. Suppose that playing off the yellow tees for the men didn’t hurt either. Biggest complication at this time of the year is that ball hunting (off the fairways) is being seriously complicated by all the fallen leafs. 

Clear winner today is Jose Manuel Gomez. If does help if you have the best (stableford) score on front AND back 9 (20+22pts). Early starter Pralab had to overcome a few issues with his marker. He matched Jose-Manuel’s score on the front 9. But a softer start on his back 9 means he “only” records 20pts. Alan played one of his better rounds of his recent times. He too went out with 20pts. But his 3rd place can only make up a very tiny bit for his misfortunes on holes 16&17. Looks like victory slipped away from him on just those 2 holes (he had recorded 15pts on the first 6 holes on the back 9). Brett was one of a very select group of players to record 2 birdies. These were recorded on just the back 9. This set him up nicely for an excellent score of 22pts on the way in. Cheryl’s “good vibes” must have rubbed off on both Angus and Tamas. (Even though they could’ve played a bit faster) Their scores of 36pts set them up nicely for the rest of the MW Winter Comp.

MW Winter Comp: too early to go into these standings

MW Duke’s Eclectic: Rob Smyth takes the lead.

After a chilly start, the sun came out and it was a pleasant, dry Autumn day. However, heavy rain earlier in the week had changed the Duke’s course into true ‘winter conditions’ with negligible bounce and run and the early signs of wormcasts.

The lengthening of the course by the ground conditions was counteracted (for the men) by playing off the Yellow Tees (shortening the course by nearly 500yards), so scoring was similar to usual, with a tie-at-the-top on 37points. The winner on countback was Brian Ransom, who had 19 points out and 18 points in, pipping Giles Rawlinson’s 20 points out and 17 points in. Giles had 2 birdies on the front 9 (3rd and 9th), whereas Brian had his one birdie on the (shorter than usual) 15th.

In 3rd place was last week’s winner Cuneyt Sazer (36 points) who, like Peter Flint in 4th place (35 points), had a ‘top-scoring’ 22 points on the front 9. Further details of scoring on the Best Scores Analysis report.

Sweep payout to the top 4 (£10, £7, £4, £2)

For info, Adrian Mancebo who played his 1st round with us in the group with Richard Norden and the two Giles’s, scored 44 points off his course handicap of 25 (HI 23.9), however as he had less than 6 qualifying rounds on his WHS record, he was excluded from the competition (club rule). As a result of his round, his HI has been cut to 16.9 !!!

Today proved to be a tough day at the office for most players. Only 4 players played better or to their HI. Needless to say that the return of the fall means any extra toll on the fairways is totally wiped out. Although the greens were fairly receptive they also lacked a bit of speed. The biggest nuisance today was probably the swirling wind. The 16th hole in particular was vastly affected. That hole was only like 123yds long. It played as SI8 (!!!) today.

Junior Division

Newcomer PM Micucci is not going to make a lot of friends by wining his first competition since joining. A few DB’s and the rare Triple prevented him from posting an even lower score. Ian finishes 1 shot back in 2nd. Bridget made the (brave) decision to enter the sweep. That boldness was rewarded with 3rd place. She could’ve finished higher if the first hole had been a bit kinder to her. Chris Jones matched Bridget’s score. But a softer back 9 forces him into 4th place.

Senior Division

Pralab may have picked the best time to complete his round. It is up for debate that the winds were not blowing so hard in the early morning. Nevertheless he recorded a tidy 66 (Nett) to claim the win. Richard confirms his reputation as the “Princes whisperer”. As per usual he carded a solid round on the P course. Closer examination of his scorecard learns that his solid back 9 played a big part in this success. Tamas was back at the park after a 2-week break. And to his own surprise he played one of his better recent rounds. He managed to record a 2 on the 16th. Angus played consistent golf: 39 (gross) and 38 (gross) on front and back 9 are a decent result on today’s conditions.