April 2023
April 2023
The Priory Cup
To use an understatement: that was tough! The predicted continuous rain didn’t materialise. But instead the field got treated to heavy showers that came and went in a flash. By the time you put on your rain gear the clouds opened and the sun appeared. The 40mph gusts of wind did sign present. On top of that they were quite swirling too
The field just recovered from the headwind on the 14th hole. Surely the wind must have come from the left on the 15th hole. It was quite a shock to see that hole playing … into the wind. Holes 5,12 and 14 all played into the wind. So it comes as no surprise that those 3 holes played as the most difficult holes of the day.
All these were very mitigating circumstances for today’s scoring. Just 1 player beat the course: Alan King. His solid front 9 (2Up) was followed by more subdued back 9 (Level). Alex took his time to find his groove. He was 2 Down on the way out. But a better back 9 (2Up) allows him to beat yours truly on countback. Jay was best of the rest. Wouldn’t be a surprise if PCC will be adjusted. [Ed..it +3!]
Easter Sunday Plate
A chilly start butte warm sun came out and players slowly took off the odd layer of clothing with temps nudging 18C for Easter.
Silvia B off HI 6 ( last year’s women’s champion) shot a superb 38 points (20 on back 9) to win the Easter plate from Nick R and consistent Pete Mall 36s, Much, Toby and Nigel W followed with 35s.
Alan K had magic front 9 – 21 points whilst men’s champion Richard B shot the only ‘Two’.
Gordon Forster Bowl, Round 3 contd.
The club’s Richmond Park ‘C’ team, captained by Paul Green, were soundly beaten by Wimbledon Common who now progress to Finals Day. This defeat marked the end of what had been a strong challenge by the club to get to Finals Day and again bring back the trophy.
Gordon Forster Bowl, Round 3 contd
On a cold and wet April 1st, the Richmond Park “Early Birds” team welcomed Wycombe Heights to the park for their 3rd round Gordon Foster match. Conditions at Wycombe Heights on Friday night resulted in the closure of the course due to waterlogging and the rescheduling of the away leg until Saturday April 8th. A slender lead was established at home on April 1st, however our away pair suffered a 17points defeat on April 8th meaning Wycombe Heights progress to Finals Day.
Although there was lots of water on both greens and fairways at the park on April 1st, John Perkins scored a excellent 20 + 20 for 40 pts and Brendan Sullivan had 17 + 15 for 32 pts. Our opposition had 32 pts and 37 pts respectively, so Richmond Park 72pts – Wycombe Heights 69pts. Will Balakrishnan and Ryan Wilson made the journey to Wycombe on the 8th and both scored 21pts for their respective 18 holes against Wycombe’s 35pts and 24 pts.
We wish Wycombe Heights all the best at the Finals and captain Brendan says a big thank you to everyone who represented Richmond Park and volunteered to travel to play the away legs at short notice.
Friday Sweep
A slightly chilly start turned into a lovely warm Spring day, with players progressively ‘stripping off’ during their rounds. The course was packed with ‘weekend golfers’ and Glendale finally had their new Halfway House open for business.
Scoring conditions proved difficult for most of the field, with not much run on the course, due to yesterday’s heavy rain, and small fairways reducing the benefit of ‘pick and place’. Also, for the men, playing off the white tees made the course considerably longer.
Our winner, John Ahad (36 points), coped best with 16 out and 20 points in, finishing strongly with 3 pars and blobs on the 8th and 12th. Sam Williams (35 points) was second playing a very steady round, 20 points out and 15 in, with just one blob on the 10th. Uli was third (33 points), 17 out and 16 points in – could have challenged more strongly but for 2 blobs in the last 5 holes. It was good to have the men’s and women’s club champions, Richard Back and Sylvia Bortoli, playing with us – both had 2 birdies.
Sweep payout to the top 3 (£13, £8, £4)
The Masters Bowl
If you keep in mind that last year’s winning score was 61 (FYI: that score was posted by the Women’s Captain) we could state that this year’s scoring was a bit underwhelming (makes me think of Rosamund Pike who said that it is strange that people are either over- or underwhelmed but never whelmed …). Or as the MC said: the course record on Princes is safe …
Pete Needham posted an excellent front 9 (39 gross). He was seriously rattled on the 10tth (an ugly 7). But he recovered remarkably with a birdie on the next hole. That enabled him to record a score of 38 (gross) on the back 9. Good enough for a score of 78 (gross – 64 Nett). 3 people finish 1 shot back on 65 (Nett). Richard had the best back 9 of those 3. Toby took advantage of Cuneyt’s mishaps on the 13th to take 4th. Peter F finishes 5th. Last year’s winner put up a valiant defence of her title by claiming 6th. Lots of birdies on the 4th hole (that hole played as SI 18 today). Jay managed to record 4 birdies today. Finally Richard B eagled the 9th.
Spring 2023 Weekend Away
15 women and 9 men finally made their way to the Cotswold Golf & Country Club, the venue that was booked when we went into lockdown. It didn’t start on an auspicious note with the rain putting some off playing and everyone else finally going out for just 9 holes. Fortunately conditions only improved and Saturday’s and Sunday’s results don’t indicate there was much of a problem for some at least.
Romping off to a great start was Susan with 40 points but she peaked too soon and was beaten by 2 by Katharina whose more steady 35 and 36 points gave her 1st place and winner of the Lockie Trophy. It was definitely a weekend where the Germans beat the Brits, with Uli coming into great form on the Sunday to score 44 following a 33 on the Saturday. Ever steady Jon got 36 on both days to come 2nd.
As usual there were individual and team day prizes and nearest the pins
The Spring Plate
Considering the amount of recent rain, Prince’s was quite playable with wet mud in just a few places.
Overall, the course played more difficult than expected with a PCC of +2.
No fewer than 4 payers returned 36 points with Hieu Van the winner on bck 3 countback from Pete M (another good consistent score), Wonil and Cuneyt ( who must rue blob on par 3 4th. Paul Kammerling tied with Cuneyt for front 9 – 18 points.
Ross led the chase on 34 points from Tony K and Paul K; congrats to Ross on securing 4th men’s Sunday eagle at 17th – as per attached.