As the scores indicate: that was hard work today. Even though the green keeping staff (to be more precise 1 Glendale staffer) was trying hard to upgrade the course it was a rough day for most of the field. For starters: the carry of the tee on a lot of holes was very long for the short(er) hitters. It was crazy to see what effect the recent rain had on the rough. Drift off the fairways and you were bound to start looking for balls in long, thick and lush grass. A recipe for disaster.

Only 2 players managed to play to their respective HI’s. Paul G went out early and a set decent marker with 37pts. He used an excellent front 9 (21pts) to become leader in the clubhouse. That score proved too much for about 99% of the field. 1 player in the very last game managed to better 37pts. The men’s secretary also recorded 21pts going out. But a steady back 9 (18pts) set him up nicely for victory.  Think that Paul G will have massive regrets about his scores on holes 11/17. Yours truly had a disappointing front 9. A chip-in birdie on 17 was partly offset by an ugly 5 on the 18th. But that didn’t prevent me from recording the best back 9 (21pts). Brett was the best of 5 players on 33pts (thank you count back rule). Tamas and Alvaro both had good front 9’s. But don’t ask them about their back 9’s.

Ranking after 2 rounds in the MW Founders Cup: Paul Green (70pts), Peter H (67), KSC (66), Peter G (64)

The day gradually warmed up and the thickness of rough grew – encouraged by the light but persistent rain from Coronation Saturday.

Women

There was no doubt the usual refrain about a 4 person team always winning from 3, which in this case was true – but this team had to play the ‘stand aside’ version, the idea being to make it more equal. It didn’t seem to have had any effect on them as a team as they romped home 5 shots clear of the team in 2nd place

Men

Scoring was similar to the same format team event played on Friday but an improvement – Brendan, Bernie, Peter M and Will B returning 92 points [more than 5 per hole] with best front 9 47 and back 9 45. 2nd and 8 behind were Paul McG, Rob S, Giovanni and Raymond 84; 3 teams returned 80 with Onursal, Hieu Van, Paul R and Ian H the better on the countback rule.

Most scored on a particular hole was 7 on par 4 6th with Paul K returning a birdie and Tommy H a par.

First 4 teams awarded prizes.

We were fortunate to very largely dodge the heavy showers and it turned out to be a warm and sunny Spring day. The recent drier weather has allowed Glendale to extend their fairway and 1st cut mowing and the Duke’s course was in good condition for golf, with decent run.

The clear winners with 90 points were the team of Bill Norman, Brian Ransom, Richard Norden and Graham Cull (in order of points contribution !). In 2nd place, and not too far behind (85 points) were the team of Julian James, Seymour Laird, Alex Braun and Adrian Wells, and in 3rd place (82 points) were John Ahad, Mayumi, Ian Burgess and Charles Haines.

Sweep payout to the winning team but if it had been an individual competition today the leading scores were:
39 points : Bill & Cuneyt (with Bill winning on countback)
37 points : Julian & Brian
34 points : Richard Norden, Seymour and John Ahad.

Best front 9 was John Ahad (22 points); John par’d five of the first 6 holes and at that stage the team must have felt they were in with a real chance.

To put it mildly: that was tough. The field finally experienced spring weather. Milder temperatures created some welcome additional carry. The roll on the (freshly mown – the 9am starters could’ve done without the stalking of the Glendale staff …) fairways was a feature we had all but given up on. The greens could’ve run smoother. A bit of extra zip wouldn’t have hurt either. As you can tell from the results: only one player managed to play to his handicap,

Pralab wins today thanks to a score of 68 Net (+8 gross on front and back 9). His score could’ve been a lot better had disaster not struck on the 13th. 2 players called Chris finish on 69 Net. Chris R had the slightly better back 9 based on countback. Chris S “only” finishes 3rd despite 2 birdies on the back 9 (3 birdies over 18 holes). The 7 on the 6th will haunt him though … Another early bird Rob S is the lone player on 70 Net. Bill N takes 5th (the last “Money spot”) thanks to a 71 Net. Good to see 3 cripple (V, P and A) making their return to the park. Shout-out to Angus for finishing as the best of the “Returning Cripple”.

MW Grand Medal
Pralab (212), Richard M (215), Gina (219)