Someone said: A bad day on the golf course is still better than a good day at the office. The members who attended our Away Day at Coombe Hill probably agreed. They enjoyed a course in excellent condition. 2 things stood out: 1) the club is called Hill for a reason and 2) as advertised the greens are the best defence of the course. Placement of tee-shots/approaches was fairly important. If this event were to be repeated a course planner would be welcome. Although Richard N made some very thorough preparations.
Secondly the weather turned out be more than decent. Special thanks go to Caroline. She never took off her waterproofs out of fear that this would have a very adverse effect on the weather. She definitely took one for the club …
Finally let’s talk numbers:
Overall winner is Paul G. He managed to stay just clear of Caroline. Rannesh came 3rd. But he will rue the last 2-3 holes. A certain victory slipped away on that stretch.
NTP 6th: Sean O’S
Longest Drive 11th: Ed H

Special thanks to Kim as well, for coming up with the idea of a social event at Coombe Hill in the first place, for helping to organise the whole thing and for taking over command after Uli dropped off last minute due to illness!

The course was in good condition and the weather held fine with a modest breeze.

Jose Manuel Gomez had a steady round 18 out and 19 back for 37 with a no score on 16th. Kevin Prendergast headed the group of 5 players on 36 despite hitting the tee board on the first tee and almost rebounding into the pond in front of the club house and not scoring on that hole along with a blob on hole 9. Raymond Esin had a steady round but recorded a blob on 16th.

This was the 4th round (of 6 ) in the Founders’ Cup which sees Gina Jillett the leader 127 from Peppe Monterosso 116 with Peter and Sheena Harrington now both 115.

Mainly dry with a stiff breeze and sunny intervals. Fairways had been cut wider but balls still difficult to find/hit just in the rough. Good turnout of 52 for the Spring Bank Holiday Plate.

Women

Alongside the plate, the women were playing the second leg of the Committee Cup which had to be re-scheduled after rain closed the course for the original first round.

Sheena and Jenny were a few shots ahead of Cheryl after the first 18 and they extended that difference in today’s round. Commentary below shows Sheena’s round was enough to keep her at the top for most of the day so no surprise that she ended up 9 points ahead of Jenny to win the cup.

Mixed

‘Birthday Boy’ Gunnar Sundberg celebrated with 41 points to win and secured best front and back 9s [back shared with Alison Chadwick] – 20 & 21 points respectively in spite of a ‘blob’ at 14th. He overhauled the long-time clubhouse leader Sheena Harrington who had the better back 9 [20] on countback for 36s from Serhat, Suhail and Paul Kamerling.. Birdies proved hard to come by so well done to Aidan and Louis for scoring 2.

Competition played on a perfect summer’s day with all greens open and the Prince’s course in good condition (and new sand being put in the bunkers by the greenkeepers)

From the field of 26, winner with 20 points out, 20 points in, was Pralab Barua, playing early morning. Second was Peter Miller one shot adrift with equally steady scoring front and back nine. Third, on 38 points was Charles Haines who parred the seventh in an exceptional first seven holes (before falling back to earth somewhat).

The threat of rain discouraged a number of players who had entered the competition from playing and the start sheet was almost constantly being updated. However, the main threat of rain did not materialise although conditions were extremely tough if one strayed off the fairways into the very wet rough and usually resulted in a lost ball!!
The fairways had been cut and the 1st cut area had been widened to assist but the overnight rain still make life difficult.
Scoring was unsurprisingly on the low side but Richard Norden showed everyone how to play the course with a fine 37 points.
Mention should also go to the two players who managed to get a two on the par threes.

After 3 rounds of the Founders Cup Bill Norman is in the lead from Gina Jillett.

Women

Staying out of the rough was definitely the secret today & one that Sheena appeared to manage for the front 9 with 20 points and then came the back 9!! Jenny though scored 19 of her points on the back as she kept it down the middle. For the first time since last year playing on the full 18 holes of Duke’s was a salutary reminder of the effect that not only the rough but the ditches can have on your score. Now we have to hope for some hot days to burn off all that grass where there are no doubt a lot of golf balls nestling down.

Men

Overnight cloud cleared quickly to leave a bright sunny day with variable wind for the Summer Cup.

Very tough conditions on Duke’s with thick rough sometimes just off fairways with attendant time looking for balls many of which were never seen again.

Greg Wright had predicted winning with his ‘bandit’ handicap before being apprised of our 6 rounds first rule (& today’s results has seen his handicap cut by several shots). With the better back 9 the system showed that he would have won from Paul Kamerling both with 37s. Paul is therefore the winner of the Summer Cup.
Umran shot a super 36 points with a gross 78 off 7 and Iker Lanzagorta had the best front 9, 20 pts with 35 points overall. Well done to Aidan, Sam and Will for their 3 birdies.

It was beautiful golf day today, with just enough sunshine, no recognizable wind and a Prince’s course in conditions we have not seen for more than half a year: the fairways had been freshly cut and widened, the rough cut down to manageable hights and the greens a pleasure to putt on! 🙂

RichardO took the most advantage and came back with unbeatable 42 points, including 3 birdies.
Late starter JustinW began his round with 2 blobs, but scrambled to 18 points on the front 9 and came back with 21 points, with 3 birdies on his card as well.

RichardO, RichardB and UliK share best gross score results with 75 shots.

After a predominantly good week weatherwise, we were down to just 1 temporary on Prince’s today.

Women

Congratulations to Caroline who is today’s winner by 1 shot from Sheena. Had she not recorded a 10 on the 7th it could have been by a much bigger margin. Good to see our injury stricken members back playing 18 holes again. Conditions remain tough if you stray from the fairway with the sun just encouraging grass growth at this time of year after all that rain.

Men

Conditions were tough with long grass in the rough just off the fairway and easy to lose a ball. But there was some good scoring in the May Medal.
An excellent 67 from Mark Bean secured the senior division (37 shots out and in) with Umran Ali just a shot behind 68 keeping a 6 well and truly off his card. With a strong back 9 Richard Owen was the best 69 on countback from Paul Kamerling and Captain Uli Katte; special mention to Paul Kamerling for securing 4 birdies in his round.

The junior division medal saw a convincing win for James Withers 64 from Gunnar Sundberg followed by Suhail Salim 67 and Charles Haines 68; all excellent scores in the 60s.

Well done to John Perkins for his eagle 2 on 17th!

This was 3rd round in the Grand Medal [best 5 from 8] and is dominated in both divisions by players with 3 rounds under their belts:

Seniors
Tamas Ladacs 212
Justin Wildman 242

Juniors
Tony Kopczak 210
Nigel Ward 211

It was a warm sunny day, ideal for golf, but the course proved challenging with long grass off the fairways, and the bunkers generally in a very poor condition to get out of (many were hardpan sand with a barely scratched surface). It was good to have the 5th green in play for the first time in 5 or 6 months.

After a poor front 9 (only 12 points), Richard Owen started playing proper golf and with a back 9 of 21 points (including 2 birdies in the last 3 holes) takes the win with 33 points. Ian Burgess (30 points) came in 2nd and Rannesh was the best of those on 29 points and takes 3rd place. Best front 9 was 17 points by Seymour Laird and Bill Jennings. Brian Ransom still leads the Birdie Tree but Uli moved up to 2nd and Adrian, Julian and Richard O. share 3rd spot. Sweep payout to the top 3.

It was the second day of bright sunshine in a row, when we played the second round of ‘The Founder’s Cup – E. Bailey’ competition.
Even first sightings of golf shorts were made … 😉

The Duke’s course had been closed for almost 5 months and was still in a less than ideal state: narrow fairways, with punishing high grass left and right … lead to extended ball searching and a rather slow round.
And, unfortunately, because of the 5 temp greens, the competition had to be changed to ‘non-handicap-qualifying’!
But it was good to play on Duke’s again, after such long ‘abstinence’!

Gina and Justin both played later in the afternoon and managed to navigate the difficult course very well to come in with respectable over-30-points results. Gina clocked a stellar 20-point back 9 to take the win!