Another week but the bottom line remains the same: scoring proved to be tough. The rough was lush and very long. Quite surprisingly the 16th played as SI18 today. The 5th was the 3rd most difficult hole today. And quite a few dreams were shattered on holes 17 & 18 (SI 6/7 respectively).

Hip surgery seems like a distant memory now for Angus. His golf game is starting to click quite nicely. 4 birdies today are no mean feat. Despite a chip-in birdie on the 2nd he had 4 1-pointers on the front 9. That resulted in “only” 16pts. But birdies on 11,14 & 15 (note that he lost a bit of momentum with a bogey on 16) set him up for 22pts on the back 9. Darren’s round was the mirror image of Angus’ 18 holes. 22pts going out (thank to a nice birdie on the 7th) and 16pts on the way home. So the countback rule sides with Angus. Graham had the best back 9 of the entire field (23pts). That was needed to hold off Richard Norden. Early starter Pralab takes 5th. 1st woman of the day is Cheryl.

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.

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)

Playing conditions encouraged a good turnout of 65 for the May Bank Holiday Plate. Whilst dry, rough grass growth made it longer looking for balls and overall PCC was +1 – more difficult conditions. Last day for preferred lies.

A countback on back 9 determined the winner as Anthony Williams from Duncan T both 40 points; both had exceptional back 9s – Anthony 26 [inc. blob at par 3 11th], Duncan 25. Alone 3rd with 9 was Onursal (who also blob at 11th).
5 followed with 37s – Richard B (level back 9 33), Peter N, Robin T, Alex B and best woman Ali C who shared best front 9 21 points with Onursal.

Both Alan K and Richard B had 3 birdies.

As one competitor said: that was hard work. Even though the greenkeeping staff started prepping the course for (the future better weather it was hard to attack the course. Most of the casual weather disappeared but the fairways still offered next to no roll. Greens are definitely firming up. But they could be a bit more even. The swirling winds made distance control very tricky. Some pin position were fairly cruel (the 10th immediately comes to mind).  Believe the whole field appreciated the cut grass on the fairways. But the required carry off the tee was pretty demanding on some holes.

The early bird catches the worm today. Chris had the best front 9 (21pts – honour shared with Alex). Only 3 pars on the back 9 translate into 17pts. In the end 38pts was too high a bar for the rest of the field. Toby came closest (he will rue his scores on the 10th and 14th hole though). Paul G had the best back 9 (19pts – same as Toby) to claim 3rd. Single HI’ers Peter and Richard B both had 2 birdies to claim the last of the money positions.

Round 1 is in the books. 5 more  to go. Plenty of time to make up some ground.

Please find attached a PDF reports of the results, Best Scores Analysis and Competition Scoring Analysis (just see how holes 12,13 & 14 ranked today).

The forecast was for some heavy rain.

In the event there was some early persistent rain. Conditions were difficult and some long drives were needed to clear the rough before fairway on some holes. PCC remained at 0.

Onursal was crowned winner of Coronation Cup with net 68 ahead of 3 70s from Gregory, Pat B (first woman) and Ross H (also loewst gross 77); Onursal had reserves – he had 10 on 17th.

For the men this was the first event in divisionalised Top Dog for the season. In the attached we eee heading the senior division is Ross on 12 points followed by Joe G 8 down to Pete M 1; in the junior it’s Onursal 12 points from Gregory 8 down to Julian 1.

Theme of the day had to be the number 1:

– there were 30 and 1 entrants

– the winning score (gross) was +1

– for the 1st time in donkeys’ years Ali entered the sweep. And the gamble/choice paid off (see below)

– and last but (certainly) not least: Ed Robinson aced the 2nd hole (guess drinks are on offer next week)

Believe the saying is that you can tell a good golfer apart from the way he rebounds from a bad result. Richard B had a sub-par day last Sunday. But he improved dramatically by posting the winning score of +1 gross. -2 gross on the front 9 (2 birdies and 7 pars if you are interested in details). The start and the end of the back 9 were solid (all pars). The only blemishes of the day were 3 consecutive bogeys on 12,13 & 14. Still a very decent day at the office. Another early starter Paul G(iles) came (distant) second with solid score of 67 (Net). He was matched by first lady Susan. But the countback rule sides with Paul. Ali broke par today with a solid score of 68 (Net). Peter G and Ian are the last to play better than their handicaps.

There were quite a few reminders of the wet winter months. Looks like we will need a few more weeks of dry weather to do away with the casual water and mud. Luckily the winds were not too severe. Scoring in general was pretty decent.

Senior Division
Will recorded an excellent score of of 37 gross (+2). He even upped the ante on the back 9 by coming home in level par. A score of 70 gross (62 Net) make the clear winner today. Pete Malla was a very deserving second with a Net score of 64. Kevin finished 3rd. But it must feel a day of what could’ve been (6 shots lost to par over the last 4 holes). Amid, Jay and Mark are the last ones in the Sr Div to break par.

Junior Division
It also took a Net 62 to win the Junior Division. Paul used an excellent front 9 (+4 gross) to set up today’s win. He had a few nerves on the back 9. But all in all he kept his composure to seal the win. At first glance Gunnar is distant second today. But a closer look of his scorecard learns that victory slipped through his fingers on the last 3 holes. Duncan had a solid round to finish 3rd. The only blemish on his round was a snowman on the 9th hole. Much and Sean both recorded 67’s to claim 4th and 5th in this division. Shout-out to Edd Hall for ducking in time to prevent being hit by a wayward tee-shot coming from the 13th tee (player’s identity is known but not will be named).

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!]