Truly feels like (the boys of) Summer has/have gone (one of the best songs ever and a very eye catching video clip back in its days). The temperatures were already down from last week. But the strong winds added an unwelcome chill factor.

Jeremy Prescot played an excellent round to snatch victory from a group of 4. Best of the rest was the MC who took on the Tyrell Hatton look and borrowed a hoodie for an extra layer of warmth. An ugly 8 on the 8th prevented him from putting on a stronger challenge. But a decent back 9 places him in 2nd (Thank you countback rule). Leader in the clubhouse Ross put in another decent score to finish 3rd. Angus had a brain freeze on the 16th. Otherwise he would’ve finished a lot closer to Jeremy. Julian and Chris close out the Top 6. If you want to know how bad the wind was: the 15th (usually SI 11 for the men) was the 3rd hardest hole today.

Looks like there is tie between Gina and Angus in final MW Anniversary Accumulator standings (TBC).

The last warm settled day for September; some were delayed by traffic queuing for petrol with the latest crisis. The women enjoyed a get together after their traditional 4BBB while the men played their greensomes.

Women’s 4BBB & Autumn Meeting

Twenty of us gathered to welcome in the autumn golfing season with our 4BBB pairs competition. We were blessed with beautiful late summer sunshine which helped to offset the fact that the greens were recently spiked. The warm sun certainly helped to warm up Captain Val’s long rested muscles and with her European partner Katharina Katte won the day with a fabulous 50 points. (23/27), a clear 8 points ahead of the runners up Julie Ryan and Monique Hubaille (another European) who scored a very healthy 42 points, a clear 3 point lead from the rest of the field. They were all rewarded with the very generous Fushi Beauty & Well-being Vouchers, a donation made to the Women’s section by Rannesh Jansari.

We took the opportunity to award our Monthly Medal & Autumn Medal prizes also.
Our Autumn Medal round was won significantly by our new member Sylvia Bartoli with a gross 73 & net 62 but good old Jane Fraser retained her bridesmaid position with a very normal decent gross of 88, net 74.
Our May & June Monthly medals were awarded to Sheena , April to Donna Wilson, July to Avi and August to Ali.

Captain Val

and finally…. one playing highlight was Silvia’s eagle on the 13th with her second shot from way back just staying off the green where the game in front were putting. She then rammed the putt home literally – had it not hit the flagstick and dropped it would have been off the green. Sadly with no shot it was just a 4 pointer.

Men – Burgess Cup

Some very good golf indeed was played – notably by the winners Nick R and Peter J (past and current Treasurer) with 52 yes 52 points; they took most honours – front 25, back 27 and 13 points on the 3 par 3s; 8 points adrift Roger R and Nigel W returned excellent 44 points; third and alone on 42 were Marnix and Richard Y.

First 6 pairs share sweep.

Pair comps can always do with a bit planning/strategy.

Whatever plan Rick/Henry came up with it worked. 1 Eagle (9th) and 4 birdies over 17 holes would make any pro happy (quite incredible that it takes a low single HI and a player who shouldn’t be playing off 10 playing a Better Ball format to get anywhere near a professional’s score …). The pair racked up 24pts on the front 9. Looks like the today’s winners didn’t have a plan for the 18th hole. An untidy 5 capped their score to 23pts on the back 9. Angus/Colm finish just 1pt behind today’s winners. They carded an eagle too (14th). But their round was a mirror image of Rick/Henry: 22 out and 24 in.  Jeremy/Stephen also scored 46pts. But their score of 22pts on the back 9 force them into 3rd place. Finally 4th place goes to Seymour/Pete with 45pts.

Oliver K and partner Richard Y battled fiercely with their buggy in the rough at par 3 11th; stuck, the solution proved to be to reverse. A snap below from 12th fairway captures the moment of frustration.

To say that the greens have seen better days is an understatement. Putting proved tricky on the sandy greens (did you know that the football pitch at the Camp Nou uses a lot of sand underneath the grass? The opponents of FC Barcelona therefore call it “the green beach”). On top of that the floodgates opened around 1.30pm. So what started out as a pleasant day took a bit of a nasty turn.

Women

A double-handed report with Deb kindly checking the cards and providing the weather analysis. Gather there was rather a deluge from about the 14th onwards for all whereas in north Norfolk the sun has stayed out all day.

Doesn’t look like the change in weather conditions did anything to dampen Silvia’s round of a stunning gross 73 and a net of 62 just 10 shots clear of Jane. So needless to say Silvia has win this month’s medal from Jane in 2nd spot.

This being only Silvia’s 5th round with us, means that WHS uses her lowest score for her handicap index, so next week will be playing off 2.5. Further information indicates that having previously played off 5 this won’t be as daunting for her as it would be the rest of us

Men

Clear winner is Steve Cross with an excellent score of 63 Net. 3 players finished on 65 Net. Countback rule decides that Colm takes second ahead of James and Roger (no Roger the price for the driver shaft doesn’t change). Paul K takes 6th. Ross had 4 birdies on his way to 7th place. The prize of the unluckiest player has to go to Mike Shabani. He could’ve won yesterday’s comp by a wide margin had he not dropped 8 shots in the last 4 holes.

Colm wins the GMT with a score of 263 ahead of Ross (268) and Brian McM (270).

The remnants of yesterday’s rain could only be noticed on the 11th green. The green keeping staff were quite eager to add extra sand in order to not upset the airing process. That also meant that putting was tricky on certain occasions. That being said today’s scoring was excellent.

Cheryl and Richard were in the same game and seemed to inspire each other. A remarkable 64 by Cheryl makes her today’s winner (keep that form going until the regional final of the Hawtree please). Richard Smith’s only blemish came on the 15th hole. Apparently he decided to approach the green from the 17th fairway. But his second shot didn’t make it back on the correct fairway. An untidy 7 and 2nd place today were the result.  Uli showed that his good form from last Saturday at Tricky Ricky was no fluke. The countback rule places him at the head of a group of players with scores of nett 66. Leader in the clubhouse Bruno had the best front 9 (+2 gross). Ross managed to record 5 birdies on his way to the lowest gross score today. Finally Julie holed her approach on the 15th for a birdie. Only one 2 was recorded (on the 16th by Thierry).

Midweek Grand Medal Standings (Best 5 out of 8):

Cheryl W (350), Angus R (352). Chris J (354), Jeremy R (355)

A very pleasant September day for the Club’s Silver Jubilee competition – not too hot and sunny and v little wind as graph at bottom of results shows.

Possibly inspired by Emma Radukanu’s amazing achievement in tennis the previous day. Robert C shot an extraordinary 58 to win by 4 from an impressive 62 from Thierry. Robert’s handicap index drops from 35.9 to 17.3- by 8.6 shots! I believe this is first ESR adjustment of -2.0 . With greens hollow tined, putting was at times tricky and variable in pace.

John M played his best golf for a long time and headed on countback 2 other 65s from Peter G and Gina.

This was final 4th Jubilee in the Anniversary Cup (best 3 counting) and we see there is a tie with Gina and Richard I both 202; well done to both esp. not NRing and keeping in the Cup.

Andrew W added an eagle at 17 per attached men’s eagles report. OK, off forward tee but still an amazing achievement.

Another hot sunny day for the Fred Hawtree Cup. Indeed as graph bottom results shows this was the hottest of last 3 days @ > 30C; but the fall in barometric pressure guaranteed the fine spell would end. And so it did with rain by evening.

Back in the 1920s Fred Hawtree worked with J H Taylor on the design of both courses.  In recognition of the Hawtree involvement the Wednesday format was bogey, a stern test of golf.

 But some still excelled – notably winner Toby 5 up on countback from Rob D with Richard O 4 up and Chris J 3 up.; best woman Alison 2 up [but Gina way down the scoreboard for a change].

Indeed, the 10:19 3-ball of Toby, Chris J and Richard N monopolised the 6 awarded sweep prizes.

Cheryl and Elisabeth mentioned in despatches in Best Scores Analysis report.

Warm and sunny summer conditions returned for the Autumn Plate – as bottom of results confirms with temp > 26C and barometer reading rising.

Gina won the plate with 39 points on countback from Richard B (last 3 holes) and Naveed (back 9). Gina’s back 9 21 points was only eclipsed by Pierpaolo’s 22.


Secretary Peter H had the misfortune of his electric trolley wandering into the drink at 18th. An MP4 video of the aftermath is attached (other videos are available). Apparently trolley still worked after ( with Glendale assistance) fished out but 6 iron left in water and mobile phone thoroughly soaked. Glendale sponsored a cup of tea.

Subsequently White Knight Kerry S came to the rescue retrieving Peter’s 6 iron (and pitching wedge ) back. He fished them out of pond .

The 2nd round of Midweek Club Championship were played in fairly benign conditions with a fairly constant breeze/wind ( I think – was in hospital for day) .

New member Justin W shot best net of the day 64 from Gina 67 and Ronnie 69; Jay was best 71 on countback (and lowest gross) from Jeremy R and Naveed.

The overall men’s scratch Senior Division was won by Jay pulling ahead of 1st round leader Stephen S with 151. The Junior Division was claimed by Justin R 174 from Stephen H 189 .

Overall women’s scratch winners was Gina 175 , 5 ahead of Ronnie 180 and Sheena 183.

The Midweek Handicap Trophy is ‘joint’ meaning that the men and the women challenge for the same cup.  The result was close and with his six under second round score Justin finished as the winner with a combined net 133, just ahead of Veronica Mitchell with her 134.  

In addition to the normal NRs for no card returned/ NRs at individual holes [medal comp] , Richard B was DQ for returning card with an incorrect score honestly reported as having played wrong ball.

Benign conditions prevailed for the B/H Plate- a (distinctly chilly) wind with northerly component fluctuated as temperature rose – see bottom of results report.

Late entrant Chris S proved the winner 41 points from Saturday entrant Marco V winning 2nd spot 40 on countback from new member Justin B. Yours truly held on to 4th with 39. Best lady Lia 37. Back-marker marking cards for hcap – peter H 17pts.

Chris S had a purple patch 5 through 7 – 3,3,3; mine lasted 1 hole -the 7th with a drive through to back of green and 1 putt for a birdie – swiftly forgotten at next hole – 9!

Next Sunday is the London Duathlon with Richmond Park roads closed to traffic- see details at https://londonduathlon.com/race-day/route-and-maps/full-duathlon .
Peter H will no doubt cover in his weekly missive but please allow extra time since roads open may be congested etc.