The field enjoyed good weather. But the course was very unforgiving. The extra bounce and roll on the fairways was very helpful to gain extra distance. Since the greens didn’t hold rolling the ball onto the greens would have been a very wise strategy. But the various slopes on Prince’s rendered the bounces/rolls very unpredictable. An approach might look good at first but many players will have been confronted with unpleasant surprises  when walking upto the greens. Almost 30% of the field N/R’ed today.

Half of the Top6 were 7am starters. Pat Dalton wins today thanks to an excellent score of 65 (Net). Stephen beat out of few single figures handicappers in his flight to finish as runner-up. Yours truly birdied the 14th (just like last Sunday – but in a less dramatic fashion than 3d ago) and the 17th. That far better back 9 takes me into 3rd. Tamas also used a very strong back 9 to earn one of the “money” positions. Gina finishes 5th despite severe jet lag. Another early starter Thierry closes out the Top6. A more in depth analysis of the scores shows that Kevin would’ve easily won today if the comp was only held over 15 holes. He went +7 over the last 3 holes.

Juho takes the lead in the MW Grand Medal Trophy.

The field enjoyed some nice golfing conditions. Mild temperatures, a gentle breeze (but that breeze felt quite a bit stronger when teeing off on 14 …) and some generous roll on the fairways created nice scoring conditions. The early birds were at it again today. Places 1-2 go to the 7am starters.

Chris Newman followed a steady front 9 (2Up) with an outstanding back 9 (4Up). He didn’t lose a single hole on that stretch. Paul Green equalled that score. But unfortunately for him his coffee kicked in early on the front 9 (5Up). His streak continued with wins on holes 10 and 11. But at that stage the wheels came off a bit. Best of the rest and first Woman was Cheryl with an excellent result of 5Up (4Up out/1Up in). She may have given the Top2 a stronger run for their money had she not picked up on holes 15 & 17. 4 players end on a score of 4Up. Shout-out to the MW Captain Henry for birdieing 3 holes (finishing birdie-birdie will make him come back for more on Sunday). Yours truly was inspired by Rory McIlroy and Colin Morikawa and holed out from the bunker on the 4th for a birdie.

All in all playing conditions didn’t prove too bad which clearly translates into the scoring.

Richard Owen stormed to victory with an impressive tally of 42pts (20+22). 2 errant holes (4-5) generated “only 1 point”. But he steadied the ship remarkably well. Suppose that playing the comp with a CH of 18 didn’t hurt … Nigel Ward and Robin both finish 1pt behind Richard. Nigel probably blew his chance to leapfrog RO with a NR on the 12th hole. Robin came out all guns blazing en route to 25pts on the front 9. A couple of 7’s and a snowman on the back 9 mean he has to settle for 3rd. 4th place is a just reward for Ray’s 40pts (he will have nightmares about the NR on 18). George and Duncan complete the Top6. First woman/junior today is Chloe who performed the feat of birdieing the 12th hole. Well done. Richard Young had the best back 9 with 23pts.

None of the players managed to dodge the showers today. May be the weather wasn’t very clement. But I think the course needed it. And it didn’t seem to have had any negative impact on scoring either. The MW Captain was happy to escape the admin of his “Winter” Knockout. He lost 3 shots on the opening 2 holes. But then recovered quite remarkably to go out in 39 gross. 2 more birdies on the back 9 set him up for a 35 gross. He became leader in the clubhouse with a nett 62.

The 10am starters proved to be the biggest threat. Jim and Brian also had excellent back 9’s. That enabled both of them to beat the MW Captain on countback. But the victory spoils go the Women’s Captain. When she puts in a good score she goes really low (remember that she shot a 57 net last year at Captain’s Day). Just like the men behind her she really “mastered” the outward run (38 gross). Ronnie and new member Mayumi complete the Top6.

Please find below the PDF report, Competition Score Analysis (Note that Hole 1 played as SI 3 !!!, Hole 11 as SI 9 and Hole 17 as SI 8) ans Best Scores Analysis.

Freezing start for early starters; local protected weather station recorded -2C overnight. But sunshine developed and later clouds as well for a max 10 C.

Players continued to get used to the faster Spring condition greens [esp. on 6th]. Golf hole liners could have done with being inch or so lower.

Women

14 women today for the first monthly medal of 2022 which is a bit more like it and some good scores in with no fewer than 4 birdies between us, With Ronnie bemoaning her 7,7,8 scores when she was over-heating, no one was really expecting to see her topping the leaderboard.
The course has dried up so much now but we’re already into bare patches on the fairways and slightly odd bounces – something we might as well get used to, along with the balls not stopping on the greens.
The saying goes ‘beware the injured golfer’ and ours still managed to come in 3rd place (Joan) pipped on the back 9 by Monique who posted her best score for some time but congrats to Ronnie as the April medal winner.

Men

Cuneyt set the early Saturday pace throwing a challenge of 67. First and second positions went to later starters Colm 60 and Secretary Peter 62. Colm is trimmed 1 full shot and Peter 1.1 to a new low 24. But therer were 2 more 62s -Wonil and Uli – well done all, chaps. Lowest score was Jay gross 76.

In the divisional medal results Wonil won Senior division on countback from Uli; Junior Colm from Peter.

Colm now leads the Grand Medal with 2 rounds now complete on 129 from Adrian and Tony K 132.


Conditions were grey and chillier than of late but run continued and adjustment was still required to greens speed.

Suhail Salim set the challenge on Saturday with 40 points but it was late in the day when Martin Hay emerged winner for round 2 43 points with a ‘blob’ at17. Well done indeed Martin.
But round of the day goes to Jay Barker 2nd with 41 points playing off 4 . Well done indeed Jay – consolation is that the 4 birdies brings you level in the Sunday birdies tree attached. Sulhail above 3rd 40 then consistent Julian James 39 as wit Goran – new to the sweep enclosure.

Marnix had amazing front 9 – 24 points.

With 40 in the bag from round 1 last week, Martin wins overall Cup/Trophy 83 points 7 clear from Jay and Goran 76. Well done all.

Spring golf made a (very) welcome return to the park. A large field enjoyed great weather and a course that is gradually being prepped by the greenkeeping team for a summer onslaught. The condition of the greens was a bit more debatable. But all in all scoring proved to be excellent today.

MW Captain Henry L-B set the early pace with an excellent score of 40pts. 2 birdies were offset by an untidy 7 on the 8th. Another early starter Wonil was just 1pt behind Henry. Henry’s score held for most of the day. Toby was the only player able to improve on the MW Captain’s score. 21pts on the way out and 20pts on the way in make him today’s winner. First woman of the day is the Woman’s Captain with a very steady 38pts. Usual suspect Peppe racked up another Top6 finsh. 22pts on the back 9 certainly helped (that score was matched by Handicap Secretary PaulG and Tony B.).

No less than 5 players ended with 38pts. Alan and Pralab being the last 2 players to end  “In the Money” (. Reiko and Ronnie confirmed the return in force of the female contingent (hope you saved some birdies for next week Ronnie). If Paul Brown would the sheer number of birdies on the 16th (7!!!) today he would probably never come back to the park.  Best front 9 goes to Alan King who needed only 8 holes to record 22pts!

Very pleasant early Spring conditions with drying worm-casts, sun and breeze. Greens were noticeably faster then we’ve experienced in recent months. UV levels matched by temp in results report plot.

Very good golf with countback placing Ulli 1st from Oz – both super 42s. John Cho 3rd 41, Martn Hay 40 with Gunnar (welcome back Gunnar) and Captain John39s. Junior Ethan maintained form 38 with previous captain Kim.

A shout out and congrats to John Cho who recorded the season’s first eagle at 9th.

Weather forecast convinced quite a few players to tee off early. The plan seemed to work like a charm especially when the rain intensified during the course of the day.

Juho, Alan and Gregory all set the early pace. But the honours go to two 9am starters. Peppe had a shaky start (DB – Bogey). But regained some impressive composure to finish the front 9 at +5 gross. His back 9 also showed some shaky patches. But he couldn’t regroup in the same way as on the front 9. He finished on 86 gross (66 Nett). This score proved too much of a hurdle for most players. Colm used a strong back 9 (40 gross) to better Peppe’s score by a whopping 4 strokes. Birdie on the 14th didn’t hurt.
First woman today is Cheryl Woodhouse. Lowest gross score was posted by Rob.

Breezy overall with spots of rain Sunday per bottom of results file and some run was available; last game got what sun there was. Ditch/trench across 9th fairway made an interesting feature:

Junior Ethan Ford crafted a professional 40 points to win the Plate and had 4 3s inc. one birdie at par 4 11th. Ethan will no doubt improve! Duncan Taylor had excellent back 9 22pts. Kerry Sargeant returned an excellent 38 pts with 1 over par on front 9 and 2 birdies. Kerry shared front 9 honours with Henry L-B. There were good 37s from Kim, Ulli and Robert C as well as 36s from Damber, Keith C and Paul K.