Autumn golf is back at the park: thicker air, less carry, less roll. At least the greens are improving and the bunkers are no longer GUR.

Gina forgot that she is playing an important team comp this weekend and recorded a) the best score over the par 4’s (+4) and par 3’s (-1). She also matched Andrew Watson for the best back 9. Number wise this translates into a score of 65 Nett and the status of leader in the clubhouse. Another early starter Adrian Wells recorded an excellent score of 66 Nett to capture 3rd place (his score could even have been better had he not recorded a snowman on the first hole). The only player to best Gina’s score was Colm Ivors with a fantastic 63 Nett. This score is even more admirable since he started his round with a triple bogey 7. Dave Chilvers and Roslyn Williams complete the Top6. Special mention to Uli for recording an eagle 2 on the 3rd hole.

Midweek Grand Medal Trophy Cheryl Woodhouse holds on to top spot (347) before Angus (352), Chris Jones (354), Jeremy and Colm.

The day dawned very still with no sun. Autumnal gnats/ midges were easily inhaled. Slowly the sun made an appearance and the temp nudged 19C as shown bottom of results report. Water was still visible in bunkers from earlier in the week [all bunkers GUR].

Ed’s 44 points was posted as early leader and he remained there to win decisively; significantly he ‘blobbed’2 holes so could have been better…His score triggered a WHS ESR and handicap index reduces from 21.9 to 19.6 – well done Ed. Nick Rogers shot an impressive 42 points for 2nd – again with a blob. Andrew Wa 41, Adrian W 40 completed the 40s line-up. Best woman Ronnie 37.

All to play for in the next round; first 8 won sweep as per attached report.

Hard to believe that the rain at the start of the week was so heavy that 4 holes had to be closed (playing the 9th as a Par 3 must have been weird – see long-distance photo below). The field seemed to enjoy pretty decent golfing conditions.

Looks like RIchard O used the extra receptive green on the 2nd hole. He came within a couple of inches of acing that hole. Tough luck Richard – but see photo below.

Stephen H collected 19pts on the first 9 holes. 12pts over the last 5 holes allow him to barely edge out Julie. 3rd place goes to Juho (18pts + 11 over the last 5 holes). Richard Smith went -2 gross over the last 5 holes. This translated in 14pts. Unfortunately for him he “only” recorded 14pts over the 9 holes. Else he would’ve finished a bit higher on the leader board. Richard Y closes out the Top6.

The weather forecast for the coming days looks a bit “drier”.

Saturday conditions became atrocious but Sunday was much better although late players caught a shower; this all reflected in (busy?) graph at bottom of results.

A promising start (birdie at 2nd from 18 inches) from Duncan was consolidated throughout the round with the possible exception of lost ball left on 13 long par 3. Duncan finished with 64 followed by a glorious 65 from Mark B with 1 shot separating Richard I, Russell and Peter G 66,67,68. Best of the 69s was Saturday entrant Cuneyt.

Divisional medal results confirm Mark winning senior and Duncan the junior.

This was last of 7 rounds in the Grand Medal Trophy with Colm on 263 a creditable 5 ahead of Mark and Ross.

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.