The weather today was more kind than earlier this week and we all stayed dry although the ground was still very muddy in many places. There were 6 temp greens where putting was a lottery, thank goodness for the 2 putt rule.
However, scoring was fairly good and for some very good.
One can only hope that the conditions will continue to improve over the coming weeks.

A damp grey start for the March Plate on the composite Duke’s course with 6 holes played twice; conditions deteriorated with rain becoming heavier and a few came in early.

Gerard O had an amazing front 9 with 25 points in his total 43 to win from James W who shot a consistent 37 ahead of the early clubhouse leader Joe having another fine 36 points nipping Justin 35. There were 5 birdies with Kerry scoring 2 .

A cold and sunny start but although clouding over the forecast rain kept off. 8 temp greens with 4 played twice; rain in the week again meant some lying water with mud. Finding a dry spot to move the ball to was a challenge!

Women

As predicted the numbers fell away again with the news on the course being wetter than 2 weeks ago to just 2 teams of 3 both playing off 10. The winning team of Angela, Katharina and Sali had no double bogeys and a birdie on the 7th to beat Cheryl, Sheena and Susan by 3 shots with their net 73

Men

A good turnout of 37 for the 2nd iteration of the 12 holes plus 6 played twice on Duke’s.

Robert C won the senior division with 20 points out and in with 2 birdies. 2 behind was Joe G with a consistent 38 and then a fine round from Chris M on 35.

The junior division was clinched by Charlie W – an even 18 out 18 in 36 points with 2 ‘4-pointers’. Just second on countback over last 6 holes was Duncan T 35 from Alan K.

Course conditions were muddy but unseasonably warm with a light breeze coming up from time to time.

The highlight of the day was not the winners but a hole in one by Chris Rudkin at the second hole par 3.
A wonderful straight shot that bounced a few times before nestling at the bottom of the cup. His first ever hole in one.
We all enjoyed a drink on his success in the clubhouse afterwards.

The overall standard of scoring was very high, everyone seems to have got used to layout now.

The sweep winner was Peter Harrington with 43 points (23 out and 20 back). Sweep second is Richard Norden with 40 points and third in the sweep was Brian Ransom with 39.

The course conditions were rather wet underfoot after the overnight rain and the temperature had dropped by a degree or two with a cool breeze.

However the division 2 players showed that scoring was not a problem. Richard Marriott birdied the 18th to record his net62 pushing Peter Fisher who only parred it into 2nd place. in 3rd place by bogeying the 18th was Mike Jones. They were followed by Dave Cato and Pat Dalton for the money places. Julian James was the only Division 1 player to break par and Bill Norman took the 2nd place money. The division 1 players I think knew that the higher handicap players would have the edge today.
It was pleasing to note that the real 6th Green was back in play and hopefully other temps will disappear shortly.

Women

Another huge field for the comp today!
Although we had the same number of temps that we’ve had for the last few weeks, it was encouraging to see some of the roped off areas being re-opened, an indication that perhaps at long last it is starting to dry up a bit.
Cheryl decided to have a drive-in on her first singles event since taking over the reins as women’s captain. Her artistic skills added to our challenge of deciding where we thought her shot would end up, but the consensus view was that Doreen got the closest. Well judged Doreen.

Perhaps with both the AGM and club dinner out of the way, Sheena was inspired. With her best round since August & recording 8 pars along the way she finished with 38 points. Jayne was just 2 points behind with 36, helped by her 4 points on the 18th.

Both made good inroads into Gina’s 5 shot lead in the Eclectic and now head it up with 1 round to go. So it looks like the result might end up being a close run thing in the end.

Men

A mild and dry day and a good turnout for another round of the Winter Competition.

Good golf and scoring. Kerry led division 1 on 42 points – 2 birdies and 23 on front 9; a point behind was Aidan with 23 on back 9. and 3rd was Tamas on 40 points.

The junior division saw a tie of 43 points between Gregory and Gunnar who just won on countback last 6 holes. Well done to both! Another tie for 3rd with Paul F just countback winner on the back 9 from Ashley = both 41 points.
The Prince’s Eclectic after 3 rounds gives Peter N the lead 61 from Tamas and Umran 62.

The round was 4th played in the Winter Comp and the senior division is headed by Tamas and Kerry tied 116 from Peter N 110 whilst in the junior Oz leads 113 from Gunnar and Onursal both 111.

Round6 of the Midweek Winter Comp played on Princes.

Another comp another clubhouse lead for Mike J. And he’s getting pretty good at it too. 22pts on front and back 9 in these conditions are quite remarkable. And it could’ve been better had he not scored “only” 6pts on the first 4 holes. He also reinforced the golf rule that a good round starts with a DB. Only one player bettered that mark. After a strong 2nd place last week Peter F went one better this week. He managed to beat Mike by 2pts: 25pts (out) + 21pts (in). Best of the rest was Ian B. The countback rule separates him from the 2 other players on 37pts. 

MW Winter Comp Rankings (Indicative)
P Fisher 124, M Jones 120, S Gokbayrak 113, R Carlile 112

MW Princes Eclectic
J James 60.9, M Jones 62.6, P Giles 64.4, R Carlile 65

Looks like the field is getting used to the temporary greens. Scoring was very tidy again. Suppose that the shrinking number of 3-putts doesn’t hurt (thank you local rule).

Another week and another occasion for Mike Jones to set the mark. 19pts on front and back 9 is a very decent marker. In the end he proved of the best of a group of no less than 5 players on 38pts. Julian J had an incredible start: he already totalled 18pts after  just … 6 holes. Alan K had a decent outing until he decided to forego any sweep credit by recording a DB on 12,13 and 14. Richard M trumped Mike by a single point on the way out and in. He was joined by in form Peter F. PF’s back 9 was 1pt better than Richard. So he takes 2nd place. Clear winner today is Serhat. A decent front 9 (19pts) was followed by an excellent back 9 (23pts). More than enough to take the honours today.

MW Winter Comp Standings (indicative only)
Julian J 147, Robert C 146, Mike J 140, Peter F 136

MW Princes Eclectic
Julian 61.6, Robert C 65, Alan K 67.2,

Milder than of late with surface frost melted but wind increasing as storm ‘Isha’ approached. 6 ‘temps’.

Women

Interestingly all 3 teams scored better on the front 9, which perhaps we can put down to all the temporaries which shortened all but the 2nd and possibly helped by the 2 putt rule.
We definitely got the best of the weather today with a super speedy round despite following 5 games of men playing medal.

As ever with this format, despite the pressure of having to use 5 tee shots each, everyone enjoyed themselves and the winning team was as mentioned Doreen, Pat & Silvia with their 42 points with both the other teams on 38.

Men

Some very fine scoring with new member James Withers (still developing handicap) headlining with 61.

Winner of the senior division medal with a late 62 was Richard Smith playing off 10, 36 out & 36 in for a 4 over par 72 – well done indeed! 5 behind was Richard I 67 just nipping Michael H on countback 67s; 3 followed with creditable 68s – Richard B, Brian M and Kerry; congrats to Richard B lowest gross [on countback from Richard S!] 72.
The junior division medal was won with a feisty 64 from Tony K on countback from Gunnar (but who recorded a 10 at 10th so could have been much better) in another excellent round. Early clubhouse leader Oz just pipped Mel with a glorious 65.

Conditions looked pretty tricky to play golf. But somehow a lot of players fared pretty well. Would distance matter after all? Looks like the extra roll proved quite beneficial. Hoisting the ball up in the air and landing angles from 45 degrees or more was not the way to go. Putting on ice was an added complication.

Mike J went out early again today. He went out in 32 Net (45 Gross). A couple of DBs on the first 2 par 3’s on the back 9 didn’t look pretty on the scorecard. Thanks to timely pars on 14 and 18 he finished on 30 Net. That mark proved to big of a hurdle for most of the field. A few late(r) starters did challenge in the end. Richard N matched Mike’s 62. But a Triple on 13 and a DB on …the last hole were his undoing. Tough to finish 4th on countback. Julian J trumped the other members of the 62 club. He also finished on 30 Net on the back 9. But a par on 13 and a birdie on 18 swung the countback balance in his favour. 2nd place is his reward. But star of the day was Peter F. He went out in 31 Net and just like the gang of 62 came back in 30 Net. Great scoring in these conditions.  Shout out to Umran for recording an eagle on the 9th.