A bright sunny start for the May Bank holiday plate – and despite clouding over it remained dry after recent course closures. .
Scoring conditions were tough with little roll and odd fairway not reachable off back tees with good drives.

Silvia Bortoli rose to the top winning with a very creditable 35 points off 7; Silvia had a steady 18 pts out and 17 back with 11 scored on the 4 women’s’ 3 par 5s. Joe Gonclaves chased a point behind and had best of hard back 9 – 18 points.
Julian James came 3rd 33 points just 1 ahead of Mel Dunn whilst Gunnar Sundberg had best back 9 to win countback fro Duncan Taylor both 31. Alan King had very promsing front 9 – 20 points.

For a change the weather was warm and sunny with virtually no wind at all. There were a few drops at the end of play as it threatened to rain but fortunately it held off.
Staying out of the rough was the order of the day and only three players managed to have net scores below par.

In division 1 Russell Stewart won on countback on the last 6 holes by virtue of a birdie on 18 to push Toby Hunt into second place. Sheena Harrington took 3rd place ahead of Alan King and Kevin Prendergast in 5th all on net 70.

In division 2 It was much clearer with yours truly with a net 64 ahead of Paul Giles on net 66…and also The MW Grand Medal series on 202 from Chris Jones 207.

A more pleasant day weather wise but with a cold northerly wind.
The competition was again switched over to the Princes course to allow it to be a counting comp. It also meant that we didn’t have such long carries off the tee to reach the cut fairways.
Scoring was steady with Mike Jones winning with 37 points. Close behind in second was Ed Robinson. Third place was a contest between three players on 35 and Paul Giles pipped the others on countback over the final six holes.

Sunny periods at first but it clouded over and there was persistent north wind. It was the composite course on Duke’s and hopefully the last after the wet winter.

2 sets of results from the scores:
Coronation Cup & men’s Top Dog Rnd 1
Final men’s Winter Competition Rnd 8.

The Coronation Cup saw Mel Dun shoot 40 points to win with best front 9 (19) and back 9 (21); he was followed by Richard Inglis with a consistent 37 ; Charlie Whiteman and Gunnar Sundberg in the last game vied for 3rd place with Charlie having the better back. Best woman Jenny Lawrence 26.
For men this was first Top Dog 2024 round and in senior division Mel leads 12pts from Kerry Sargeant 8pts; in junior it’s Richard 12 from Charlie 8 and Gunnar 6. See manual pdf attached with comps lined up for the rest of 2024.

This was last round of Winter Competition which sees Tamas Ladacs the senior division winner 125 from Kerry Sargeant 116. In junior division Mel is winner 126 from Paul Green 117; well done to all who played in sometimes horrible conditions.

A fine but blustery day which threatened to shower several times but only once for a minute or two managed to.
The wind was cold which reduced the temperature by a few degrees.
Except for Peppe Monterosso who had the only positive score the rest of the field struggled to score consistantly and finished with minus scores.
Some of the field were playing this format for the first time and found it an interesting test.

Women

The 14^th April was the Centenary of the inauguration of Richmond Park Golf Club and the women’s section celebrated with a mystery partner four ball better ball game.  There was a good turn out of sixteen women.   Sheena set up the game for a single’s stableford for signing in and we all played this accordingly.  We returned to enjoy our refreshments and draw a random partner.   Once the partner was drawn out, she could not take part in the draw and could only be selected once.  Sheena, in the meantime, had changed Masterscoreboard for our entries as a 4BBB.  A bit of chaos ensued while we queued to enter our scores, which held the men up who had completed their rounds.  Everyone agreed it was fun.  It was good to see Ali and Ann playing again after injuries and Gina made an appearance to say hello.

In first place was Susan and Jenny  42 pts, 2^nd Jayne and Katharina 40 pts, Angela and Pat 38 pts.  Prizes were awarded.  There was also a prize for the best individual score which went to Jayne Maxwell with 37 pts. 

Men

A great dry day for golf although not as warm as yesterday; the course had dried significantly from the winter months and just 2 temps.

A good turnout for the April Medal and some good scores especially taking into account the new course handicap calculation.

In the senior division Peter Needham led the way with net 67 with Alan King and Toby Hunt returning respectable 68 and 69. On 71 came Peter Abbott 71off 4 – lowest gross of the day and a level par front 9 gross. Richard Back secured 3 birdies and heads this year’s birdie tree with 11 (see attached). Paul Kamerling would surely have been in the running but lost ball on 9th; he had 3 birdies on back 9 just 1 over par 34.

The junior division medal was won with a super 62 from Charlie Whiteman aided by superb putting. Nigel Ward , Robin Thomas and Paul Green chased with 66s. par.

This was 2nd of 8 rounds in The Grand Medal which is now headed in senior division by Tamas Ladacs 143 and then Toby Hunt 143 and Kerry Sargeant 145. Nigel Ward leads junior 130 from Tony Kopczak 135 and Charlie Whiteman 138.

The Princes course only had 2 Temp greens hence WHS Counting. The course was in good conditions but the green were a little slow. That said Uli Katte found them just to his liking it seems. I am attaching a good scoring report which shows just how dominant he was today, spendid golf indeed.
Peter Harrington was hot on Uli’s tail but after a 9 on the 1st hole and 6 on 18 finished 1 shot back. Paul Green and Chris Jones took 3rd and 4th places.
It was nice to have some sunshine although the wind came up on the back and light showers appeared on the back nine. But not too much to affect the scoring.

Very windy but mild for the Spring Plate on Duke’s Composite course. Grass on fairways uncut and so long.

Scoring was lower than recent weeks but Ashley Stephens shot an excellent 38 pint to win (21 on front 9) from Nigel Ward 36 with Charlie Whiteman and Mel Dunn following with 34s; Mel Dunn and Peter Goodall had 33s with Peter’s having 22 on back 9.

Best woman Silvia Bortoli 30 points playing off 9.

For men this counted as 7th round of 8 Winter Competition and positions are unchanged from round 6 with Tamas Ladacs ahead on 125 from Kerry Sargeant 116 and 3 on 110 : Paul Kamerling, Richard Smith and Peter Needham.

The medal was played in generally overcast conditions with a breeze that strengthened towards the end of the round for the later starters. We had 4 temp greens having been told there were only 2.
Bill Norman continued his run of form to take 1st place in Division 1 with a net 68 followed by Tamas Ladacs 1 shot behind. Uli Katte headed the net71’s t take 3rd place from Kim Chaffart.
In Division 2 Peter Fisher comfortably took 1st place with his net 60 followed by Peter Harrington on net 63. Dave Cato off 16 took 3rd place on net 65.
The 4th Hole proved good for 3 Div 2 players with a birdie each.

After 2nd round of Midweek Grand Medal (best of 5 from 8), Dave Cato 124 leads Bill Norman 131.

Easter Sunday had a grey start with a chilly wind but it remained dry and eventually the sun came out. And with just 2 temp. greens ( 3 & 5) it was a qualifier for handicapping.

Mel Dunn secured the Easter Plate with 44 points – and an eagle 3 at the par 5 9th; his 44 earned a -1 ESR and cuts his HI from 19.6 to 16.2. Well done. Oz Doyle edged Justin Wildman on back 9 [both 40 points] – Oz having better back 9 22pts wilst Justin better front 9 = 23 pts. Pat Dalton and Raymond Esin followed with excellent 39s.

Best woman Joan Mulcahy 37 points.