It was a warm, early summer’s day, with a bit of a south-westerly breeze, and scoring on the Prince’s course was generally good, with almost 80% of the field scoring at least 30 points.

The winner, Graham Cull, on 39 points was just one ahead of Jeremy Prescott, in 2nd place. Giles and James both scored 37 points but Giles snatched 3rd place with a better back 9, although James birdied the 11th.

It was a good turnout on a warm, partly sunny and slightly breezy day, especially considering that many of our regular Friday 5-day members didn’t play because today’s bank holiday was classified as a ‘weekend’ by Glendale. Scoring was slightly ‘inflated’ by 2 extra strokes being given to men off the white tees and women off the red tees, because yellow tees were an option for high handicap men. The fairways and greens continue to be in good condition and large rakes were evident in most of the bunkers.

Uli was today’s clear winner with a solid 42 points; 21 points on both the front and back 9s, a birdie on the 11th and just one blob. 2nd and 3rd places were taken by Rannesh and Martin Hay respectively, both having 19 points out and 21 points in. Amazingly for him, Rannesh only blobbed one hole; the 8th where he was 3 off the tee. Martin played most holes well but had serious problems on the 3rd and 18th, blobbing both, but he birdied the 11th.

In 4th place, just one point behind was Sean O’Sullivan (38 points), who was also 19 points out but ‘only’ 20 points in, with a total of 3 blobs on his card. Sweep payout to the top 4 (£9, £7, £5, £2).

The best front 9 of the day was scored by Suhail Salim (23 points) and by the time he had played the 12th, he had 34 points. The pressure must have been too much for him at that point, as he only scored a further 4 points over the final 6 holes – one to watch for the future though.

A mild, cloudy morning turned into a glorious warm sunny day for golf on the Prince’s course. This seemed to suit the lower handicappers in the field. At the moment, the greens and fairways are in the best condition that they will be all year but finding your ball in the rough, or getting out of it if you are lucky enough to find it, is becoming a major problem.

Late entrant Peter Goodall, who decided to ‘play’ rather than spend time on the driving range with his new driver, was our winner with 40 points, playing off 11. Peter’s 3 birdies on the 6th, 8th and 10th were the highlights of another very solid round from him.

In 2nd place was even later entrant, Naveed Manazir, who went out in the afternoon with Peter Flint and scored 39 points, playing off 8. Naveed birdied the 3rd, 5th and 11th holes and his 19 points out and 20 points in round was a welcome return to form for him.

In 3rd and 4th places, both with 38 points were Pralab Barua and Richard Owen, Pralab winning on countback. Pralab, playing off 16, had 21 points on the back 9 with a birdie on the 16th and it’s good to see him back in the winner’s circle. Richard’s highlights, playing off 12, were birdies on the 4th, 12th and 14th with ‘only’ 20 points on the back 9.

Sweep payout to top 4 (£8, £5, £3, £2).

Summer golf was a distant memory today at the Park. Sub 20 degrees temperatures, occasional rain showers and swirling/strong winds had more similarities with golf in October/November. 4 players dealt rather well with the conditions and recorded at least 40pts. A further 12 players managed to record at least 36pts. The rest of the field fared not as well.

Richard Owen went out in +2 gross. A nice birdie on the 9th hole brought his points total on the way out to 24pts! He recorded 3 more 3-pointers on the first 4 holes of the back 9. Holes 14-16 were a blip, 1 point on each, but better than what happened on the 16th tee. Richard managed to lose his first ball in the jungle on the right … after bouncing off the ladies’ tee-marker. He recovered with two 5’s on the last 2 holes. This enabled him to close the back 9 with 18pts.

A group of 3 players finished with 40pts. Another Richard (Hodgkinson) took 2nd place, thanks to a better back 9. Kim Chaffart managed to repeat Sunday’s horror show by recording another blob on the 15th hole, however a timely eagle on the 17th allowed him to hold of Angus. Uli will regret the 7 on the 12th and bogey on the 16th. Tamas was one-putting nearly every green on the front 9 on his way to 23pts. But an 8 on the 12th and blob on the 15th dented his charge on the back 9. Shout-out to the club captain John Ahad for recording the only “2” of the day. Richard H takes the lead in the Founders Cup (114) ahead of Juho (107), Richard O (104), Gina (103) and Kim (101).

Incessant heavy rain made it miserable weather for golf and only 5 hardy souls, of the 10 that signed in, completed their rounds.

Winner was Andrew Watson with an excellent 35 points; runner-up on 33 points was Phil Martin, but all those who finished scored well, considering the conditions. Sweep payout to top 2.

Irrespective at what time players teed off, everybody enjoyed near perfect golfing conditions. Very mild temperatures and gently swirling winds (except may be on the 16th). A large proportion of the field must have enjoyed the extra roll on the fairways. The better players probably appreciated the fact that the greens seemed to become more receptive.

1st place today goes to Oliver Khan. He combined a steady front 9 (18pts) with an excellent back 9 (23pts – matched by Paul Green and only bettered by Tony Barnett. Early bird Gina is first woman today, runner-up with 41pts. Sheena, the Woman’s Captain, matched Gina’s score but “only” had 20pts on the back 9. Richard Owen had multiple birdie putts on the front 9. He still recorded 22pts on the way out. He then finally birdied a hole on the back 9 (the 14th). Unfortunately for him  he lost out to Gina and Sheena on countback. Richard Young is the last player to record 40pts. Chris Jones looked like a lock-in to match/beat that target but an ugly NR on the 18th prevented him from finishing higher than 8th. Michael Gallagher and Phil Martin complete the Top7 and take the last Sweep positions. 

Paul Giles would’ve finished 2nd today but he committed the cardinal sin of not signing his card.

A smaller than usual field played in today’s sweep, for a combination of reasons – regulars on holiday or playing elsewhere, late cancellations due to work and doctor’s appointment, Spring Matchplay matches taking place and unfortunately Chris Rudkin had to ‘retire hurt’ after 6 holes. Nevertheless those who did play enjoyed a fine sunny day with a strong westerly wind.

The ‘Richards’ won the day with Richard Owen scoring 38 points and Richard Norden with 33 points. From reports of the matchplay between Peter Goodall and Peppe, they would have taken 1st and 2nd slots if they had played equally well in the sweep. Sweep payout to top 2 (£6, £3).