With dry but overcast late summer conditions the women again showed their liking to the Dukes course. Well done to Sheena with a winning score of 35 points, two ahead of Richard N. again posting a competitive score and with Ann G. coming in 3rd on 31 points, beating Jeremy on countback. It could have been so different for Naveed, who’s 34 points should have been 36 had he not penalised himself 2 shots for hitting his trolley on the 17th and then signing for an incorrect score.

Six teams of 3 played Princes in pleasant weather conditions but, at the end of the day, only the two teams with women members challenged for first place. The winning team of Jayne, Veronica and Richard O. finished on 75 points (3 better than the ‘par’ score of 72 points) and the runners up with 71 points were Cheryl, Justin and Naveed (the pre-comp. tip to be the winning team). Jayne’s birdie on the 16th and the pars by both Jayne and Ronnie on the 17th got us over the line, despite Justin’s birdie on the 17th.

On a dry but somewhat overcast day, it looked for a long time that 36 points would be the winning score, that was until tail-ender Richard Norden posted his 44 points score. Richard had a birdie 3 on the 9th hole and pars on 5 other holes – well done Richard, you’re playing much better than your 30 handicap would suggest and we look forward to you being ‘cut’! John Morris and Naveed were 2nd and 3rd, both on 36 points but John having the better net back 9 holes. Sweep pay-out to the top three players.

Thankfully we only had one very brief, sharp shower otherwise it was a good day for golf with a brisk southerly wind.

A high-scoring and very close competition resulted in 3 of the 5 teams posting a score of 48 stableford points, with the other teams not far behind with 44 and 45 points – well played to all.

Countback determined that the team of Giles, Justin and Mike H. were the overall winners with a gross score of 67, including 3 birdies. In 2nd place were Brian, Colm and Adrian with a gross score of 68, including one birdie and an eagle on the 14th. The 3rd of the 48 pointers were Cheryl, Jeremy P., Rannesh and Richard O. with a gross score of 67 including 7 birdies – their bogey on the 14th, all missing a 2 foot putt, was the difference.

It was an all too familiar Friday story weatherwise with very heavy rain showers drenching all but the two early starters. A number of players walked in on the back 9 and a few more of us should have! Notwithstanding the conditions, and the continuing long rough in front of the tees and away from the fairways on Dukes, Justin continued his recent good form posting a winning 35 points. Richard B. was second (33 points) including NRs on the 5th and 6th but 10 pars on the other 16 holes. Rannesh was third on 31 points, a steady round with two NRs.

Five 3-ball teams competed in this 1,2,3 waltz competition in warm sunny weather with a refreshing breeze. A full 18 holes was possible after Glendale re-opened the Princes course following the Thames Water flood clean up (although the full pond on the 10th had an unnatural black colour and very unpleasant smell of sewage).

The ‘par’ score for this form of competition is 72 stableford points and most teams were in and around that score. However the outright winners were the Jansari, Wildman & Owen team with a team score of 81 points. All three players played to their handicaps and dovetailed well, including two birdies for Justin and one each for Rannesh and Richard. Sweep pay out to the winning team.

In glorious summer sunshine, and with faster greens than we have been used to recently, it was James Deissler’s turn to ‘shine’. With holes 8 and 9 off limits due to Thames Water’s main drain overflow on Monday afternoon, James accumulated 39 points off 16 holes, with a routine 15 points on the front 7 holes but a sparking 24 points on the back 9, with 3 pars and a birdie on the last hole. One can only surmise possible reasons for this ‘retun to form’ but no doubt the absence of Rannesh’s dog Yangu took some pressure off. In second place with a par round of 32 points off 16 holes was Justin Wildman, just ahead of Peter Flint and Pralab Barua both on 31 points. The rest of us probably chose slightly the wrong clubs or spent too long in the rough. Sweep payout to the top 4.

Conditions were good for scoring on a dry sunny day with little wind and more of the rough trimmed back on the front and sides of the fairways. The clear winner, who took most advantage of the conditions, was Richard Norden with a sparkling 45 points (net 59 strokes) who earned himself a minus one shot exceptional scoring handicap adjustment by submitting his card as General Play. Richard scored 23 points out and 22 points in, with 6 pars. Our runner up was Peter Flint with an excellent 40 points playing a very strong back 9 (24 points) and an average outward 9 (16 points).

There were 4 players on 38 points: Giles, Pralab, Naveed and James – well played to all those.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this format of team competition, which was new to a few members. The weather was glorious, the course was in good condition and the scoring was good too. Clear winners with a gross 71, net 59, was the team of Cheryl, John Ahad and Stephen Haworth; only they know whether there was an outstanding player or whether all played an equal part, however inclusion of Cheryl playing off the red tees almost certainly played a part.
In a very commendable 2nd place were the team of Peter Flint, James Deissler and Rannesh with a gross 72, net 61.
Sweep payment was to the 3 in the winning team.

Another Texas Scramble will be arranged in about 6 weeks time.

In fine golfing weather, warm with very little wind and none of the forecast occasional showers, John A. was the runaway winner with 43 points, an extremely steady round with a birdie on the 16th. Coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively were Giles and Suhail, both with 37 points. Just behind were James and late entry Mike H., both with 36 points; Mike posting birdies on both the 2nd and 11th holes. Well played to all the leading players; sweep payout will be to the top 3.

It was good to see that considerable swathes of rough on the front and sides of the fairways had been cut by Glendale since we last played the Princes, making the course significantly easier, although the rough that remains is still punishing.

Finally, it was good to see Brian back playing again and to welcome Ehsan to his first competitive round.