Richard Owen
Richard Owen
Men’s Invitation
The event was played on a bright sunny Saturday and although not attended by the usual numbers, was enjoyed by all competitors. Three of our new women took part and agreed it was a great alternative to playing in the weekly competitions.
Prizes were award to the runners up and winners, who included two of the new women.
Runners up with 44 stableford points were Ed Hall and Kelly Hewitt
Winners with 46 stableford points were Ellie Rhodes and Maher Sharma.
Midweek September Plate
A pleasant dry bright and autumnal day for the September Plate on Duke’s.
The in-form Jonno Mclean won with a great 40 points – Jonno had room in the bag for even more having picked up on 2 holes. A shot behind was Kim Jabbour with a creditable 39 points . Next on 37 points were best woman Sookkyyung Park, Andy Johnson, Chris Rudkin and Peppe Monterosso. Recent NAPGC Seniors champ Angus had 35. Ed Robinson had notable back 9 21 points.
The Silver Jubilee Trophy ( For 25 yrs: 1924-1949 )
Bright , cool and sunny but dry for the Silver Jubilee.
An astonishing 62 from Richard Smith won the Jubilee – just 1 over par and level 4s for the back 9; well done Richard! His nearest contender was Michael Pham having another good round with a glorious 65. Deborah Potter took 3rd place, and best placed woman, on countback from Mike Shabani – both 67s.
Richard took both front and back 9 honours with 2 36s front and back.
This was final round of the Anniversary Cup which sees Michael Pham the winner with a deserved 275 from both Nigel Ward and Deborah Potter both 283.
Rickmansworth match, Away Leg
The team from Richmond Golf Club headed up to North London to play Rickmansworth in the second leg of a competition between the clubs which has been running for 60 years. The first leg finished 3 points to each team so all that was needed was 3 points to retain the trophy which Richmond won last year. We tee’ d off with rain threatening on the forecast but it remained dry for all six of the games. However, it turned out that that was the only bit of good fortune we had as we battled the course as much as the opposition team. Although a short course at a par 65, 4,635 yards, the course is quite difficult and very little there seemed to be predictable! Richmond Park had a pretty strong team overall and as a result the other team had 102 shots against our 39.
Joe Goncalves pitch into the hole in their game kept his team with Maher Sharma in the hunt with a draw for half a point. The teams of Alan Treacy/Russell Stewart and Michael Hayden/Simon Russett lost by 1 hole and 2 holes, respectively, which gave Rickmansworth 2.5 points and 1 point away from winning the match. The teams of Simon McKnight/Peter Harrison and Chris Mellish/Cliff Morgan both battled to the finish with draws which meant that at half a point per game, Rickmansworth had the match with 3 ½ points. Adrian Wells and Julian James gave Richmond Park a consolation win and an impressive one, given the shots they had to give away to the opposition – 27 in total. So, the 2025 match ended with Rickmansworth winning 6½ points to our 5½. The Rickmansworth course is a varied and difficult challenge and home advantage is a big advantage in this case – better luck next year!!
Midweek September Medal (MW GM round 7 of 8)
A blustery and cloudy day, which could have been worse if the predicted rain had happened.
However, for some this not seem an obstacle with some good scores.
Mike Assender out in 38 and back in 35 showed what could be achieved with the lowest gross score of the day. Andy Jognson in Div 2 also stolled round with a net 64.
The outstanding shot of the day goes to Sheena Harrington with a Hole in One at the 11th. Very well done!!
Peter Harrington partnering Sheena scored a birdie 2 at the same hole. Amazing Family scoring into the wind as well.
after 7 of 8 rounds of the Midweek Grand Medal Toby Hunt leads 344 from Dave Cato 353.
Men’s Horton Park match (2nd leg – away)
Following heavy overnight rain and a brief course inspection by the Horton captain, the course was deemed ‘fit for play’ and our 6 pairs headed off in sunny, breezy weather for the 2nd leg of our inaugural match against the home club. With a 3.5:2.5 lead from the home leg at Richmond Park, we were looking for at least an additional 3 points from the away fixture to secure the win. In fact, we won the away leg 5:1 making the overall result 8.5:3.5 in favour of Richmond Park, much to the joy of our team (and the despondency of the Horton captain – who won his match).
Our winning pairs were Joe Gonclaves & Maher Sharma (2up), Iker Lanzagorta & Chris Mellish (3&2), Gerard Ouattara & Marco Vergani (6&4), Will Balakrishnan & Kevin Prendergast (3&2) and Sunny Lall & Alex Catlow (2up). All these pairings scored between 39 and 43 stableford points (better ball) off their course handicaps, with Iker & Chris on 43 points.
The match was played in a very friendly atmosphere and we enjoyed pizza, chips and drinks in their clubroom after the match. Unfortunately the greens had been spiked, hollow tined and sanded only days before the match and some of the tees were in poor condition, however the fairways and bunkers were in better condition than those at Richmond Park. Whilst our early pairs finished before the heavy showers resumed, our final pairs caught the rain on the closing holes.
It is hoped to arrange to play a return double-header again next year.
The Golden Jubilee Shield & Top Dog Event 6 of 7
Mixed weather for the Golden Jubilee. Sun and clouds but it stayed dry and breezy. Greens need to recover from the recent works e.g. hollow tining and sanding.
Winner of the Golden Jubilee with an excellent 63 was Gavin Laniger off 17 – Gavin scored just 2 over par on the front 9. He was chased on 66 by Greg Wright who also returned 2 over par on front 9. Paul Fulham, Richard Prosser and Chris Mellish were next with commendable 68s.
Will Balakrishnan took front and back 9 honours – 36 and 39 with best gross of the day 75. Best woman was Monique Hubaille net 73.
The round was 4th in the Anniversary Cup series which is headed by Michael Pham 284 from Nigel Ward and Iker Lanzargote 287.
It was also 6th competition in the men’s Top Dog series. Division 1 (Senior) is headed by Aidan Hurley on 22 points from Kerry Sargeant and Richard Smith 15. Division 2 (Junior) sees Abdullah Almasud lead 21 points from Michael Pham 20.
NAPGC Ballantyne Trophy, Final
The final of the Ballantyne Trophy was played as part of ‘Finals Day Weekend’ at Winter Hill golf course in Buckinghamshire. 34 teams had entered the competition, from Portsmouth in the South, to Rose Hill in the Midlands, to Basildon in the East and Richmond Park were up against a strong team from Rose Hill in the final. The competition teed off on a fine and sunny day at around 1:30pm (after the Hawtree and Siemens Bowl finals). The pace of play was slow, due to games in front, but after five and half hours Richmond Park secured the win (2&1) to claim the trophy for the first time in our club’s history.
Things were not looking good early on for our first pair of Richard Owen and Gerard Ouattara, 2 down after 2 holes and 3 down after 5 holes, however they gradually forced their way back into the match and were all square after the 10th hole. The next 4 holes were all halved and then Richard won the elevated (table top) 15th with a par 3, giving us the lead for the first time in the match. The final 3 holes were played in a very tense atmosphere, all halved in pars.
Our second pair, Russell Stewart and Iker Lanzagorta, had a more comfortable time taking the lead early on and keeping 1 or 2 holes ahead through the middle of their round, until going further ahead for a 4&2 win. Our third pair, Adrian Wells and Aiden Hurley, had a tight game throughout, 1 down after the first hole, 2 up after the 4th, all square by the 7th and still all square after the 14th. However, they lost the table top par 3 15th and also the par 5 16th and finished 2 down (but were glad as they walked off the 18th to find out the team had won overall !).
Special mention also to Paul Green, Mel Dunn and Julian James who played a big part in earlier rounds getting the club to Final Day.
August Plate
Somewhat windy but otherwise a dry course and true greens.
Winner with a superb 45 points was Oz Doyle (13) playing ‘the best round of his life’. A front nine of 26 set the pace and contained 3 birdies. The back nine collected another 19 points. Second was Toby Chidavaenzi (19) with 41 points. A further ’40s’ score was made by Alastair Montgomery (04) in third place, who collected 40 points, playing an amazing 1 under par on the front nine and one over par on the back. Fourth was Adrian Wells (11) with 39 points and 5th was Greg Wright (08) with 38 points.
MW Club Championship/Hcap Trophy R2
Overall, the weather was probably slightly better than forecast. However, there was a torrential downpour at 10:10 and a few considerably lighter showers as well. Added to that, there was a strong gusty wind to contend with. When it really blew, it was affecting the ball considerably in the air and was even having an influence on long putts. Despite the rain, the fairways still had plenty of run and the greens were in excellent condition. Hitting a good teeshot downwind was a joy, hitting one into it. not quite so much!
There are several competition results to report on:
Starting with the Men’s Scratch results:
In Division 1 (Senior), Richard Back takes top spot with his aggregate 158 strokes, Justin Wildman is second with 163 and Richard Owen is third with 164.
In Division 2 (Junior), top spot goes to Andy Johnson with his aggregate of 189, Steve De Long is second with 191 and Seymour Lairdjust pipped Richard Norden for third (both with 195).
In the Women’s Scratch, Gina Jillett takes first place with her aggregate of 165. Sheena Harrington is second with 175 and Jayne Maxwell took third place with 180.
Congratulations to Richard, Andy and Gina for their championship-winning performances.
There was also a handicap competition played over the two rounds for the lowest aggregate net score.
Winner by 2 strokes was Jayne Maxwell with her combined net total of 138.
There were a heap of players just 2 strokes behind on 140. MS shows that Alison Chadwick took second place ahead of Justin Wildman in third. Commiserations to Richard Owen and Gina Jillett who had the same score but, in terms of placings “computer says no”.
Congratulations to Jayne on her fine win.
And a special mention for Will (playing off 5) who had the lowest gross score of the day with his hugely imressive 74.