A chilly and cloudy mid morning gave way to a short, fine drizzly spell around midday, after which the sun came out.

The results show a tie-at-the-top on 21points by Brian Ransom, Pat Dalton and Richard Norden. All 3 players also all scored par for 3 points on the only hole played on the ‘back 9’. However, the software identifies Brian as the Countback winner on account of the “last 6 holes on the Front 9” and Pat as 2nd on account of the “last 3 holes on the Front 9”.

Sweep payout to top 3 (£7, £5, £4)

Hopefully the ladies will be back playing with us again next Friday on Prince’s.

On a mild but cloudy day, the strong south-westerly winds from the effects of Storm Otto over Scotland were the most significant challenge (and assistance) during the round.

The ‘best 2 scores from 3 players’ proved difficult for all teams on some holes with all teams have the odd 2-pointer (or less !!). It turned out that there were only 2 teams that played ‘better than par (72 points)’, with the team of Pete Goodall, Justin Wildman and Seymour Laird (79 points) outscoring Pat Dalton, Bill Norman and Alex Braun (77 points).

As is so often the case, the story of winners and runners up came down to the closing few holes. Alex birdied both the 15th and 16th and his team scored 13 team points on those 2 holes, but then they only scored 7 team points on the 17th and 18th. Pete birdied the 15th and the 18th (on the green with his tee shot), giving his team 13 points on 17th and 18th, plus 9 team points on the 15th and 16th.

Sweep payout to the winning team (£6 each).

A frosty start soon developed into a lovely sunny winter’s morning, with relatively dry and mud-free conditions and all 18 greens ‘in play’.

Good scoring proved difficult for almost all the field with only today’s winner, Bill Norman (39 points), scoring more than ‘par’. Bill par’d 6 of the first 13 holes, amassing 32 points by that stage, but wobbled with only 4 points on the last 4 holes (without which his score would have been well into the 40’s). In 2nd place was Bridget Stone (36 points); Bridget also found the front 9 easier with 22 points out but only 14 points in. Graham Cull, playing alongside Bridget, came in 3rd with 35 points; his was a steady round of 18 points out and 17 in. These top 3 were followed by a clutch of 6 players on 32 points.

The best scores analysis report shows that Bridget had the best front 9 (22 points) and Peter Flint had the best back 9 (19 points). Mayumi, Colin Price and Gary Simpson were best on the three par 3’s, all amassing 8 points, and Richard Back had 2 birdies (although he and Richard Inglis lost their side match against Kevin Prendergast and Richard Owen).

Congratulations to out our Top 3, who collect the sweep monies (£13, £8, £4).

The weather was dull and overcast but some ‘sparkling’ golf was played by the leading teams.

Top of the pile were Peter, Pat, John and Uli with a massive 49 points, playing off 9. They had 25 points out and 24 points in, with 6 birdies and one bogey on the card. Not far behind (47 points) were Rannesh, James, Alex and Ian playing off 10, with 24 points out and 23 in; a Par front 9 and 1 birdie on the back 9. Two teams, Pralab’s (off 8) and Brian’s 3-ball (off 9), had 45 points, both with 23 points out and 22 points in.
The game was clearly ‘easier’ for the 4-balls, as they took the first 3 places.
Sweep payout to the top 2 teams (£16 & £8).

It was a rather chilly, overcast day but at least the Duke’s had re-opened and the ground had ‘softened up’, so the frozen fairways and greens were a past memory.

Almost half the field managed a ‘par score’ or better (20 points for a 10 holes course). The winner, Richard Norden (22 points), got away to a flying start with 13 points on the first 4 holes, including a birdie on the 3rd. In 2nd place, Pat Dalton (21 points), also got away to a great start, with 3 pars and 14 points on the first 5 holes. Steady play from Pralab, Adrian and Julian saw them all score 20 points, Pralab taking 3rd place on countback and probably ruing his 7 on the SI18 2nd hole.

Most players played the ‘Full 18 holes’ and it was good to see Paul Grand taking part in his first Friday competition.

Sweep payout to the top 2 (£8, £4).

The frozen ground made the course much ‘shorter’ with summertime run on the fairways but it made pitching onto the (concrete) greens just about impossible. Bouncing balls and sideways kicks were the order of the day. Not really ‘proper golf’ but it was good to get back out on this sunny winter’s day, with no temporary greens.

In order of ‘fairness’, the two 3-ball teams had either Colin or Bill (who played as a 2-ball) added to their team, so everyone was in a 4-ball team. This made the result very close between four or the teams but still meant that the clear winners were the team of Julian James, Pralab Barua, Cuneyt Sazer and Adrian Wells, with an incredible 92 points (averaging more than 5 points/hole). The winning team takes the sweep money (£5 each).

Interestingly, it can be seen from the Competitions Scorecards (link below) that if all 4 scores had counted, the winning team of Julian, Pralab, Cuneyt and Adrian would have come 4th and the winners would have been Richard (O), Pete Goodall, Ian Burgess and Bill Jennings.