Sheena Harrington
Sheena Harrington
Midweek Champagne Chase
After heavy overnight rain Glendale closed both courses and they will remain closed on Thursday.
Charity Cup
First of the autumn cancellations due to heavy rain from the previous day and more forecast on an already saturated course.
Centenary Hickory Challenge
Each of us was given a set of 7 clubs including a driver and a putter and it was definitely a struggle for most. Perhaps sending us home with a greater regard for the players of yesteryear. Especially when combined with less forgiving clothing and courses that probably in comparison make RP look to be fantastic.
More images can be found on https://www.richmondparkgolfclub.org.uk/2024-people-and-events/ eventually videos will also be uploaded.
Of course there was one amongst us for whom the day didn’t seem to present that much of a challenge & that despite one of his 4-ball trying to take him out with a whack on the back of his head. Huge congratulations to Richard Smith for his amazing 38 points and comfortable 7 point margin for the win.
To encourage midweek & green fee payers to participate, the club offered a concessionary rate and the 2 5-day players made the most of this offer. In 2nd spot on 31 points was Bill Norman with Giles Rawlinson being the better of the 4 on 28 points to take 3rd place.
It is a fact that the back 9 generally plays a lot easier than the front 9 (the 7th & 8th were again the 2 hardest holes for everyone) and today there were some spectacular differences. Partly no doubt as we were getting more used to the clubs.
Despite the generally low scoring there were 12 birdies amongst the group. Richard Owen’s on the 2nd was no doubt the most impressive after his tee shot left him in a very grassy spot on the back of the bunker on the left. A spectacular chip sent it through the air and into the hole, but alas not winning one of the NTP prizes
And finally it was lovely to see Jon Cooper today who was the organiser of our hickory event 10 years ago and hopefully the NHS can get him back playing.
August Monthly Medals
Women
A sunnier day than forecast and so much quicker than last Sunday’s round. All we needed was some good rounds of golf. to complete it. As is normal, the cards tend to show one or two holes being the undoing of several potentially good scores
Bridget won by 4 shots on a net 67 from Doreen on 71 (on countback). All of us, bar Reiko, were there when she decried her abilities, ignoring her 3 pars and 3 bogeys which based on her handicap gave her 8 shots to use up elsewhere. WHS agrees she played very well and is awarding a 1.1 cut tomorrow to her handicap.
Holes 7 & 8 as may be expected came out as the hardest holes today.
Men
A glorious 65 earned Kerry Sargeant the winning score for the senior division; Kerry started as he finished with birdies and kept a six off his card. A remarkable and consistent 66 earned Richard Smith second place – including an eagle at 14th (the 4th by men on Sundays this year per attached). George Taylor and Michael Hayden followed wit excellent 66s. The in-form Richard Inglis NRd but alaso eagled the 14th – well done!
A fine 64 in late game by Charlie Whiteman won the junior division. A skilful back 9 37 placed Peter Harrison 2nd on 66; a super back 9 from Ian Burgess earned a countback 67 win from Alan King who also had super back 9.
This was 6th round od the Grand Medal (5th in July abandoned) and we see in the senior division Kerry leading 277 just 1 ahead of Richard both 4 rounds played; in the junior division Nigel Ward has a 21 shot lead on 354 from Ian Burgess 375; Nigel built solid foundation with early 3 rounds in the 60s.
July Monthly Medals
The forecast wasn’t great and no doubt everyone had rain at some point. Unfortunately as the women played the 18th there was an ominous clap of thunder. Shortly after they finished there was a cloudburst followed by some fierce thunder & lightning. Glendale then closed the course (the klaxon sounded) and as the men would have been unable to mark their balls to restart from the same place, their medal had to be abandoned.
Women
That was an interesting day on the course and perfect timing for our 2 games – we saw quite a few drowned rats eventually making their way into the clubhouse after the klaxon went. Undoubtedly the wind played a part in some of the scores recorded today and it certainly wasn’t what we’ve come to expect from conditions underfoot in July at the Park.
Congratulations to Sali who recorded a net 69 to win from Silvia with the comfortable margin of 4 shots and will get a small cut in her handicap tomorrow – as we know, not a given with WHS.
There were 2 birdies on the 16th par 3, 1 for Sali and 1 for Elisabeth whose shot your author saw and what a good one it was. Barely a 6″ putt required to slot away her 2, which had it been a stableford comp would have given her 5 points!! Sali’s may have been just as close but unfortunately I didn’t see yours.
June Monthly Medal (GM4/8) /Women’s PING 4BBB
Women
After many years of this event, the women of RP decided to participate in England Golf’s Ping 4BBB who award prizes to each club’s winners and runners-up.
Congratulations to the 2 random pairs put together for today’s competition who both finished on 42 points but with a pretty impressive 25 points on the back 9 Doreen & Katharina easily took it from Elisabeth & Reiko.
It’s not the easiest format to look at individual play but Katharina only dropped 4 shots on the back 9 and Doreen’s birdie on the 16th just added to their total.
Men
A sunny start but it clouded over and there was a noticeable cool northerly.
Tough conditions for the June Medal with thick rough just off fairway leading to lost balls and 17 NRs. Again a significant WHS PCC overnight expected as a result.
But there was still some very good golf.
In the senior division Kerry Sargeant carded an impressive 67 – starting with a birdie and with 2 more on back 9 for 38 out 36 back. Kerry had a convincing 5 shot lead from Joe Gonclaves and Wonil Son on 72. ,Paul Kamerling and Louis Dickey were a shot further behind with 73s – Paul with an impressive 38 back 9.
In the junior division the leading light was Dilip Mailvaganam with an incredible 64 chased by Bernie McDermott on 66 – including an eagle at 14 (only 4 Sunday eagles to date this year per attached)=well done! 5 behind was Gerard Outtara with 71. Special mention to Ben Fisher who had a purple patch of birdies on back 9 -3,3,2 at 14-16!
This was 4th in the Grand 1medal series and currently leading senior division is Tamas Ladacs with 4 rounds completed 286 from Paul Kamerling 207 (just 3). The junior division sees Nigel Ward the leader 285 from Tony Kopczack 28 (both 4 rounds).
MW June Medal (MGMT Rd4/8)
Definitely a case of girls on top today! With Gina taking the Div 1 honours and Sheena the Div 2 with Jayne in 2nd spot in Div 2. The men had been moved forward to the yellow tees to help alleviate some of the pain of the rough on Duke’s, but it doesn’t appear to have helped much!
Looking at both Gina & Jayne’s cards it is evident that they kept out of the rough and hence their scores, but Sheena’s win included a hole matching 12 on the 12th courtesy of the rough.
Of the 43 entrants there were no fewer than 20 NRs since finding a ball was definitely more luck and stepping in the right spot than being able to see it. Not only did we have to deal with the rough but that cold wind didn’t help – there will no doubt be a PCC adjustment at midnight tonight on the handicaps (it was 2 shots)
After 4 rounds of the MW Grand Medal, Chris Jones leads the way by 3 (287) from Uli.
May Monthly Medals (& NAPGC qualifiers)
After a predominantly good week weatherwise, we were down to just 1 temporary on Prince’s today.
Women
Congratulations to Caroline who is today’s winner by 1 shot from Sheena. Had she not recorded a 10 on the 7th it could have been by a much bigger margin. Good to see our injury stricken members back playing 18 holes again. Conditions remain tough if you stray from the fairway with the sun just encouraging grass growth at this time of year after all that rain.
Men
Conditions were tough with long grass in the rough just off the fairway and easy to lose a ball. But there was some good scoring in the May Medal.
An excellent 67 from Mark Bean secured the senior division (37 shots out and in) with Umran Ali just a shot behind 68 keeping a 6 well and truly off his card. With a strong back 9 Richard Owen was the best 69 on countback from Paul Kamerling and Captain Uli Katte; special mention to Paul Kamerling for securing 4 birdies in his round.
The junior division medal saw a convincing win for James Withers 64 from Gunnar Sundberg followed by Suhail Salim 67 and Charles Haines 68; all excellent scores in the 60s.
Well done to John Perkins for his eagle 2 on 17th!
This was 3rd round in the Grand Medal [best 5 from 8] and is dominated in both divisions by players with 3 rounds under their belts:
Seniors
Tamas Ladacs 212
Justin Wildman 242
Juniors
Tony Kopczak 210
Nigel Ward 211
Spring Weekend Away 2024
Everyone’s hopes were high that we’d experience some decent golfing conditions at Donnington Valley having heard that they’d been allowing buggies for most of the winter. Unfortunately the recent deluges prohibited these and trolleys were sliding around in many places but we played the full course. Although very lucky in that it didn’t rain, the wind on Saturday and more so on Sunday was somewhat of a challenge, as was scoring for most people. With no run on the fairways and approaches to the greens being very soft, it was galling to see a ball that landed on a green run all the way through.
None of these issues affected Paddy, who was the highest scorer on both Sat & Sun and the only one to get into the 30s with his amazing 36 points (& he was 2nd man on Friday). In 2nd place was Brian, some 12 points further back.
The women were playing for the Lockie Trophy which was probably won with the lowest ever score of 47 points by Sheena. In 2nd spot was Angela on 42.
Despite this we managed 7 birdies on the par 3 9th and James went one better with an eagle on the 7th – so there were some good moments!
Another successful weekend after a lot of hassle this time with a late venue change, brings to an end Cheryl’s reign as the organiser and many thanks go to her for all her hard work in making them go so well.
Women’s Spring Meeting 4BBB/Men’s Spring Stableford – Rd2 & Winter comp Rd 6 D2
Women
It is fair to say that a 4BBB generally results in scores somewhat higher than those of today. It was however good to note how much the course had dried out from 2 weeks ago, so much so that they’d managed to cut some of the grass, even if the fairways were somewhat narrow on many holes. Even though there was often much searching for balls even on the fairways (carry often far too much for us)
Thanks to Cheryl for all the prizes and organising our get together after the golf and of course congratulations to Angela and Elisabeth on their 31 point win today. Katharina & Silvia and Seema & Sheena both got 28 points with Katharina & Silvia taking 2nd place on the back 3.
Men
A lovely bright sunny Spring Day with wind dying down. Conditions have improved on the courses – even Duke’s with drying worm casts- always a sign of Spring. Maybe in 2 weeks time we’ll be back on full 18 holes instead of today on composite Duke’s with 6 holes being played twice.
This was second round of the spring Stableford comp and doubled as a 2nd round on Duke’s and 6th in total for the Winter Comp.
Tamas Ladacs again rose to the top to win senior division with 36 points – followed by Aidan Hurley 33 and 2 on 32 – Zach Holmes and Kerry Sargeant.
Mel Dunn was the convincing winner in junior division with 47 points 24 out and 23 back, 8 ahead of James Withers 39 then Paul Green and Nigel Ward 37. Congrats to Nigel for securing first Sunday Eagle at 14th (i.e. 2nd)..
The aggregate scores for the 2 rounds show in the senior division Tamas well ahead with a winning 80 points ; Kamerling put in a spirited performance for 67 and then came Kerry Sargeant 67. Mel Dunn won the junior with 86 points after stunning second round with Nigel 2nd 77 and Tom Simpkins 3rd 74.
In the winter Comp after 6 rounds the senior division is unchanged with Tamas leading 125 from Kerry 116 with 3 on 110 – Paul Kamerling, Ricard Smith and Peter Needham. Paul Green’s 37 today was enough to place him ahead in the junior division fromprevious leaders Tom Simpkins and Gunnar Sundberg 115.