A field of 31 competitors were met with excellent golfing conditions. It resulted in some excellent results. John Ahad was one the early starters and set the course alight. A steady start (21pts) was followed up by 24pts (!) on the back 9. A total score of 45pts for John means 1) 1st place in today’s comp 2) a cut of 2.7 strokes on his handicap (new competition handicap of 16) and 3) setting himself up for an Exceptional Scoring Reduction down the road. Other notable performances from the early starters include 43pts by Parkash Arora, 38pts by Gina Jillett and 38pts by Hassan Mouilah. The only serious challenge to John came from two afternoon starters. Kim Chaffart rediscovered a touch of good form to total 43pts (I presume the new TM Spider putter remains in the bag …). Keith Cassidy came closest: an excellent round of golf gets rewarded with 44pts. Costly bogeys on the 14th (make that a double bogey on this hole) and 18th killed off his challenge. Keith has also set himself up for an ESR in the near term future. Results…

CSS: 36 pts (Men & Ladies)

A reduced field were met with warm weather, drying fairways & greens. Lia Donath is keeping up her impressive form. 21pts on the front and 18pts on the way in are enough to claim victory today. David Sandifer played a steady front 9 and then caught fire by birdieing the 10th and 11th hole. A sub-par result on the 16th meant he had to “settle” for 20pts. His total score of 38pts is good enough for 2nd. His playing partner Dominik Leisi mirrored that result (20pts out & 18pts in). The countback rule relegates Dominik into 3rd place. The 3rd player with a score of 38pts, Lee Marshall, torched the front 9 (score of level par gross equals 24pts !). A wayward back 9 resulted in “only” 14pts and 4th place. Sheena Harrington – still on a high from her blistering performance yesterday with Nigel Gaymond in the Hawtree – netted 21pts on the way in. 37pts and a strong back 9 allowed her to push Paul House and Rick Smith back into 6th and 7th respectively. Results…

CSS: 37pts (Men & Ladies)

Report due soon. Report…

Glorious weather inspired a packed field to some excellent golf during the third and final round of the Midweek Founders Cup. Seven (!) players scored 40pts or better today. Congratulations to the whole field (except for the few players who were a no show w/o informing the starters).

Habe Crocker benefited from the cooler conditions and played excellent golf (again). Three birdies propelled her to a score of 41pts (20pts out & 21pts in). Mike Jones also went out amongst the early starters and equalled Habe’s score. A “softer” back 9 prevented him from overtaking Habe/becoming leader in the clubhouse. Ann Gardner, Paul House and John Ahad all scored 40pts. Ann Gardner managed to rack up 26pts (!) on the back 9. The level of play was kept up by the afternoon starters. Mike Shabani played a very strong back 9 (22pts) which allowed him to push Habe back into 3rd (thanks to the countback rule). But the day belonged to Jay Barker. Here’s a summary of his round: 4 birdies overall, level par going out and level par coming back home. End result: a score of 42pts. Very impressive. Results…

Report due soon to inform the winner of the Midweek Founders Cup.

CSS: 38pts (Men & Ladies)

Ladies
Honours Board

The recent rain had definitely softened the course a bit which seemed to help a good number today and CSS went to 38 points. Veronica Mitchell put up a good chase on the 1st round leaders and emerged the winner on the day from Joan Mulcahy, who did not compete last week. They were both on 38. Results…

However, Alison Chadwick’s lead of 7 points could not be caught and with her 34 points, she is the Committee Cup winner but Veronica’s 38 combined with her first round score of 36 was enough to take runner-up position. Final results…

Men

The rain of the last few days created casual water on a few places. But apart from the bunkers and some greens the course was pretty receptive.

Nowadays the motto at the club seems to be: if you finish near/ahead of Jon Cooper you stand a pretty good chance of winning a comp. Jon posted an excellent score of 6up. But he stumbled on the last hole to leave the door open for two other players. David Sandifer recovered from double bogeys on the first two holes to finish the front 9 on 5up (41 gross!). He cooled off on the back 9 and probably lost the comp on the 18th hole. His final score of 7up is good enough for 2nd place. Mark Rosamond’s round was the mirror image of David’s. A steady front 9 was followed by tremendous back 9 resulting in a score of 7up. The better inward 9 allows Mark to win today’s comp based on countback. Patrick Poletti, Darren Enthoven and Toby Hunt complete the Top6. Five of the players finishing in the Top6 receive new handicaps. Jon Cooper is even setting himself for a another Exceptional Scoring Reduction in a matter of weeks (he is playing Wednesday’s comp …). Shot of the day goes to Tony Berqvist who saved par on the 14th by rolling his ball from outside of the left greenside bunker to within inches of the flag with his putter (!). Results…

CSS: 2up

Report due soon. Report…

An initial field of more than 40 saw a couple of last minute withdrawals. In the end a total of 37 players went out for the 2nd round of the Midweek Founders Cup. Today’s comp was all about timing your tee time in order to dodge the rain showers. If you remember the start sheet you will realize that today’s Top 5 all went out in the early groups. Coincidence?

Paul Green is on fire since the away day at Bletchingley. Or maybe the rain just brings out the best in him (remember that he won a monthly medal last year in the pouring rain). Solid golf all around (21pts out & 23pts in) earns him a well deserved victory. Jon Cooper was level par gross on the front 9 (earning 24pts) and wavered a little on the back (20pts). That “weaker” back 9 means that Jon has to settle for 2nd based on the countback rule. Guess it’s time to change the e-mail address again Jon? The 3-putt handle doesn’t seem very adequate anymore. On top of that Jon gets an ESR and his new handicap now stands at 10. Gina Jillet posted an excellent score of 41pts to finish 3rd overall and 1st lady. Her handicap now drops to 16 (not sure if that’s a positive for the upcoming Pairs comps …) Henry L-B had a storming back 9 (23pts) that vaults him into 4th overall. He also receives an ESR and a new playing handicap of 10. Julian Tatum and Mike Shabani (the sole late starter to make the honours list) complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 36pts (Men & Ladies)

Ladies

A stunning round of 43 points saw Lady Captain, Alison Chadwick romp into a four point lead after the first round of the Committee Cup. Her new clubs combined with lessons and playing at least twice a week have paid off big time. With a small field of 9, CSS remained at 3 points, rewarding Alison with a 2.8 cut to her handicap to 21.9. Val Riziotis is lying 2nd with 39 points, but retains a playing handicap of 18. With 36 points, Veronica Mitchell is probably the only other contender with a chance of catching the front runners next week.
Results…

Men

The field saw very little of the forecast light rain/showers. The course is (at last) getting the water it badly needed. Finally the greens are starting to speed up nicely.

Peter Osgood recovered very well from his Midweek trashing in the Midweek NAPGC comp. He came out firing on all cylinders and played level par gross on the front 9 (24pts). Sloppy play on the two Par 5’s on the back 9 meant he had to settle for only 16pts in. The only man capable of beating this score was a man with a strong back 9 and first name starting with P. Peter Harrison played steady golf on the front 9 but came alive on the back 9 (23pts). Enough to claim 1st place. Damian Hackett had the best back 9 (24pts) but blew his chance of winning by inadvertently foregoing 1pt on the very first hole of his round. Keith Cassidy, Lee Marshall and Toby Hunt complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 36pts