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

The glorious weather seemed to inspire the ladies today (the 2 additional strokes they receive don’t hurt either). Lia Donath went out as one of the early starters and put together a superb round of 84 gross to take a well deserved win. Furthermore Lia’s handicap gets a healthy cut. Another early starter, Habe Crocker, matched Lia’s score. But an uneven performance on the 14th hole pushes her back into 2nd place based on the countback rule. Eric Lit came out firing on all cylinders. But the moment someone shouted Excelsior to him his round fell apart. Since Keith no longer brings Stella along with him he seems to be able to focus on golf again. His round was quite volatile though: 4 birdies in one round deserve some serious praise. But two triple bogeys and one double bogey ruined any chance/hope of winning today’s comp. Jay Barker put in today’s lowest gross round. Jeremy Ryan and Jon Cooper complete the Top6. Results…

Two final notes:

• For the second competition in 3 days a female member recorded a double digit score on a hole …
• The prize of the tackiest golf shoes go to a South-African whose first name start with P … (pictures available on request)

CSS: 67 (Men) – 69 (Ladies).

Ladies

Everyone was duped by the forecast which promised much and failed to deliver until the round was well and truly over. How much of an effect this had on the scores is debatable but as with the men, the CSS remained at SSS on 69.

Winner by two shots and seeing her handicap reduced to 21.9 was Cheryl Woodhouse with a net 67. Lia Donath was 2nd with a 69. Most of the field chose to play the Lady Captain in the Barton Bowl, but with her finishing in 3rd place it was not a good idea. Results…

Men

The field were met with ominous clouds at the start of the competition. The sun only broke through when all of the field had completed their round.

Scoring proved pretty tricky. Mark Rosamond backed up his bold predictions by opening with a birdie 3. He kept at it for the rest of the round and recorded score of 65 (Net – 84 Gross). That proved enough to replace Peter Harrison as leader in the clubhouse. Peter’s score of 66 (Net – 74 Gross) was the result of an excellent front 9. But he will regret the 14th and 15th holes. The late morning starters were led by Dave Faure (67 Net – 84 Gross) and John Ahad (68 Net – 87 Gross). No other players came close to threatening Mark’s 1st place. Barry Page and Lee Eden complete the Top6. So the cocktail glass and sweep money go to Mark. Results…

Congratz to the other players who qualify for the NAPGC Final at Woodhall. A couple of the players birdied the 4th today. FYI: someone recorded a double digit score on that hole today ….

CSS: 67

It almost felt like fall on the course today: dropping temperatures, thick clouds, threats of rain and a wind that became stronger as the day went on (the 12th was reachable in 2 for the afternoon starters).

The early starters took full advantage of the better weather conditions. Brett Colley rediscovered his form. A consistent round (no birdies, 13 pars) results in a score of 41pts (21pts out & 20pts in). Jon Cooper decided he needed some extra practice and joined the early starters. His round was a bit more volatile: 3 birdies were offset by 3 double bogeys. In the end a score of 40pts is an excellent reward for a “practice round”. John Ahad played consistent golf to post a nice score of 38pts. The late morning starters Paul Graham Cook and Darren Enthoven, who recovered from his disappointing result in the Men’s Pairs Knock-Out, posted decent scores of 37pts. Usual suspect Habe Crocker, had no problem playing to her new handicap. 36pts is enough for her to finish in the Top6. Peter Osgood showed today how quickly he can go from hero to zero in this game. An unbelievable left-handed (!) recovery put him in a position to walk away with a bogey on the 7th. He finished the hole with a … 3-putt. Jack Evans in his 1st competition as a new member showed Peter how it is done. His birdie 2 gets him a mention in this competition report. Results…

Thanks to the furious start of the early starters CSS initially went up to 37pts. The “sub-par” results of the late morning and afternoon starters brought CSS back down to 36pts.

Conditions to play remained fairly clement: still lots of roll on the fairway and improving greens. The only added complication today was a swirling wind that became stronger during the course of the day.

The front 9 seemed there for the taking: an impressive number of players scored at least 20pts on their way out. Barry Page netted a massive 23pts. Lia Donath and Jim Fogarty both scored 22pts. Brian McMahon, Tim Meyer and Jayne Maxwell “settled” for 21pts. The effects of the swirling winds growing stronger were visible on the back 9. Henry L-B, was freed of the “intimidating presence of Habe, Peter & Mike” and scored a very impressive 21pts on the back 9. Jon Cooper, Deborah Potter and Habib handled the tricky conditions on the back 9 well by scoring 20pts. Barry P. ended birdie-par on the back 9. That brought his inward score to 19pts. A total score of 42pts is enough for Barry to push Henry back into 2nd place. Henry’s strong back 9 allow him to hold off Brian McMahon (41pts) based on the countback rule. Jon Cooper. Caroline Stilwell and Lia Donath complete the Top6. Results…

A few other bits:

• Roger: the blue box belongs to Putney Park Golf. The RPGC cards go in the green box …
• If you need a custom fitting for the correct loft on your driver get in touch with Kerry. It seemed to do the trick or he just passed his vicious hook off the tee to poor Richard O. today.
• Pete H. managed to score 25% of his points on the back 9 on 1 hole (birdieing the 14th does help)

CSS: 37pts (Men & Ladies)

The field were met with a noticeable drop in temperatures and strong winds. Looks like the course is finally getting the irrigation it badly needs. Greens are slowly recovering from last week’s works (they should be in nice shape in a couple of weeks).

The early starters probably enjoyed the better of the weather and put in some decent scores. Habe Crocker is keeping up her excellent form and posted a very respectable score of 2up. Richard Owen seems to be gearing up nicely for his upcoming Knock-Out matches and became leader in the clubhouse with an excellent score of 3up. Amongst the late starters Keith Cassidy braved ominous clouds and birdied the 1st hole. He kept at it for the rest of the round and matched Habe’s score of 2up. Jeremy Prescot played all or nothing on the back 9. He either won or lost the hole against the course. Scores 3up over the last 9 holes and 4up over the last 6 holes allow him to beat Richard Owen based on countback. Well done. Kim Chaffart and Mike Jones complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 2up (Men & Ladies). There are no changes in any competition handicaps.