Ladies

Eleven competitors in today’s Ladies Monthly Medal. Congrats to Deborah Potter on her victory. Her consistent round of golf gets rewarded with a nice handicap cut. Her new playing handicap is 28. Well done!

Congrats also to Habe for remembering to sign her card today and more importantly for her birdie on the 16th. Results…

CSS: 70

Men

Another week, another comp and another ace at RPGC. Congrats to Tony Berqvist for acing the 4th today. He joins Richard Owen and Chris Jones who have scored aces this year.

Weather didn’t turn out as bad as forecast. That seemed to inspire the field to some really good scoring. Some stats: in order to finish in the Top6 today you had to shoot 65 (Net) and there were 10 (!) Two’s recorded today (amongst them 2 eagles on the 14th and the 18th). Playing your handicap was not enough today to be in contention.

There’s 2 ways to shoot a 63 (Net): Julian James choose the Seve/Arnold Palmer way with birdies, eagle, bogeys and double bogeys. Paul Brown on the other hand emulated Nick Faldo at Muirfield: not a single birdie today. The Paul Brown/Nick Faldo way prevailed. Paul Brown beat Julian based on countback. As a reward Paul receives the prize money, a cocktail glass and a new playing handicap of 11. Early starters Mike, Ray, Roger and Richard Owen complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 66 (Net)

Congratulations to Chris Jones for acing the 7th hole today! Ignoring the ominous weather forecast proved to be an excellent choice for a brief moment. Peter Osgood nearly aced the 16th hole to cap off an eventful day (as a consolation he did birdie the hole).

On to the normal order of the day. The early morning starters probably faced the worse weather conditions. Brett Colley & Peter Osgood both scored net 72. Jeremy Ryan played a very consistent round to take the lead in the clubhouse with 82 strokes (net 68). Although the greens were not his best friend today Tamas finished with a 86 (net 69) just one stroke behind Jeremy. Late starters Jay & Keith knew what they were up against and delivered. Keith finished on 79 (net 67) to become today’s runner-up. Jay wins the comp & the RPGC cocktail glass thanks to a blistering 72 (net 66). Toby Hunt & Stephen Mason complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 69 (Men) & 73 (Ladies)

Ladies

A mere 6 brave and hardy ladies took to the course in the rain, however it wasn’t long before the sun came out no doubt making those who cried off regret their decision. Not that conditions underfoot were great and the wind shortened many a shot such that CSS went to 34 points.

Winner with 32 points was Val Riziotis who had a storming 19 points o the front 9, but couldn’t capitalise on it. Sheena Harrington was 3 points behind in 2nd place. Results…

Men

Notwithstanding the ominous weather forecast a reduced field went out for the 1st leg of the Men’s Spring Stableford Round. Mud, rain and strong winds met the field. Conditions gradually improved over the course of the morning. The later starters therefore arguably had the better playing conditions.

Tony Kopczak had a stellar score of 40pts (20 out & in) to win today’s comp. Richard Owen finished 2nd with an excellent score of 38pts (21pts out & 17 in) in the trickier conditions. Paul Brown seems liberated since giving up the Men’s Captaincy. Another solid round (37pts) gives him a Top3 finish. Roger Rojas, Jon Cooper and Paul Green complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 36pts

The field were met with muddy fairways and receptive greens for today’s Midweek Inaugural Trophy.  One player in particular seemed to appreciate today’s conditions. Ted Holt blew everybody away with a fantastic score of 44pts. I guess if you start your round with birdies on the first 2 holes you know you’ll have a good day at the office. As a result Ted’s handicap gets cut by 2.1 strokes and now stands at 17. Well done! Early leaders in the clubhouse John Ahad (38pts) and Paul Green (37pts) finish on the podium. Chris Jones (36pts), Habe Crocker (36pts) and Gunnar Sundberg (35pts) complete the Top 6. Results…

CSS: 37pts (Men & Ladies)

Ladies

As the winter season drew to an end with the last of the eclectics, the ladies’ scores indicated a new spring in their step for the coming season. For the first time in many weeks, most of the scores were in the 30s rather than 20s. Hopefully this is down to good play rather than just that conditions underfoot were reasonably dry and the strong winds during the week had abated until the last few holes. Taking first place was Sheena Harrington on 36 from Cheryl Woodhouse and Valerie Parker who both scored 34 points. CSS remained at 37 points. Results…

Unlike the Duke’s eclectic, the Prince’s Eclectic had a different leader after each round and despite Jayne Maxwell dropping some 7 shots in this round. The winner was Val Riziotis, who had played in only one previous round, but had picked up on one of the holes so did not figure on the leaderboard until today where she beat Jayne on countback. Final leader board…

Men

Before we go to the report we have congratulate Richard Owen for acing the 11th today. So in the future whenever Richard claims his ball will end up short take that with a grain of salt.

On to the normal order of the day. Effects of yesterday’s rain were clearly visible today (thank god we didn’t play Duke’s). Muddy fairways, receptive greens and a wind that became very strong towards end of play were some of today’s challenges.

The day belonged to the early starters. Darren Enthoven put in glorious back 9 (25pts – total score 41pts) to win today’s comp. Kyong Lee played consistent golf (21pts out + 19pts in) to finish second. Same can be said for Mike Shabani (20pts + 19pts) who completes the Top 3 (BTW: all three of them were early starters …). John Cooper (38pts) notches up another high finish. Caleb Mills also netted 38pts. The last 2 and the above mentioned Richard “Ace” Owen round out the Top 6. Results…

CSS: 38pts

Report due soon for the Winter Competition. Final leader board…

In the Prince’s Eclectic – report due soon. Final Leader board…

The field were met with thick clouds, strong winds and one temporary green for today’s monthly medal. All in all scoring proved very decent (again).

Paul Rockett went out all guns blazing and closed the front 9 on 37 (gross). He then cruised through the back 9 on 40 strokes to finish on 77 strokes (65 net) to win today’s comp. Stephen Mason put a valiant effort but a few erratic putts halted his challenge and he had to settle for 2nd on 68 net. Richard Owen had a very consistent round of 69 net to finish 3rd. The best of the rest finshed on 70 net. Peter Osgood came alive on the back 9 (39 gross) to hold off Jeremy Ryan and Adam Turner and finish 4th all on 70 net. Results…

CSS: 69 (Men) – 73 (Ladies). Paul Rockett receives a cocktail glass and an ESR. His new handicap now stands at 10.

Ladies

What a change a week makes, relatively mild and dry underfoot, but the lack of run on the ball kept scoring low, but in a fairly close cluster for the 10 competitors.

Valerie Parker looked on course to win possibly her first competition, but committed that horrible sin of failing to sign her card, thus handing the win to Susan Smith. Both scored 33 points. Results…

CSS dropped two to 34 points.

Susan also wins the Duke’s Eclectic having lead from start to finish. Jane Fraser made a gallant effort to catch her, finishing one shot behind. Final leader board…

Men

Playing conditions (milder temperatures, softer greens and only one temporary green) allowed for some excellent scoring today. The 17th hole in particular seemed there for the taking.

Jon Cooper went out in the first group and helped by an eagle on the 17th he became the early leader in the clubhouse. Peter Osgood put in a valiant effort but his 38pts were just not good enough to challenge Jon.

The challenge by the later starters were led in first instance by Nigel & Nigel. Nigel Gaymond’s 37pts confirm his good recent form. Nigel Ward had an excellent front 9 and his eagle on the 17th vaulted him temporarily past Jon on 40pts.

Two players were active in the previous days Overseas Comp and whatever they practiced sure worked today. Paul Brown played a very consistent round (20pts out & in) to finish second today (based on countback). Damian Hackett came out firing (22pts out) and consolidated on the back to seal the win with 42pts. Results…

CSS: 37pts

Report due soon for the Winter Competition. R7 Leader board…

In the Duke’s Eclectic – report due soon. Final Leader board…

The field were met with excellent golf weather (although the timing of the greenkeepers probably didn’t help the late morning starters). All in all scoring proved to be very decent (again).

Mark Rosamond went out early and posted an impressive 39pts to take the lead in the clubhouse. Two other early starters ended pretty close. John Ahad notched up 38pts and Paul Concannon netted 37pts. The late late morning starters were the only ones able to challenge the leaders. Jeremy Ryan played consistent golf to score 40pts and win today’s comp. Dave Faure put together an excellent round and finished only 1pt back of Jeremy on 39pts. Tamas managed to birdie 2 of the Par 3’s. This enabled him to finish sixth with 37pts. Results…

CSS: 38pts (Men + Ladies). Jeremy and Dave get rewarded with new handicaps.

Brett Colley narrowly sees off Ray Esin to win the Midweek Winter Competition. Final Leader board…

The Midweek Winter Comp final standings
1) Brett Colley 117pts
2) Ray Esin 115pts
3) Henry L-B 113pts

Brett’s subpar round allowed Tamas to squeeze by him and win the Midweek Prince’s Eclectic. Final Leader board…
1) Tamas Ladacs 58 Net
2) Brett Colley 59 Net
3) James Barker 61 Net

Ladies

A cold overcast day didn’t inspire most of the ladies and the small field of 11 dropped to 9 through the 18 holes. Val Riziotis, defying the rest scored 35 points and ran out the winner by 4 points from Jayne Maxwell. Results…

The Prince’s Eclectic is a considerably tighter competition than the one on Duke’s and the lead has changed after each round with Joan Mulcahy taking pole after 3 rounds. R3 Leader board…

Men

A smaller field of 35 players braved the mud, cooler temperatures and wind for the 6th Round of the Winter Competition. The result sheet speaks for itself. There was no match for Jay today. He scored 25pts (!) on the front 9. And then coasted through the back 9 with 18pts. Jay’s new handicap now stands at 5! Very impressive. Nigel Gaymond came alive on the back 9 (21pts) to take 2nd with a total of 37pts. Henry L-B followed Nigel’s example and came back with an impressive 22pts to finish 3rd (total 35pts). David Sandifer also netted 35pts but was beaten back into 4th based on the countback. Mark Rosamond and Nigel Ward complete the Top 6. Results…

CSS: 71