Muddy conditions prevailed despite another mild day. This was reflected in the competition being ‘reduction only’.
Colin Pizzey and Toby Hunt returned 34s with Colin the winner on count-back. Captain Paul Brown was third on 33 with best lady Cheryl Woodhouse 29. Results…

Dry and mild conditions greeted festively bedecked competitors although there were some unexpected sprinkles during the round. On the day, close teamwork between Jim Deissler and Paul Grand earned victory with 43 points (off ladies’ scorecard) – three clear from Ross Hood and Paul Rockett. Four pairs vied for third position with Messrs. Henery and Barker winning on count-back from Gaymond & Owen, Fogarty & Deprez and Davis & Legg. Ross and Paul secured only eagle of day on 17th. Results…

Air originating in the sub-tropics produced another exceedingly mild day with sunny intervals producing warmth. But following overnight rain, mud produced a significant challenge. Ross Hood shrugged off the inconvenience caused with a three over par 40 points to win by a point from John Ahad. James Barker was third with an excellent 37 points. Results…

Early rain petered out to give a muddy surface but windless and still mild for the 50 competitors. Steady golf was required and the winner of the hamper was Paul Rockett on 38 points with Stephen Legg second on 36. Murali Reddy and Pete Harrison followed with 36s. Best lady was Gina Jillet who headed three 34s on count-back from James Barker and Toby Hunt. CSS remained unchanged from SSS. Results…

Wall to wall sunshine greeted 29 competitors for the Midweek Champagne Chase,  a record for Wednesday play. No hint of frost and whilst fair weather cloud built up, it was still possible to bask in the warm sunshine outside clubhouse afterwards.

Conditions which should have seen good scoring generally but in the event it was a reduction only round (see Calculations). The runaway winner was Peter Osgood on 41 points – just one over par on back 9 (25 points). His playing partner Shaun Dupreez was 2nd 36 with Ross Hood 34. Peter earned a two shot handicap reduction and Shaun one. Results…

Ladies

The ladies played a team game in mild conditions. The winners were Caroline Stillwell, Valerie Parker, Lia Donath and secret partner Val Riziotis. Results…

Men

The wind very gradually abated on another mild winter’s day.

Extremely good scores were returned from Kim Chaffart and James Barker – 64s! Kim won the medal on a back 9 count-back and James’s three over par 71 included four birdies. Fine rounds were also returned from Loui Suárez 66, Ed Henery 67 and Captain Paul Brown 68. All above had their handicap reduced by one. The balance of play was to raise CSS to 69 from SSS 67. Results…

Exceptionally mild conditions for early winter prevailed but crisp striking was required in somewhat muddy conditions. Julian James duly obliged and was winner of the medal on 67, two ahead of Brett Colley with Chris Jones a further shot behind. CSS was just one above SSS. Results…

Ladies

A small field of eight ladies fought their way around the course, battling not only the soggy conditions underfoot but also the gale force winds that whipped around from start to finish. The mulled wine and mince pies were a welcome treat awaiting us.

As such scores were much affected and the competition was reduction only. Sheena Harrington, as has happened before when champagne is on offer, emerged the winner on 27 points. Three behind on 24 was Caroline Stilwell. Results…

Men

Windy and quite muddy conditions made it very difficult to score, with CSS reduced two from 36 to 34 stableford points. A very clear winner of the bubbly was Lee Marshall 40 points with Paul Green four back on 36. There were spirited 34s headed by Secretary Peter Harrington from Kim Chaffart and Jim Fogarty. A number of entrants were no shows on the day. Results…

The novel format produced some good golf and scores, notably Roger Rojas who strung together 23 points on the front nine to win overall with 41 points – just one ahead of Richard Owen. Unsurprisingly, 22 ‘Twos’ were recorded. Some competitors counted strings used as a shot which accounts for a number of low scores. Results…

The competition was regarded as an alternative to the charity day that was washed out in October.  Over £100 was raised for Macmillan Cancer Trust charity so thanks to all.

The first frosts of winter had arrived with a vengeance overnight and the first few holes for many were a challenge as the ball skittered over the ice, or gathered it as it rolled across the greens. When the sun was out it was a glorious day, but the temperature soon dropped if you were out of it. Conditions also affected most people’s scores with only two people scoring better than the SSS, as such the CSS increased by 2 to 35 points. Top scorer on 41 points was Habib Amir, earning himself a handicap cut of 2.4 down to 23.1. Martin Heinrich was second on 38 points and drops one shot from his handicap. Results…

In the team event, with 25 on each side, the Secretaries somehow managed to bag five of the top six players of the day for their team, helping them to a win by 38 points from the Captains. The overall scores were Secretaries: 719, Captains: 681.

The top 3 places in the Secretaries team were Habib, Martin and Ed Henery, and for the Captains, it was Lee Marshall, Denis Pellerin and Tamas Ladacs. Being supportive partners, Sheena Harrington and Val Riziotis were the top ladies in their respective teams (but some way down the list!).