It was a sunny Saturday for the 2020 Ladies Invitation. We had 9 games and 18 pairs for the American Greensomes competition played on the Prince’s Course.

We started the day with tea/coffee and bacon/egg/vegan sausage in a roll to sustain energy across the round. Everyone appreciated to be playing in 4 balls and in a fun format, with socially distanced drinks after the competition.

There were many good scores, we had 5 pairs on 42 points. Joint second place on 43 points was Avi/Patrick & Elisabeth /Angus. First place and prize-winners for the day were Sheena/Damber with an excellent 45 points. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

Intermittent rain affected all competitors. Whilst it softened the ground, random bounce still featured.

Totally unphased, Ray and Luke fought it out with astonishing scores of 6 up – Ray winning The Priory Cup on back 9 countback. Ray finished the back 9 in level par with 2 birdies. Luke ‘blobbed’ 12th but earned an ESR of -0.5 so now plays off 11. Well done to both. Gina continued recent good form 3rd 4 up and John C 3 up. Results…

With 29 (53%) competitors within ‘buffer’ of SSS CSS was reduced 1 from SSS (or in bogey terms elevated to 1 up for white and red tees, to 2 up for yellow).

The field faced tough conditions (cf. CSS below). The initial (and unexpected) drops of rain quickly made way for some serious wind (the tee-shot on the 15th felt more daunting than ever). Last year’s captain tried his version of a Happy Gilmore and barely made it past the ladies tee. The highlight of the day has to belong to Jay: a nice ace on the 10th provides some consolation for a tough day at the office.

Roger recorded 3 birdies on the first 10 holes. He then safely managed his way through the last 8 holes to finish with a score of 37pts. Scott’s strong 9 (20pts) laid the foundation for a score of 36pts and 2nd place. All the other players used up more than their respective shot allowances. Charlie W and Ned recorded scores of 35pts. 1st lady Jane leads a pack of 5 players on 34pts. Results…

CSS: 35pts (only 17 players remained in their buffer)

After 2 rounds of the Anniversary Trophy Bennie takes the lead with 71pts followed by Ray (71pts), Tenesi and Kerry (69pts), Jay and Roger (68pts). R2 leader board…

Mostly cloudy adequately described conditions for morning games and there was still plenty of random bounce often operating in player’s favour.

Charlie F stormed into the lead with 2 birdies being 2 under through 5th. This was maintained until 15th when 9 recorded. But nevertheless 61 is astounding golf – well done Charlie and a cut to 15. Keeping an eye on him with another stunning round of golf was Jeremy R 64 with glorious 65s from Seymour, Angus and Joe. In 7th just outside sweep was Julie beaten on back 9 by Colm! Results…

Amongst the NRs, Alison, Captain Kim and Mark avoided ‘automatic’ 0.1s back with a scrub at a hole being assigned net double bogey for handicapping.

This was round 3 of 7 for the Midweek Grand Medal and Jeremy leads on 203 from Seymour but snapping menacingly at their heels with just 2 played is Charlie on 127 – a mere 76 adrift. R3 leader board…

The heatwave of the middle of this week made way for spring weather and some tricky gusts of wind. The drops of rain of the last couple of days still were not enough to provide some extra grip on the greens. Landing the ball short of the green and letting it roll on proved tricky too.

Jay followed a steady front 9 (18pts) with an excellent back 9 (21pts). The only other player on 39pts was Tenesi. But her round was the mirror image of Jay: superb on the way out (22pts) and a bit more volatile on the back 9 (17pts). Therefore the countback rule makes Jay the winner of today’s comp. Both players get interesting handicap cuts. Jay’s march to Handicap 3 is on. Three players ended on 38pts. Nigel W had the best back 9 (20pts) so he beats Rick (19pts on the back) and Roger (17pts on the last 9 holes). Richard I completes the Top6 with his score of 37pts. Bennie narrowly misses out on a Top6 spot despite scoring 24pts (!) on the back 9. Results…

Shoutout to Colm for birdieing 2 of the 5 par 3’s today. And another mention to Roger for his 2 on the 13th.

CSS = SSS = 37pts

The Top Dog Trophy leaders are Jay (30pts), Rick K (18pts), Nigel W (12pts), 

Appropriately, the sun beat down on the hottest day of the year for the Midsummer Trophy. Some very good scores but CSS was elevated 2 from SSS.

On top form was Gina with 40 points and this could have been better except for hitting the pin in 2 on 6th and then recording a 5 for 1. Recovering from anger, a beaming Gina professed herself very happy with her game.

Joe G shot another good round 39 points and earned an ESR of -0.5 taking his playing handicap to 12 – well done Joe. Ray played well  for 37 including  ‘Twos’ at 7 and 10.  Richard S shot a solid 36. Results…

On the course, Seymour drove from 3rd hitting one of the white markers AND over the ditch for a workmanlike 4.

The rain of the last couple of days didn’t leave too many traces: the field still enjoyed plenty of bounce and roll on the fairways. The greens could do with more grip. The wind proved tricky at times too.

Two players ended on 40pts. Rhys came out on top thanks to a stronger back 9 (21pts). Late starter Duncan came close (2pts less on the back 9) but has to settle for 2nd. They were followed by 2 players on 39pts. Oliver predicted a good round and he delivered in a big way. A strong back 9 earns him 3rd place. It also moves him a step closer to Cat1. Ray torched the front 9 (23pts). A snowman on the last hole prevented him from breaking into the Top3. Jay continued his good form with another solid round (38pts). Long hitter Bennie completes the Top6. 1st lady today is Tenesi. Results…

CSS: 36pts (Men & Ladies). The Top7 all earn small handicap reductions.

Thunder rumbled and serious rain was not far away so the field (including v. late games) were thankful conditions were not worse.

With April’s and May’s midweek medals decimated by Covid, this was round 2 of 7. Scoring was excellent at the head of the field with no less than 6 glorious 65s.

For the second time in the last few weeks the overall winner was a lady – Ronnie on countback from Messrs. Bergqvist, Rojas, Heinrich, Harrison and Ahad. Still below CSS at 66 were Charlie F, Brian M, and Jay (also lowest gross).
Ollie recorded eagle at 9th. Results…

There was a good sprinkling of ‘Twos’ and a shout-out to Aung for a well-deserved ESR cut of 1 down to 32.8 from 41.1 earlier this year. Aung plays off 30 in our competitions and there’s every confidence he’ll get below this soon.

Jon W illustrated the point that you can blob a couple of holes, staying in buffer zone and not get raised .1.

Finally in the associated Midweek Grand Medal, Jeremy R holds the lead om 139, 4 clear of Seymour and a further shot from Mike J and Tamas. R2 leader board…

Ladies

Continuing the greater interest in golf in these post-Covid times we had 20 ladies playing today.

Playing in her first competition in considerably better weather than she encountered while putting cards in for handicap, Katherina smashed it today with a net 65 and sees her handicap reduced by 1.2 to a new playing handicap of 19. Lia was 3 shots back with a net 68 and also receives a handicap cut of 0.6 but no change to her playing one of 17. Results…

These 2 were the only ones to beat the SSS so CSS remains at 69.

Men

The field enjoyed nice playing conditions. The fairways still offered quite some roll. But the odd bounce here and there could create some havoc.

Today’s winner is early starter Scott with an excellent 64 net. This was the result of a tidy front 9 (39 gross) and a more volatile back 9 (42). Scott’s handicap moves down to 16. Well done. A group of 5 players finished 1 stroke behind today’s winner. So based on the countback rule the rest of the Top6 goes as follows: Brian (+4 gross on the back 9), Damber (+4 gross on the back 9 too), Jay, Pete (he will have nightmares tonight over the 17th and 18th hole) and Toby. The lone player on 66 (net) is Roger but he could’ve leapfrogged all the 65’ers had it not been for an ugly 7 on the 7th hole. Results…

Looks like a lot of players had a card wrecker on their scorecard today (but look on the bright side: there are no pictures on the scorecard). Nick R tried his version of a Dominic Cummings (a shot that goes far but doesn’t go OB). On the 10th his tee-shot didn’t go far (barely made it past the ladies tee) but thanks to the long rough it stayed in play. He somehow made a 4 from that position. Another player teed off on the 16th and played his second shot from next to the 6th green.

CSS: 67

In the Grand Medal Trophy Jay holds a 3 shot lead

Spits and spots developed into more persistent rain for later games. Turnout was good at 62 for the third and final round of the Founders’ Cup. We were back on the full back white tees at last.

Conditions clearly suited Lee who edged Damber on the back 9 countback to win the J Hume trophy on 40 points. (another) late player Luke scored a very creditable third with 39 and Alvaro and Jay on 38. Results…

We are so familiar with Lee and Damber grabbing headlines of late – congrats to both for ESRs of -.5 and -1 respectively following recent negative net differentials.

In the associated Founders’ Cup Lee and Damber tied on 81  and share the cup. New member Joe G took 3rd place 78 from leading lady Julie. R3 leader board…

A Full House to Lee and Damber – with swelling purse balances to boot.