Competition Reports
Competition Reports
Men’s & Women’s Club Championship – Rd1
Women
Numbers which were never high were further depleted when we woke to rain and the prospect of showers continuing through much of the day. As is often the case all we experienced was the occasional light & passing shower much to the annoyance of those who cancelled..
The dowsing of the course in water yesterday definitely had an effect on how it played today but a quick look at last year’s scores for the first round show they weren’t that much lower (except for Silvia of course!)
Joan played a very consistent round with 2 pars, a birdie and a 4 (on the 13th) on the par 3s that helped.
She can probably expect a .4/5 cut overnight as one of her higher scores drops off and goes into round 2 with a 4 shot lead over Sheena with Susan just 1 further back and a commanding lead in the handicap cup.
Men
A little early rain but otherwise dry for first round of Club Championship.
In the scratch championship The First Division is headed by Will Balakrishnan 69 from Richard Back 71 and then Mel Dunn 76 and Greg Wright 77. Some excellent golf -Will was 1 under gross 34 for front 9 whilst Richard sored 5 birdies in back 9 30. Wil’s front 9 included eagle at par 5 9th .
‘In the Second Division Nigel Ward leads from Robin Thomas 86 (Julian James 85 and Dan Ballantyne 85 ineligible for Club Championship (not booked for round 2/ not enough Sunday Comps played).
In the net results (for Handicap Trophy) Richard Back, Mel Dunn are tied for First Division with 65s. In Second Division Nigel Ward 69 leads from Robin Thomas 70.
Sweeps by division as per attached -special Championship rules not applicable.
Round 4, Ballantyne Trophy 2025
On the final day of a heatwave, the Richmond Park team played Wycombe Heights B (last year’s Ballantyne Trophy winners) on Stockley Park golf course – a ‘neutral’ course, as this was the Regional Final. The result was a slow and hard-fought 2:1 win for Richmond Park. The next round is the National Semi-Final, to decide who plays at NAPGC Finals Day.
Our first pair (Paul Green and Mel Dunn) were soon trailing against stiff opposition and the match closed out with a 5&4 win for Wycombe. Our second pair (Adrian Wells and Julian James) were also soon trailing 3 down but gradually reeled their opponents in and finished 2 up. Our third pairing (Richard Owen and Gerard Ouattara) got off to an explosive start with 4 birdies on the first 3 holes and were 4 up after 4 holes. However, by the 10th hole the match was all square and over the back 9 the score alternated between all square and 1up to Richmond Park. Gerard’s par on the 17th took us to 1up (and the ‘half’ secured), and Richard’s long 2 putt par on the final hole secured the win.
Midweek July Plate
It was another fine day for golf – not as hot as some days recently but comfortably warm nonetheless. There was a moderate breeze which intensified as the day went on and definitely had to be factored into one’s thinking on the later holes. Scoring was solid rather than spectacular and all the top places were only separated by a couple of points.
Winner today with 38 points was Richard Marriott playing off 28. Despite 2 blobs on the front 9, Richard still managed to score 18 points going out. He then scored an impressive 20 points on the way in which was joint highest back 9 score of the day. Congratulations Richard, an engraved salver will be heading your way in due course.
Countback had to go down to the last three holes to separate second and third spots. Just coming out on top was Jeremy Prescot (31) who pipped Mehemet Akdeniz (22). Jeremy had a very solid round for his 37 points scoring 18 out and 19 back. He picked up points on all but one hole.
Mehmet’s round didn’t start promisingly when he picked up on the first. Despite blobbing the 8th as well, he still scored 18 points going out and 19 on the way back to mirror Jeremy’s points tally.
Richard Prosser (20) took fourth place and is probably frustrated not to have finished higher. His front 9 tally of 22 points was the best of the day. But things came down to earth with a bit of a bump on the way in when he only managed 15 points which included an ugly 9 on the 14th.
Top woman today was Jayne Maxwell (20) in 5th with 36 points. Jayne managed to score points on every hole which is no mean feat especially on Dukes.
Ged Quinn (22) was the highest placed finisher (7th) to play off the white tees. All the prize winning men played off the yellow tees and indeed only five men in the entire field decided to brave the white tees.
J Q Robertson – Top Dog Event 4 of 7
Not quite as hot as recently with a breeze. For the ‘JQR’
New member Alan Boyd heads the results with 44points off 17; his final card for qualifying for RPGC competitions.
The winner on a back 9 countback was Alison Chadwick on 41 points from Richard Hanna in the last game. Well done to both esp. Alison for a great back 9 of 23 points. Very well played to Richard Smith 40 and Aidan Hurley 39. AIdan kept a 6 off his gross 74 card – and picked up an eagle on 3rd hole. Michael Pham and Doreen Dolby also had excellent 39s.
This was 4th event in the men’s Top Dog and in the First Division Richard Smith 15 leads Joe Goncalves 14; in Second Division it’s Michael Pham 20 from Charles Haines 13.
Hawtree, Round 3 Regional Final
On a heatwave day, the Richmond Park team played Easthampstead for a place at NAPGC Finals Day in September. It was an extremely close match which Richmond Park won 152:151 combined stableford points.
The away pairings of Sheena Harrington & Paul Green and Susan Smith & Mel Dunn both scored 37 points in their greensomes matches, to their opponents 34 points – so 6up Away (after a very long 5.5 hour round). At Home, on the Duke’s course, the RPGC pairing of Brendan Sullivan & Jayne Maxwell scored 44 points to Easthampstead’s amazing 46 points and in the other match RPGC’s Cheryl Woodhouse & Richard Owen scored 34 points to their opponents 37 points. So now it’s the Final at Winter Hill golf course on Saturday September 6th.
NAPGC Mitchell Thompson Qualifier 2025
Richmond Park fielded a team of 8 players (4 pairs) in this year’s seniors Mitchell Thompson qualifier at Stockley Park golf course, against 5 other teams from Basildon, Huntswood, Brent Valley, Farnham Park and Southsea golf clubs. The format was greensomes and the weather conditions were “heatwave 33 deg. C !!). Richmond Park were represented by Brett Colley & Mike Jones, Paul Green & Chris Jones, Russell Stewart & Adrian Wells and Richard Owen & Gerard Ouattara. Our combined score of 133 stableford points put us in 3rd place with the winners being Farnham Park (140 points). Top scorers for RPGC were Paul & Chris on 39 points, equally the best of the day. Only Farnham Park progress to Finals Day in September.
Midweek July Medal (Midweek GM Rd 5 of 8)
Today we were playing the Midweek July Medal which is the 5th round of the Midweek Grand Medal Trophy. We were treated to another glorious day for golf with sunny skies and hardly any breeze.
In the ideal conditions, scoring was predictably good and, in a couple of instances, downright stellar!
Division 1 winner was Pralab Barua with a net 62. Pralab’s gross of 76 was the lowest of the day (40 out, 36 in) and included 2 birdies at the 11th and 16th holes. Tom Laybourn finished second with a net 65. Tom had a very steady round grossing 37 on both 9’s.
In Division 2, Pat Dalton had a day to remember. Playing off 26, Pat shot 85 for a net score of 59 and not surprisingly, won the division by a country mile. Pat grossed 43 out and 42 back. His card included 5 pars and a birdie on the 15th hole. I suspect WHS will make sure Pat’s not playing off 26 next time out!
In second place was Richard Marriott (28) with a net 66. Despite 2 snowmen on his card, Richard scored 50 out and 44 in for a gross of 94 which included 4 pars. Chris Jones(20) was third with a net 68 followed by Kim Jabbour with a net 69 and Andy Johnson with a net 70.
In the Midweek Grand Medal Trophy, Julian James still leads Peppe Monterosso in Division 1 with Toby Hunt, Angus Robertson and Dave Cato in hot pursuit. In Division 2, Peter Fisher is establishing a commanding lead over Richard Marriott, David Grace, Graham Cull and Lia Donnath. A report showing the full standings is attached.
July Monthly Medals – GMT Rd 5 of 8
Women
An interesting end to today’s round for those in the last game who were klaxoned off as they walked to the 18th tee. As no one was interested in going back out to finish they all NR’d.
But it would have made no difference to the results with Doreen the runaway winner with her net 62. Just 7 under par. Of course for the competition she was off 95% of her handicap and WHS is showing that she played to 24.7 – just 12 below her handicap. Expect to see an ESR reduction overnight.
6 behind was Seshi (Sookkyung) in 2nd spot.
Men
Dry until a short thunderstorm struck after midday for the July medal, 3 players ‘not played’ 3 holes due lightning risk.
Michael Hayden shot another excellent round winning the first division with 64. Michaels’s round was the best gross of the day 73 and also won front 9 honours. Iker Lanzagorta was 1 behind with a glorious 65 and just 2 behind on back 9 of 35. Special mention to Paul Kamerling for best back 9 -10 better than front nine and of course to Kerry Sargeant for a super eagle at the par 5 ninth hole.
For division 2 there were some outstanding scores with Jonno McLean winning with 60, Abdullah Almasoud 61 Charlie Whiteman 62 and Seymour Laird 63. Well done indeed and there may be the odd handicap ESR overnight .
This was 5th round of the Grand Medal and with 5 rounds played each, First Division leaders are Oz Doyle 360 from Iker Lanzagorta 363; in second division it’s Nigel Ward 368 from Gerard Ouattara 37 and Rannesh Jansari 376.
Horton Park match, Home leg
Six pairs from Horton Park Golf Club visited Richmond Park for the inaugural 4BBB match between the two clubs. The match was played on the Duke’s course in warm but overcast conditions, with a little occasional light rain. The Richmond Park team, all kitted out in yellow shirts (some brand new !), were Alan Treacy & Richard Back, Richard Owen & Manny Rasores, Joe Goncalves & Maher Sharma, Sunny Lall & Sajid Khan, David Grace & Will Balakrishnan and Gerard Ouattara & Cliff Morgan.
After the first 3 games had finished the result was not looking good for our home team (Horton 2.5 points : 0.5 points RPGC), however our final 3 pairs all came in with wins, making the overall result a win for Richmond Park, RPGC 3.5 points : 2.5 points Horton Park.
The match was played in a competitive but friendly atmosphere and the teams enjoyed pizza and chips in the clubhouse afterwards. The return fixture at Horton Park will be on Saturday September 13th (a week before the return leg at Rickmansworth).
Founders Cup – J. Nicholas (6 of 6)
Today we were playing the final round of the Founders Cup. Neither of the leading pair were able to play today but with their healthy lead over the rest of the field, it made no difference. Congratulations to Henry Lindesay-Bethune for taking the spoils with 154 points. Dave Cato was runner up with 151 and Mehmet Akdeniz just pipped Richard Owen for third spot (both with 149).
Many of us started our rounds in persistent light rain but fortunately, the skies lightened as the morning went on and the later groups finished in bright sunshine. The weather didn’t really affect the course conditions although the greens were notably slower than of late.
Winner today with an impressive 42 points was Val Panattoni (26). Val played a very solid round scoring 21 points on both 9’s. He scored 3 points on no less than 9 holes. In second place was Sheena Harrington (17) who scored 39 points (19 out, 20 back). Sheena’s blob on the 12th obviously inspired her because she parred the next four holes! Stephen Haworth (19) took third spot – also with 39 points. He had a superb front 9 (scoring 23 points) but came back down to earth somewhat with 16 points on the way in.