This years Annual Spring mixed event was greeted by some fresh breezy but bright weather.

Fourteen mixed pairs took part in a very sociable but keenly fought contest of American Greensomes. We were all welcomed to the competition with bacon rolls and coffee which set everyone up nicely for a competitive days golf.

Scoring was not easy on a challenging Dukes course which gave points sparingly in the stiffening North Wind. Four pairs were in contention for the honours with James and Susan narrowly missing out on third place on count back to Tenesi and Mike who hit a solid 35 points. In second place on 36 points was the strong pairing of Jayne Maxwell and Martin, well done to you both. Pulling away from the field with a staggering 40 points were our champions of the day Peter Osgood and Jane Fraser. An absolutely fantastic score in challenging conditions which included 3 birdies on the inward nine. A big congratulations to you both.

An excellent days golf concluded with a nice slice of chocolate cake as we raised a glass to our new Spring Mixed Champions. See you all at next years event.

Midweek Captain Richard Owen posted an early clubhouse score of 74 on a gloriously sunny day. He held the winning position on countback from Anis Driaa, Seong Lim and Chris Jones. Ed Henery and Toby Hunt followed with 75s.

Club captain Paul Brown made a surprise appearance in the clubhouse putting finishing touches to arrangements for Saturday’s American Mixed Greensomes whilst honing to perfection his 2-iron to keep a long ball under the arctic wind expected to prevail. Results…

CSS was again increased by two from SSS.

The associated Midweek Grand Medal Trophy is led by two competitors who have played two rounds so far – Stephen Mason 138 and Igor Stark 147. R2 Leader board…

A field of 60 competed for the Shaw Cup on a typical early Spring day. Peter Osgood seemed to have it in the bag until Charlie Whiteman was declared winner on a countback 36 points. Danny Deprez and Raymond Esin fought for third and fourth with Danny third on countback. With a back 9 of 20 Veronica Mitchell won countback on 34 from Stephen Legg and James Barker, and was best lady. Results…

The balance of scores was to reduce CSS to 34 points from SSS 36.

For the ladies the competition doubled as the NAPGC qualifier. For the men it was the second round in the Top Dog Trophy, with Pete Davis and Charlie currently leading with 12 points. R2 Leader board…

With sunny and warm Spring conditions The Priory Cup was closely contested.  The winner was Raymond Esin with 38 points on countback from Alexander Krasnenkov and Anis Driaa. Paul Grand challenged with 37 and was atop the leader board for 15 minutes. Results…

Paul Massie emerged the winner from a field of 31 with 37 points, three clear of Lee Marshall. Paul Green and Julian James challenged with 33. Paul earned a handicap reduction to 22 with CSS reduced to 35 points from SSS 37. Results…

Early light rain dissipated but interspersed with sunny intervals one heavy shower challenged 25 competitors. The winner of the Masters Bowl was Peter Osgood 70 on countback from Stephen Mason. Two shots adrift were Ted Holt, Chris Jones, Ed Henery and Paul Concannon. Leading lady was Gina Jillett. Results…

57 competitors turned out on a Spring day for the Coronation Cup. Early clubhouse leader Pete Davis posted 71 which remained unbeaten despite a strong challenge from Roger Rojas losing on a back 9 countback. Third was Kim Chaffart on 72 with Sunny Lall 4th on 73. CSS was elevated by 2 over SSS. Results…

The competition doubled as the medal NAPGC qualifier and first round of the Men’s season long Top Dog competition. R1 Leader board…

Asides from the opening and closing holes, Prince’s had absorbed overnight rain well. However, many bunkers showed erosion from water with stones and no sand.

In the individual competition, early starter John Ahad was the worthy winner on 38 points (front 9 of 21), a point ahead of Kim Chaffart and three from Paul Concannon. CSS was one above SSS at 36 and the only playing handicap changes were increases for Graham Babington Smith, Ted Holt, Tamas Ladacs and Stephen Mason. Results…

A ‘Waltzing’ team* event took place simultaneously.  The overall winners with 72 points were James Barker, Ed Henery and Richard Owen. Results…

* Technical footnote: The handicapping software places a restriction on team events – all players must play against either the men’s par & SI or the ladies’ par & SI. To overcome this restriction, ladies’ scores at certain holes have been amended to deliver correct stableford points since men played off men’s card and ladies off ladies’.

Hole by hole scores for the team event are at this link.

The forecast’s prediction of wind and rain dissuaded a number from attending and a further group abandoned their rounds as it became a reality and we were blasted with a strong squall and icy pellets of hail for several minutes. Amazingly it departed as rapidly as it had arrived and left blue skies for a few holes before soaking those at the back again. However, the results show that most people played their better golf at the start of the round, which is not the norm on Prince’s.

There were just 2 people unaffected by, or perhaps enjoying, the weather. Alexander Krasnenkov and Jim Fogarty outstripped the remainder of the field coming in with 41 points, some eight ahead of the rest. Alexander, who won in the week, took the honours on the back nine. As such the CSS went up by two earning them both a 1.8 reduction in handicaps. Results…

24 competitors turned out on a largely grey but dry day with little wind. Alexander Krasnenkov scored a deserved 39 points and his putting was to die for on the front nine. The sand on the greens did not have such a random effect as on Sunday. Mike Shabani again put in a good performance with 38 and Kim Chaffart challenged with 37 with 22 on the front 9. Results…

CSS remained as SSS (men 37, ladies 36).