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!).

Very blustery conditions prevailed and the last games caught some rain as the light dimmed. Unsurprisingly, scoring was difficult with the competition declared a ‘reduction only’ round with CSS three above SSS. Cream rose to the top when James Barker finished the last 3 holes with birdies to win on count-back with 32 points from Stephen Mason. Results…

Stephen Mason leads the Winter Competition on 65 from Colin Pizzey 63. R2 Leader board…

Only four players returned scores on all holes in the associated Duke’s Eclectic so Ed Henery leads on 80 from Julian James 84.5. R1 Leader board…

Ladies

For the second week running a Jayne won the competition, but this one has a ‘y’ in her name and just like her namesake last week, she too had a score significantly better than anyone else. With a score of 37 points and five points ahead of Val Riziotis, she earned a 1.2 handicap reduction as the CSS went up by three again requiring just 34 points to play to handicap. Results…

Unsurprisingly in the associated Eclectic table, Jayne leads the way, this time by ten shots from Val. However, only two other competitors holed out on all 18 holes, leaving a lot to play for in the remaining three rounds. R1 Leader board…

Men

Early wind gradually died down but whilst mud accumulated on trolleys, ball bounce was not impacted significantly, tough conditions overall with CSS raised one over SSS. Clear winner was Danny Deprez with Charlie Whiteman making a late bid with 37 points. Lee Marshall, Roger Rojas and Paul Brown returned strong 36s. Attendance again held up at 46 plus three entering cards for handicap. Results…

The Winter Competition is wide open after two rounds.  Denis Pellerin leads on 74 points followed by Charlie, Danny and Stephen Legg. R2 Leader board…

Roger Rojas leads the associated Duke’s Eclectic by half a shot from James Barker with Danny yet to figure due to ‘blob’. R1 Leader board…

Another mild and dry day greeted 24 competitors for the first round of the Midweek Winter Competition. Overall scoring proved a little difficult with CSS elevated to SSS +1.

The runaway winner was Igor Stark with a two-birdie 41 points which earned him a .5 ESR so now plays off 17.2 – well done Igor! Gina piped Paul Grand for second place 35 on a countback. Results…

The Winter Competition after one round reflects the above results. R1 Leader board…

In the associated Prince’s Eclectic, Igor has a four shot advantage over Paul Grand. R1 Leader board…

Ladies

A balmy Remembrance Sunday saw most of the ladies struggling with the change to winter type conditions underfoot with only 5 of the 12 holing out 18 times, thus leaving plenty of opportunity to improve in the other 3 rounds of the eclectic.

Winner on the day by four and earning herself a cut of 0.7 to 19.8 in handicap was Jane Fraser with 36 points. Jayne Maxwell took second place from Lesley Mason, both on 32. Results…

Jane is of course leading the Eclectic after the first round and Gina Jillett is her closest rival at this stage. R1 Leader board…

Men

Mild conditions again prevailed and Prince’s held up despite heavy rain the previous day. Attendance for a men only competition in 2015 set a record of 48.

Scoring was average with CSS = SSS but three contested top position on 39 points, and count backs separated Ed Henery winner from Pete Harrison and Denis Pellerin. Ed’s commendable back 9 was achieved in one over par. Results…

The Winter Competition after one round reflects the above results. R1 Leader board…

In the Prince’s Eclectic Ed and Stephen Legg have a half shot advantage. R1 Leader board…