Heavy cloud and a little misty rain in the air were present for the opening holes but it soon turned into a sunny and much warmer day.

Early starter Pralab Barua set the standard on the leaderboard with a commanding 40 points, which the rest of the field just couldn’t match. Pralab’s front 9 was ‘steady’ (17 points) but he really put his foot down on the back 9 (23 points), with 4 pars and a birdie over the final 5 holes. Paul McGrath’s 2nd place (36 points) seems to have been a combination of extremes with 3 blobs and 2 ‘7s’ but birdies on the 4th and 15th and 14 points scored on the five Par 3s.

The Richards took 3rd and 4th places, both with 35 points. Richard Owen had the better back 9 (19 points), whereas Richard Back’s front 9 included 2 birdies and an eagle (on the 9th) making it the best front 9 (20 points) in the competition.

Sweep payout to top 3 (£10, £6, £3)

As one competitor said: that was hard work. Even though the greenkeeping staff started prepping the course for (the future better weather it was hard to attack the course. Most of the casual weather disappeared but the fairways still offered next to no roll. Greens are definitely firming up. But they could be a bit more even. The swirling winds made distance control very tricky. Some pin position were fairly cruel (the 10th immediately comes to mind).  Believe the whole field appreciated the cut grass on the fairways. But the required carry off the tee was pretty demanding on some holes.

The early bird catches the worm today. Chris had the best front 9 (21pts – honour shared with Alex). Only 3 pars on the back 9 translate into 17pts. In the end 38pts was too high a bar for the rest of the field. Toby came closest (he will rue his scores on the 10th and 14th hole though). Paul G had the best back 9 (19pts – same as Toby) to claim 3rd. Single HI’ers Peter and Richard B both had 2 birdies to claim the last of the money positions.

Round 1 is in the books. 5 more  to go. Plenty of time to make up some ground.

Please find attached a PDF reports of the results, Best Scores Analysis and Competition Scoring Analysis (just see how holes 12,13 & 14 ranked today).

The forecast was for some heavy rain.

In the event there was some early persistent rain. Conditions were difficult and some long drives were needed to clear the rough before fairway on some holes. PCC remained at 0.

Onursal was crowned winner of Coronation Cup with net 68 ahead of 3 70s from Gregory, Pat B (first woman) and Ross H (also loewst gross 77); Onursal had reserves – he had 10 on 17th.

For the men this was the first event in divisionalised Top Dog for the season. In the attached we eee heading the senior division is Ross on 12 points followed by Joe G 8 down to Pete M 1; in the junior it’s Onursal 12 points from Gregory 8 down to Julian 1.

It was another very wet Friday and only the hardiest came out to play.

When the cards were ‘recovered’ from the Green Box on Sunday morning, there were very definite signs that they had only just dried out. There seemed to have been some remarkable scoring, most remarkable was Alex’s 5 points birdie on the SI1 14th, presumably a pitch in from distance. Adrian’s birdie (4 points) on the SI4 4th must have been a similar type of shot, although perhaps a chip rather than a pitch (?) and he also par’d the 14th.

Alex’s 34 points total earns him the £6 sweep money, beating Adrian’s 32 points and respectable 30 points scores by Charles and Richard.

Theme of the day had to be the number 1:

– there were 30 and 1 entrants

– the winning score (gross) was +1

– for the 1st time in donkeys’ years Ali entered the sweep. And the gamble/choice paid off (see below)

– and last but (certainly) not least: Ed Robinson aced the 2nd hole (guess drinks are on offer next week)

Believe the saying is that you can tell a good golfer apart from the way he rebounds from a bad result. Richard B had a sub-par day last Sunday. But he improved dramatically by posting the winning score of +1 gross. -2 gross on the front 9 (2 birdies and 7 pars if you are interested in details). The start and the end of the back 9 were solid (all pars). The only blemishes of the day were 3 consecutive bogeys on 12,13 & 14. Still a very decent day at the office. Another early starter Paul G(iles) came (distant) second with solid score of 67 (Net). He was matched by first lady Susan. But the countback rule sides with Paul. Ali broke par today with a solid score of 68 (Net). Peter G and Ian are the last to play better than their handicaps.

There were quite a few reminders of the wet winter months. Looks like we will need a few more weeks of dry weather to do away with the casual water and mud. Luckily the winds were not too severe. Scoring in general was pretty decent.

Senior Division
Will recorded an excellent score of of 37 gross (+2). He even upped the ante on the back 9 by coming home in level par. A score of 70 gross (62 Net) make the clear winner today. Pete Malla was a very deserving second with a Net score of 64. Kevin finished 3rd. But it must feel a day of what could’ve been (6 shots lost to par over the last 4 holes). Amid, Jay and Mark are the last ones in the Sr Div to break par.

Junior Division
It also took a Net 62 to win the Junior Division. Paul used an excellent front 9 (+4 gross) to set up today’s win. He had a few nerves on the back 9. But all in all he kept his composure to seal the win. At first glance Gunnar is distant second today. But a closer look of his scorecard learns that victory slipped through his fingers on the last 3 holes. Duncan had a solid round to finish 3rd. The only blemish on his round was a snowman on the 9th hole. Much and Sean both recorded 67’s to claim 4th and 5th in this division. Shout-out to Edd Hall for ducking in time to prevent being hit by a wayward tee-shot coming from the 13th tee (player’s identity is known but not will be named).

10 hardy souls braved the heavy rain on the Prince’s course and submitted respectable scores.

Top of the pile was Peter Goodall (37 points), closely followed by Pralab on 36 points, Richard Norden on 35points and Alex Braun on 34 points. Sweep pay-out to 1st and 2nd (£7 & £3).

To use an understatement: that was tough! The predicted continuous rain didn’t materialise. But instead the field got treated to heavy showers that came and went in a flash. By the time you put on your rain gear the clouds opened and the sun appeared. The 40mph gusts of wind did sign present. On top of that they were quite swirling too

The field just recovered from the headwind on the 14th hole. Surely the wind must have come from the left on the 15th hole. It was quite a shock to see that hole playing … into the wind. Holes 5,12 and 14 all played into the wind.  So it comes as no surprise that those 3 holes played as the most difficult holes of the day.

All these were very mitigating circumstances for today’s scoring. Just 1 player beat the course: Alan King. His solid front 9 (2Up) was followed by more subdued back 9 (Level). Alex took his time to find his groove. He was 2 Down on the way out. But a better back 9 (2Up) allows him to beat yours truly on countback. Jay was best of the rest. Wouldn’t be a surprise if PCC will be adjusted. [Ed..it +3!]

A chilly start butte warm sun came out and players slowly took off the odd layer of clothing with temps nudging 18C for Easter.

Silvia B off HI 6 ( last year’s women’s champion) shot a superb 38 points (20 on back 9) to win the Easter plate from Nick R and consistent Pete Mall 36s, Much, Toby and Nigel W followed with 35s.

Alan K had magic front 9 – 21 points whilst men’s champion Richard B shot the only ‘Two’.