The rain of the last few days didn’t bode well for the playing conditions. But it has to be said that the course was in surprisingly decent state. Suppose that playing off the yellow tees for the men didn’t hurt either. Biggest complication at this time of the year is that ball hunting (off the fairways) is being seriously complicated by all the fallen leafs. 

Clear winner today is Jose Manuel Gomez. If does help if you have the best (stableford) score on front AND back 9 (20+22pts). Early starter Pralab had to overcome a few issues with his marker. He matched Jose-Manuel’s score on the front 9. But a softer start on his back 9 means he “only” records 20pts. Alan played one of his better rounds of his recent times. He too went out with 20pts. But his 3rd place can only make up a very tiny bit for his misfortunes on holes 16&17. Looks like victory slipped away from him on just those 2 holes (he had recorded 15pts on the first 6 holes on the back 9). Brett was one of a very select group of players to record 2 birdies. These were recorded on just the back 9. This set him up nicely for an excellent score of 22pts on the way in. Cheryl’s “good vibes” must have rubbed off on both Angus and Tamas. (Even though they could’ve played a bit faster) Their scores of 36pts set them up nicely for the rest of the MW Winter Comp.

MW Winter Comp: too early to go into these standings

MW Duke’s Eclectic: Rob Smyth takes the lead.

After a chilly start, the sun came out and it was a pleasant, dry Autumn day. However, heavy rain earlier in the week had changed the Duke’s course into true ‘winter conditions’ with negligible bounce and run and the early signs of wormcasts.

The lengthening of the course by the ground conditions was counteracted (for the men) by playing off the Yellow Tees (shortening the course by nearly 500yards), so scoring was similar to usual, with a tie-at-the-top on 37points. The winner on countback was Brian Ransom, who had 19 points out and 18 points in, pipping Giles Rawlinson’s 20 points out and 17 points in. Giles had 2 birdies on the front 9 (3rd and 9th), whereas Brian had his one birdie on the (shorter than usual) 15th.

In 3rd place was last week’s winner Cuneyt Sazer (36 points) who, like Peter Flint in 4th place (35 points), had a ‘top-scoring’ 22 points on the front 9. Further details of scoring on the Best Scores Analysis report.

Sweep payout to the top 4 (£10, £7, £4, £2)

For info, Adrian Mancebo who played his 1st round with us in the group with Richard Norden and the two Giles’s, scored 44 points off his course handicap of 25 (HI 23.9), however as he had less than 6 qualifying rounds on his WHS record, he was excluded from the competition (club rule). As a result of his round, his HI has been cut to 16.9 !!!

Today proved to be a tough day at the office for most players. Only 4 players played better or to their HI. Needless to say that the return of the fall means any extra toll on the fairways is totally wiped out. Although the greens were fairly receptive they also lacked a bit of speed. The biggest nuisance today was probably the swirling wind. The 16th hole in particular was vastly affected. That hole was only like 123yds long. It played as SI8 (!!!) today.

Junior Division

Newcomer PM Micucci is not going to make a lot of friends by wining his first competition since joining. A few DB’s and the rare Triple prevented him from posting an even lower score. Ian finishes 1 shot back in 2nd. Bridget made the (brave) decision to enter the sweep. That boldness was rewarded with 3rd place. She could’ve finished higher if the first hole had been a bit kinder to her. Chris Jones matched Bridget’s score. But a softer back 9 forces him into 4th place.

Senior Division

Pralab may have picked the best time to complete his round. It is up for debate that the winds were not blowing so hard in the early morning. Nevertheless he recorded a tidy 66 (Nett) to claim the win. Richard confirms his reputation as the “Princes whisperer”. As per usual he carded a solid round on the P course. Closer examination of his scorecard learns that his solid back 9 played a big part in this success. Tamas was back at the park after a 2-week break. And to his own surprise he played one of his better recent rounds. He managed to record a 2 on the 16th. Angus played consistent golf: 39 (gross) and 38 (gross) on front and back 9 are a decent result on today’s conditions.

Morning showers abated but returned later in afternoon for the annual 3 clubs and a putter competition.

Over the years scores generally have compared with the normal 14 club allowance.

Well done indeed to winner Joe Goncalves on back 9 from Nigel Ward – 66s; 4 further scores in 60s from Sam,Brian M.Tony K and Paul Green. Joe shot 1 over par back 9 with his 3 clubs!!

Best woman Gina 72.

For the men, this was the last competition in the ‘Top Dog’.
In attached ‘friendly ‘ format Richard Owen is winner of The Senior Top Dog 29 points from Paul Kamerling 25 and Richard Smith 24 – after all JH Taylor KO matches results.

Also attached is the Junior Top Dog with Duncan T the narrow winner 25 from Goran K and Charlie W 24s – this after the 2 semi-finals of Two Courses Cup but the finalists have minimal/zero points so result would not alter Junior Top Dog.

Considering that competitors were limited to 5 clubs and putter, the scores were as good (if not better !) for many of the participants on this very mild late October day with occasional sunshine and very little wind.

First place went to Cuneyt Sazer (43 points), a weekend regular but rarely seen on a Friday. His outward 9 holes (20 points) started with 3 straight pars and his back 9 (23 points) comprised 5 pars and 4 bogies – all would seem to have been quite straightforward for him, however his playing partner Brian described some of his play as “miraculous”, from difficult situations.

Pat Barbour took 2nd place with 41 points; 17 points out (including 2 blobs) and 24 points in (the best scoring back 9 of the day). Today’s round was one of Pat’s best ever rounds and, as it was entered for General Play, should earn her a handicap reduction.

Two Friday regulars, Andrew Brown and Richard Norden, took 3rd and 4th places with 37 points, Andrew’s back 9 22 points narrowly beating Richard’s 21 points. The ‘Competition Scoring Analysis’ report and ‘Best Scores Analysis’ report are attached. Interestingly, the front 9 had the 3 easiest holes (2nd, 3rd and 4th) followed by the 4 hardest holes (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th).

Sweep payout to top 4 (£11, £8, £5, £3).

Golf is already complicated enough. It doesn’t help when the weather conditions are pretty miserable. The recent rains had taken away all roll on the fairways. The biggest obstacle were the strong winds. As usual the winds were swirling pretty heavily.  Standing on the tees of the 5th and 14th it was pretty obvious that there was a headwind. How in earth is it then possible that you also have headwind on the 15th and 16th? One of the many mysteries of the park I guess.

Peppe battled through a painful knee to claim victory today. 22pts on the way out was a solid basis for a good round. 1-pointers on 13 and 18 were the sole blemishes on his card. 17pts on the back 9 were enough keep him clear of the chasing pack. Neil was one of the early starters. It can be argued that the winds were not as strong as later in the day. Despite a blob on the 14th Neil had an excellent back 9 (20pts) to take 2nd. Stu used the best back 9 of the day (21pts) to finish 3rd 1pt behind Neil. Places 4-6 all go to early starters. Tom Simpkins had the score on the way out (23pts). This pretty good enabled him to take the last “money spot”.

Just 2 other bits:

– the headwind on 15 and 16 was real. The 15th played as SI3 today. And there were no birdies on the 16th today. Only 4 (!!!) players parred that hole.

– Even though the tees were moved forward and there was a strong tailwind there were “just” 2 birdies recorded on hole 17.

Rain was the order of the day with early games catching the worse. The sun eventually shone but just before dusk the heavens opened with thunderstorms. As a consequence the field was reduced.

Full credit to Jihum off 19 returning 42 points [22 out 20 back] to win the Charity Trophy. 3 behind was Raymond with Will B 37..
Best woman was Silvia 31 off 7 with special mention to Mark Bean for 3 birdies on back 9.

The last of the Saturday events on the calendar and the sole surviving pure foursomes event with awards at the annual dinner for both gross and net winners.

Don’t think we could have been luckier with the weather as it was drizzling by the time I left, but pity the bunkers were so compacted after the recent rain.
The sausage roll before we went out was very tasty and trust everyone else who had one of these or a bacon roll also enjoyed theirs. It was also good to be able to sit outside as we gathered afterwards for a drink. There was certainly a lot of laughs around the table which could have been down to discussing the worst or even best holes played – Justin and Susan’s 7th for example where Susan had to get out of the same bunker twice (sorry guys!!) or perhaps Avi deciding to jettison Patrick for Peter in the next foursomes comp!

But to the results…. a close run thing in both the net and gross competitions.
The net winners are Peter and Cheryl with a 71 beating Brendan and Sheena on the back 9 & this with both an 8 and 9 on their card but probably made up for these with a couple of birdies.

In the gross comp Brendan and Sheena had an 84 to beat Nick and Ronnie by 1

Prizes will be awarded at the annual dinner for the winners & runners-up in the nett comp and for the winners in the gross

It was a mild, autumnal day with strong, blustery winds from the south and occasional glimpses of the sun. Threatening dark skies appeared from time to time but luckily very little rain fell as the wind blew the showers by.

Although there were a few late cancellations, 5 teams competed and recorded good and very good scores. Only one stroke separated the first and second teams, with the 4-man team of Peters Goodall and Flint, Rannesh Jansari and Richard Owen coming out on top with a net 61 (67 gross which is 4 under par for the men’s card). Some amazingly good putting on the front 9 was the backbone of this scoring, with all the first 8 holes being 1-putted.

The runner-up 3-man team of Naveed Manazir, Richard Norden and Ian Burgess, with a net 62, had a 74 gross (3 over par for the men’s card). It’s always more difficult competing with just 3 in a team, so great scoring.

In 3rd place the team of Adrian Wells, Julian James, Brian Ransom and Seymour scored 66 net, 73 gross (which is just 2 over par for the men’s card – so solid scoring). A close thing for 4th and 5th places between Gary Simpson + Colin Price + Bob Kent on net 70 and the women’s team of Jayne Maxwell + Ann Gardner + Anya Toprak Zengin with a net 71.

Sweep payout to the winning team (just £4 each !)