Although the BBC weather forecast early in the morning was mainly dry with a few occasional showers, this had changed by 9am to 80% rain and even that was an understatement – in fact the 18 hardy competitors and 2 players playing for handicap were subjected to incessant heavy rain. Seven players (and a dog) quite understandably ‘gave up’ part way round, however the rain didn’t seem to affect John Ahad’s golf with an impressive 37 points and was like ‘water off a duck’s back’ to Damber who posted 33 points but could quite easily have had 37 points too if regulation 2 putts hadn’t become 3s on several greens.

According to PGA.com the probability of hitting a hole in 1 is 12,500 to 1. It is becomes even crazier when you get 2 players acing on the same day. So well done to John Perkins and Julie Ryan (in chronological order)  for achieving this remarkable feat on the 2nd hole. See report immediately below*

What a difference a couple of summer days make. The soft fairways and receptive greens were a distant memory today. Remember the rain from a short while back? The thick rough is the only indication of the downpours from a couple of weeks ago. So you needed to be precise (or lucky) off the tee.

Today’s winner is Cheryl with an excellent score of 64 (Net). She was a model of consistency (45 on front and back 9). Richard Back is on a roll. Strong of his win last Sunday he jumped on an early tee slot and calmly carded a round of +3 gross. He recorded 2 5s on the back 9 (13 & 18). But still finished with a stronger back 9 to beat Charlie Edwards on countback. The women seemed to enjoy today’s conditions. Besides today’s winner Cheryl, Ann Gardner recorded an excellent score of 66 (Net). VC John Ahad, Angus “Braveheart” Robertson and John “Ace” Perkins were just 1 shot back from the leading women. Richard Hanna used a better back 9 to hold of Joe Goncalves.

Angus takes the lead in the Midweek Medal Trophy on 206 (closest competitor is on 211- cf. attached).

It was a chilly start but the sun eventually broke through for a glorious warm day.

Winner of the Bank Holiday Plate was back in form Richard B 41 points with Mike Shabani runner-up 40. Katharina took 3rd on contback g=from Lica for 3rd and 38 points. Ned was best 37 on countbacks from Geoge T and Daniel.

There wer 9 ‘Twos’ recorded. Best front 9 24pts – Luca whilst John A and Katharina best back 22.

Richard B re-featured in birdies report attached – both he and George M had 4.

Our first Friday team competition was played in fine, mainly sunny early summer weather conditions and competitors seemed to enjoy playing as a ‘team’ for a change. With all the recent rain the fairways were softer than they will become and the semi-rough & rough have become ‘lush’. The only down side was the 4-ball of golf novices on a ‘day out’ in front of us, who caused a horrendous ‘back up’ of games over the front 9.

The winning team, with a total of 76 points, was the socially distanced Adrian Wells (who was card marking in an early game) together with Ann Gardner and Jeremy Prescott, playing towards the back of our main group. Together they went out in 37 points, mainly due to Ann’s personal 21 points, and then came back in an even stronger 39 points, this time mainly due to Adrian’s 22 points, but Jeremy pitched in with 2 and 3 points on the front and back 9s when needed to.

It was close between 2nd, 3rd and 4th places (73, 72 and 71 points respectively) with the team of Julian, Naveed and Tim clinching the runner’s up place with 39 out and 34 back, and Alvaro, Alan and Kevin posting 39 out and 33 back. So it seems both of these teams ran out of steam on the back 9, particularly by comparison with our winners.

The sweep monies will be shared by the winning team members.

We will have another team event in 3 weeks time.

The rain of the last couple of days created some trouble: there was little roll on the fairways. The rough has grown quite rapidly since the rain made its return. The softer greens created some very welcome grip. But they could’ve done with a better roll. Some men will have been in a bit of a shock to see the white tees moved all the way to the back on 17 and 18.

Today’s Top 4 all seemed to follow the same course of action: get at least 20pts on the back 9. Leader in the clubhouse Joe Goncalves set the bar very high with his 39pts. 3 people came close. Charlie Edwards had an excellent back 9 (23pts) but has to settle for 2nd. First woman today, Gina, is keeping up her good form (save some good shots for the Hawtree …) on her way to 3rd. You guessed right: she scored 20pts on the way in. Richard Young scored 20pts too but the countback moves him into 4th. The 2 players who finished on 36pts both had 17pts on the back 9. Pete’s final six holes were just a bit better. So he takes 5th place.

Only 3 2s were recorded today. All took place on the 10th hole. Looks like Pete Goodall won the Founders Cup with 118pts.

Women

Perhaps it was all those years being toughened up in the army, but unlike the rest of us the wind and rain of today seemed only to enhance Donna’s play. Finishing a mere 6 points ahead of Julie with 39 and 33 points respectively. In our game, mud balls and the rough certainly played its part. With a 10 point difference between her score today and the first week’s leader, Donna is the well-deserved winner of the Committee Cup overturning a 5 point deficit with ease. Her total score was 72

Donna was left to rue her decision not to confirm entry into the UKPCC letting Julie, in 2nd spot, win through to be our qualifier. Others may qualify if scores from other clubs are as low as ours today!!

Men

Cool conditions with odd shower were inappropriate for The Summer Cup.
Compared with recent weeks scoring was subdued but Uli came out on top with 38 points from Rhys, Alan and Kevin.

Unusually no ‘Twos’ were recorded.

Resu;ts below depict UKPCC entrants with a tick.

The extremely high south-westerly winds and rain that fell after midday made playing golf very difficult and far from enjoyable. The scores reflected the conditions and just finishing was an achievement.

Long hitting Charlie Edwards, playing in his first Friday competition for a while, took the honours with 32 points (17 out, 15 in and 7 pars). In 2nd place, just one point back, was Uli Katte who seemed to relish the bad weather, going out in only 11 points but scoring 20 points on the back 9 (6 pars total). Brian, Graham and Colm all scored 29 points, with Brian taking 3rd place on countback. With the reduced field of 15 players the sweep pay out will be to 1st and 2nd only.

Next week the format changes to a stableford ‘1,2,3 waltz’ team competition, however anyone who wants to submit a card to WHS can still keep an individual card and submit as General Play.

The rain of the last couple of days cancelled out some of the weird bounces that we had grown used to. Greens were also a lot more receptive. Weirdly they seemed to have lost some pace. Soft(er) fairways also meant that there was far less roll (as Gina said so eloquently: The balls are going nowhere …). Think the field must have been rather pleased that the Met Office had it wrong: believe that only the early starters had to deal with some rain. Most of the field could leave the umbrella and waterproofs in the golf bag.

Today’s clear winner is Eliot Kerr. Despite two 7s on the front 9 he was able to record 23pts on the way out. Birdies on 14 and 15 were a nice extension of that excellent front 9. The only reason his margin of victory wasn’t bigger was because of an untimely 6 on the 18th. The MC started slowly, can’t really give another definition for a sequence 5,5,5 and 4 on the first 4 holes. He then steadied himself and despite an ugly 5 on the 18th finished 2nd with 40pts. Alastair Whyte lost to the MC on countback (NR’s on 13 and 17 didn’t help). Peter Goodall is keeping up his excellent form with a score of 39pts. Early starter Nafeez was leader in the clubhouse for a couple of hours with 38pts. Richard Owen and Teddy Holt recorded 37s for 6th and 7th places.

Peter Goodall takes the lead in the Founders Cup standings (115pts). Rick Kimber (113) and Roger Rojas (111) remain within striking distance.