This year’s Men’s Invitation was competed for by 14 eager and competitive mixed pairings. All competitors were greeted in the clubhouse with bacon rolls and coffee which, as later became apparent, had clearly got the competitive hungers fired up in the members.

The Captains, Paul and Lia, opened play at 11:04 with two straight drives, which remained the only straightforward part of the day. The weather immediately changed from sun to showers (possibly in shock at the two straight drives), and scoring became variable. Four and a quarter hours of highly competitive golf followed.

At close of play there was a noticeable hush in the galleries as each pairing in turn could be heard whispering “we left a lot out there”. There was no need to worry however as we were treated to a nice slice of Barbara’s home made chocolate cake and ice cream (a real treat), which certainly calmed the nervous worries of all concerned. A suitable end to a very sociable day.

Final scores were extremely close with five pairings separated by only one point and the dreaded countback. Winners were Captains Lia and Paul with 38 points (inward 9, 19 points). Second place went to Jon and Susan also with 38 points (inward 9, 17 points). And third place went to Paul Grand and Ann with 37 points (inward 9, 20).

All-in-all a thoroughly enjoyable days golf played in good spirit and amongst great company. Golf at its best.

As of today we have introduced Winter Rules for all play at Richmond Park. Local Rules Notice…

For the benefit of our newer members, I will mention that in layman’s language winter rules allows the ball to be marked, lifted, cleaned and replaced within 6 inches of the marked spot but not nearer the hole, and where the ball comes to rest on a closely mown area. In the Rules of Golf, closely mown is defined as grass cut to fairway height or less. It follows that the winter rules relief is not permitted when the ball is in the rough, or semi-rough !!

A pleasant autumn day ended in glorious sunshine but was played using preferred lies for the first time this season. Conditions clearly suited Alison Chadwick who won the medal with 70 on countback from Mark Rosamund and Mike Assender. Results…

In the associated Midweek Grand Medal, Stephen Mason clung on to win with 198 – 10 clear of Brett Colley and Paul Grand. Well done Stephen! Final leader board…

An early autumnal nip in the air greeted 45 competitors but it turned into a very pleasant day for golf. Very good play resulted in 3 tying for first place with Danny Deprez on 66 winning countback from Richard Owen and Roger Rojas. Paul Rockett took 4th place with Veronica Mitchell best lady on 72. CSS remained at SSS. Results…

This was the final round of the associated Anniversary Cup with Veronica Mitchell confirmed winner on 211 from Jayne Maxwell 215 and leading man Richard Owen also 215. Final Leader board…

Fair conditions prevailed with the wind gradually increasing. Playing against ladies’ pars and Sis enhanced scores as did the new 90% handicap allowance in this 4BBB pairs event.

Chris Jones and Richard Owen were the worthy winners on 49 points, one ahead of Tore Burman and Alexander Krasnenkov. Good teamwork earned Paul Grand and Alison Chadwick third place on 46 points. Results…

Ladies

Six pairs of ladies turned out for the second leg of the Ladies Autumn Meeting playing a 4 BBB. There were some very good scores.

In third place with 41 points were Joan Mulcahy and Sonia Inniss. In second place with 43 points were Maureen Slade and Susan Smith. And romping home with a stonking 44 points the winners were Deborah Potter and Tenesi Karakaneva. Results…

We had nibbles and drinks after and prizes (thanks to Deborah and the Tate) for the day’s performances and for performances in the Autumn Medal were awarded.

Men

Very early rain gave way to sunshine and blustery conditions. Members basked in the autumn sunshine by the clubhouse and toasted Igor Stark for an exemplary 62. But a beaming Habib Amir in the last game revealed that he shot an extraordinary 58. Well done Habib! Nigel Ward and Charlie Whiteman scored 63s. Results…

Overall scoring was to leave CSS at SSS. With an ESR of 2.0 Habib was cut from 20 to 15 for his performance!

In the penultimate round of the associated Grand Medal Trophy, Dave Fauré on 336 has a 10 shot advantage from Charlie Whiteman. R7 Leader board…

Perfect golfing weather conditions prevailed although greens pace was variable and many had an overhang of uncut grass. The mid-morning contingent followed a cracking pace set by the ladies for 4 hour rounds. Early starters posted 67s and Toby Hunt and Paul Grand were up to the challenge with just two dropped shots through 9 and net 65s. Toby won on countback. Chris Jones posted 66 for third with Richard Owen and Henry Lindesay-Bethune following with 67s. Results…

50% of competitors were within their buffer zone of SSS and CSS was reduced by one from SSS. Toby, Paul, Chris, Richard and Henry all received handicap cuts with Paul earning an ESR of a further 0.5.

In the associated Midweek Anniversary Cup, Paul emerged the winner on 205, nine ahead of Brett Colley and Cheryl Woodhouse. Final Leader board…

Ladies

Conditions were definitely softer underfoot after the rain of last week, but scores were pretty much unaffected and the CSS was cut to 72.

The winner by 3 and continuing her recent good form was Veronica Mitchell with a 69 and the only one to receive a handicap cut. Her 0.9 cut reduces her to 18.6. In second place, 3 shots behind was Jane Fraser. Results…

Men

A largely windless day following recent rain provided good conditions. Scoring was excellent with 10 pairs beating 36 points.

The winners on 43 countback were Danny Deprez and Jim Fogarty from James Shine and Shane McGillycuddy. Danny and Jim needed to keep their good form through the last two holes finishing birdie, par for 7 points. James and Shane already had 42 in the bag standing on 17th tee but finished with only 1 further point. James and Shane had 2 ‘blobs’ overall as did Nigel Gaymond and Jon Cooper who took 3rd place with 42 points so there were more points available. Results…

Another hot early Autumn day greeted competitors. Ample run was available and greens were in good condition but with some random bounce on fairways.

A challenging format, but 72% of competitors scored within SSS of 1-up resulting in CSS being elevated to 2-up. Early starter Derek Gibbs was the winner on a commendable 5-up with a countback separating Stephen Mason and Toby Hunt who both finished 4-up. Results…

A splendid round of 42 points from the winner Cheryl Woodhouse who additionally earned an ESR and now plays off 21. Results…

There was a glorious eagle from John Ahad on 15. Chris Jones and Pete Davis also recorded eagles this month. Eagle tree…