It was fine and dry for playing the July Plate with rain not arriving until after play.

José emerged the splendid winner with 43 points which included a ‘blob’ on his front 9 22 pts; another fine round from Richard O 41pts edged on countback another level par round from Jay – they both scored 23 on front 9 and had 2 birdies. Henry and Alan K battled for 3rd place both 40pts; Alan’s front 9 19pts held mixed fortunes – 3 birdies and 2 ‘blobs’.
Brian R had best back 9 23 pts.

The men & women have their own CCs occurring concurrently with the first round always on the Prince’s course, In conditions vastly better than at Hoylake everyone stayed dry with just a gusty wind to contend with.

Women

We may have been a small group but there were some good (& some not so sadly) scores out there today. Playing in the first game with was our leader after the first round in both the gross and net Div 1. Susan had one of those days that you want to bottle up and repeat on a regular basis. The only bad drive she had was on the 16th but it didn’t do too much harm – WHS is dropping her a full shot tomorrow and after 3 close birdie attempts she waited to finish with a flourish on the 18th.

In the game behind Doreen was continuing her current in form play and leads the Div 2 net comp which has shrunk for next week with a couple of NRs.

Men

Bright and breezy conditions for round 1 of Club Championship – the courses benefitted from the rain of yesterday. 7.3.

Indeed, there were superlative performances. In the net (handicap) result Gregory shot an amazing net 57 from a miracle net 58 from Roger R. Well done!! Gregory’s 12.8 difference to handicap generated an ESR of -2.0 and a reduction in HI from 32.8 to 29.7; Roger had ESR -1.0 and his HI drops from 9.5 to 7.3. Richard O shot a fantastic net 63 with birdie at last being icing on cake.
Roger’s level par gross took front and back 9s .

In the scratch (gross) , Roger leads senior division first round 68 from Chris Saloway 72 and then Richard O and Joe G 76s. Brian Ransom 86 leads the pack in junior division from Nigel W and Duncan 87s

A sunny morning clouded over with a strengthening breeze but fortunately it stayed dry.

The early morning two ball of Paul McGrath and Naveed Manazir set the pace, Paul posting an impressive 43 points and Naveed posting the best gross score of the day (77 strokes). It looked as though Paul had held off all challengers, until the final group submitted their scores and Colin Price entered his 44 points. Then there were three very creditable 39 pointers, Julian, Lia and Gerard in that countback order. The Best Scores Analysis report shows that both Paul and Gerard had great front 9s (25 points each), whereas Colin had the best back 9 (24 points). Richard Owen had birdies on the 3rd, 17th and 18th but too many putts on the other holes. Sweep payout to the top 4 (£3, £5, £8, £10).

A very early shower but it brightened to sunshine. First Wednesday comp with red penalty area right of 17 and 18.

The very early clubhouse leader Gina held the position throughout and started and finished with birdies for 43 points. Well done Gina!
Richard Marriott challenged with 41 points and another good round from Capt Sheena gave her 3rd place. Secretary Peter H had super back 9 – 21 points but with blob at 18.
This was final round of the Founders’ Cup and sees the winner Gina leap-frog Chris R to win Cup on 153 points -9 clear of Chris with Peter H a further 7 behind.

Unseasonably windy for July and first competition with red penalty areas on 17 and 18.

As with previous 2 years the Captains’ Day was won by a woman and this year women took first 5 prizes. Reiko came out top 6 from Mayumi and Ali 68s then Capt. Sheena and Doreen 69s; best men with 71s – Brian M, Paul McG and George T.

Aidan and Silvia had the best front9s whilst Raymond did the same on the back 9 – all in 39
Ed H added to the men’s Sunday eagle tally this year with first at 3rd.

For men this was 4th comp in the ‘Top Dog’ and as attached we find Brian M and Raymond on 18 leading the senior division from Toby. Dilip maintains his lead26 from Onursal. 18.

Women led the associated putting competition with Ali just edging Sheena with 27s [Sheena 2 ‘zeroes’]; Brian M took men’s with 26 putts.

Novelty prizes as below.
Nearest the pin in Two on
Hole No 6 – Men only Aidan Hurley
Hole No 18 – Men & Women Seema Sandhu & Sean O’Sullivan

.Longest Drive on the Fairway on Hole No 15 – Men only Andre Pelser/ Justin Wildman

Nearest the pin on Hole No 7 and Hole No 16 – Men & Women

Hole No 7 – Susan Smith & Sean O’Sullivan

Hole No 16 – Avi Murphy & Paul McGrath

Those that believed the weather forecast and decided to cancel were not disappointed – it really did rain almost the whole time we were playing, making it all rather unpleasant, although the bonhomie over drinks in the clubhouse afterwards was up to the usual high standards.

Our winner today, Brian Ransom (40 points), continued his recent good form and this time is ‘in the money’. Runner up, just one point behind, was Justin Wildman making the most of his school holidays. Bill Norman came with a strategy today – use a 6 iron instead of the driver – and his strategy paid off, as he came in 3rd with 37 points. Sweep payout to these top three (£9, £6, £3).

The field enjoyed pretty decent golfing conditions. Still plenty of roll on the fairway. Looks like some greens on the front 9 were cut. The rough remains enemy number 1 for most players. But all in all the course seemed there for the taking. And that is what a lot of players did. Prime example was the 18th hole. On that hole in particular players did take full advantage of the white tees being (temporarily) moved up. 

Best of the class today was Julian. He enjoyed a decent start. But he then went on to record birdies on 11 and 17. That was part of a 35 gross back 9 (aka 26 net). Just enough to finish as the best of 3 players on 62 (net). Today’s Runner-Up was on a Headingley high. Alison copied the JJ method: solid on the front 9 (48 gross – 33 net) and excellent on the back 9 (42 gross – 29 net). Last member of the 62 gang is Chris Rudkin. He finishes 46 (gross – 31 net) and 45 (gross – again 31 net). Very well played all 3.

Early starter Pralab was leader in the ckubhouse for a quite a while. The highlight of his 64 net was an eagle 2 on the 15th. Angus recovered in time from a demanding golf trip on Monday to shoot 74 gross (65 net). He probably could’ve challenged the group on 62 had it not been for 3 3-putts in the first 5 holes. PCC adjustment looks likely. So the HI adjustments could be more muted than anticipated.