On Saturday we held our Autumn Mixed Foursomes competition .  A good turnout of 12 pairs competed for the trophy. On the day, although low level clouds stopped the sun getting out we thankfully had a dry day.  However the  beginnings of the muddy golf days ahead were evident- the ball was definitely not running and extra club lengths were required.   As usual these events whilst competitive are great fun and offered us the chance to gather socially  afterwards  and enjoy Glendale’s finest pizzas and drinks on the house (RPGC!) and a good chat.

So the winning pairs of the net competition:

Congratulations to  Jayne Maxwell and Richard Owen who won the trophy ? with a  net 63 followed in 2nd place by Jane Fraser & Ned Shanklyn with a net 67 . 

Whilst both net winners played off 18 handicaps our Gross Winners- Gina Jillett and Jay Barker -playing  with only a 9 handicap, finished with a fantastic gross score of 78.  I watched them play a very relaxed game  together with some beautiful shots and great supportive teamwork . Well done to them.

Captain Val

Winter seemed to have arrived with a chilly north westerly wind and the heavy rain earlier in the week had left parts of the Dukes course extremely wet, with standing water in places. The 8th and 9th holes were closed making the competition over 16 holes only.

The best score of the day was posted by Adrian Wells (34 points), continuing his recent good form, with Justin Wildman (on half term holidays) 3 points back on 31 points. Richard Back was the best of a trio of players on 30 points, beating Teddy Holt and Rannesh Jansari, respectively, on countback. Sweep pay out to the top two players.

Autumn is back with a vengeance. Today offered a taste of what lies in store over the coming months. Quite a bit of standing water, no roll on the fairways, greens that were a tad slower and lots of swirling winds.

Colm added another trophy to his cupboard. 19pts out and 21pts in put him 1pt clear of today’s runner-up.

Alan C was flying on the first 9 holes: 25pts. 5 5’s and 2 7’s on the back 9 limited his inward score to 14pts. Jeremy Prescot left his driver home and this choice worked wonders. Finding a lot of fairways enabled him to record 19pts on front and back 9 to take 3rd place. Adrian W finishes 1pt back (18+19pts) in 4th. The MC had a volatile round (3 birdies, 3 Double Bogeys) to claim 5th place with 37pts. 6th place goes to Robin. Jeremy R could’ve jumped quite a few players but 2 ugly 6’s on the last 2 holes halted his charge. Brett managed to go -2 over the first 3 par 3’s. Unfortunately he went +4 over the last 2 par 3’s.

The best player over the par 3’s today was Peter H (14pts). Ronnie had the best score over the par 5’s.

Please find attached a PDF report of the results, Scoring Analysis and Best Score Overview.

Another mild autumnal day – grey to start but finishing with bright sunshine and a breeze.

Kevin P kept a 6 off his card for a truly excellent 43 followed 2 behind by Richard O and Robin T 40. Bewst woman playing off 6 -Silvia B 36 points.

Armi and late entrant Nick R clambered aboard the men’s Sunday Eagle Tree attached bringing the overall tally this season to 13 – well done indeed to both.

Winner over the 2 rounds of the Autumn Stableford was Kevin P 79 from Joe G 78 and Nick 77.

2 weeks left of BST then it’s dark at 5 folks!

Scoring was not so different to having a full set of clubs, however there is no doubt that the courses are playing ‘longer’ with the cooler temperatures and softer ground (less run) and the smaller fairways and longer semi rough grass.

These difficulties didn’t seem to hold back Stephen Haworth, our winner on 39 points with a sparkling back 9 of 36 shots, just 3 over par – there must have been some very good chipping and putting. Seymour was 2nd with 35 points, also with a strong back 9, including a birdie on the 14th, beating Adrian on countback, who had a more balanced round. Sweep payout to these top 3.

Autumn golf is back at the park: thicker air, less carry, less roll. At least the greens are improving and the bunkers are no longer GUR.

Gina forgot that she is playing an important team comp this weekend and recorded a) the best score over the par 4’s (+4) and par 3’s (-1). She also matched Andrew Watson for the best back 9. Number wise this translates into a score of 65 Nett and the status of leader in the clubhouse. Another early starter Adrian Wells recorded an excellent score of 66 Nett to capture 3rd place (his score could even have been better had he not recorded a snowman on the first hole). The only player to best Gina’s score was Colm Ivors with a fantastic 63 Nett. This score is even more admirable since he started his round with a triple bogey 7. Dave Chilvers and Roslyn Williams complete the Top6. Special mention to Uli for recording an eagle 2 on the 3rd hole.

Midweek Grand Medal Trophy Cheryl Woodhouse holds on to top spot (347) before Angus (352), Chris Jones (354), Jeremy and Colm.

The day dawned very still with no sun. Autumnal gnats/ midges were easily inhaled. Slowly the sun made an appearance and the temp nudged 19C as shown bottom of results report. Water was still visible in bunkers from earlier in the week [all bunkers GUR].

Ed’s 44 points was posted as early leader and he remained there to win decisively; significantly he ‘blobbed’2 holes so could have been better…His score triggered a WHS ESR and handicap index reduces from 21.9 to 19.6 – well done Ed. Nick Rogers shot an impressive 42 points for 2nd – again with a blob. Andrew Wa 41, Adrian W 40 completed the 40s line-up. Best woman Ronnie 37.

All to play for in the next round; first 8 won sweep as per attached report.

There were some excellent individual and team scores in today’s overcast but largely dry weather conditions, with no wind. Standing water remnants of Monday’s torrential rain were evident at low points on several fairways and surrounding areas but fortunately all greens were in play (although all bunkers were GUR).

It was a close-run result with only 3 points separating the leading 3 teams, who all scored over 80 stableford points.

After scrutiny/checking of the scorecards the winning team was Brian, Peter Goodall and Colm on 84 points, just pipping Cheryl, Marnix and Chris Rudkin on 83 points, with Jayne, Seymour and Richard Owen on 81points.

Thanks to all who participated and sweep pay-out is to the winning team. Next week is an individual 5 clubs and a putter.

Hard to believe that the rain at the start of the week was so heavy that 4 holes had to be closed (playing the 9th as a Par 3 must have been weird – see long-distance photo below). The field seemed to enjoy pretty decent golfing conditions.

Looks like RIchard O used the extra receptive green on the 2nd hole. He came within a couple of inches of acing that hole. Tough luck Richard – but see photo below.

Stephen H collected 19pts on the first 9 holes. 12pts over the last 5 holes allow him to barely edge out Julie. 3rd place goes to Juho (18pts + 11 over the last 5 holes). Richard Smith went -2 gross over the last 5 holes. This translated in 14pts. Unfortunately for him he “only” recorded 14pts over the 9 holes. Else he would’ve finished a bit higher on the leader board. Richard Y closes out the Top6.

The weather forecast for the coming days looks a bit “drier”.