The field enjoyed some pretty good golfing conditions. The rain of the last days made the greens extra receptive and added a bit of speed. The extra bounce and roll on the fairways was still present. Swirling winds on the back 9 made life a bit trickier than expected.

Keith Cassidy was struggling with his swing but still posted a 69 net to become leader in the clubhouse. He was soon followed by Henry L-B, who enjoyed a very good front 9 (-1 gross) but an untidy 13th hole prevented him from improving on a 4th place finish. The 3rd player with a score of 69 was first lady, Tenesi. Only one player managed to better that result. George Taylor recorded an excellent front 9 (39 gross) and held it together on the back 9 to win the Golden Jubilee. George’s handicap gets a nice chop down to 14.

Early starter Chirs Lordan and Peter Osgood (let’s hope for the club’s sake that he can keep this form for one more week …) complete the Top6. Nick Rogers took 5 shots to just get his ball on the 7th green. The quadruple bogey he recorded on that hole must have liberated him because he played excellent golf on the back 9. His score of 72 net translates into 37 stableford points thereby reducing his competition handicap by one stroke. Unfortunately he has developed a pattern by which his new clubs only perform every other week. So if the Hawtree captain wants to drop him: now’s your chance. Results…

CSS: 71/73 (20/51 in the buffer)

In the Anniversary Trophy the race seems to be over. Henry leads Nick by 13 and Kim by 14 with one round to go.
Henry (210), Nick (223) and yours truly (224). R3 Leader board…

After 4 rounds of the Men’s Top Dog Trophy Chris Lordan (24pts) maintains his lead over Ollie Griffin (13), Anis (12) and George (12). R4 Leader board…

Humidity was high but cloud gradually increased to take the edge off the sun’s heat. Greens were being watered manually but hard sand in some bunkers and impenetrable ball-losing rough sometimes one foot from fairway proved Prince’s only natural (unfair?) defences with ample run on the short course.

But this in no way takes away the brilliant golf from improver Cosmo Liefting-Moore winning with 61 from early leader Russell Stewart 62. Indeed, focus on a 5 iron for most holes paid dividends for Cosmo. Last week’s winner Russell earned on ESR of 1 to now play off 11 – well done! Jack Evans and new member Chris Courtney took 3rd & 4th places whilst the flame still flickered for Jeremy Prescott 64. Results…

Glendale employed some contractors digging a trench on 15 meaning a further forward tee from that already in place. As a result the hole was ranked 16 for the day’s round (SI =6 for men with 6 birdies recorded as per attached report). Scoring analysis…

Alan King added an eagle to the tree at 14. Eagle Tree…

As expected. 49% were in buffer zone resulting in CSS being pared by one from SSS.

Ladies

Conditions didn’t suit the ladies as much as the men it seems, with no one managing to play to their handicap, although it was close with the first 3 places all net 70.

A consistent front and back 9 pushed Lia Donath back into 3rd place from Jenny Lawrence & Doreen Dolby. This was Jenny’s first game back with the club after a long lay off for injury, but it has obviously done her game no harm as she took 1st place with a back 9 to match Lia’s gross 43. Results…

CSS remained at 69

Men

The (unexpected) morning drizzle made the greens a bit more receptive and created some extra zip on the greens. The fairways still remained bone dry. Some pin positions were quite tough again (the pin on the 7th was quite cruel).

Patrick Murphy absolutely mastered the Par 3’s. He was-2 gross over the five par 3’s. He would’ve improved on his winning score of 63 net had it not been for 7 on the SI 1 and two 6’s on the back 9. Brian McMahon had a very consistent round of golf (+5 gross on the front and +4 gross on the back) to take 2nd place. Brian’s new handicap now stands at 12. Christer Larsson’s back 9 prevented him from finishing higher than 3rd. A score of 64 net does take his competition handicap down to 26. Cuneyt and Richard Inglis finish 4th and 5th respectively with scores of 65 net. Adrian is confirming is good recent form with a 6th place. Results…

The novelty of Nick’s new clubs wore off very quickly. From hero to zero in less than 24h. Kerry had 3 birdies on the back 9 (4 overall). But a bit of misfortune on the 18th hole annihilated his winning chances.

CSS: 66 (16/29 in the buffer)

In the Grand Medal Trophy standings Mike Shabani takes the lead (mainly because he’s the only one to have recorded 5 scores). But Pete Needham, Richard Owen and Toby Hunt are within striking distance. R5 Leader board…

Increasingly humid conditions were moderated by a breeze. Early starters Russell Stewart and Brett Colley took the first two honours with Russell winning with a super 65, Brett taking second from Dylan Merchant on countback – both 68s. Kim Chaffart followed with a commendable 69 piping improver Adrian Wells on countback, both 69s.

Ollie Maskell took best gross honours with 78 and best lady was Ronnie net 70. Reflecting the balance of play, CSS was trimmed one from SSS. Results…

Recycling King Oliver Kahn had an ambulatory round for a change and sported an old manual trolley acquisition with one wheel about to drop off playing to handicap.

This was round two of the Midweek Anniversary Accumulator. With two rounds left, Kim and Jeremy Ryan share the interim lead on 143 with Henry Lindesay-Bethune chasing hard on their heels one shot adrift. R2 Leader board….

Ladies

The chase for Angela was on today. Lia, Tenesi and Ronnie gave it their best shot. But in the end they had to make up too much ground. Angela’s gross score of 93 coupled with an 81 from last week make her the winner of the Club Championship by 4 strokes over Lia and Tenesi who shot the same score both weeks with Lia having the better back 9. Overall Results…

The net competition for the lower division (Handicap Cup) goes to Ronnie on 145, retaining the cup from last year. The runner-up was Lia just one behind. Results…

There was a similar story for those playing for the Pembroke Cup (handicaps of 19 and higher). Caroline Stilwell had a five shot lead going into today and whilst only recording a net 78 that lead ensured that she would win comfortably by four shots and also record the best net across both divisions of 141. Results…

CSS: 72. R2 Results…

Men

In the Senior Division first round leader Aidan decided to impress the chasing pack with a birdie on the 1st hole. He was immediately matched by Jay who birdied holes 1 and 2. After 9 holes Jay had made up just one shot of his round 1 deficit. The pressure was starting to build up nicely when both of them bogeyed the 10th. On the 11th 3 players of their game had to hit provisional balls after errant tee-shots. Jay then crept a little closer with a par on the 13th. Game on now! 14th hole was “halved” in 5’s. Another birdie by Jay on the 15th! Hat trick dream back on? Stalemate on the 16th (2 pars). 17th: hardly any wind. Surely advantage Jay (especially with Aidan’s driver misbehaving – at least his miss is a hook so not too much trouble …). But Aidan came up with the goods: his 1st straight drive on the back 9 resulted in a timely birdie. With Jay having to settle for par the hat trick dream disappeared. Well done Aidan. Results…

Round of the day has to go to … Peter Osgood (of all people). 76 gross (63 net) slices (no pun intended Peter – we all know your misses go left) 2 shots of his handicap down to 11. Looks like an ESR is on the cards (just when the Hawtree is around the corner …). Results…

Less drama in the Junior Division. Ned Shanklyn did what was required to see off the competition. A steady round of 89 crowns him Champion of the Junior Division. Results…

Round of the day goes to Mark Rosamond (what a time to play a round in your buffer zone …). An excellent round of golf takes Mark into 2nd. Results…

The Handicap Trophy goes into Peter Osgood’s trophy cabinet. Results…

CSS: 71 (19/40 in the buffer)

Perfect conditions for golf prevailed with much additional run.

Three players absolutely mastered the conditions with 64s. Congrats to Rajinder Sehmi, (first comp this year), Roslyn Williams (first lady), Aidan Hurley (lowest gross @ 1 over par, continuing a good run of form). A warm welcome to the winners’ enclosure to Treasurer Peter Jagger 66 winning on countback from Henry Lindesay-Bethune. Results…

Reflecting condition, CSS reduced by 1 from SSS.

Mike Jones now leads the associated Midweek Grand Medal with 361, 7 clear from Paul Grand with 3 possible rounds remaining. R5 Leader board….

Ladies

Angela Flynn set the marker in the Club Championship with an excellent front 9 (40). A more subdued back 9 (41) sees her safely into the provisional lead with a score of 81 gross. Following Angela are 3 ladies on 88, Tenesi, Ronnie and Lia. All 3 lost a lot of ground to Angela on the front 9. Five additional minutes of warm-up next week is the message. Results…

In the Handicap Cup there was a little “more” competition. Round of the day goes to Caroline Stilwell who came back in 39 gross. A total score of 84 gross, 63 net sounds like a good day at the office. Cheryl Woodhouse had a nice front 9. But a triple bogey and 3 double bogeys on the back 9 prevented her from improving on a score of 90 gross. Results…

CSS: 68

Men

In Division 1 it was Aidan vs the rest of the world. Maybe we do need a hard border between Ireland and the rest of the UK. Sometimes you just need to look at the numbers: 4 birdies, 32 (gross out) and 35 (gross on the way back – all due to to DB on the 12th). Only other blemish was a 5 on the 18th. Aidan moves to 5 hcp. The only guys with some sort of chance of catching Aidan is Jay thank to his gross 72. Angus (74) and the group of Chris, Pete H and Ollie Griffin (all on 75) were the best of the rest. Oliver Maskell turned an underwhelming round into something more entertaining thanks to 4 birdies on the back 9. Results…

In Division 2, as someone said in the clubhouse: What do you have to do to win? Nothing could stop Jim Deisler today: 80 gross – 59 net takes him to the top of the Jr. division. Ned Shanklyn is right on Jim’s heels thanks to his round of 82. Paul Grand 85 gross is good for 3rd. Results…

In the Handicap Trophy it looks it will be a battle between Aidan and Jim. Results…

CSS: 67

It was Jeremy Ryan vs the Rest of the World today. A gross score of 70 (35 out and 35 back = net 59) translates into 48pts (It’s not a typo!). 3 birdies, 2 bogeys (on 8 and 15), 13 pars. Nothing else to add. Except for 2 things: Jeremy’s new handicap drops to 8.2 and he sets himself up for an ESR in the not too distant future. John Curry was the best of the mortals only 7pts behind today’s winner. 3 players finished on 40pts: Chris Rudkin, Oliver Khan and Hassan Mouilah (who shot +2 gross and moves back to Cat1). Jessy Diasilua with 39pts rounds out the Top6.

Honourable mention has to go Alan King who just misses out on the Top6. The Irish whirlwind went out level par (26pts). 3 no scores on the back 9 prevented him from finishing higher. Last mention goes to the owner of Kilmorey Gardens in a flash of very poor judgement nearly prevented today’s winner from starting the back 9. Don’t copy the professional players and be so polite to shout fore when your ball goes off line. Undeterred as she was Cheryl calmly sank a birdie putt on the 10th. Results…

CSS: 36 (Men & Ladies)

A big field came to battle it out on Duke’s and compete in a few Par 3 challenges.

The markers were put down by the players in the second flight. Ollie Griffin and Chris Lordan went wire to wire for today’s victory . Both players recorded net scores of 68. In the later stages they were joined by in form Cathy Stavely. But the countback rule gave the advantage to Ollie. Both Ollie and Chris get (untimely) handicap cuts in the run-up to the 1st round of the Club Championship next Sunday. Cathy has to settle for 3rd place and new handicap of 18. 4th and 5th place go to Habib and Maureen with scores of 70 net. Ronnie is doing some serious handicap protection by finishing 6-6 on the last 2 holes. Her score of 71 net enables her to finish 6th. The final result could’ve been totally different for Anne Holding-Parsons. She didn’t fare too well on just 2 holes. This took away all her chances of winning today’s comp. The irony of the handicapping system means that Anne’s handicap still drops by 1.2 strokes. Results..

CSS: 71 (Men) / 73 (Ladies).

Captain’s Day Challenges:

• Nearest to the Pin for the Ladies

  – on the 7th was won by Tina Neessen
  – on the 10th was won by Joan Mulcahy
  – on the 16th was won by Angela Flynn

• Nearest to the Pin for the Men

  – on the 7th was won by Habib (who narrowly edged out today’s sponsor Nigel Gaymond. Ironically Habib missed his birdie putt with Nigel made his)
  – on the 10th was won by AIdan Hurley
  – on the 16th was won by Phil Flanagan

Many thanks to Deborah & Nigel for today’s event.

Top Dog Trophy leader Chris Lordan extends his lead over Ollie Griffin (13pts) and Anis (12pts) and 3 players on 8pts. R3 Leader board…

Much heralded rain held off and just caught the last games as they finished.

Charlie Forrest had an amazing round with 23 on back 9 to win the Sweep with 43 points and a 2-shot reduction in handicap. Round of the day went to Aidan Hurley who shot level par including 5 birdies to finish one shot behind on 42 points and a reduction to a Category 1 h’cap – 5. Henry Lindesay-Bethune completed the 1-2-3 with 41 points and also earned handicap reduction to 8. Leading lady in her birthday week was Ronnie with 37 points. Results…

CSS remained at SSS 37 points.