In conditions rapidly resembling the African Serengeti during the dry season, 20 competitors (half the field) returned scores in the 60s. Very early clubhouse leader Jon Cooper held sway with 64 but was soon trumped by yet another fine round from winner of Claret Jug Bruno Clerckx. Bruno also returned lowest gross – nice one Bruno. A clutch of 64s returned by Jack Evans, Jon and Toby Hunt. Impeccable 65s came from Seong Lim, Gunnar Sundberg, Jon Ramphul, Peter Needham and Oliver Maskell. Leading lady was Gina Jillett 67. Results…

Reflecting conditions, CSS was pared back one from SSS.

Amit Acharya joined the ‘Twos’ at the 4th in a round marred only by some loose drives.

Ladies

No great surprise that the leader of the gross competition is Habe Crocker with a gross 74. The closest contender is Veronica Mitchell who played six under her handicap to record a gross 80. The remaining competitors will have to put in some sterling performances next week to catch them. Results…

In the Handicap Cup, positions are reversed in the low division with Veronica some four shots ahead of Habe with the rest trailing some way off. For those with handicaps over 18, in the Pembroke Cup things are a lot closer. Joan Mulcahy leads the way on a net 66 from Alison Chadwick and Fiona Coombe on 68. Results…

CSS went to 68. All of the above receive cuts to their handicaps, with Joan earning an ESR of an additional shot. Special mention to Jane Fraser who recorded a rare eagle on the par 5 9th hole.

Men

Things sort of went like planned in Round 1 of the Senior 2018 RPGC Club Championship with Jay and Chris slugging it out. Both players matched each other with scores of 36 gross on the way out. An untidy 18th hole by Jay allows Chris to take a slender one shot lead into next week’s final round. Keith Cassidy played an excellent back 9 to remain in contention with a score of 74. Richard Owen was the surprise package of the day. He matched Keith’s score of 74 and earns a spot in the 1st group out next Sunday. Pete Davis, Tim Meyer, Aidan Hurley and Damian Hackett (who will probably be sued by the people of Richmond Park for denting every tree on the front 9) are back on 76 and need to pull out all the stops to have any kind of chance. Results…

The “juniors” seemed to enjoy the extra roll/bounce on the course a lot better than the seniors. The Secretary Peter Harrington for once wasn’t on handicap marking duty and slides into 1st place with an 81 gross (more on his net score later …). Tony Kopczak did an excellent job matching Peter’s score. But the countback rule pushes him into 2nd. Charlie Whiteman (83), Anis Driaa (84), Nathan Street and Steve Cross all have a chance next week to catch Peter. Results…

In the Handicap Trophy for the best net score Peter leads on 59 over Tony 61 and Richard 62. Results…

CSS: 66 (net). Chris’ handicap gets a small cut. Richard Owen gets rewarded with an ESR of 0.5. His new handicap now stands 11.

Slightly cooler conditions than of late prevailed and with no recent rain to assuage variable bounces some areas of rough had been cut back from the fairway.

Captain Kim Chaffert led from the front recording an amazing 64 and lowest gross. Bruno Clerckx challenged on countback 69 from Michael. Choo, Chris Jones and Jon Ramphul. Following her victory on Sunday, Alison Chadwick led the ladies with 70. Results…

Reflecting the conditions, SSS was lowered by one. Kim may have to self-administer an Exceptional Scoring Reduction having set a marker net differential of -6!

Unsurprisingly, Kim leads the Midweek Anniversary Accumulator after two round on 139, just one clear from Michael Choo. Ann Gardner, Chris Jones and Sheena Harrington provide the immediate competition on 145. R2 Leader board…

Going out really early wasn’t the best plan of action. None of the very early starters completed all the 18 holes. A tidy 68 by Jay Barker couldn’t prevent CSS moving temporarily up to 73 for the men. The nice weather and the course conditions seemed to inspire (or favour – make your choice) the ladies today. Ladies’ Captain Alison Chadwick withdrew at the last minute from the Men’s Invitation yesterday. It clearly helped her focus on today’s comp. A net 67 safely guided her to victory. Her competition handicap also drops back to 20. Jay’s held off a very steady round by Tenesi (68 net) to keep 2nd place. Ronnie’s improved play on the back 9 moves her into 4th (70 net) . Keith Cassidy and Seong Lim complete the Top6. Just to prove that it is worth to keep at it: Jeremy Thompson didn’t finish the 2nd hole. But his perseverance over the remaining 16 holes yielded the equivalent of 41 stableford points. As a reward his competition handicap now stands at 14. Results…

CSS: 70 (Men)/72 (Ladies)

In the Anniversary Trophy standings, Jay keeps his lead ahead of Keith Cassidy. R3 Leader board…

A great turnout considering it was going to be touch and go as to whether we’d be back in time for the 3pm start of the England v Sweden game. Ten pairs fought it out in blistering temperatures, umbrellas and wide brimmed hats were the order of the day.

Ann and Tamas got off to a flying start with a birdie on the first, however their back 9 let them down with a blob on the 12th and only managed 3rd place, a consistent performance with 20 out and 20 back could have been enough to secure victory on a normal day for Ronnie and Pete, however this wasn’t a normal day. Jon and Susan had a mediocre front 9 but warmed up for an exceptional second 9, scoring gross level par and 24 points, winning the men’s invite with 42 points.

And to top off the day, England progressed to the next round.

Another glorious summer day greeted competitors for the July medal. An even-paced but spectacular 64 from Cathy Stavely won the medal with Oliver Maskell close behind on 65. Oliver was one under par standing on the 13th tee but then unfortunately dropped more than his handicap in two holes. There then followed excellent 66s from Michael Choo, Paul House and Jeremy Thompson. Results…

CSS remained at SSS 67 (Men) and 69 (Ladies)

In the associated Midweek Grand Medal after 5 (of 8) rounds, the early leader is James Barker chased by Chris Jones 366 and then just 44 shots adrift Paul Grand. R5 Leader board…

Ladies

As the course starts to resemble the savannah, the ball was running forever. But the combination of this with the rough still heavy and dense and issues with correct clubbing meant that the winning score was 2 over the SSS at 71 and CSS remained at 69.

After the front 9, not many would have put money on Gina Jillett being the eventual winner having used up 13 shots of her 15 handicap by that point. However, a little bottle of prosecco after the 10th provided the necessary boost and she only dropped a further 3 shots on the back 9 to win on countback from Elaine Elborne. Results…

Men

The course must have been starting to feel like a Russian Roulette or a penalty shoot-out. Extra bounce on the fairways is making it nearly impossible to judge where the ball will come to a standstill. Conditions were pretty tough. Just 9 of 41 players remained in their buffer and 15 players didn’t finish all the holes. To put that in perspective: that is 36% of the today’s field.

Paul Hackett took victory with a solid 66 net. Seong Lim played a strong back 9 to finish 2nd with 67 net. The star group today was the 8.24 tee-time. Shaun Dupreez recorded a 68 net. His clubhouse lead didn’t earn him the cocktail glass but 3rd place will do nicely. Captain Nick Rogers played an excellent front 9 but four wobbles on the back 9 prevent him from finishing higher than 4th (the wobbles were a 7 on 10, a 5 on 17 and a 6 on 14 & 18). There clearly was a Crocodile Dundee dress code in that group. Peter Osgood only emulated the Captain dress code but not his scoring … Mark Laverty and Kerry Sargeant complete the Top6. Results…

CSS: 67

The round was the fifth of eight rounds for the Grand Medal Trophy. Jon Cooper retains his lead but is just one of a handful to have recorded 5 rounds. R5 Leader board…

Morning cloud burnt off to give yet another hot sunny day tempered by a breeze. The Stableford format saw just one player disqualified for not signing card.

An impressive four over par with three birdies gave victory to Paul Cook 38 points for the Midweek Midsummer trophy. He was challenged by 36s from Jeremy Ryan, Chris Philips-Jones and Jeremy Thompson. Cathy Stavely nudged Susan Hempsell on countback for ladies’ honours on 34. Results…

CSS remained at SSS 36 points for both Men and Ladies.

The field enjoyed another day of summer conditions (next week is forecast to get even warmer). Luckily the Captains’ challenges didn’t involve any poems (PDH should be more careful for the Fake News rumours). And to the joy of the majority of the field the English national football team qualified for the KO stages of the 2018 World Cup.

(Very) early starter Pete Harrison to use his own words “managed to put together a good score for the 1st time in a while” to become leader in the clubhouse with a net 69. He did fear that the score would not be good enough to win the comp today. Vice-Captain Nigel Gaymond stole Captain Nick’s thunder by bettering Pete H’s score. His net score of 68 held off challenges of President Tim Meyer (net 68 – Out in +2 gross!) and Ladies handicap secretary Sheena Harrington (net 70). The best was yet to come. Hawtree deadline is approaching so that can only mean one thing: Joan Mulcahy is edging closer to top form. A stunning net 65 means victory is hers. Tony Bergqvist came really close. But a double-hit (rumours even has it that the double hit happened on a putt) means that he couldn’t better his net 66. Results..

On to the admin. CSS: 71 (Men) / 73 (Ladies). An impressive list of handicap changes. Please note that Nigel also receives an ESR. His new handicap now stands at 12 (Where was that form when the Hawtree team needed it?).

Captain’s Day Challenges:

• Ronnie’s algorithms enabled her to correctly predict Ali/Nick’s scores. Or was it more down to the fact that she put in 6-8 wagers (law of large numbers is that an algorithm too?)? I even believe that Lee Marshall had originally predicted the correct scores but he changed his mind allowing for Ronnie to pounce.
• Nearest to the Pin for the Ladies

  – on the 7th was won by Joan Mulcahy
  – on the 10th was won by Val Ritzotis
  – on the 16th no GIR
  – on the 8th in 2 was won by Joan Mulcahy

• Nearest to the Pin for the Men

  – on the 7th was won by Nigel Gaymond
  – on the 10th was won by Paul Cook
  – on the 16th Alan King
  – on the 11th in 2 was won by Nigel Gaymond

• Best dressed supporter kit has to go to Liam Bridger.

Huge thanks to the player who generously went the extra mile in his charity donations.

By virtue of his second place Tony becomes the new Top Dog Trophy leader ahead of Richard Owen and Toby Hunt. R3 Leader board…

A cloudy muggy start gave way to sunny periods. Perhaps having knowledge of a period of drought, a greenkeeper could be seen manually giving additional watering to some greens with a hose. Variable bounces and tough thick rough continued to be Prince’s main defences.

Very early starter Mark Rosamund posted an unbeatable personal best 44 points. Mark was mildly disappointed to score only two points at 17 & 18 (!). Well done Mark, who also earned an additional Exceptional Scoring Reduction to play off 16.3 from 16.8. Toby Hunt shot a fantastic 42 with 23 on the back 9 to pip Kim who retuned a captain’s innings of 41. Anne Holding-Parsons was leading lady with 37 points. Results…

CSS was elevated to 38 points from SSS 37 reflecting the relatively favourable scoring conditions.

It was drinks all round with new member Bruno Clerckx acing the second. Well done and cheers to Bruno. Recent holes in one are depicted in this report.