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The weather continues to wreak havoc forcing the greenkeeper to install 3 temporary greens on Prince's (a bit of a rarity). As a result today's competition becomes a Non-Qualifier for handicapping purposes. So the Top5 will just receive financial compensation.
Everybody in the Top5 had (really) good front 9's: 20pts for Sheena and Paul, 22pts for Tony and Damper and to top them all 23pts for Sunny. Sheena and Paul then matched Sunny's back 9 (all of them had 18pts on the way in). Tony and Damper had a softer back 9 (16pts both of them). It has to be said that all of them had an off moment on the last 9 holes. Sunny, Paul and Damper all had 5's on the 16th. Sheena lost her chance on the 13th. And Tony will regret the DB on 12 and the 3-putt on the ... 16th. Richard Owen completes the Top6 but will regret his two no scores on the 2nd and the 10th. Results...
CSS: N/A
"I never played a round when I didn't learn something new about the game of golf." (Ben Hogan)
"The uglier a man's legs are, the better he plays golf. It's almost a law." (HG Wells)
"It took me 17 years to get 3000 hits in baseball. It took one afternoon on the golf course." (Hank Aaron)
"Golf is a compromise between what what your ego wants you to do, what experience tells you to do and what your nerves let you do." (Bruce Crampton)
Enjoy the end of the year festivities. See you all in 2020 for more golfing highlights.
Today's American Greensomes on the Prince's course was a moment of pre-Christmas fun and to brighten up the day the sun appeared. Our winners were the pairing of Brian Ransom with Paul Grand who amassed a tidy 42 points. Susan Smith and Lia Donath captured second place with 41 points and in third place with 39 points we had the pairing of Sunny Lall with Kinga Nemes. In all, there were 22 players braving today's course conditions and today's format was a very agreeable diversion from the normal individual events.
Pictures on the course today: Prince's 10th | Duke's 11th
After more rain, Prince’s continued to get muddier and tee mats were in use at some holes. The day itself was dry and there was some good golf. A cracking 40 points with 21 on the back nine won Sunny Lal the event one ahead of Brian Ransome and two from Stephen Haworth, Russell Stewart and Richard Owen with 38s. Results...
Recently (Sunday) ESR'd Damber Thapa continued his rich vein of form with 37 and he clambers aboard the 2019 midweek Eagle Tree with a 2 at 17.
Heavy overnight rain and chilly winds made life pretty miserable for the field. The men failed to take advantage of the forward tees. One lady member hinted that this was an indication of the poor quality of the men's short game (no prizes if you can guess her name. On second thought: the 1st male member who e-mails me the correct name of that member wins a sleeve of new/unused Taylor Made TP5 balls - send your answer to kchaffart@gmail.com - one entry per person).
Cheryl Woodhouse recorded 23pts on the back 9 (only blemish being a 1-pointer on the 17th hole). A total score of 39pts was matched by new member Damper. Cheryl's better back 9 makes her today's winner. As a reward her handicap finally gets a healthy cut down to 20. Damper's receives an ESR taking his handicap down to 15. Richard Inglis was able to take 3rd place despite 3-putting 4 greens. Adrian Wells keeps up his good form by taking 4th place. Luke Baker (holing a monster birdie putt on 13 didn't hurt) and JDR complete the Top6. Results...
Conditions proved to be tricky: CSS = 35pts !!!
Capitan vs Secretary
Even though the Top 2 were on the Secretary's team he lost to the
Captain (aka Kim Chaffart deputising for Nigel El Capitan) by a score of
714-695.
A very early sparkling 23 points posted by Mark Rosamund set the target in the midweek Champagne Chase in so-so conditions but at times blinding sunshine over 10 holes. But Adrian Wells really fizzed with 24 points to win the bottle of bubbly just edging an effervescent round from Seymour Laird on back 9. Brett Colley and Richard Norden also had flashes of brilliance with 23s. Results...
38 players entered the shoot-out over 10 holes at the Park. A comp over only 10 holes leaves very little room for error. Two players finished on 21pts. Russell had the more consistent round handing him victory today. Ollie's birdie on the 7th could've served as launch pad. But unfortunately for him he went DB - Par - Bogey on the last 3 holes. So based on the countback rule he has to settle for 2nd. Luke should've joined/passed that group had it not been for a horrible finish: DB (7th), DB (8th), bogey (9th) and DB (10th). Keith and Kim also recorded 20pts but have to settle for 4th and 5th places respectively. Kerry's 2 birdies set him up nicely for a 6th place finish. First lady today is Susan Smith. Results...
Frost cleared to leave a stunningly sunny day; a rest from rain for a week left conditions slightly less muddy.
Secretary Peter Harrington played a blinder in the last game for an amazing medal win on 64, knocking clubhouse leaders Paul Brown and Pralab Barua 67s into 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Well done Peter and a two shot handicap reduction. Results...
Hassan again claimed best gross - 75 and Sheena the best ladies' (almost a hole in one at 11).
CSS was elevated two from SSS @ 69 men and 71 ladies.
Ladies
It was a dry sunny and chilly day for the Richmond Park Ladies December Team Event. 16 ladies played in 4 teams and the format was fun pink ball. Doubles point for the person playing with the pink ball which we rotated each hole and a penalty if a pink ball was lost.
Team 4 with Angela, Lia, Caroline and Joan came second with 103 points and Team 1 with Kinga, Tenesi, Jayne and Deborah came first with 109 points. Results...
We had lovely mulled wine and mince pies after the game.
Men
38 players faced nasty conditions: an abundance of mud, cold temperatures and swirling winds. The leaves made ball hunting very complicated. Only 6% of the field remained in their buffer. Read that again .... 6%! Therefore it should come as no surprise that today's competition becomes "Reduction Only".
Clear winner today is John Ahad with a solid round of 68 net. A solid front 9 and a decent back (until the 18th) are rewarded with 1st place. Best of the rest were Ollie Griffin and Keith Cassidy on 71 net. Ollie's stronger back 9 puts him in 2nd. Early starter and leader in the clubhouse Mitch Cohen takes 4th. Looks like the secretary is preparing himself for the Captain v Secretary event in two weeks. May be his 5th place today is a sign for things to come. Adrian Wells closes out the Top6. Pete Harrison introduced a novel version of side spin by bouncing his tee-shot on the 2nd of the hoops on the right fringe. A bit of club head speed and a lot of Newton physics made sure his ball landed 2 feet away from the hole. Unfortunately for him he didn't make the putt. No less than 8 birdies were recorded over the 4 par 3's. Results...
CSS: 70 (Reduction Only Comp).
Muddy conditions prevailed and rain later caused some players to walk in. With 6 temporary greens the event became non-qualifying for handicapping.
40 points was a very creditable score from early starter Brett Colley who wins followed by Mitch Cohen 38 and Hassan 37. Newly accustomed to better conditions abroad, Sheena flew the ladies' flag. Results...
After two rounds now played of the Midweek Winter Competition (best 3 from 8 with at least 1 rnd on each course), with 44s last week, Pralab and Richard Norden head the field on 74 and 73 respectively. Early to make a show is Mitch also 73. R2 Leader board...
In the first round of the associated Midweek Duke's Eclectic (favouring lower handicaps), Hassan leads on 72.5 a full shot from Brett (1/2 handicap allowance). R1 Leader board...
Six (!) temporary greens didn't scare off 42 players. Conditions were pretty surreal: no roll on the fairways (which probably helped on errant drives for the men), temporary greens on 3, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and mud galore were just some challenges. At least the temperatures were milder than the last couple of weeks.
Rick Kimber recorded 21pts on front and back 9 on route to a decisive win (he even managed to not score any points on 2 holes. Habib had 4 (!) birdies on the front 9. A score of level par gross translates into 25pts !!!. The start of the back 9 was steady but four -pointers between holes 13 to 16 got the better of him. The fact that JDR birdied the 16th really added insult to injury. He recovered really well on the 17th but then lost the will to live on the 18th. A timely birdie on the 18th gave Ollie 19pts on the back 9 and 3rd place. Sunny was the second player on 36pts. But the countback rule means he has to settle for 4th. Tony, fully recovered from his kidney stones takes 5th. Mark Bean completes the Top6. Results...
Thanks to 22pts on the back 9 Tenesi becomes 1st lady.
No less than 4 birdies were recorded on the 16th hole (which a had a
hole in the fairway serving as temp green ...).
Finally:
4 players didn’t pay entry fees: Evgeny Vd Geest, John Rigo, Marco
Tabanella and Gregory Jean-Baptiste. So they are not in the comp. Rather
silly since Evgeny and Marco would've easily finished in the Top6.
Conditions proved tricky except for 2 players (Cf. CSS below). It was a case of Richard and Pralab vs the rest of the field.
Pralab returned an incredible 22pts on front and back 9. He recorded two 4-pointers and six 3-pointers. Quite remarkable. Pralab's handicap drops 3 strokes to 16. What's even more staggering is that Pralab didn't even win today's comp. Richard Norden recorded 26pts !!!! on the back 9. That unbelievable back 9 allows him to beat Pralab on countback. To put things in perspective: Richard recorded one 4-pointer and eight 3-pointers ... Richard also gets an ESR and his new handicap now stands at 25. Best of the rest was Luke Baker (38pts). A couple of loose putts prevented Richard Hodgkinson from scoring more than 38pts. Mitch and Tamas complete the Top6. First lady was Alison Chadwick. Results...
CSS: 36pts (7/37 in buffer)
Midweek Winter Competition:
cf. today comp result.
R1 Leader board...
Midweek Prince's Eclectic
Pralab (71). Luke (74), Richard N (75).
R1 Leader board...
Winter Comp Rd 1 / Princes Eclectic Rd 1
Ladies
Prince's may have been a little drier underfoot with no temporaries but it wasn't a whole lot easier for the ladies. The top score was again 32 points and in a repeat of last week, was won by Cheryl Woodhouse. The competition ended as a reduction only with CSS moving to 34 points. The compensation for the low scores was the sun coming out to make the autumn colours of the trees look at their best. Results...
Sheena Harrington was one point behind Cheryl, but with a lower handicap swaps places with her in the associated Eclectic. R1 Leader board...
Men
Cool temperatures and mud didn't scare off the players today. No less than 49 players enjoyed some dry/drier conditions. But scoring proved to be challenging.
Tony Bergqvist used 21pts on the back 9 to win today's comp. Seong Lim followed his example and came home in +3 gross (19pts) to claim second. Kim Chaffart beat Joseph Murphy (who could've done a better job recording his score on the computer at the club) and Toby on countback to take 3rd place. Another trio followed on 35pts. Mike Shabani closed out the Top6. Results...
A note of sympathy to MW Captain, John Ahad. He walked off the 16th green with 35pts. I believe he'd rather forget about the last 2 holes. Also, it was a nice/welcome surprise to greet our Capitan back at the club after successful surgery.
CSS: 37pts (11/49 in the buffer)
Winter Competition
Ollie Griffin (72pts), Toby Hunt (70pts), Peter Needham (69pts), Richard
Owen (68pts), HLB (68pts).
R2 Leader board...
Prince's Eclectic
HLB (72), Pete Harrison (73), Ollie Griffin (73), Tamas Ladacs (75).
R1 Leader board...
Winter Comp Rd 1 / Dukes Eclectic Rd 1
Ladies
Although conditions overhead made for a sunny day, those underfoot were decidedly different and the competition was a non-qualifier due to the number of temporary greens.
The scoring reflects the sogginess and lack of run on the ball with top spot being a close battle between Cheryl Woodhouse and Alison Chadwick on 33 points, with Cheryl taking the honours on the back 6 - a birdie at the last definitely helping. Despite a 3 shot cut last week to her handicap Jess Dunton-Rose still managed 3rd spot on 31. Results...
It being the first round of the Eclectic there are many currently shown as NR as they picked up but there were a number of birdies and pars scored on the holes that did get completed. Angela Flynn is one shot in the lead at present. R1 Leader board...
Men
This week's rain wreaked havoc on the course forcing the greenkeeper to install no less than 3 temporary greens. Therefore today's competition became Non-Qualifying for handicap purposes.
But the competition does count towards the winter comp so recording a good score today didn't hurt.
Tamas and Henry marked each other's cards and by some weird coincidence (?) both of them recorded excellent scores. Tamas recorded 9 3-pointers and just one blob. So no surprise to see him rack up 39pts to finish first. Ollie managed to birdie one of the temporary greens (11th) on his way to 38pts and 2nd place. Robin Thomas confirms his excellent form to claim 3rd (also with 38pts). Final man on 38pts was HLB. Pete Needham's length off the tee helped him to secure 5th place (37pts). Pete Harrison used up his full stroke allowance on the front 9. But completing the back 9 in level par allows him to finish in 6th place. Results...
CSS: N/A
Winter Competition ranking: cf. today's results. R1 Leader board...
Duke's Eclectic: HLB (72), Pete Harrison (73), Ollie Griffin (73), Tamas Ladacs (75). R1 Leader board...
Let's hope for some drier weather ...
It was a cold start but welcome sunshine soon arrived. Much recent rain and worm-casts combined to make conditions muddy for the 45 competitors.
Early starter Brett Colley won the first winter midweek medal with a very commendable 66, all the more remarkable since Brett started with 8 at the first and came in for back 9 dropping just 4 shots. Val Riziotis and Igor Peliugaev battled for 2nd 67 which Val won on countback. Val had a remarkable back 9 - 8 better than front including birdie at 16. Results...
Hassan returned lowest gross of the day - 75 but gets .1 back on handicap. Reflecting overall conditions, CSS remained at SSS.
Ladies
For some unknown reason the ladies had their highest turnout for years - 21 players plus 2 putting cards in for handicap. It remains to be seen if this was a one time phenomenon since the scores were not the most encouraging and there won't be pizza and chips every week.
Indeed only one person made it look easy with a 4 shot cushion back to 2nd place and the only one to play below the SSS. Jess Dunton-Rose continues her good run of form and with a net 66 was the runaway winner. In doing so, she earned herself her second ESR of the year and her handicap drops by 3 to 31. Results...
After golf the ladies finally got together for the presentation of the autumn meeting prizes and the monthly medal glasses for the year to October. As mentioned, pizza and chips were also provided and happily devoured by all.
Men
The muddy conditions couldn't keep Richmond Park golfers away. A big field (45 players - the ladies comp enjoyed a big turnout too ...) showed up today. All-in-all conditions proved tough for most of the field (see CSS below). From good to bad here are the bullet points of today's comp:
The Very Good:
When you go -1 gross on any course deserves some serious praise. Jay
eagled the 9th to go -1 on the front 9. He then held it together on the
back 9 to win today's comp with a Net Score of 62 (67 gross). Gregory
going 63 net and chopping 2.2 strokes of his handicap. Pete Harrison
sliding down to Cat1 with a Net 64.
Results...
The Good:
Jan Wilken, Robin Thomas and HLB playing solid golf on their way to
spots 4,5 and 6. No less than 5 birdies on the 16th.
The Unexpected:
Paul Brown recording a birdie on the 16th hole.
The Ugly:
Only 9 of the 45 players remained in their buffer. Some players not
signing their scorecards.
The Very Ugly:
Kim Chaffart recording a 10 on the 12th hole. Looks like he used up his
few good shots in the Men's Pairs Final.
CSS: 68 (yes you read correctly ...)
A chilly easterly wind persisted but it remained dry; dry enough for mud to be of just the wrong consistency - clinging to trolleys.
With 3 temporary greens, the stableford sweep competition was a non-qualifier for handicapping. I think Glendale had hired some special air-pumping equipment for those 3 greens but don't take my word for it.
Fresh from a 44 point win on same course on Sunday (and a 3.2 handicap reduction), Robin Thomas' rich vein of form continued, winning on 38 points from valiant 37s from Richard Norden and Rick Kimber. Class 5 handicapper Hassan (2 birdies) nipped Kamil on countback - both 36s as with Seymour Laird and Henry Lindesay-Bethune (3 birdies). Leading lady was Sheena 32. Results..
Yesterday's rain made the fairways really muddy. Add to that cooler temperatures and thicker air and you have 3 essential ingredients for winter golf. The greens were uber receptive (a euphemism ...) The 12th green was borderline usable. And as is often the case in these wet conditions the greenkeepers had to install a temporary green on the 11th hole. The additional dew slowed the greens down even more.
The early morning starters didn't enjoy the best conditions. But Mitch Cohen kept up his good recent form to become leader in the clubhouse with a respectable 34pts. New member Damper seemed to enjoy the mud golf: 21pts in and out put him in firm command. But late starter Robin Thomas managed to better that score by 2pts. Robin and Damper both get healthy handicap cuts (down to 20 and 19 respectively). 3rd place goes Gregory with 39pts. Returning boy Lee Marshall (37pts), Richard Owen and Kerry Sargeant complete the Top6. The ladies didn't enjoy the muddy conditions. The first lady today only clocks in at place 17. Results..
CSS: 36pts (Men & Ladies)
Looks some (much needed) drier weather is heading our way next week.
Conditions were fairly benign but little roll and having just 3 clubs and putter tempered performance. Oliver Khan emerged the winner of the coveted Harrington Trophy with 37 points. He was chased by early starters Rick Kimber 36 and Mitch Cohen 34. Results..
The 'best scores analysis' report reveals the few birdies scored. However, the ray of brilliance on the day was provided by Paul Brown with a 90 yard pitch-in at 17 for eagle - and he clambers aboard the Eagle Tree report. Analysis..
With the restriction in the number of clubs allowed, the competition was of course a non-qualifier for handicapping.
Lissaman Cup
Honours Board
Here is the report for the 2019 edition of the Lissaman Cup, aka 3 clubs and a putter. Jay’s round started in the worst possible manner. His 3 iron snapped in two after 3 holes, so he had to complete the rest of the round with just a mid iron and a wedge. Things improved slightly at the 19th hole when he recovered the putter cover he thought he'd lost.
George Taylor started slowly (45 gross). But 6 pars, bogeys on 11, 12 and 16 on the back result into a score of 36. No less than four players recorded scores of 67 net. George's stellar back 9 make him today's winner. Robin Thomas also had a strong back nine. His effort came up just short and he had to settle for 2nd place. 1st lady of the day, JDR, takes 3rd. Keith's consistent round (+4 on front and back) give him the lowest overall gross and 4th place. Conditions today must have reminded Liam of a rugby pitch . That may be an explanation for his good score off 71 net and 5th place. Kilmorey Gardens completes the Top6. As FYI: Pete Harrison birdied the two par 3's on the front 9. Results...
CSS: N/A
Top Dog: We have a tie between George Taylor and Chris Lordan.
R7 leader
board...
Showery conditions morphed to sunny intervals and some greens proved soggy.
But Sheena Harrington stamped her authority on the field of 40 from the beginning to win the Charity Cup. A birdie at the first was followed by two pars for 10 point after three holes. 22 on the front 9 with a 'blobless' back nine 17 gave a margin of one from Mark Rosamund 38 with 37s from Hassan Mouilah and Alexander Krasnonkov. Hassan had a purple patch from the 13th with four pars, an eagle at 17 and a birdie. Results..
CSS remained at SSS 36 points with Sheena and Hussan trimmed a shot.
Charity Cup
Honours Board
Autumn has definitely arrived at the park. "Thick air" and winds that became stronger during the course of the day significantly reduced carry. If you add the total absence of roll on the fairways you can clearly state that the course played long today. Although the rain wasn't as apocalyptic as feared the players would certainly have preferred a bit more sun.
So much for the Met Office part. How did the players fare in these conditions? Excellent for the Top4, Ok for most (cf. CSS) and miserable for a few. Kerry carved the front 9 up like a Victoria Sponge. He went out in -2 gross. That awarded him a whopping 24pts. 3 straight bogeys at the start of the back 9 must have created a few doubts. But two pars on 17 and 18 earn him 17pts on the way in. For the statisticians amongst you: Kerry was +3 on the par 3's. Kerry's handicap gets a massive cut down to 7. Richard Inglis, strong off his victory with Lia in the Mixed Pairs KO, started slowly on the front 9. But a couple of nice 3-pointers on the back set him on route to 21pts and a total score of 40pts. Richard also gets an ESR. His handicap now stands at 15. Patrick Murphy remained really Zen despite the weather conditions and was the best of 2 players on 39pts. Mark Laverty, Evgeny (who birdied the 14th!) and Kamil edge out George Taylor and Kim Chaffart to complete the Top6. Kamil would've finished sole 5th had he not missed a tap-in eagle putt on the 17th. 1st lady today was Tenesi in 24th position. Sheena won the battle of the Harringtons (thanks to the countback rule). Results...
CSS: 36pts (Men & Ladies - 16/50 in the buffer)
The autumnal nip in the air was accentuated by a strong wind but it remained dry for the Midweek President's prize.
Two exceptional scores of 41 pts were returned by Tore Burman and Kim Chaffart with countback on last 9 giving Tore the advantage from 'the Birthday Boy'. Kim shot level par on the front 9 whilst Tore earned an ESR with 2nd net differential of -4 or better since Captain's day in August. Both have handicap reductions. Richard Owen's recent good form continued with 38 points with 6 on CSS=SSS 37 points including leading lady Roslyn Williams. Results...
The President's challenges:
- Ladies:
Nearest the pin in 3 on the 5th: Roslyn Williams
Nearest the pin on the 16th: Sheena Harrington - Men:
Nearest to the pin 6th: Tore Burman
Longest drive on the 12th: Tamas Ladacs
Ladies
Honours Board
It was both monthly medal and Barton Bowl finals today, Sunday 6 October. It was a lean field of 6 which started out but with lots of potential.
Alison Chadwick was first with 74, a close win over second place Veronica Mitchell with 75 and Tenesi Karakaneva also on 75 was third on count back. Just 1 point between 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Results...
There were also 3 ladies competing for the Barton Bowl which Alison also wins, congratulations on a well-deserved double-win today with quite a few pars.
It is the top 8 ladies who have scored higher than the Lady Captain on selected dates over the last few months who play in the Barton Bowl Final.
It turned out to be dry, sunny, warm day and fast round with enough time between shots to enjoy the lovely views and colours across the park if a little damp underfoot in places and puddles in some bunkers which contributed to the downfall of the Lady Captain!
No increases to any players handicaps due to the conditions.
Men
Honours Board
Heavy overnight showers flooded the 2nd green thus forcing the competition committee to abandon the competition (again). As last week the competition became reduction only.
Jay Barker seems to thrive in these conditions. 37 out and 34 in translate into a net score of 66. Well done Jay. Think the Met Office calls for drier weather towards the end of next week. Blame the weather if your scoring experiences a little dip. The best of the rest was a group of four players with scores of 69. Countback places Sean at the top of that pack. Sean O'Sullivan closes out the Top 6 with a net 70. Results...
CSS = SSS = 67
The Grand Medal Trophy goes to Toby Hunt with a score of 334. Final leader board...
Rain finally gave way today. But the course proved to be fairly tricky for most players. Until 2.30pm a score of 70 net was leading. It seems like yesterday that we enjoyed an extra 30-40yds roll. That's definitely gone. The greens although very receptive turned out to be very tricky to judge.
Strong off yesterday's win of his favourite football team "Las Putas" (aka Atletico Madrid) Alvaro went out in +1 gross over 8 holes. A 6 on the 9th hole was the first indication of some obvious sandbagging (more on that later). +3 over first 6 holes on the way in was good. Apparently he then sliced his tee-shot OB on the 17th. Weird I always thought his miss was a severe hook. He recovered from that 7 with a par on the 18th. His score of 68 net is still more than good enough for first. Leaders in the clubhouse Mitch Cohen (pipped by a late starter again ... just like in the Priory Cup) and Rick Kimber take 2nd and 3rd spot. Top6 is completed by Mike Jones, Seymour and Jeremy. Results...
CSS: 71/73
In the Midweek Grand Medal Mark Rosamond had his hands on this trophy. But the combination of an untimely lapse of concentration and a vicious slice on the 17th tee took him out of the running. Bandit Brian Ransom wins the series. Well done. Final Leader board....
Final note: the course may have some extra mud. Therefore make sure you are playing the correct ball.
Heavy showers early in the morning created standing water on quite a few greens therefore forcing the Competition Committee to abandon today's comp.
Unless you went out really early there was no way to hide from the rain. Rhys Jarvis' timing was spot on. He probably enjoyed the best conditions and made the most of it. Consistent golf (42 out and 43 in) was quite an achievement in these testing conditions. A score of 65 (net) takes him into 1st. His handicap also gets an impressive cut down to 18. One of the 3 Stooges, Jay Barker, was forced out of his PJ's and dragged onto the golf course. He can thank Stooge 2, Lee Marshall, for convincing him. Five birdies set him on the way to a score of 66 (net), 2nd place and nice handicap cut. Lee Marshall broke a trend today: the upward trend in his handicap. 40 (out) and 39 (in) translate into a score of 68 (net) and a 3rd place which may make him come back (to the park?) for more. Five players ended with a score of 69 (net). Countback rule hands 4th place to Denis Pellerin. Early starter James Anslow takes 5th. 1st lady (out of 2 ...) was JDR. That 6th place earns JDR another sizeable handicap cut down to 34. Well done to all. Results...
In the Anniversary Trophy it's a good thing Henry had already logged 3 scores. His score of 210 proved a bridge too far for Barry Page (212). Final Leader board...
CSS: 71(Men)/73 (Ladies). With the competition being abandoned the CSS is by default set to SSS.
Much rain had fallen during the week but conditions held up but with slow greens. Power line works on 15th shortened the hole.
Format of the day was 4 ball better ball pairs and high stableford scores were predicted. Brian Ransom and Seymour Laird emerged the winners on countback 45 from Toby Hunt and Chris Jones. Richard Norden and Pralab Barua came 3rd with a very creditable 43 points. Results...
A highlight of Hassan & Mouilah's round was Hussan's eagle on that 15th hole.
The day ended with glorious warm sunshine.
Monthly Medal / Autumn Meeting BB
Ladies
Hopes were high after the early morning showers gave way to blue skies, but sadly were dashed as a heavy cloudburst got everyone just after midday after which the temperature dropped considerably. It seemed to have no ill effect on the scores, as the course was running on the really hard ground after no recent rain.
With Jayne & Susan scoring 45 points off their 14 and 18 shots respectively, we assumed the winning score would be higher with other competitors getting more shots. In the event it was only Cheryl & Caroline and Jess & Tenesi who could beat them, Cheryl & Caroline with the same score, but the better back 9. However, all were put in the shade by the magnificent score of 51 points for Jess & Tenesi. They dovetailed perfectly predominantly scoring 3 or 4 points per hole to win the Autumn Meeting Better Ball. Results...
Men
Honours Board
Overnight rain made the greens fairly receptive. Most of the field enjoyed dry conditions. But around 1.10pm the floodgates opened. But it has to be said that the field "weathered" the conditions well (see below).
Strong off his victory in last week's Burgess Cup Martin Heinrich tore up the front 9 in 39 strokes. A clear case of sandbagging on the 14th (an 8 on that hole really Martin?) couldn't prevent him from winning the September monthly medal. His net score of 64 translates into an 1.2 handicap cut down to 15. And just like last week the Slovak onslaught didn't stop there since his better half (golfing wise) won today's ladies comp. Mark Bean had an excellent front 9 (37 strokes). But an untidy 18th hole forces him into 2nd place. An unbelievable back 9 (34 gross) sends Carmelo into 3rd. Three birdies and an eagle (14th) earn Evgeny 4th place. Goed gedaan (my Russian doesn't reach that far). Igor and Petrov Harrington complete the Top6. Results...
CSS: 66 (23/44 in the buffer)
In the Grand Medal Trophy Toby Hunt leads (334) over Pete Needham (343) Richard Owen (343), Brian McMahon (346) and Mike Shabani (347) with one round to play. R7 Leader board...
Midweek Anniversary Accumulator
Competitors were greeted by a perfect autumn day with just a light wind and wall to wall sunshine. The ground remained hard flattering many drives but sometimes cruel bounce.
In this the last of 4 anniversary accumulators, early starter and leader in the clubhouse Kamil Naidoo held on to win with an excellent net 66 (just 1 over par on back 9) from Kim Chaffart's well-crafted 67. Tamas Ladacs seemed to have it in the bag with a one over par on front 9 but fell back to 3rd place on 68. Results...
CSS was 1 under SSS reflecting the good conditions.
Kim Chaffart held on to win the Midweek Anniversary Accumulator with 210, one clear from Dylan Merchant and two ahead of Jeremy Ryan and Adrian Wells. Final Leader board....
Burgess Cup / Autumn Meeting Medal
Ladies
The prospect of a medal round on Duke's kept a lot of competitors home. Seven brave (or foolish) players enjoyed nice weather and massive rolls on the fairways. Four of the 7 competitors managed to remain in their buffer.
Tenesi's consistent golf (44 out & 43 in) earns her 1st place today. Best of the rest today was Susan Smith with a net 76. The "black mamba" aka Cheryl Woodhouse closes out the Top3. LC Debs had a bit of trouble adjusting to her new handicap but put up a respectable score (truth be told her score on the 18th wrecked her card). Finally Jayne Maxwell had to take 3 shots to clear the ditch on the 12th hole. Results...
CSS: 72
Men
Honours Board
Indian summer at the park today resulted in some big b & r (Bounce & Roll) on the fairways. Clubbing down and letting the course take the ball onto the greens seemed a pretty good choice.
There are 2 ways to play this Greensomes competition: go for the birdies or play steady. The teams that came 1st and 3rd chose the latter. The team that came 2nd and 4th chose the former.
Bandits/robbers Habib/Martin didn't record a single birdie on the day. The only blemishes on their card were 1-pointers on the 14th and the 15th. But apart from that the numbers speak for themselves: 24pts out and 21pts in. By doing so Martin retains the Burgess Cup. It proved to be a Slovak onslaught: Tenesi managed to win today's ladies monthly medal. Pete/Tony on the other hand didn't hold back. 3 birdies translate into 22pts on the front 9 and 21pts on the back. Countback rule puts them into 2nd place. Igor and Kim let themselves down on the greens: they had birdie chances on not less than 11 (!) holes but managed to only take advantage on the 17th ... Mike and Liam had a more volatile round with 4 birdies but their score on the 18th hole prevented them from finishing higher. Results...
The remnants of hurricane 'Dorian' were limited to blustery wind and a mere hint of dampness in the air but steady warmth.
Sporting a new technique, Ann Gardner swept to victory being an incredible 8up in the bogey format competition. Ann's round was strongest over the last 7 holes where she did not lose one hole. Close on Ann's heels however was Mitch Cohen 7up in a sub 80 (77 gross) round with further excellent rounds from Richard Owen and Seymour Laird (5up). Results...
CSS was 2 up - one over SSS 1up. With net differentials of -6 and -5, a marker has been set in Ann and Mitch's handicap records such that within the next 10 comps a further net differential of -4 or better will see an Exceptional Scoring Reduction.
There was just one 'Two' recorded - Jan Wilken at the par 4 14th. Illustrating the sometimes cruel nature of bogey, a par would have won the hole for Jan. but well done indeed. A glance at the attached Wednesday Eagle tree reveals this to be 2nd eagle at the hole this year.
Even though quite a few regulars were missing the turnout today was fairly decent. Golfing conditions were decent apart from an autumn chill for the early starters.
Tom Cook recorded 22pts on the way out and held it together on the back 9 (21pts). 43pts is an outstanding score and makes Tom the clear winner today. Tom's handicap drops a massive three strokes: two strokes because of today's win and an ESR of one. A new handicap of 23 is a just reward. Early bird Scott Sparks takes 2nd thanks to an excellent score of 41pts. 23pts on the way in (an eagle on the 14th doesn’t hurt) take Mark B to 3rd place and a new handicap of 14. John Ahad comes 4th but he will probably want the 18th hole back. El Capitan had a very nice score of 21pts on the front 9. But a no-score on the 16th prevents him from finishing higher than 5th. Mike Shabani tore the front 9 apart with 22pts. The back was more volatile so he has to settle for 6th. Jane Fraser is 1st lady in 8th. No less than 9 players recorded at least 21pts on front or back 9. Paul Brown even parred the 16th hole. And finally Kim Chaffart managed to par the 6th after losing his tee-shot and holing out from 100yds. Results...
CSS: 38pts (Men and Ladies - 17/37 in the buffer)
Cheryl Woodhouse wins the Gill Hibbs Trophy for the best Lady over the weekend rounds. Greg van Heerdenn was the best Man. Results...
Overnight rain softened the ground and indeed the first lying water of autumn was spotted early on 18th Duke's fairway. Very breezy conditions prevailed providing challenge for 44 competitors in the September Midweek Medal.
All credit then to Brian Ransom who shot 67 to win from Pralab Barua and Kamil Naidoo 69s. Striking good form for the ladies was Alison Chadwick 73. Results...
CSS remained at SSS.
This was the 7th of 8 medal rounds for the Midweek Grand Medal Trophy. So with just one round left Brian has 351, two ahead of Mark Rosamund and six from Kim Chaffart. R7 Leader board....
President's Putter
Honours Board
Ladies Captain Deborah recorded 23pts on the front 9. Solid 8 holes (translating into 18pts) on the back 9 enabled her to seal the win today. A 7 on the 18th was her only blemish/no-score for the day. The LC's handicap loses two strokes down to 23! Better start making some space in your home for this trophy (and another trophy that the ladies won back in August ....). The day belonged to the ladies. Because 2nd place went to last year's LC. Alison Chadwick's round was the mirror image of Deborah's round: a blob to start, 17pts out and 23pts on the way in. Good for second place and a new handicap of 19 (Ronnie was hoping for a much larger cut ...). Charlie Whiteman saved the men's honour by snatching 3rd place with 40pts. Christer Larsson and Jan Wilken both recorded scores of 39pts. Christer takes 4th place thanks to a better back 9. Both men do get healthy handicap cuts. Tina Neessen closes out the Top6. Results...
The President's challenges:
- Ladies:
Nearest the pin in 3 on the 6th: Cheryl Woodhouse
Nearest the pin in 3 on the 15th: Jane Fraser - Men:
Nearest to the pin 7th: Sean Thomas
Nearest to the pin in 2 on the 18th: Kim Chaffart - Men & Ladies:
Nearest the pin 10th: Alan King
CSS: 36pts (23/53 in the buffer).
After 6 rounds of the Men's Top Dog Trophy Chris Lordan retains his lead ahead of Ned Shanklyn and Charlie Whiteman. R6 Leader board...
42 turned out on a cooler day for the Midweek Captain's Day.
Tore Burman convinced as winner on 43 points from Toby Hunt 41 and Sheena playing well again 40. Chris Jones earned 4th place 38.There were no fewer than 11 'Twos' and many birdies - some back-to-back eg Toby 3rd & 4th (4 overall), Sheena 2nd & 3rd (3 overall). Results...
Overall CSS remained at 37 points, all 4 above having handicap cuts (Tore by 2).
Midweek Captain John Ahad posed some challenges:
- Putting - 6 on 27 putts
- Alastair Whyte winner on countback
- Brett Colley
- Julian James
- Toby Hunt
- Sheen Harrington
- Hassain Mouilah - Nearest to the Pin
- Men 2nd Tore Burman
- Men in 2 15th Richard Smith
- Ladies 16th -not awarded
- Ladies in 2 14th Veronica Mitchell
What a joy it was to play Prince's in timely fashion with little, if any, waiting on any hole on a glorious sunny day. It also meant that everyone could see the amazing finish of the Test match. The Bank Holiday had kept many away from the course with only 33 playing.
Mark Bean, returning to golf after several years away and playing his first round since regaining his handicap earned himself an immediate 1.5 cut with 42 points to beat Nick Rogers and Peter Harrington, both two back on 40 points. One point further back was first lady of the day, Veronica Mitchell. Results...
CSS remained at 37 points and all of the above receive cuts to their playing handicaps.
Midweek Anniversary Accumulator
39 competitors turned out for the 3rd round of the Midweek Anniversary Accumulator.
The first two positions were taken by late/very late starters. Dylan Merchant maintained recent form with a glorious 65 whilst Oliver Maskell knew what he had to beat and blasted home with a 68, just 2 over par gross. Another steady round 68 gained Teddy Holt 3rd place ahead of consistent improver Adrian Wells. Results...
CSS remained at SSS.
With just one round left in the Accumulator, the position is tied with Kim and Jeremy Ryan 217 ahead of Henry. But note that e.g. Dylan needs to get net 84 to level with Kim and Jeremy with Russell Stewart just 79 - so it's all to play for in last round. R3 Leader board....
Richmond Park Open
Honours Boards
Those starting later were probably blissfully unaware of the deluge that the rest of us endured, so there was a combination of soggy and missing cards & checking if those missing were NRs or no shows. There were however, 114 cards processed and the booking sheet had been full from start to finish.
In the competition for those with a CONGU handicap, for a long time the best score in was a 70 from Mark Laverty with Habib Amir next on 72 (this despite his tee shot on the 10th not reaching the ladies' tee!!). Then some of the late starters arrived back. Seemingly the usual adage of 'beware the injured golfer' holds true in this instance. Reportedly Loui Suarez left his driver in his bag as he'd been suffering a bad back and recorded a net 64 to take 1st place by 6 shots. His playing partner, Doug Donaghey also played well scoring a 70, but Mark took 2nd place with a better back 9. Results...
These 3 were the only ones to play better than the SSS of 71 (for the men) and CSS went to 72 for the men and 74 for the ladies.
Loui also gets an ESR of 2 shots to reduce his playing handicap from 19 to 15!
Last year's ladies' winner, Angela Flynn takes the honours again with a 75 (ladies get 2 additional shots because of the difference in the SSS) and runner-up was Cheryl Woodhouse one shot behind.
The winner of the non-CONGU handicap competition was July Myat Tun with a 69, playing off 26.
The nearest the pin result was sewn up before most of us had arrived at the Park, with Allan Richardson from Putney Park putting his ball to within a couple of feet. The longest drive went to one of our visitors, Luca Ioppa and well done to Glendale for interpreting the soggy sheet!
This year the Open was topped and tailed with a bacon roll to start and burger to finish. Sadly, the weather did not incline many to stay around for long.
A much reduced field started their medal round and even fewer finished! 7 of 40 were no shows and 10 of those who did NR'd and walked in after 9 or 10 holes. The rest were made of sturdier stuff, coping with the almost incessant rain, at times light and with little wind it could change in an instant to heavy in a gusting wind.
Possibly the early starters had the better weather and occupied the top 3 slots for most of the day. It certainly didn't put Mark Rosamond off, so much so that his winning score of net 63 earned him an additional ESR of 0.5 to reduce his playing handicap by two shots to 15. Teddy Holt was the one to demote Adrian Wells (66) and Angela Flynn (68) to 3rd and 4th places. His 65 put him 2nd, earning him a 0.6 handicap cut, Adrian was also cut by 0.4. Results...
CSS remained at 67 for the men and 69 for the ladies.
In the Midweek Grand Medal it was all change at the top. With two more rounds to go, Mark now leads the way by four on 353 from Kim Chaffart and pushing previous leader Mike Jones down to 3rd place on 360. R6 Leader board....
Ladies
There may have only been 11 ladies in the medal but a further 5 were involved in other competitions which is a pretty good turnout on the day after the Bontor. The winds of yesterday had quietened, but picked up as the day progressed to make it still a challenge.
But it was one to which a few of the ladies were up for. Tenesi Karakaneva, Alison Chadwick and Jayne Maxwell all went out in 43, but aside from handicaps making a difference, Tenesi's back 9 of 38 gave her a net 65 and 1st place and a reduction in handicap to 15. Two shots back on 67 was Alison, with Jayne a further two behind. Results...
With CSS moving to 68, Alison also had a cut reducing her playing handicap to 20.
Men
The field faced nice golfing conditions: receptive but pacy greens and a bit of bounce on the fairways. The gusts of wind became stronger and more frequent as the day went on. Some pin positions again were pretty cruel. The general feedback amongst the members on the new 15th tee is not very positive. At first the feedback was that the hole became too easy. Based on today's results the field should reconsider: a few competitors experienced some real horror shows on that hole.
Toby Hunt uncharacteristically went for an early start. And the results speak volume. His round started with a wobble (6) on the first. But he only dropped one more shot on the way out. The back 9 was a bit more challenging. But a gross score of 77 (64 net) earns him a well deserved victory. Adrian finished 2nd (mainly thanks to a good back 9). Sean Thomas steady round (and the countback rule) means he finished 3rd. Ned Shanklyn keeps piling up the Top6 finishes. Brian McMahon and in-form Peter Jagger complete the Top6. Results...
Lowest Gross Score goes to Henry. His highlight must be the chip-in birdie on the 7th hole today (quite a week actually after birdies on SI 1 & 3 on Duke's on Wednesday and a new handicap of 6). But he will deeply regret the 17th hole.
Toby Hunt takes the lead in the Grand Medal Trophy (341). Mike Shabani (351) and Pete Needham (353) are the closest followers. R6 Leader board...
CSS: 67
Midweek Club Championship Rd 2
Odd spots and a strong breeze were the order of the day. In the 2nd handicap round, Henry Lindesay-Bethune continued his good form to win with an exceptional 64 (1 over par, 1-over front 9, 2-under back 9, consolidating an eagle on Sunday). Veronica Mitchell shot an amazing 66 to finish 2nd. Rick Kimber was on his own 3rd with 67 whilst Cheryl 68 led Jon Ramphul and Pralab Barua on countback. Net Results...
CSS remained at SSS but 12 handicap changes arose.
Veronica's 66 was good enough to win the overall Handicap Trophy over two weeks on 134, two ahead of Henry. Handicap Trophy...
Veronica also won the ladies' scratch over 2 weeks on 172 - 7 ahead of Sheena Harrington. Ladies result...
Henry won the men's senior division scratch on 152 - 3 clear from Angus Robertson. Men result...
In the junior division Dylan won with 174, three clear from Pralab Barua. Men result...
33 competitor contested this Sunday's round which was a sweep due to cycle ride blocking many surrounding roads.
5 iron specialist Richard Inglis shot a commanding 42 points to win. A remarkable card - 2 'blobs' including 8 at 18. But back 9 was 3 points a hole except 'just' 2 points at the SI 1 par 4 14th. Keith Cassidy had a superb 39 points, shining on the front 9 (with an eagle on hole 6) 21 points (one-over-par ). Henry Lindesay-Bethune, first lady Caroline Stilwell and Martin Heinrich followed with 37s. Results...
CSS for the day was an elevated 37 points from SSS 36.
Midweek Club Championship Rd 1
Conditions could be described as blustery with the odd spitting shower. Recent rains had softened the course a little.
In this first round of the Midweek Club Championship, net (handicap) was won by new member Ed Hall with a handicap-cutting 64 followed by another great score from improver Alison Chadwick. A controlled 66 from Teddy Holt took 3rd place, whilst Kamil Naidoo shot lowest gross of the day 78 net 67 for 4th place. Net Results...
CSS remained at SSS, a change from recent Prince's rounds, with 6 handicap changes.
In the scratch first round, the ladies are led by Sheena Harrington whilst for the men Kamil leads the senior division and the junior division has two leaders - Teddy and Dylan Merchant. Ladies Results... | Men Results...
JQ Robertson
Honours Boards
After the heat wave of last week, the deluge of the previous day helped to soften the course up a little, but the cooler temperatures combined with a freshening wind seemed to be keeping scores on the lower side with our dawn starter, Scott Sparks holding the lead until Kerry Sargeant came in with a better back 9. With Richard Owen also on 39 it seemed that might be the top score of the day and so it remained for a while. These scores were rendered pretty average once Ned Shanklyn got to the clubhouse to record his 45 points. He even managed to 1-point holes in this!! Peter Needham and Carmelo di Salvo joined him in the 40s with 41 and 40 respectively. Results...
Cheryl Woodhouse appears to have been the only one of the Hawtree players scoring well today and was the first lady on 39 points.
CSS went to 38 points and there are a number of handicap changes.
After 5 rounds of the Men's Top Dog Trophy Chris Lordan retains his lead with Ned now in 2nd place after today. R5 Leader board...
Hot conditions prevailed but scoring on Duke's was excellent with CSS being raised to 37 points. Early starter Mark Rosamund was winner of the Edward Cup 42 points with Alison Chadwick returning 39 points to finish 2nd on countback from improver Adrian Wells, Graham Swindells and Richard Norden.. Results...
Golden Jubilee
Honours Boards
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...
Midweek Anniversary Accumulator
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....
Club Championships Rd 2
Honours Boards
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....
Club Championships Rd 1
Honours Boards
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)
Captains' Day
Honours Boards:
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.
Shaw Cup
Honours Board
To say that the weather today was variable was an understatement. The field faced 4 seasons in one day. Light rains. some sunny spells and wind that became stronger throughout the day. The field handled the conditions pretty well.
Alexander Krasnenkov put down the marker with an excellent score of 41pts. He'll probably regret his DB on the 16th. A new handicap of 12 will serve as small consolation. Peter Osgood was the only other early starter to come within respectable distance of the winner. 19pts on the way out & in earn him 6th spot today. The later starters took the spoils. First of all Anis Driaa followed up an excellent front 9 of 22pts with a steady 20pts to seal the victory. Julian James came 3rd with a very nice score of 40pts. Martin Heinrich and Ned Shanklyn take spots 4 & 5. Results...
Birthday lady Ronnie Mitchell was 1st lady. Guess more alcohol and little sleep is the way to go Ronnie. Quite remarkably Nick managed to not miss his 8.00AM tee-time (although the delay of 10min caused by Putney Park didn't hurt). If you examine his scorecard you will notice that he completed the front 9 on pure adrenaline. The tank ran completely empty on the back 9 though ... Tony Kopczak recorded two birdies (we could've used some of them yesterday ...). Sea coast tourist Jon Cooper recorded a nice eagle on the 9th.
CSS: 38pts
After two rounds of the Top Dog Trophy Chris Lordan and Anis Driaa both lead by virtue of their respective wins. R2 Leader board....
Midweek Anniversary Accumulator
Persistent rain earlier in the week had greened and softened up conditions. By and large rain held off to eventually affect the later mid-morning games.
Early player and clubhouse leader was Bruno Clerckx with 67, just one over par on the front 9 and 2 birdies. Well done indeed Bruno - lowest gross with an ESR in addition to now playing off 6. Two players returned excellent sub SSS 70s - Seong Lim and Lucy Mi Ha. In form Cheryl, Rick Kimber, Henry Lindesay-Bethune and Jeremy Ryan retuned very solid 71s. Results...
CSS remained at SSS (71 men 73 ladies).
This being first round of 4 of the Midweek Anniversary Accumulator first round naturally mirrors these results. R1 Leader board....
Golfing conditions were near perfect. Mild temperatures, less wind (than yesterday), receptive greens and fairways that still offer plenty of roll. The 17th however proved to very tricky for a lot of the male competitors. All in all scoring proved to be excellent.
Henry L-B played a good round of golf to post a score of 67 and become leader in the clubhouse. Although an outward 9 of 36 gross and a 7 on the 17th will make him feel like he missed out on a (really) good score. Young Son went out 34 gross. But unfortunately he squandered 4 shots on the two par 5's. Otherwise he would definitely have improved on score of 68 (net) and 3rd place. 1st lady today was Alison. After an untidy front 9 (51 gross) she started with a birdie on the back 9. Momentum never left her on the way in. A score of 70 (Nett) gets rewarded with a 4th place. (very) Early starter Barry Page had a steady round of 70 (net). But he also recorded a 7 on the ... 17th. In the end victory goes to one of the later starters: Peter Needham. Fresh off his victory in the Ladies Invite yesterday he managed to record gross scores of 40 on front and back 9. His net score of 65 is good enough for the win and new handicap of 14. And BTW he too recorded a 7 on the ... 17th. Kim Chaffert and Alison were the only ones in the Top6 to not record a 7 on that hole (and before you ask Kim did tee it up from the white tees). Results...
CSS: 70 (25/45 in the buffer)
In the Anniversary Trophy Henry takes the lead on 141 followed by Barry (143), Sheena (143) and Kim (146). R2 Leader board....
Ladies Invitation
Report by
Deborah Potter
The Ladies Invitation was a very enjoyable day on Saturday 8 June. We had 14 pairs in 7 games on a mainly dry if a little windy day. American Greensomes was an enjoyable fun format, we started the day with bacon rolls, golf in the middle and finished with chocolate cake, all well-balanced.
The first 3 places were very close fought and great scores given the conditions with Gina Jillett and Pete Harrison in 3rd place with 37 points, Veronica Mitchell and James Barker in 2nd place with 38 points and the winners with 38 points on countback were Val Riziotis (Ladies Vice-Captain) and Peter Needham. Results...
Largely grey conditions predominated allowing players to focus on their golf. Greens showed continuing improvement and some bunkers had fresh sand but not always enough rakes.
Cathy Stavely returned a consistently excellent 64 to win the monthly medal with Jeremy Ryan chasing commendable 66. Four 67s followed separated on countback - Lim, Mick Abrams, Henry Lindesay-Bethune and Brian Ransom. Best gross score 74 from new member Umran Ali off 6. Results...
Thierry and Senno were DQ for not entering handicap on card in handicap comp - see rule 3-3.
In the associated best 5 from 8 Midweek Grand Medal, Paul Grand (appropriately) held on to lead after round 4 on 287, five clear from Mike Jones. R4 Leader board....
Ladies
Sometimes playing on consecutive days enhances one's game, and other times it doesn't. This was very evident in today's results, with many of the ladies involved in matches yesterday there was a 50/50 split as to whether it helped or hindered. It definitely helped Lia Donath, who was the medal winner with a net 67 and Anne H-P, her partner from yesterday, was just one back in 2nd place. Results...
CSS went to 68, giving Lia just a 0.3 cut to her handicap.
Men
Scoring proved to be tough for the field (except for today's winner). Most of the players seemed to do pretty well on the front 9. But keeping up that form on the back proved too big a hurdle for the majority of the field.
Secretary Peter Harrington was so looking forward to today's Committee meeting that he decided waste very little time on the course. A very impressive 63 (net) earned him a well deserved win. As a result PDH's handicap drops back to 19. Gary Moris (65 net) and early leader in the clubhouse Jan Wilken (66 net) complete the Top3. Our president Tim Meyer had an excellent front 9 (37 gross) but faded away on the back to settle for 4th. Charlie Whiteman's excellent back 9 (38 gross) earns him 5th and a steady round by Seong allows him to beat Alvaro to sixth. Aidan Hurley recorded the best gross score today (75). Results...
CSS: 67 (13/36 in the buffer).
The Grand Medal Trophy interim results tba. R4 Leader board...
Cool conditions were maintained through the day but initial light rain became persistent for later competitors.
Shaun DuPreez was the early clubhouse leader with 42 points (24 out, 18 back) but he was eventually pipped by Jeremy Thompson with consistent 21s who won the Sweep on countback. Jessy Diasilua returned a respectable 38 pts for 3rd followed by Kamil Naidoo and Brett Colley 37s. Sheena returned best ladies' card 34pts. Results...
CSS remained at 36 points.
Following a net differential -10 on 21 April to today's -6, the Handicap Secretary's office applied clinical surgery with an ESR of -2 to Shaun who now plays off 14. Shaun started the year on 21 and is now leader for the 2019 MIG award but 7 months left. Well done to he and Jeremy on Duke's for such good scoring.
A good turnout for a bank holiday weekend competition. Conditions proved to be more complicated than expected. It still feels like playing links golf on inland course. Fairways continue to provide extra roll. But you had to judge the bounces well or get lucky. Greens are slowly improving.
Henry continued on his good form from yesterday's Clapham Common to post a score of 39pts and overtake Scott Sparks as leader in the clubhouse. A score of +2 gross on the front 9 and birdie on the 18th are a true reflection of a good day at the office. Henry's handicap goes back to 9. Evgeny came out all guns blazing and recorded 20pts on the way out. A few unwelcome bogeys mean he had to settle for 18pts in. A score of 38pts is good enough for 3rd today. The sting was in the tail (again) today. Kamil Naidoo had an ok front 9 but soared into 1st place with an impressive 23pts on the last 9 holes. By virtue of the countback rule he snatches victory from Henry's grasp. Late starter Carmelo Di Salvo and 1st lady Caroline Stilwell complete the Top6. Cheryl's 22pts on back 9 went to waste since she - in all the excitement - forgot to sign her card. On a last note: Mike Shabani did better than yesterdays' result. Results...
CSS: 36 pts (13 players in the buffer)
Today's facts: four players recording 40 or more points and a useful number of players recording scores in the high 30's. We can only conclude that the course was there for the taking. How do you beat the crowded field? four birdies and a "sandy" eagle on the 15th (more on that hole later) will do nicely. Alvaro "EL Nino" Garcia-Hoz tallied an impressive score of 43pts to overtake the whole field. AGH's handicap drops by a full stroke to 11. Well done. 2nd and 3rd place go to players recording scores of 41pts. Paul's impressive 25pts on the back 9 take him up to 2nd. He narrowly avoided an ESR but his new handicap now stands at 19 (he started 2019 on hcp of 23 ...). Richard gets a consolation prize for missing out on 2nd place (see below). Cathy Stavely didn't miss her return to competition golf with a nice score of 40pts and 4th place. Sheena and Angus (both on 39pts) close out the Top6. Results...
CSS: 38pts (almost half of the field remained in the buffer).
Looks like Richard Owen did just enough (78pts total) to snatch the Founders Cup from under Paul's nose.
NB: usual suspects will have noticed the forward white tees on the 15th hole. Apparently the men have a strong tendency to hook their tee-shot on that hole. Glendale have seen an important rise in the number of balls landing over the fence. Hence the new tees. Going forward this will more than likely have an impact on the SI of this hole.
Ladies
Unlike conditions at the PGA where the wind has picked up, it was a very benign day at the Park with some good scoring particularly from the first game, who must have egged each other on, the result of which was that they occupied the first 4 places on the leaderboard. On the 2nd hole, Deborah & Val both recorded birdies making pars for the other 2 look very ordinary.
Sheena dropped just 2 shots on the way out, but didn't keep it going on the back 9 and was pipped for 2nd place by Lia who almost matched Sheena's front 9, dropping just four shots. However, more consistency was the winner, with Val beating both by one for a net 65, which included a 7 on the 14th. Results...
CSS dropped by one to 68, with both Val & Lia getting playing handicap cuts.
Men
A smaller field faced more enjoyable golfing conditions: a fair bit of roll on the fairways and improving greens made that the course was there for the taking. 20 of the 32 players managed to remain in their buffer.
Lou Suarez followed up a steady front 9 (43 gross) with an excellent back 9 to take today's honours. His score of 82 (61 net) earns him a handicap cut of 1.7 strokes down to 19. Well done! Early leader in the clubhouse Tom Cook (91, 64 net) takes a well deserved runner-up position. Richard Inlgis' tidy round of 83 (65 net) takes him onto the podium. A group of 66'ers Amir, Aidan and James complete the Top6. Shout-out to Jim Deissler who just missed on a Top6 finish. He would've finished higher had it not been for a couple of "ugly" finishes. His sole reward is a chunky cut of 1.2 strokes off his handicap. If you have the time you should check out the scores on the 16th hole! That hole can bite really hard! Results...
CSS: 66
The club will contact those who have signed up/qualified for the NAPGC regional.
The Grand Medal Trophy interim results tba. R3 Leader board...
Founders Cup Rd 2 - Mrs Millidge
The field enjoyed nice weather but the course has been in better shape. The extra roll on the fairways was welcome but the areas the greens remain sticky making chipping tricky (not for today's winner - more on that later). And the greens could do with more water. Certain games had to wait to hit approaches into the green because the greenkeeping staff decided it was opportune to appear out of nowhere and cut the aprons and the fairways. When they decided to let us play they thought it was a good idea to not cut off their engines.
On to the golf. Bruno went out early (and probably didn't get impeded by the Glendale staff). After a tentative front 9 (18pts) he tore up the back 9 (22pts) to become leader in the clubhouse. That score proved too high a high a hurdle for most of the field. Two players managed to post a better number. Susan Hempsell opened her round with a birdie. She could've improved on her outward score of 23pts had it not been for an ugly 7 on the 3rd. An untidy start of the back 9 didn't unsettle her. Although it has to be said that the chip-in from 25yds off the 18th green didn't hurt (Why didn't my Knicks have that kind of luck in yesterday's draft lottery? #NoZionNoParty). A total score of 42pts earns Susan 1st place and a new playing handicap of 24. She also potentially set herself up for an ESR in the (not too distant) future. Richard Norden had a blinder with 41pts. 2nd place and a new handicap of 30 are his rewards. Late starter Jack Evans, Ann Gardner (just bring that form to the course on Saturday) and Richard Hodgkinson complete the Top6. Results...
CSS: 36pts (21/51 in the buffer)
Founders Cup standings after 2 of 3 rounds: Charlie Forrest 73, Oliver Khan 67, Sheena 66, Brett Colley 66, Adrian Wells 66
On another note: The Midweek Treasurer (Kim Chaffert) came to unpleasant realisation that £12 (in entry fees/sweep money) was missing this morning after the 7.00am starters went out. Why does this matter? Every pence that is missing will be taken out of the sweep money. This means less money for the Top6 finishers. So from next week the last of the 7.00am starters are kindly (but with some insistence) invited/ordered to leave the pouch with the money at the Glendale reception and no longer on one the tables in the clubhouse.
Ladies
The midweek rain had definitely helped with re-greening both fairways and greens, added to that the sun did its best to stay out making for a chance to play in shirtsleeves again. Sheena Harrington was on good chipping and putting form to keep her score going returning 38 points with 21 on the back 9. In second place was Tenesi Karakaneva on 36. Results...
The winner of the Committee Cup was Sheena, with two rounds of 38. The runner-up was Lia Donath with a 37 and 35, with Cheryl Woodhouse just one further back after a 37 and 34. Final Leader board...
Men
Today's comp was almost like Brexit: promising at first sight but rather complicated and painful to complete. Milder temperatures created a decent amount of roll on the fairways. But swirling winds and greens that are in dire need of some water (again) provided unwelcoming challenges. Today's round - just like the whole Brexit process - provided chances for some opportunistic individuals to enjoy brief moments of glory. The final twist in today's event came in the very last game (sounds very familiar to the B-saga). Kris Lynch had a fantastic front 9 (22pts). He overcame a sub-par back 9 to take first place today. His margin of victory could/should've been higher had he not recorded no scores on holes 11 and 16. Kris' handicap drops to 28. Well done. Seong Lim was steady as always (19pts in & out). 2nd place is a just reward for a solid performance. Ollie Grffin used an excellent back 9 (21pts) to claim 3rd. Thanks to the countback rule he was able to fend the 4 birdies by Chris Lordan on the way in. Jim Deissler and Tamas both on 36pts complete the Top6. Results...
CSS: 36pts (13/44 in the buffer)
33 competitors braved the rainy conditions with pm players probably having the best greens certainly needed the rain.
It suited Paul Green who romped home with 39 points to win this first (of three) rounds of the Founders' Cup. Charlie Forrest had a very respectable 38 for second with Sheena Harrington nipping Richard Owen on back 9 countback 37. Results...
Reflecting conditions, CSS was pared back 1 to 36 points from SSS 37.
Apart from cool temperatures the field faced a course which was in better shape than last week. The rain of the last couple of days made it easier to hit shots from the fairways. Pitching/chipping became less of a nuisance too. Finally the sand in the bunkers was more playable and the greens were more receptive too.
Jan Wilken went out early and set the tone with an excellent score of 42pts. A steady front 9 (19pts) was followed by an excellent back 9 (23pts) to make him the runaway winner today. Jan's handicap drops to 12. The back-up handicap secretary started slowly. But a better back 9 allowed him to see two other players on 40pts. Aidan Hurley was solid all day (21pts out + 19pts in). Richard Young was the last of the players on 40pts. Toby's excellent back 9 allow him to finish 5th. A birdie on the last vaults Lia into 6th overall and 1st lady. Results...
Looks like that in the space of 25min two eagles were recorded on the 17th. Well done to Mike Shabani and Richard Owen for completing that feat.
CSS: 37pts (15 out 47 in the buffer).
There was little wind and greens showed some evidence of manual watering, hopefully enough to keep them going until the irrigation system is repaired.
The May Medal was won with an exceptional 67 from Oliver Kahn who received an additional ESR for new handicap of 17.0. But close on his heels were Chris Jones and Mark Laverty 68s. Sheena was best lady on 70 and Rick Kimber shot lowest gross 82. Results...
The 'TWOs' were taken by Oliver, Sheena and John Curry.
Spare a thought for the Handicap Secretary who stood on 18th tee with only 10 shots dropped. He proceeded to drop another 10 on the last hole without going out of bounds for a 14. The net double bogey handicapping rule applied an effective 7 at hole giving a net differential of -5 and an ESR marker. Still cut two shots to 20.
Paul Grand held on to the midweek Grand Medal comp to date on 215, six ahead of Mike Jones and Tamas Ladacs. R3 Leader board...
Bogey Sweep / Committee Cup Rd 1
Ladies
A few more layers were required in the clothing department today when compared to the shorts & tee shirts of last week! Despite that conditions were more reminiscent of high summer than spring with hard fairways and greens suffering from the broken irrigation system. But conditions seemed to suit most of the ladies, with the average score being almost 35 points from the 13 contestants. As such CSS went to 37.
After the first round of the Committee Cup Sheena Harrington has a narrow one point lead ahead of 3 ladies on 37 and a further 3 on 36. Needless to say, anyone could come through in the second round of the competition to win. Results...
Men
This must have felt like autumn golf to the field today: cooler temperatures (although not as bad as yesterday in the Spring Mixed) and lots of wind made the course pretty hard to play. On top of that the greens showed no signs of improvement and the bounces on the fairways were really unpredictable. Judging distances became very complicated as well. One competitor had the perfect game plan for the 12th hole: drive down the middle of the fairway, 2nd shot leaving him 110yds into the green (as planned according to him). Since the wind was helping he took one less club to pitch the ball short of the green and let it roll up to the pin. What happened: crazy bounce and the ball flew the green! If you wanted to do well today your first name had to be a variation of Christopher (not taking into account winner and runner-up. See below).
Today's winning score belongs to Brian McMahon. His score of 1UP was matched by Keith Cassidy. Unfortunately Keith made a mess of holes 17 & 18 to hand victory to Brian. Chris Lordan, Kris Lynch and Christer Larsson were the only other players not to lose to the course. Peter Needham clsoed out the Top6. Results...
Peter Harrington could've made it very good weekend for the Harrington household if he'd remembered to write his handicap on his scorecard (his wife Sheena won the 1st round of the Ladies Committee Cup).
CSS: All Square (14/32 in the buffer)
Saturday 27 April was the Spring Mixed Random Draw playing American Greensomes and a lovely fun relaxed day and format. 12 pairs played in challenging conditions with the edge of Storm Hannah impacting although it was mainly dry.
The random draw created many new and excellent pairings. Keith Cassidy and Jayne Maxwell won with 38 points, Richard Inglis and Ann Gardner were second on 36 points and Paul Brown and Deborah Potter a close third. Results...
Conditions were somewhat affected by the wind - longer payers e.g. Hussan reaching par 5 9th with driver and wedge. Common to all were the greens (pacy -rare at RP) with evidence still of tining and sanding. Relief could be taken from tine holes. Whilst courses need decent rain, some rough is already thick with fresh growth.
Overall, scoring was average with CSS 37 points remaining at SSS.
Jeannie Chung had an excellent round 40 points to win the sweep comp from Richard Owen on back 9 countback. 37s followed from Jim Fogarty, Brian Ransom and Sheena Harrington. Results...
Ladies (Sheena and Jeannie) monopolised the 'Twos'. Jeannie and Richard receive playing playing handicap cuts.
Near perfect golfing conditions for the field today. Were it not for some weirdly/hastily placed cups on most of the holes. The extra bounce/roll on the fairways was offset by greens that were in dire need of some water and some punishing pin positions (the pin position on 7 was pretty diabolical).
Today's report is fairly simple: the gang of 40's and the rest of the field. James Anslow went out early and kept up his excellent recent form. 20pts on the front and back nines earns him "only" 3rd place today. Shaun Dupreez was quoted recently that he "felt good about his game". I guess that recording 47pts is some way of backing up on that statement. 26pts (!) on the way out can be described as a good start. His only blemish on the back 9 was a six on the 13th (for nil points). He had to settle for "only" 21pts on the way in. 1st place and a new handicap of 18 are just rewards for an excellent morning of golf. Jim Deissler tried to put up a late charge. But his fantastic 44pts are "only" good enough for a runner-up spot today. Jim's handicap gets a healthy cut down 22. Scott Sparks. Sean O'Sullivan and 1st lady Caroline Stilwell complete the Top6. Results...
CSS: 37pts (11/36 players in the buffer)
A big field enjoyed near perfect golfing conditions. Mild temperatures, a little wind and some nice roll on the fairways clearly helped. Guess we'll have to wait a couple of weeks for the greens to become more receptive.
In typical Mighty Mike style Mike Shabani came out all guns blazing. A blistering front 9 was rewarded with a score of 3UP. The jitters then got to him. But an impressive recovery over the last four holes made him leader in the clubhouse on 3UP. Kim Chaffart on the other hand couldn't centre one iron shot or drive. But some clutch chipping and putting put him in an excellent position of 5UP walking off the 16th, whereupon he then managed to record two 7's, recording a final score 3UP. But thanks to the countback he managed to push Mike into 3rd. Victory today goes to the steadiest player of the field. Tom Cook had a steady front 9 (2UP). He kept his composure on the back 9 (3UP) to claim victory by some distance. Tom's handicap gets cut to 27. Mikey and Kim earn handicap cuts too. Tamas, Arthur and Oliver complete the Top6. Results...
CSS: 1UP
A large field gathered at the Park for another round of Winter golf. How cold was it today for the 8.00am starters? Nick Rogers gave up on his shorts and decided to properly cover up. Temperatures close to 0, chilly winds and bumpy fairways and greens proved to a few too many obstacles for most of the field. Only 16 out of 59 competitors managed to stay in their buffer.
Competent ball striking was required. Evgeny Vd Geest provided that for 15 holes. The last three holes uncharacteristically turned into a nightmare. His net score of 70 was still good enough to hold off Robin Thomas. Mark Laverty and Habib Amir earn 3rd and 4th spot respectively. First lady today is Jayne Maxwell with a net 72. Ollie Griffin strong off yesterday's victory in the Clapham Common captured 6th. Results...
Putting remained tricky. Nick and Tamas showed a more efficient way to get birdies by chipping in for birdies on holes 3 & 16. On to the Diamond Jubilee on 9th June.
CSS: 71
A chilly vernal nip but glorious sunshine greeted 49 competitors for the Masters Bowl. The sanded and tined greens had settled down after recent rain but sand still flew up on pitches to the greens.
Early scores in the clubhouse were best 38 points and leader-board indicating CSS 35 points but eventually better scores came in and CSS ended 37 points. Louis Suárez was the fine winner on 40 points followed by new member Arthur Clark 39. Countbacks differentiated Messrs. O'Sullivan, Cohen and Shabani 38s. New lady member Jeannie Chung flew the ladies' flag on 37 off a well-handicapped 21. Results...
Ladies
A large contingent of ladies were away at Donnington Valley for the weekend, more than usually play on a Sunday, so needless to say numbers at the Park were somewhat low. The two ladies who did play had a friendly knock about with some good scoring between them, possibly aided by the lack of pressure of trying to win a competition, this despite reports of the greens being somewhat variable after the earlier work on them in the week.
Men
Until today the greenest beach in the world was the pitch at Camp Nou in Barcelona (not a joke. Non-Catalans do call the pitch of FC Barcelona the greenest beach on the face of the earth). A reduced field (blame the Ladies Away Day) could be forgiven for imagining themselves at Camp Nou. Works by the green staff left huge amounts of sand on the greens. Although not slow the greens proved to be quite unpredictable.
Just ask James A. He did everything right on the first hole: good tee-shot followed up an approach that just made the front of the green. The rest of the hole turned into a horror show. Quite remarkably that 7 seemed to relax JA and he went on to complete the 18 holes with a 65 net. An excellent back 9 allowed him to distance himself from the two other players finishing on 65 (Thomas & Thomas). Simon Malin, Nathan Street and Jan Wilken complete the Top6. Captain Nigel Gaymond made the luckiest birdie ever on the 11th (not bitter ...): a topped tee-shot ended to within tap-in distance of the hole. He didn't miss the putt. Results...
CSS: 67 (14/31 in the buffer)
Sean Thomas takes the lead in the 2019 Grand Medal Trophy (scores of 62 & 65 don't hurt). R2 Leader board...
Christine Stewart wins the Lockie Trophy for the best Lady over the weekend rounds. Jon Cooper was the best Man. Results...
The forecast was for a chill and thunderstorms developing but the latter did not materialise giving reasonable golfing conditions. Mid-morning players were somewhat surprised to find 3 temporary greens with work still being carried out tining, aeration on their real greens. Word was that works would have been complete.
So different players played to different greens. The decision was taken to 'abandon' the competition for handicapping purpose only - still counting however for Midweek Grand Medal. In this technical arrangement CSS is set to SSS with reductions only to handicaps.
As it happened, only Kim and Paul Grand beat SSS with 68s and are only players cut. Paul just nipped Kim on back 9 to win the medal and win a new handicap. Cheryl was 'leading lady'. Results...
What a difference a week makes in the UK. Still No Brexit and today the field faced really chilly conditions (did we really move the clocks forward to face this weather?). It was so cool that Nick Rogers decided to wear long trousers today (BTW doesn't cold weather have a negative impact on tennis elbows?). Looks like the conditions got the better of our Captain too ...
Cold weather, swirling winds and men's tees that had been moved slightly backward required some decent ball striking today. Evegeny VDG did just that. He struggled a bit on the way out (6 bogeys & 1 birdie). But an excellent back 9 (36 Gross) led him to a respectable 76 (69 net). Evgeny's handicap drops to 6. He was joined by Kamil Naidoo (you couldn't miss Tangerine Kamil today), Richard Inglis and Carmelo Di Salvo on that number. 1st lady today was Gina with a steady 70 net. Today also confirms the tradition that the ladies (almost) never win the Coronation Cup. The report started with the premise that good ball striking was required today. How about 71 gross? Chris Lordan put on a "Stripe Show". His front 9 read as follows: Bogey-Bogey-Birdie-Par-Eagle (!) - Birdie - Birdie - Par - Bogey = 33 gross. 38 gross) on the back 9 with two more birdies bring his tally for today to 71 (64 net). Chris' handicap moves back to 6. A good day at the office. Results...
CSS: 71 (Men) - 73 (Ladies)
Needless to say that Chris takes the lead in the Top Dog rankings. R1 Leader board...
Calm and dry but grey conditions allowed 52 competitors to focus on their golf for the Sweep competition. Scoring overall was good with CSS raised to 38 points.
Early player Prlab Barua held the lead until late in the day when Doug Donaghey retuned a stonking gross 80 and 42 points to win. No fewer than four on 41 had to be separated by countback: Pralab, Stephen Haworth, leading lady Susan Hempsell and Hassan Mouilah. Results...
Hassan shot level par 68 in his round and indeed was two under through 10. Well done indeed and Hassan earns Category 1 handicap @ 5.4.
Ladies
Today was a perfect day for golf and the second round of the Spring Meeting 4BBB. There was a great turn with 12 ladies in 6 pairs.
It was a fun and enjoyable day, the results were very close with all scores between 33 and 38 and anticipation building until the last scores were entered.
Congratulations to Joan and Sonia who won on 38 with a countback and a close second were Angela and Jessamie, with Ronnie and Caroline only 3 points behind on 35. Results...
Nibbles and prizes were the perfect way to finish after the game and lovely to have sunshine all day.
Men
A beautiful day at the Park today. Too bad some of us ruined it by playing golf (myself included). The course is slowly improving: less mud although the greens could do with a truer roll. Most of the field overcame some of the tricky pin positions on the back 9.
Carmelo Di Salvo went out in the last game and overtook everybody with a brilliant score of 43pts (21pts out & 22pts in). John Ahad also played in that game and took 3rd with an excellent score of 41pts. Wedged between these two is Paul Brown who played consistent golf (20 & 21pts) to claim 2nd. Mike Shabani had 3 birdies today. As usual he took out his driver on nearly every hole. But after walking off the 16th with 39pts he - for some reason - decided to play safe. He left the driver in the bag. Result: only 2pts on the last 2 holes. Charlie Whiteman and Nigel Ward complete the Top6 with nice scores of 40 and 39pts respectively. Paul Grand narrowly missed out in the Top6 despite a superb 22pts on the way in. Evegeny Vd Geest recorded an eagle on the 18th in his first competition with the club. A sign of more to come? Results...
CSS: 37pts
The overall Spring Stableford goes to Mister Consistent Luke Baker with a score of 75pts. Last week's winner Kerry had a day to forget, opening the door for Luke.
Having roared in like a lion, March does indeed like going out like a lamb. There was a brief early vernal nip in the air but otherwise cloudy and pleasantly mild. Ideal for golf albeit still muddy in places.
A late card from Álvaro Garcia-Hoz won the medal with an absolutely amazing net 63 proved the worthy winner. Kerry Sargeant headed Oliver Khan on countback 66s. But Kerry shot the lights out on the more difficult back 9 - level par with two birdies. Results...
With 55% overall being within 'buffer', CSS was reduced by one from SSS (men 71->70, ladies and 73=>72). Having scored 41 points on Sunday, Kerry earns an additional ESR (Exceptional Scoring Reduction) of 1 - and now plays off 6 - a reduction of 4 from 10 this year Well done!!
Ladies
Fortunately the rain stayed away until we had finished our Spring Meeting Stableford competition on St Patrick’s Day with a good turn out of 16 ladies. It was a combination of both fresh and energising if also muddy and depleting.
Tenesi Karakaneva continues her good form with an impressive 39 points and a well-deserved handicap reduction, ten ahead of the next best lady Susan Smith, with Angela Flynn as a close third. Results...
Men
Less wind but more mud. Pick your poison. Looks like the field is really yearning for some better weather.
Kerry's been puting in some extra practice by playing a few midweek competitions. Looks like the practice is paying off. An excellent score of 41pts (20pts out and 21pts in) puts Kerry in a very strong position leading up to Round 2 next Sunday. Kerry's handicap drops from 10 to 8. Luke Baker takes 2nd thanks to a stomping outward 9 (22pts). James Anslow's excellent back 9 (20pts) gets rewarded with 3rd place. Kamil is rediscovering a bit of good form to reach 37pts (he will regret the last 2 holes). Chris Lordan and yours truly complete the Top6. Results...
Oliver Maskell for once controlled his fade to drive the 18th green
with his 3 wood. His eagle putt lipped out. The "Battle of the Shanks"
between Mark Rosamond and Peter Osgood was won by Mark. I stopped
counting the number of actual shanks on the back 9. Looks like the Men's
Captain will need a bit more time to get used to his new driver (full
disclosure: his old one snapped in the boot of an Uber car).
Realistically Luke, James and Kamil are the only ones left with a
fighting change to catch Kerry in Round 2 of the Spring Trophy.
CSS: 35pts
Pre-equinoctial gale 'Gareth' provided plenty of challenge but statistically not as much as winds for the past Sunday game. With just 23% within buffer CSS was 'only' lowered one from SSS 37 to 36 points.
Undeflected by the wind, Stephen Haworth shot a solid 40 points to win the sweep from a very creditable 39 from Kerry Sargeant (22 back 9). Pralab and Secretary Peter Harrington filled the frame in the winners' enclosure with 38s. Stephen is cut from 17 to 16 whilst Kerry is just .1 away from getting back to a single figure handicap. Results...
Turnout was again good for midweek at 41.
Ladies
What a day the ladies chose for their first medal round of the year. The gale force blustery winds didn't exactly enhance anyone's game with the best score being a net 80.
A fair number of ladies withdrew leaving a small group of 7 with only one gross score below a 100. CSS went up 3 to 72 resulting in a reduction only round.
With two ladies recording 80, Tenesi Karakaneva took the honours with the better back 9 from Fiona Coombe. Results...
Men
This was probably one of those days when staying home and not playing golf would've been the right decision. The course was clearly showing signs of the rain of the last couple of days. When the rain stopped around 8.30 there was no reprieve whatsoever for the competitors. The wind decided to pick up some serious speed. Most of the holes played into the wind. Judging club distances proved to be very complicated. Lining up putts turned out to be tricky too. Only way to steady yourself was widen your stance and try as hard as possible to make abstraction of the wind. Numbers will back up these claims. Until Sean Thomas and Paul Brown recorded their scores the Competition was deemed to be "Reduction Only".
Sean Thomas managed to "keep the ball in the middle of the fairway". He did something else right: 39 on the way out and 35 inward - gross. An excellent 74 (62!!! net) earns Sean a massive 1.8 handicap cut all the way down to a new hcp of 10. Paul Brown recorded a very decent score of 68 net to claim second. Bruno, Mike, Richard and Kerry compete the Top6. Results...
CSS: 70 (you are reading correctly)
Blustery conditions prevailed and rain held off until the last few holes for the later games.
Alastair Whyte continued his run of good form to win the 5th Inaugural Trophy with 40 points one ahead of Bruno and two from Alexander. An early five points on the first hole held early promise for Jeremy Prescot. Results...
With 49% in buffer zone, CSS was raised from 36 to 37 points. Alastair is chopped from 29 to 27. No 'Twos' recorded.
Stableford Sweep / Texas Scramble
Ladies
Guess we knew it couldn't last and with the forecast predicting rain and wind, the ladies showed more grit than many of the men as their games were decimated whereas we lost only two participants.
Proving that teams of four do not always beat those of three, the threesome of Cheryl, Tina and Julieann were victorious today with a score of 70.3. Results...
Conditions were a lot more challenging than the last scramble as the wind and mud returned, which was reflected in the higher scores and lack of birdies - but it is a fun format enjoyed by everyone, even when none of the team can make a putt of any length!
Men
Despite ominous weather forecast 20 players decided to put on the waterproofs and take out the brollies to play some winter/autumn golf again (I must confess that I preferred last week's weather).
Rain remained light throughout the day but the wind grew stronger as the day went on. Since PP was a no-show the first game was able to finish their round in 3.5h (quite a feat for a Sunday round of golf).
Tony Kopczak dropped the Inspector Gadget rain coat and looked like a decent player today: 18pts out and 21pts in, and enough to win today's comp. TK's handicaps gets cut 0.9 strokes down to playing handicap of 17. Alexander Krasnenkov looked like the real deal for 5 holes (level par gross). Then he decided to lay up on the 6th only to go OB. He steadied himself to finish the front 9 on 20pts. He played a steady back nine but he will deeply regret the missed par putt on the 18th. AK's 2nd place gets rewarded with a new playing handicap of 12. Bruno 'Rain Man' Clerckx didn't enjoy his front nine. But he lost all inhibitions on the way in. A score of +1 gross translates into 21pts and 3rd place. Tamas gets a mention in this report for a chip-in birdie on the 16th. Results...
Finally: how do you from hero to zero in one week? After winning the Winter Comp last week Martin Heinrich decided to game a set of players irons (won't mention the name of the brand). The leader board tells the story.
CSS: 36pts (7/20 players in the buffer).
Summer conditions again prevailed on the penultimate day of meteorological winter. Competitors took advantage with 60% within their buffer zone. In this the last round of the midweek Winter Competition Richard Young shot 43 points to win with Charlie Forrest nipping Richard Hodgkinson on countback 42 points. Results...
All handicap changes were reductions so please check your latest handicap.
Richard's 42 was sufficient to win the overall Midweek Winter Competition with two 42s in his 120, four clear from long-time leader Mike Jones. Final Leader board...
Brett Colley prevailed to win the Midweek Duke's Eclectic on 56.5 - a good net 3.5 clear from Tamas Ladacs. Final Leader board..
Winter Comp Rd 8 / Princes Eclectic Rd 4
Ladies
What an amazing day, who would have thought they'd be playing in shirtsleeves in Feb in the UK and a complete contrast to the freezing temperatures of a year ago. As with the previous week it didn't seem to help the golf overly much, but there were lots more scores in the 30s and CSS remained unchanged at 37 points.
The closest anyone got to it was Angela Flynn with 35 points and the day's winner. One point behind was Maureen Slade, showing a long overdue return to good scoring after her knee surgery. Results...
Angela also ran out the Eclectic winner, knocking a fair few shots off her score with today's round. Analysis of her scoring revealed that the secret was to birdie the par 3s, something Angela managed with three of them. Final Leader board...
Men
A large field enjoyed some excellent weather. The absence of any wind created near perfect golfing conditions. It should as no surprise then that scoring proved to be very good.
HLB continued his excellent form at the Park and posted a nice score of 40pts. A tidy front 9 (level par/23pts) was followed a couple of 3 putts and "only" 17pts on the way in. Kerry Sargeant did a bit better than HLB and went out in 25pts (that's 2 under gross). An untidy tee-shot on the 10th and a no-score on the 16th (sounds familiar Paul B?) prevented him from scoring more than 15pts on the way in. As the day went on the weather and scoring got even better. Sean Thomas was another player joining the 40pts club. Given today's scoring that is only good enough for 6th today. Four players recorded a score 41pts. Countback ranks them as follows: Toby, Gunnar, Martin and Tony. The first three get rewarded with new competition handicaps
Ollie Griffin killed two birds with one stone today. His score of 41pts earns him victory in the final round of the Winter Comp. Results...
He also win the Prince's Eclectic with a net 57. Ollie's competition handicap also gets a healthy chop down to 9.1. Final Leader board...
CSS: 38pts (25/41 players were in the buffer today).
The Winter Competition winner is Martin Heinrich with a score of 120pts ahead of Ollie Griffin on 117pts. Well Done!. Final Leader board...
A chilly breeze greeted competitors but it brightened up with mild sunny periods. Rain from a couple of days ago still gave cloying mud. With a 'bucket' hole on 11 the round was a non-qualifier for handicapping.
Richard Hodgkinson struck form with 42 points to win the 6th (of a now 7 possible) round played of the midweek winter comp. He was closely followed by a late 41 from Jack Evans and 39 from Nathan Street. Alastair Whyte continued his good form with the best 38 from Roy Evans and Henry Lindesay-Bethune. Best lady was Sheena 32. A shout-out to Gregory Jean-Baptiste for a birdie net albatross on 17 for 5 points! Results...
This was the last round for the associated Duke's Eclectic which saw Brett Colley wining on 65.5 from Toby Hunt and Henry Lindesay-Bethune both 67.5 (software shows Toby 2nd on 'countback' last 9). Final Leader board...
In the Winter Competition Mike Jones continues to lead on 116 now from Richard Hodgkinson 114 but don't discount the in-form Evanses (Roy and Jack) who only need 39/41 to pass Mike's current score on Prince's final round. R6 Leader board...
Winter Comp Rd 7 / Dukes Eclectic Rd 4
Ladies
The weather might have been bright & mild for February, but it didn't help the ladies much. The course might have been significantly shorter for the men, but the ladies were still off their tees with the lack of run expected at this time of year.
CSS moved by 3 to 33 points at which point four ladies were in their buffer zones, so it was 0.1 back for everyone else. Winner of the last round of the eclectic was Jayne Maxwell with 33 points, beating Angela Flynn by 1 point. Results...
The winner of the Eclectic was Val Riziotis, who improved her leading score of the previous round to win with a net 71. Final Leader board...
Men
Mild weather and forward tees were a nice set-up for a large field. In the end 17 of the 46 players remained in their buffer. No idea where Nigel Ward went on holiday but the break did have its effect. 43pts ((21 out and 22 in) made him the runaway winner today. Nigel's handicap gets cut a massive 2.1 strokes to 13. Steady Brian McMahon played an excellent back 9 (22pts) to claim 2nd with 40pts. Richard Owen nearly emulated Brian. But his 21pts on the back 9 means he has to settle for 3rd. George Taylor matched Richard Owen's score but the countback rule puts him into 4th. Countback rule also had to separate the large group of players on 36pts. 5th place goes to Martin Heinrich and 6th goes to Simon Malin. Results...
CSS: 36pts
Winter Competition: Nigel's fantastic score today vaults him into the lead with 115pts. Still all to play for in next week's round. R7 Leader board...
Duke's Eclectic: Three players finished on net 62. Countback makes Pete Harrison the winner of this series. Final Leader board...
The promised mild, dry and sunny conditions prevailed enhancing scoring opportunities. Continuing improver Adil Lalani took advantage to win with 43 points earning a two shot reduction in handicap. A creditable 41 points from consistent Bruno took second place with Stephen Haworth returning best 40 on countback from Mike Jones. Jim Fogarty, Roy Evans and John Maxwell. CSS was one above SSS 37 at 38 points. Ladies returned 2 of the 3 'Twos' - Sheena and Alison. Results...
This was the 5th round played of the Winter Competition with two remaining, with the requirement that at least one round on each course to be played. Mike Jones leads on 116 from Jim Fogarty 109. R5 Leader board...
In the associated Prince's Eclectic with one round left, Brett Colley 59.5 leads Bruno 62.0. R3 Leader board...
Winter Comp Rd 6 / Princes Eclectic Rd 3
Ladies
The start sheet showed another good turn out from the ladies for a Sunday in February, however nearly a third never made the first tee, presumably deterred by the weather forecast. In the event it was the underfoot conditions that were more challenging following the rain during the week.
Tenesi Karakaneva made the best of the conditions with a 35 to take first place today with Fiona Coombe three back in second spot. As such CSS was increased by 2 to 35 and these two were the only ones not to get 0.1 back. Results...
In the penultimate round of the Eclectic, Habe maintains her lead but there was a good shuffle of names behind her with Cheryl moving into second place. Habe improved her score by three shots today. R3 Leader board...
Men
Threatened heavy rain did not materialise allowing some good scoring and CSS elevated 1 from SSS 37 to 38 points.
Congrats to Tamas who held on through back 9 (22 points) for 41 points to secure victory in round 6 from Martin Heinrich 40. A prile of 39s from Ollie Maskell, Pete Harrison and Sean O'Sullivan completed the five breaking CSS. Tamas and Martin earn handicap reductions. Results...
In the Winter Competition Round 6 itself (attached being best 3 from 8 with minimum one round from each course) James Anslow leads 114 points form Pete Harrison, Martin Heinrich and Ollie Griffin all 112. R6 Leader board...
Finally, in Round 3 of the Prince's Eclectic the leader is Ollie Griffin 61 from Roger Rojas and Kerry Sargeant 62. R3 Leader board...
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Heavy overnight rain meant 3 temporary greens (and large holes) and play from mats (from driving range?). Yellow tees. But the weather was calm, mild and dry with some very good scoring. Jim Fogarty had a strong front 9 in his 64 but Alastair Whyte had the stronger back 9 to win on countback. Well done to Alastair for what I believe is his first medal. Results...
A tidy and consistent 69 from Bruno earned best gross in this non-qualifying round for handicap. Midweek birdie tree...
Ladies
Not knowing who might turn up if the courses were open after the sub-zero temperatures of the last few days, the ladies event was decided in the morning when in fact everyone turned up, plus an extra who hadn't booked. The decision was another Texas scramble with the added option to tee up shots on the fairway to assist the injured amongst us - though drivers were banned in this instance!
Overhead it was another fabulous crisp & mostly sunny morning, underfoot it started as frozen making clubbing somewhat tricky and producing as expected some strange bounces. By halfway, things had changed for holes in the sun.
Given the conditions it was quite surprising the number of birdies recorded compared with previous scrambles and all 3 teams were well under par after 18 holes.
The team of 4 of Alison, Sheena, Tenesi & Jess, playing as a visitor, were the winners with a 63.1 that included 4 birdies and just 3 bogeys. Interestingly, all 3 teams birdied the 18th, a hole that can be the nemesis of many a good round. Results...
Men
A reduced field faced a winter onslaught. Given that both courses were closed 24h earlier it came as no surprise that today's conditions proved challenging to put it mildly. The extra roll from the frozen fairways was offset by unpredictable greens. Chipping onto the greens was also very tricky. The Competition Committee decided to make today's competition a Non-Qualifer.
Bruno Clerckx had already proved his skills in the rain. He can now claim the crown as best ice golfer of the day. His victory was largely due to a well managed back 9. 39 strokes on the way in offset a more volatile front 9. Tony Kopczak played solid golf during 14 holes. But a severe brain freeze sent him on his way to a score of 71 net. He'd probably like to have the last 4 holes back. The MoC/Secretary Peter Harrington posted a solid 73 net to claim 3rd place. Damian Hackett did a little better than the Irish rugby team and finishes 4th. My money would've been on a Northerner to thrive in these conditions. But Tony saved the Scandi honour with a 5th place. Alan King completes the Top6. Results...
CSS: N/A
Early frost and ice gave way to a lovely sunny day with no wind. Late morning competitors experienced a graupel shower and looked in vain with the sun shining for a graupel-bow.
Scoring conditions were enhanced as a result with CSS being raised to SSS + 1 = 38 points. In the last game Roy Evans romped home with 44 points (and severe surgery to his handicap 15->13) with Brian Ransom 2nd 40 points. First lady Cheryl Woodhouse was beaten into 3rd on back 9 countback but is mentioned in despatches recording a 'Two' and of course handicap reduction 22-> 21. Results...
Secretary Peter Harrington crafted a mild draw to 8 feet on the long par three 14 to post a birdie and a 'Two'. Welcome back to play for Ted Holt who also recorded a 'Two' at 4th. Midweek birdie tree...
The AGM was held at the clubhouse after the morning round with the usual officer reports and discussions.
For easy reference click for the Secretary's Report for 2018 and the newly installed 2019 Committee.
Winter Comp Rd 5 / Princes Eclectic Rd 2
Ladies
Very different conditions from last week saw the ladies record the first QRO of the winter season. A combination of a strong wind and a wet course after the rain of yesterday presumably the reason that 32 was the highest score. Susan Smith's 19 points on the back 9 was enough to pip Angela Flynn despite her recording two birdie 2s in her 32 points. Results...
Although Habe remains at the top in the Eclectic, things have got a lot tighter after the second round and Lia is just 1.5 shots behind. R2 Leader board...
Men
The weather certainly didn't help today. Rain of the last days created a good bit of mud and casual water. Add strong winds and rain around midday and you have all the ingredients for a round of winter golf.
Richard Owen certainly came prepared for today's round. In the run-up to today's comp he "bended" the rules a bit. Reportedly he also enjoyed a few good bounces (from certain trees). To be fair he took the opportunities when they presented themselves. 21pts on the front 9 (with a no score on the 7th - which due to the cold temperatures and head wind played like a par 6 today) set him up for a solid back 9. The nerves started appearing on the 18th (a thinned chip from behind the green confirms that). But he miraculously walked off with a par to close on 40pts. Richard's handicap goes straight back to 12. Nigel Ward played a solid round on Prince's again but he was outdone by the smallest of margins on the front and back 9. 38pts is enough for 2nd though. Keith Cassidy and Kerry Sargeant both recorded 37's to take 3rd and 4th respectively. Ollie Griffin and Brian McMahon complete the Top6. Results...
CSS: 37pts (9/35 in the buffer)
Ollie Griffin had a good day on a few other fronts:
- He takes the lead in the Winter Competition with 112pts ahead of Caleb Mills and Barry Page (both on 110). R5 Leader board...
- He's also first in the Prince's Eclectic with a Net 63, ahead of Chris Lordan and Richard Owen - both 66. R2 Leader board...
Lying snow from a 'heavy dusting' rendered the course sometimes unplayable and the round was treated as a social non-qualifying round for handicap.
Later competitors Jack Evans and Dylan Merchant had amazing 39 and 34 points respectively for the round and associated sweep with Sean Thomas third 33 points. Results...
Winter Comp Rd 4 / Dukes Eclectic Rd 3
Ladies
Amazing results from an unprecedented number of ladies in mid-winter & the weather was also pretty amazing and so much nicer than forecast. Of course lack of wind and having fairways that were not soggy bogs can only have helped.
Lia Donath had a very steady 19 points out and 20 back to beat Susan by some 5 points but was fortunate that her lack of signature was spotted before leaving. Her short game was definitely on form today - one putting definitely helps the scoring. Results...
In the accompanying Eclectic, Lia might have beaten the rest by some margin - but last week's order remains the same. A matter of picking the right holes to improve your score on & Val and Cheryl both improved their scores by 5, but Val maintains a 3 shot advantage with one round to go. R3 Leader board...
Men
Looks like the field dealt pretty well with the cooler conditions. Four players managed to record a score of 39pts. A Par-Par-Birdie finish vaults James Anslow into 1st place. Over that span of 3 holes he nearly doubled his tally on the back 9. Not much you can do against that. James' handicap drops to 16. Martin Heinrich's solid round (20pts out and 19pts in) earns him 2nd place and a new handicap of 17. The back-up handicap secretary's round was a bit more volatile: 22pts out but only 4pts on the last 3 holes prevented him from finishing higher than 3rd. Last of the 39 gang was Ollie Griffin. But just like the player ahead of him he struggled on the way in (FYI: he went out in level par aka 23pts). Three players finished on 37pts: Barry Page. Chris Lordan and Caleb Mills - who quite shockingly decided to rock up in long trousers! 16 out of 42 players remained in their buffer impacting CSS. Results...
CSS: 37pts
Winter Competition: 1st) Ollie Griffin (108), 2) Tamas Ladacs (103), 3) Peter Needham (103), 4) PHarrington (101), 5) Pete Harrison (101) 6) Chris Lordan (100). R4 Leader board...
Duke's Eclectic: Pete Harrison (62), Chris Lordan (63), Oliver Maskell (65), Ollie Griffin (65), Kim Chaffart (66). R3 Leader board...
Grey and at times windy conditions prevailed and for the mid-morning competitors the forecast rain/drizzle finally arrived.
Scoring was average overall with CSS=SSS 37 points but Jim Fogarty eased further into the Wednesday scene with a commendable 39 to win round 4 of the midweek winter competition. New member Charlie Forrest and best lady Sheena Harrington followed with 38s. Both Jim and Sheena are cut a shot. Results...
In the midweek Prince's Eclectic Hassan Mouilah leads with net 65.0 with midweek captain Kim Chaffert tied second with John Curry 68.0. R2 Leader board...
The midweek Winter Competition is led by Mike Jones 105 from Sheena and John 102. R4 Leader board...
Ladies
Another good turn out for the ladies' team event which was another Texas scramble (a bit of a favourite for many). The winning team was Maureen, Fiona, Habe & Jane with a gross 71 and net 63.1. Conditions underfoot were considerably drier than for last month's event, but the wind did its best, picking up as the round went on. However, it obviously wasn't too tricky with 5 more birdies recorded than last month. Interestingly the 15th was the only hole that all 4 teams recorded a par on. Results...
Men
Conditions were quite testing. Mud (again), cooler temperatures and winds that grew stronger during the course of the day proved a bit too much for most of the field.
Luke Baker is keeping up his excellent form (who awarded him an initial handicap of 20?). A consistent round of golf (43 out and 44 in) is enough for Net 66 and 1st place today. Luke's competition handicap drops to 17. Looks like the nerves got the better of him on the last hole. An untidy 7 prevented him from adding even more cachet to his win. Four players recorded Net 68's. The countback rule fills up places 2 to 5 in the following order: Nigel Ward, Brian McMahon, Tamas Ladacs and Jim Fogarty (an unfortunate finish on the 18th prevented Jim from moving clear of the band of 68). Toby was the 1st of a group finishing on 69. Pete Harrison recorded the lowest Gross Score. And Peter Jagger netted an excellent 2 on the 16th. Other golfing highlights were very rare. It will come as no surprise that CSS rose to 68. Results...
You are not mistaken if you heard a lot shouts of Fore. They all came from Mike Shabani who had a clear preference to the left side of the course (aka a severe case of the hooks). Finally one member doesn't seem to like the new drop rule. According to him it is the "gayest" way of dropping a ball.
CSS: 68 (as mentioned above)
Cold conditions prevailed, especially for holes into the wind. Some odd spits and spots (first rain for what must be getting on for a month) meant continuing cloying mud. Sean Thamas mastered the conditions with 39 points to win and recorded the day's only 'Two' and the two birdies on back 9 helped 21 on the difficult back 9. James Anslow fought valiantly for 37 points and was followed by the trio of Messrs. Evans, Shabani and Mouilah on what proved to be a reduced CSS of 35 points. Best lady was Sheena Harrington 34 points. Results...
In the associated Midweek Winter Competition after 3 rounds Mike Jones leads 105 from Oliver Khan 97. R3 Leader board...
Meanwhile in the Duke's Eclectic Philip Taggart net 70.0 leads Hassan Mouilah and John Curry nett 71.0s. R2 Leader board...
Winter Comp Rd 3 / Dukes Eclectic Rd 2
Ladies
The relatively benign conditions for the first week of January saw 15 ladies venture forth and the gloom of the first few holes gave way to a sunny afternoon. Whilst a good number struggled to score, at least on both 9s, Susan Smith had no problem. Frequently out-driving her playing partners with her 3-wood she was equally good with her approach shots. Although her driving skills deserted her for a few holes on the back 9, she still managed 18 points, which together with the 20 on the front 9, gave her a four shot victory today and a 0.6 handicap cut. Results...
CSS remained at 36.
In the associated Eclectic report due soon. R2 Leader board...
Men
Competitors who use trolleys probably wasted a lot of time clearing up the mud they took home. Greens could've offered better/truer rolls. But all in all conditions turned out to be relatively fine. Scoring on the other hand was not very good. CSS decreased to 35pts. Even with the CSS adjustment only 13 of the 40 competitors remained in their buffers.
Mike Shabani was Houdini today. He pulled off escape after escape. On numerous occasions he was hitting shots from "wrong" fairways (needless to say that this didn't improve the speed of play). A steady front 9 was followed by an excellent 21pts on the way in. Well deserved victory and 0.8 handicap cut are his rewards. Three birdies sent Oliver Maskell on his way to 37pts and 2nd place. Fatherhood/lack of sleep didn't prevent Caleb Mills from taking 3rd place with a commendable 36pts. Jay Barker, James Shine and Lee Marshall (whoever recorded Lee's score did a pretty awful job. The recorded score of Keith Cassidy could've been better too ...) complete the Top6. Results...
Pete Harrison recorded 3 birdies. Enough to take the lead in the Duke's Eclectic with a Net 66 (ahead of Oliver Maskell and Barry Page). R2 Leader board...
In the associated Winter Competition - report due soon. R3 Leader board...
A decidedly chilly start to the first Medal of 2019 greeted competitors. Whilst no rain had fallen for a week, mud cloyed to trollies and shoes. Carl Latham fulfilled a New Year resolution winning the medal and being cut - well done Carl. Jim Fogarty and Chris Philips-Jones fought valiantly for 67s - CSS and SSS for the course on the day. Congrats also to Philip Taggart for best gross- 79. Results...
Students of handicapping will notice that Oliver Maskell NR'd but did not get raised .1 - how come? A: he dropped just 4 shots but NR'd at 14; a net double bogey was assigned for handicapping at this par 4 SI 12 hole (6 since he gets no shot at the hole) therefore an overall net differential of 4+2=6 being within his buffer zone. Moral: always return your card.
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