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Storm 'Bella' cleared and players fought through the mud burning the Xmas kilojoules.
Peter Needham returned a superb 40 points to win - keeping a 6 off his card fresh from driving range practice. Three followed on 39: Bennie, Damber Thapa and consistent WHS improver Brian Ransom. Results...
John Ahad had pocketed 2 birdies through 4th whilst there were commendable birdies on long 13th from Richard B and Bennie.
Reflecting perhaps a more aggressive and positive swing, Julie R was convincing women's prize winner 32 pts from Katharina 29 and Ronnie & Gina 28s.
Midweek Stableford
Report by Sheena
Harrington
A little more time to adjust the sheet for today, although the start sheet ended up being published at least 4 times to accommodate changes which are a lot more problematic when playing in 2-balls. In the end 34 played.
Whilst the weather wasn't exactly ideal, it could have been a lot worse with the showers being just that and the sun making a welcome visit if only for a short time. It did put rather a damper on Christmas jumpers and hats - but they were evident on a few and me & Peter lit up the fairways with our lights rather than golf. Unfortunately the rain since the weekend is starting to bring back memories of last winter underfoot. It was a bit like skating on mud at times.
As ever, there are always a few for whom these conditions appear to offer no great challenge and today's winner, Peter Goodall with 43 points is definitely one. He has had one blip during December when he managed only 30th spot but apart from that has definitely been in the money and is evidently at home in the mud! Playing in his first competition after gaining his handicap, Nafeez was just one point behind in 2nd spot. Last man in the 40s was Bennie with a 41. First woman, in 9th spot was Gina. Results...
The wheel literally fell off the men's handicap secretary today so his 16 points were just for 10 holes - apparently the front wheel came off his electric trolley which would be a challenge if the ground underneath was dry!
Following the introduction of 'Tier 4' on Saturday evening, an informal stableford sweep played in 2 balls was speedily arranged.
All thanks to Paul Brown/Peter Harrington /Richard Owen for organising at short notice, replacing American Greensomes.
With some heavy rain overnight, conditions were muddy but no further rain experienced and one temp - the 11th. Clubhouse was closed to golfers so scores were returned on MasterScoreboard.
Jay stamped his authority on the field of 28 with a one over par 71 to win with 37 points. Snapping at his heels were Aung and Pete Harrison with 36 points. Seymour Laird was 4th just ahead of Gina best woman 35 points. Results...
11 competitors elected to have their scores count for WHS handicap. For Pete this was one of his best 8 from last 20 shaving his index .1 to 4.5.
How the day changed with the sun sadly disappearing all too soon to
be replaced by gloomy cloud, a chilly wind and then the rain although a
good number got round in the dry.
Top 3 today all had a playing handicap of 15 but Colm takes the honours
with 40 points. Pralab, who records general play scores several times a
week, pipped Stephen on the back 9 for 2nd spot both on 38 as was Jeremy
in 4th.
With the men and women playing pretty much the same course, it would have been good to report that a woman had won. Not much chance of that with most holding up the table from the bottom with the new women's captain, Val, making a valiant effort in 25th position. Results...
This was the first round in the Midweek Prince's Eclectic where the 1/2 handicap allowance has changed things a fair bit from today's comp with Jeremy at the top - but there are (should be) 3 more rounds to go. R1 Leader board...
Winter Comp Rd 2 / Dukes
Eclectic Rd 1
Champagne Chase
Women
Report by Sheena
Harrington
Well that didn't take the captain long! Despite rumour, in many years a captain's handicap improves not the other way. Whilst this won't award any handicap cuts, her sparkling form won the day.
With no Christmas hamper due to the Covid lockdown, prizes for the Champagne Chase were doubled with 3 prizes for both the senior and junior divisions. When the start sheet went out, it was all straightforward, but a combination of outside factors and a none too cheerful weather forecast saw the original field reduced to 10 and the split had to go to handicap indexes to give 5 in each section. Results...
Captain Val ended up the Eclectic winner and winner of the junior division, with Jane taking 1st place in the senior division. Conveniently those in 3rd- 6th place alternated between senior & junior divisions for the remaining prizes.
As it was the first round of the eclectic, unsurprisingly Val is also leading in that. R1 Leader board...
Men
Morning rain petered out for the 50 competitors of the 'Champagne Chase' / Winter Competition Round 2.
Kerry shot a sparkling 2 over par for 41 points and first place. Peter Goodall uncorked anther vintage performance of 40 points and there were glittering returns from Duncan 38, Julian and Peter N 37s. Joe Robinson was the shining light on front 9 - 22 points. Results...
There being no Christmas Hamper comp this year, extended festive prizes down to 11th positions are depicted in the divisional results. A bright spark for 'no sweep' Seymour is a bottle of Champagne in junior division. Divisional results...
This was first round in the Prince's Eclectic - report shows Kerry leading 66.8 from Peter G 70.8. R1 Leader board...
This also 2nd round of the Winter Competition which is now led by Peter G 79 from Peter N 72 and Nigel W 72. R2 Leader board...
Definitely back to typical winter conditions underfoot with some sliding around on the mud. No real surprise that we were on a temporary today on the 11th after seeing it being prepped on Sunday and whilst it was large and had obviously been mown to make a green it didn't behave like one - a challenge for all.
Peter Goodall made it look easy with 42 points but the closest anyone could get to him was 39 for both Bennie and George. Jeremy P must have been spurred on by the thought of champagne to come 4th on 38. Top woman was Cheryl, way down the list in 22nd place, but there was little difference in the length of the red & yellow tee courses. PCC remained unchanged when WHS did its calculations overnight. Results...
Today's comp usually provides a bottle of champagne for the winner and prizes for 2nd & 3rd. However, this year there is no Christmas Cracker competition so prizes today are numerous!
There are 10 prizes for each of the men's senior (course handicap 16 & below) and junior (course handicap 17+) and 3 for the women.
It was also the first round of the Winter Comp and Eclectics with Peter and George in joint top place as the 50% handicap has its effect in the eclectic - but a long way to go.
Midweek Winter Competition:
cf. today comp result.
R1 Leader board...
Midweek Duke's Eclectic
Peter (72.5), George (72.5).
R1 Leader board...
Winter Comp Rd 1 / Dukes Eclectic Rd 1
Women
Report by Sheena
Harrington
Back to normal again!!
Winter conditions definitely prevailing out there today after the deluge during the week. Mentally the transitions between the seasons have been rather challenging this year, along with most other things in 2020. Back in March we finally got to play all 18 holes again on Duke's after months of flooding only for our next visit to be in May when the good weather had already turned the fairways rock hard. And now after a 4 week layoff we're definitely back in winter having left things with the ball still running, the air a lot warmer and only slight evidence of mud.
There was one amongst us who didn't seem too fazed by it. Gina was the only one to score over 30 and is, needless to say, today's winner. Sheena was 5 back in 2nd place with Cheryl and Jenny on 27. So Cheryl who complained about her golf almost the whole way round was still 3rd today. Results...
The 'old' and 'new' captains looked to have played a very friendly round after the new captain's drive-in, both scoring 25.
Will be interesting to see what WHS shows tomorrow for the PCC
calculation and how it affects our handicap indexes.
Well played!
Being the first round of the Eclectic the leader board mirrors the results of the day. R1 Leader board...
Men
The first competition round since Lockdown 2 was played in chilly conditions but the sun did eventually come out and there was no wind.
All played off fresh handicap indexes. Winner on the day was Paul Patching on countback from Mike Shabani with both 41 points. Paul had the superior back nine, 21 pts, with Mike an excellent front 22 pts. Consistent performer Peter Goodall returned 39 points from Nigel Ward and Aidan 38s. Results...
PCC calculation was +1. This equates in old money to CSS elevated 1 from SSS which for a medal round is moderately more difficult playing conditions from standard (range -1 to +3). Some players were very rusty.
This was the first Winter Competition round of 8 scheduled - 4 on each course. Winner is best 3 rounds with at least 1 round on each course. R1 Leader board...
Simultaneously there is a Prince's and Duke's Eclectic after 50% handicap allowance. Aidan leads 70.4 from Paul 71.0 for Duke's. R1 Leader board...
There was change in the air at the Women's AGM with the election of a new Women's Committee. Report...
The government has announced a new lockdown in England from 5 November that includes the closure of golf courses, club houses and driving ranges.
Prior to his round, Diego said that he planned to repeat his feat from the previous week. Whether he meant, sticking to just 3 clubs or getting a good score is unknown, but either way he was true to his word, winning the medal by 2 shots from George (nets 64 & 66 respectively) who pipped Louis for 2nd spot on the back 9. Richard, Tamas and Ryan all recorded net 67s to be placed 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Results...
This was the first competition played under the new WHS, so results will show 95% of the Course Handicap as the Playing Handicap plus a differential for the mixed tees in use.
It was also the last round of the Midweek Grand Medal for the best 5 out of 7 medal rounds. Charlie Forrest held a commanding lead prior to this competition and maintained it through the final round for a win by 10 over Richard Hanna. Final results...
Women
Report by Sheena
Harrington
If that was our last Sunday until December on the golf course we certainly had a balmy day for it even though the wind tried hard to disrupt things at times. Sadly, no last chance to cut anyone's handicap before WHS takes over, being handicap secretary is losing some of its joy at midnight tonight!!! In fact in another last, it was a 'Reduction Only' round with no one playing in their buffer zone or better.
Congrats to Gina, winning our last monthly medal of the year (something that has nothing to do with Covid). Her net 74 was one better than Susan, Jayne and Lia all on 75, though Sheena might just be ruing her 9 on the 2nd par 3. Results...
So it's goodbye to Sunday on the golf course for now and CONGU forever, WHS here we come.
Men
Windy conditions prevailed with just a shower for late competitors in the November medal.
Winner on a creditable 59 was new member Chris Saloway. Welcome and well done Chris - you earn a UHS cut of 2 to 15 and sweep prize as well as medal prize. Chasing him was in form Uli Katte (ESR last week) 60 and another new member George Milton. Three 66s followed from Jan Wilken, Jay Barker (also lowest gross) and Barry Houston. Results...
On this the last UHS round, CSS remained at SSS with 35% being within buffer and four playing handicap changes inc. Uli cut further from 13 to 11. Such terminology will no longer apply with WHS which comes into being tomorrow. In will come handicap index, course rating, slope, hard cap soft cap etc. etc.
This was the last round of best from 8 monthly medals for the Grand Medal Trophy. Clear winner is Jay on 323 - well done with all counting rounds between 62 and 66, 10 clear from Aidan and Brian with Peter Needham 337. Final leader board...
See you all in the new WHS world.
Diego and Brett will be putting the rest of their clubs on ebay. After all why bother with them when you can score 45 and 42 points respectively with just 3 (& a putter) - it certainly stops any indecision on which club to use. Though perhaps they might need a few more when the white tees revert to their true locations.
The early crew took the spoils again in the top 5 with JeremyR just getting in to the last place of the sweep in 6th place. Results...
Despite predictions of showers through the day, the sun even made a showing for a while although it was a little blustery at times. Players at the back of the pack just made it in before the heavens opened for a really heavy squall.
This was the last midweek competition played under CONGU rules and next week's will be the first under WHS.
To play better than handicap was an achievement and Captain Kim led from the top with 43 point. Uli followed with 41 then Roger and Rick 40s. Mark nipped Jane (front 9 22) on back 9 for 39 points. Robin scored 24 on the back. Results...
There was some needle on back 9 Kim & Roger with Kim scoring two birdie 4-pointers to Roger’s one with Kim consistently getting the ups and down.
ESRs were earned by Kim and Uli so Kim now off 9.6 (can he make single figure for 2020?) and Uli 12.5.
Today's competition was cancelled after we were sent this picture of the 2nd green. Picture...
The 3 club and putter competition has been played in wet and windy conditions over the years but conditions this year were fair and with little to no wind.
Scores tend to be similar to the full 14 club allowance but the winning scores were still quit spectacular, Peter Goodall 62 edging Adrian 63 with Luke 3rd 64. There were four 65s form Tony K, Uli, Mark B and Aidan. Results...
Aidan shot lowest gross and Kerry shot 3 birdies and is second in the year's Sunday Birdie Tree with 42. Jane Fraser was again leading lady. Birdie tree...
Henry posted a score more typical of Prince's than Duke's today and with CSS remaining unchanged he was 5 shots below his handicap and this following a similar performance last week has earned him an additional ESR shot reduction to 5.7 - just before WHS kicks in and may reduce him still further!!
Joe didn't let his own ESR from a few weeks ago affect his golf and earned another small reduction taking 2nd place from Alan K, both just the 4 shots behind Henry on 68s. PaulB must have decided that too many of the early crew were getting in the money and hence joined them today, and it worked pipping Darren for 4th place both on 69s. Results...
This was round 6 of the Midweek Grand Medal and Charlie Forrest is going to take some beating 14 shots ahead of the field with one round to go. R6 leader board...
Good mid-Autumn conditions greeted 73 competitors for the October Plate. Roll was reduced.
Winner on the day with a phenomenal 47 points was Barry Houston. 21 at the turn hinted at what might come but a birdie at 12 and of course eagle 2 at 15 (5 points) clinched it (25pts, 1 over par 37). Well done Barry who earns an ESR of 3 to be cut 5 shots overall. 10 eagles recorded this year. Eagle Tree...
Henry L-B followed 2nd with 42. Wonil and Aidan returned excellent 41s. Jane Fraser was best Lady with 36. Results...
Six birdied 10th with ‘Twos’ and with CSS remaining at SSS there were 15 playing handicap changes. Birdie Tree...
There was some confusion amongst players today when they found they had to sign in for the comp. before entering their scores, but most faithfully included the sweep even though they knew they wouldn't be winning any (& it was deducted from those who didn't but who usually enter).
Bit of a different day today compared to the constant rain and wind of Sunday and one that got better as the day wore on and was positively balmy once the sun broke through. Not that the early morning chill deterred Darren from posting his leading score of 43. A lead that remained unchallenged until nearly all the scores were in when Richard H matched him with his own 43. He probably thought a back 9 of 23 would be good enough to ensure a win should there be a tie, but unfortunately for him Darren went one better with 24. Results...
Both have been rewarded with ESRs of 1 shot each following a run of good scoring recently. CSS remained unchanged at 37 points from the white and red tees, and 38 from the yellows.
There were a number of additional challenges today for the President's Prize with the winners as follows - some markers very close to the flag, not that all then made their putts:
- 2nd - Darren Vallance
- 4th - Mark Rice
- 9th (NTP in 3) - Ray Esin
Did any of the ladies make the green in 3 today?? - 11th - Toby Hunt
- 14th (NTP in 2) - Peter Harrington
- 16th - Graham Swindell
Ladies
Last week it was a surprise to find CSS going up 1, and this week the same is true for it staying unchanged, but today was due to the 'small field' rule where there are fewer than 10 players in Categories 1-4. Well done to all those competing in conditions that everyone will be hoping isn't all there is to look forward to over the next 6 months. Somewhat ironic that winter rules came into force just 4 days ago.
In the monthly medal competition, Katharina doubled her glass collection with a net 71 to win this monthly medal with Jane 1 shot back. Usually what happens is the Barton Bowl winner is the same as the overall comp winner. This year, with neither Katharina nor Jane in contention, the BB winner by 1 point is Ronnie from Susan with 33 points including a birdie on the 11th. Results...
Perhaps proving that the back 9 is generally easier than the front 9 on Prince's, there were just 4 pars on the front 9 compared to 17 (including Ronnie's birdie) on the back 9.
CSS remained at 69.
Men
Honours Board
Winter rules came in just in time for today's outing. A reminder that it doesn't take long for the Park to revert from its rock solid ground of summer to the soft and somewhat squelchy conditions of today.
The original field of 55, including the early players, was reduced to 27 as the weather deterred many to venture out (including all of the early gang).
Uli decided to keep it in the family today and not be beaten by his wife, Katharina, who was the winner in the Ladies' medal. Unlike Katharina, though his net 62 gives him a cut of 1.5 to a new handicap of 15.6. Hers remains unchanged. In 2nd spot was Richard I on 64. Results...
Congrats to all of us who made it round today as the rain was permanent company for all accompanied at times by gusts of wind.
CSS remained unchanged at 67 and just one overall winner today partly as we have used the glasses not used during lockdown, but also due to the reduced number in the field.
In the best of five rounds from the eight for the Grand Medal Trophy Jay Barker leads with a gross 332 (average of 66.4 which includes a net 75) from Aidan Hurley with a total of 334. R7 leader board...
Midweek Anniversary Accumulator Rd 2
Definitely a case of the early bird catching the sweep today. 5 of the 6 sweep winners had their scores in before noon (although had Val been in the sweep this wouldn't be true) as well as keeping dry overhead, though guess there might have been some dew on the ground to start. Still the wind kept a lot of the rain away and what did fall was blown through pretty swiftly.
Taking the honours today was Joe with a net 65 and earning himself an ESR of an additional 0.5 cut to his handicap to go with it. His new handicap is 9.6. In 2nd spot and just one shot behind was Russell, with Jeremy in 3rd place on 67. First lady, Val was 2 further back on 69. Results...
CSS remained unchanged from SSS today.
With the Anniversary Accumulator cut to a 36 hole event due to Covid's curtailment of fixtures, the winner on 136 is Ray who finished 2 shots ahead of George and Jeremy. Final leader board...
Club Championships Rd 2
Honours Boards
Ladies
It wasn't exactly a lovely day for golf and hopefully everyone had sufficient warm clothing secreted away in their bags from last winter. We thought it was hard going in the wind for the Bontor yesterday but it was nothing in comparison with today and it was definitely colder.
Back to today. A front 9 of just 3 over par for Ronnie was too much for her mind to manage on the back 9 where she dropped 13 shots. In contrast Sheena's was almost the reverse, dropping just 4 shots on the back 9 and managing to include a shank in it! At the end of the day both finished with the same gross scores recorded in the first round - two 86s for Sheena and two 88s for Ronnie, giving Sheena the Club Championship win by 4. Results... | Club Champion...
For the 4th year running, Ronnie wins the Handicap Cup (handicaps up to 19) with a score of 142, which is some going. Ali who was leading after the first round started off well enough, but struggled on a few holes but she did finish with a par to bring her back. Jane had the same score as Ali last week and with a bit of an up and down round, finished with a net 74 to be the runner-up just one shot behind Ronnie and one ahead of Sheena. Results...
In the
Pembroke Cup
for those with playing handicaps of 20 and above, Cheryl held a four shot
lead after the first round and extended this by 8 shots in the 2nd round
to finish on 149 just 12 shots ahead of Doreen on 161.
Results...
With just three playing to par or better and no one else in their buffer
zones, CSS went up one rewarding Ronnie with a 1.2 cut and a playing
handicap reduction of 2 shots. Sheena receives a .9 cut to 13.1 and Jane
escapes a playing handicap cut with a .3 reduction.
Results...
Men
Conditions continued to be chilly accentuated by strong gusty winds. Scoring was subdued with 9 NRs but CSS remained at SSS. No birdies or ‘Twos’ were recorded. Definitions of OOB becoming ragged. Results...
Credit then to the new Club Champion Ant with a second round 79 for overall 151. He was followed in the senior division by Armi 155 overall and three 156s from Aidan, Jay and Pete. Results...
In the Junior Division Barry Page shot 94 to win with overall 181 from Peter Goodall 182 and John Ahad 185. Results...
Inspired by leading the men on Saturday to a convincing 12-4 victory over the ladies in the Bontor Trophy, Cpt Kim held the Handicap Trophy aloft with overall net 133 from Ant 136 and Patrick M (excellent rnd 2 69) 137. Results...
The Men came out on top this year in the annual Men -v- Ladies match play trophy. Report...
Club Championships Rd 1
Honours Boards
Ladies
Three of today's contingent are unfortunately unable to play in the 2nd round as they will be at the final of the Mary Forster (last winter's) competition. A decision they may now be regretting, except they are set up to play well there.
In the scratch competition Lia, Jayne and Sheena are all tied on 86 with Sheena the only one playing next week. But with 3 ladies just 2 shots further back on 88 things are all pretty close. Results...
The split for the 2 handicap trophies is at 19 this year. In the Handicap Cup, it is similarly close at the top with 3 tied on net 69s, Alison, Lia & Jane. Cheryl is out on her own by one shot in the Pembroke Cup again on a net 69. Results...
The good scoring reflects the playing conditions of the day with the ball running forever at times, although not always in the required direction. With rain forecast during the week and falling temperatures, next week could be a completely different experience!
Men
A mere zephyr and warm autumnal sunshine prevailed; indeed some said they heard the wind more than felt it.
In the Division 1 it was very early starter Ant Thomas out of the blocks to take the lead from Lee 73 and 3 on74 - Pete H, 'mid-weeker' Jeremy R and Jay. Results...
In the Division 2 Rhys leads 85 from Peter G 86, Barry 87, Tony K 88, Mark R and James D 90. Results...
CSS was unchanged from SSS with only Ant being cut to 7.
In the Handicap Trophy (and sweep) results Ant won on 64 from 4 on 66 Lee, Jeremy, Sean and Kim) with Gregory 67. Results...
Congrats to sweep winners above Ant £36, Lee £30, Jeremy R £24, Sean T £18, Capt. Kim £12, Gregory £6.
Of the 'Twos', 5 were recorded on the 'simple' SI 18 16th!
The top 2 places today were book ended by the start and end of the day. Mike Jones leading from the front in the first game posted an unassailable score until Richard Hanna finishing some three hours later also recorded a 65. Unfortunately for him Luke Baker, who was chasing the setting sun, pipped him on the back 9 to take 2nd spot moving Richard down to 3rd. Results...
Brett having played with Mike assured us there were some good scores waiting out on the course, but in the event only a third of the field played to net par or better, thus CSS remained unchanged at 71 off the Whites, 69 from Yellow and 74 for the Red.
Luke's result today earned him an ESR of an additional 0.5 cut to his handicap.
For those still unsure as to why their handicap looks wrong in the results. Men off the Whites get 2 shots and Ladies 5 shots when the yellow tees are used.
There was another eagle to add to the list today as Tamas on his return to golf after a couple of months layoff through injury recorded a 2 on the 9th.
In the associated Grand Medal, Mike share 1st spot with Veronica after 5 rounds on 352. 8 shots behind is Seymour. R5 leader board...
Ladies
It was a perfect and sunny day for the Ladies Autumn 4BBB. A great turnout with 10 pairs and everyone smiling.
Third place on 40 points were Gina Jillett and Katharina Katte, second place on 41 points on countback were Cheryl Woodhouse and Sheena Harrington, with Jayne Maxwell and Lia Donath winning on 41 points for first prize.
Prior to restrictions re-starting we managed our Autumn meeting get-together with the awarding of prizes for both this event and the medal round while enjoying pizza, chips and drinks socially distanced in the sunshine. Also presented were the May to September monthly medals. Results...
Men
The course again felt more like a links than a parkland course. The bounce and roll were still considerable but also unpredictable. Best duo today were Bennie and Mark. +1 gross on the front 9 resulted in 22pts. They even upped the ante on the back 9 by collecting 23pts. 45pts is great result. Close second were Gregory and Adrian. Their front 9 was ok. But their last 9 holes were fantastic (26pts). 44pts is good enough for 2nd today. Alvaro and Richard played a steady round to record 43pts (21+22) and 3rd place. Uli and Julian played a solid back 9 (22pts) to take 4th. Results...
Only two 2's were recorded today. CSS: N/A. Today's comp was Non-Qualifier so no handicap changes to report.
Hope that the Top4 didn't use up all their good shots today and that the rest saved some good shots for the 1st round of the Club Championship next Sunday.
In spite of the unforgiving and unrewarding bogey format, 71% of Category 1-4 players were with their SSS buffer zone and CSS was reduced by one (raised to 2 up whites and reds, 3 up for yellow).
Exceptional scores have been recorded over the last few weeks. New member Peter Goodall won setting the pace with 8up with countback over Roger. Teddy and Nick R 7ups; Diego and Charlie completed first 6 with six up. Results...
Front 9 honours: Peter Goodall 5 up. Back 9 honours: Roger, Mark R, Diego and Darren V all 5 up. Tatian was Queen of the par 5s being 3up on them.
Especially well done Nick and Roger - Nick earns an ESR of-1 so now plays off 9 (8.5).
A note on the name of today's Cup. Fred Hawtree designed the original courses. Details...
Ladies
Rumour has it that there had been a bit of greening up at the Park which can be no bad thing. Good to see the ladies who will be playing in the Toprock Ladies' Greensomes are showing good form (Val & Ali) with Val's return to golf now complete I think, with 2 birdies on the back 9.
These two recorded net 68s with Val having the better back 9 - no surprise there with the birdies, to take 2nd place. But taking today's medal is Jane with a net 67. Her recent results have definitely shown a good run of form, so congrats Jane on taking the September medal. Results...
Men
Scoring today was decent to use an understatement: 30/53 players were in the buffer today. Today I will let the numbers do the talking:
- a winning score of 59 net
- 2 players recorded 5 birdies today: Pete Harrison (he even had a streak where he birdied 9, 10, 11 and 12) and Kerry Sargeant (although he probably let victory slip through his paws on the last 2 holes) accomplished this amazing feat.
- You needed to shoot 62 net in order to make it into the Top6
- Oliver Maskell went out in 35 gross (there wasn't a single 5 on his card). As a result he makes it into Cat1.
CSS: 66 (What a surprise). Results...
In the Grand Medal Trophy after 6 rounds tbc. R6 leader board...
Midweek Anniversary Accumulator Rd 1
A reduced field enjoyed good golfing conditions: mild(er) temperatures, very receptive greens and still enough roll on the fairways. And the least one can say is that the players made the most of the conditions. Bucket loads of scores in the 60's (although the stroke adjustment following the yellow tees option does accentuate the good scoring).
Brian McMahon takes the honours thanks to the best gross score (77) and a better back 9. He also earns an ESR inching closer to single figure handicap. George Taylor, Ray, man with a van, Alan King and Gina (1st lady yesterday) complete the Top5. Results...
CSS: 71 (Men)/74 (Ladies)
Second and final round of the Anniversary Accumulator is planned for 30-September.
Summer golf seemed like a distant memory today. Chilling temperatures, menacing clouds and swirling winds weren't the most inviting golfing conditions. It could still be worse. Some golf courses in the Swiss mountains saw some snow today.
All in all this kind of weather must have felt like summer in
Ireland. The weather and good recent form inspired Alan on his way to
39pts (21 + 18pts) and victory today. Early starter Ant went out in
level par (22pts) but his 17pts on the back 9 force him into 2nd place.
Mike had an excellent back 9 (20pts) to earn 3rd place. Pete Needham,
Ben Dickey and Bennie complete the Top6. Aidan Hurley had a bit of bad
luck on the 10th: his tee-shot bounced off the pin. He managed the
birdie the 2 par 3's on the back 9.
Results...
CSS: 36pts (Men & Ladies)
Remnants of storm 'Francis' very gradually abated to sunny intervals.
The winner was Angela Flynn with a superlative score of 61. Well done indeed - Angela birdied 9th and came back in just three over par (on all the par 3s). Scott Sparks just pipped Charlie Forrest on back 9 for 2nd place 62. Mid-week captain John Ahad was 4th 65 on back 9 from Russell Stewart and Club Captain Kim was 6th 66 with Chris Rudkin. Results...
Charlie earns an additional ESR cut of 0.5 to 11.9 - well done.
This was round 4 of the Midweek Grand Medal Trophy. The leader board report (details of each round at bottom of report) shows Seymour in lead 280, Ronnie 283 and Brian R 283. But with just 3 rounds played with scores 61 through 66 Charlie is menacingly poised on just 189. R4 leader board...
Silver Jubilee
Honours Board
Another week another 52pts score takes first place. At least it was a different player this time. Well done to Paul Green, whose handicap gets a massive cut down to 18. 1st lady is Doreen with a fantastic score of 42pts. Aidan takes 3rd place thanks to four birdies and a score of level par gross. His only regret will be the ... 16th hole. Nick Rogers birdied 15 and 16 on his way to 4th. Sean Thomas and Uli complete the Top6. Results..
CSS: 38pts (Men & Ladies)
Paul Green wins the
Anniversary Trophy (113pts) before Roger Rojas (112), Nick Rogers
(110) and Susan Smith (109).
Final leader board...
Midweek Club Championship Rd 2
Well done to all 59 that turned up and competed in the rain; if anything, early starters had the least worst of conditions. Overall balance of play was such that CSS was unchanged from SSS.
Roger Rojas just squeezed Pete Harrison on back 9 to take the net for
the day – both 3 under SSS 68s. Diego shot an accomplished 69 whilst 3
had 70s - Oli, Damber and Alan. Oli shot a level par front 9 whilst
Roger best back at 1 over front. Best Lady was Gina 74.
Net Results...
Pete (also best gross on day) was only player to have playing handicap
cut and rejoins Category 1 at 5.2.
Overall aggregate results for the 2 rounds:
- Men's Scratch Champion Pete Harrison 151 from Oli 152. Men result...
- Men's Junior division > 16 Alan King 169 from Scott Sparks and Colm 175s. Men result...
- Ladies Scratch Champion Gina 173 from Sheena 179. Ladies result...
- Handicap Trophy Alan 133 from Diego 135. Handicap Trophy...
President's Putter
Honours Board
The forecast of rain (even our secretary got picked up the fake news). The extra roll on the fairways and cooler temperatures allowed for some excellent scoring.
It was Louis vs the rest today: 27pts (on the way in) and 24pts (way out) make the clear winner today. His new handicap plummets down to 22. Barry's excellent front 9 (25pts) set him on his way to 2nd. Alison Chadwick counted her blessings twice today: 42pts and not having to store today's trophy for 12 months in her new flat. President Tim, Colm and Avi complete the Top6. Results..
CSS: 36pts (Men & Ladies)
Nearest-The-Pin challenges on the day:
- 4th: Robin Thomas
- 6th: Joe Robinson
- 7th (Men): Mitch Cohen/Robin Thomas
- 7th (Ladies): Caroline Stilwell
- 10th (Men); Mark Rice
- 10th (Ladies); Avi Murphy
- 11th: Paul Brown
- 16th (Men): Lee Marshall
- 16th (Ladies): Alison Chadwick
- 18th: Tim Meyer
After six rounds of the Top Dog Trophy James Barker retains his lead over Rick Kimber. R6 Leader board...
Midweek Club Championship Rd 1
63 turned out on another sweltering day for round 1 of the Midweek Club Championship. Rumbles of thunder eventually produced some rain but hard random bounces were the order of the day.
In the net (hcap & sweep) results Alan takes the prize on back 9 countback 63 from Peter G. Consistent golf from Jeremy and Joe with 64 and 65s returned. Richard O pipping Diego on back 9 66s. Net Results...
Scoring generally was very good with CSS one below SSS.
In the scratch first round, the ladies are led by Gina and Sheena with 83s from Angela and Veronica 86 and 88 respectively. With her superior short game, Cheryl monopolised the ladies' 'Twos' at 2nd and 11th. Ladies Results...
In the men's scratch Angus and Jeremy Ryan lead the way in the senior Div 1 with 73s from Richard Smith 74, Joe and Oli 76s. Richard had best back 9 gross two over and level on par 3s. In men's junior division Alan King is the leader 82 from Peter Goodall 83 and Colm 85. Barry and Scott follow with 86s. Men Results...
Ladies
A small but select field entered today's medal which has come hot on the heels of last month's being only 2 weeks ago! It wasn't only the heels that were hot today as the cloud cover that favoured us for half of our rounds yesterday was having none of it today and the temperature soared pretty early on.
Winner today was Angela with a net 67. She had a very consistent round dropping just 6 shots on both the front & back 9s, shooting 42 out and 40 in. Debi is in 2nd spot just one shot behind again a model of consistency with 44 both out & back. Results...
And just a special mention to Sheena who went out in 48, decidedly unmemorable, but came back in 35, dropping just one shot on the 14th.
CSS dropped by one to 68.
Men
Having carded a net 62, Brian was more involved with unlocking his bike so that he could cycle home than discussing his good card. But Brian is the senior division and overall winner today with the reward, alongside his medal glass, of a one shot cut to his handicap. Late entrant Nick, taking 2nd spot just one shot behind, but a better back 9 allowed him to overtake Ray. Continuing with the awards for both senior and junior division medal winners, Mark in 4th place takes the junior division glass with a 65. All four receive cuts to their playing handicap. Jay recorded the lowest gross score (not really a surprise), just two over gross, but with a handicap of 3 merely gives him 5th place with another .1 cut. Results...
The ladies managed one birdie between them, but for the chaps there were no less than 25 birdies, 15 of which were on the 9th. Lee decided to go one better and joins the eagle tree with a 3 at the hole.
CSS dropped one to 67.
In the Grand Medal Trophy after 5 rounds tbc. R5 leader board...
Wind persisted with ground almost parched and heat slowly built for The Midweek Captain’s Day.
Jay Barker shot an impressive level par 71 (one under on harder back 9) to claim first place and lowest gross. The Murphy household too 2nd and 3rd prizes with Avi overall runner-up on 67 and Patrick third 68. Improver Jon Wilson 4th on countback 68. New members Mark Finnett and Peter Goodall also shot 68s. Julie took 7th place and sixth sweep prize. Results..
Novelty prizes as below:
- Teddy’s 2nd shot at 2nd finishing within a foot of hole
- Hole 2: Nearest the pin after 2 shots (mixed) - Teddy Holt
- Hole 7: Nearest the pin (mixed) – Darren Vallence
- Hole 10: Nearest the pin (men only) – Joe Goncalves
- Hole 10: Nearest the pin (ladies only) – Alison Chadwick
- Hole 14: Longest drive – Mark Finnett
Putting comp - some unresolved queries at present.
CSS was unchanged from SSS with 20 NRs but five escaped 0.1 increases due to the max double net bogey handicapping rule. Ladies receive 5 shots from yellows and whites 2 due to SSS differences.
12 handicap change. Jay now down to 3, Elisabeth Piner chopped a massive 8 shots to 35 (her net 69 was off a limit of 36 in the comp but would have been 105-43=62 off natural hcap, a significant personal achievement for Elisabeth-well done.
Congratulations to the sweep winners - Jay £32, Patrick £27, Jon Wilson £21, Mark F £16, Peter Goodall, £11 Julie £5.
Hard to recall those days BC (before Covid) when we waded our way around the course with the bone hard conditions underfoot now and the ball bouncing in many and varied ways.
However, it looks like it didn't fare too well today and got beaten up by almost half of the field. Jay, starting as the sun rose posted a 4 up before many had teed off on 1 maintaining the lead for several hours before Adrian recorded his 6 up. Jay then dropped back to 3rd place on the back 9 when Jayne Fraser also beat the course by 4. Results...
Quite a few cuts to handicaps, but only 5 people reduce their playing handicaps. Handicaps were adjusted for play off yellow, white & red with CSS reducing by 1 for all.
Conditions were perfect for golf -not too hot and a gentle breeze. Most greens played to a higher stimp rating and all tees and greens had a whiff of fertiliser. Random bounce continued.
62% of players were within buffer zone and CSS was reduced by 1.
There were some exceedingly good scores and it was nip and tuck countback-wise with Joe Gonclaves nudging Richard Owen to win. Joe was 2 over gross 35 on back 9 . Well done to both with handicap cuts to 11 and 12 respectively. Results...
Charlie burnt up the back 9 with 35 to finish 3rd on magnificent 62. Richard Hanna and Pete Harrison had 64s - Pete having 3-3-3 for 3 through 5 on his one under par 34 front 9. Warm congrats to Pete being cut to 5 a Category 1 handicap. Jay characteristically shot best gross - 71.
Ladies
Not quite the weather that a medal round in July might expect to be played in with everyone getting a bit of a soaking when the rain suddenly descended and disappeared almost as quickly to leave sauna like conditions for a few minutes.
Congratulations to Caroline for her net 63 winning by a comfortable four shot margin from Tenesi in her last competition with the club. Somehow with a 1.5 cut, Caroline has managed to hold on to just a one shot playing cut to her handicap. Tenesi also drops to 13, but will be putting three new cards in for a new handicap in the Czech Republic. Results...
CSS dropped by a shot to 68
Men
Interesting conditions out there with a bit of sun, a fair breeze and then for probably most of the field a bit of a soaking for all of 5 mins before the sauna kicked in for a bit.
No one played off the yellow tees today, so just the whites wereused in the results and CSS went down one to 66.
As a result of the lack of monthly medals, or golf in total, for some time we have glasses to award from these events so for the next few months two medal glasses are being awarded, one to the first placed player in each of the Senior & Junior Divisions.
The winner of today's medal in the Senior Division, and overall winner, is Brian McMahon with a 63 and receiving a cut to 11.9 on his handicap. Two shots behind and recording the lowest gross was Ryan Dewar. Adrian Wells in 3rd place overall is the winner of the Junior Division medal with a 66. Results...
In the Grand Medal Trophy after 4 rounds tbc. R4 leader board...
Weather was ideal for golf but random bounce persisted. White tees were forward and Glendale being reminded again.
Early clubhouse leader (with 2 'blobs') was Cosmo with a seemingly unassailable 43 points but late player Luke rose like cream to the top with 45 points. Luke had an ESR earlier this month and is now cut to playing off a single figure - 9. Well done! Cosmo is cut a full 2 shots to 22. Damber continues to delight with 42 points with Mike Jones 4th 41 points. Jay returned best gross @ 40 whilst Aung continues to improve with 39 and a 1.5 cut to 30.5. Results...
Colm recorded another eagle at 17 and heads the tree. Midweek Eagle Tree...
Golden Jubilee
Honours Board
Summer conditions made way for spring like weather: light but persistent rain, swirling winds and fairways that remain as hard as concrete.
For the second week running Top Honours go to a lady. Susan Smith started her back 9 with a nice birdie on the 10th. She kept racking up the points on the way in (24pts). That back 9 made up for more subdued front 9 (16pts). 40pts is an impressive winning score. Susan's handicap drops 0.9 strokes down 19. Well done! Luke Baker and Damber missed out on 1st place by just 1pt. John Perkins and a quite controlled performance by Crocodile Rogers earn them 4th and 5th place respectively. Another lady, Jayne Maxwell, closes out the Top6. Last week's heroes (Cheryl and the LC had a tougher time today). Results..
CSS: 36pts (Men/Ladies)
After five rounds of the Top Dog Trophy James Barker retains his lead over Rick Kimber. R5 Leader board...
After 3 rounds of the Anniversary Trophy Kery Sargeant (107) leads over Susan Smith (106), Roger Rojas (105), Tenesi (102), Jayne Maxwell (102) and Toby Hunt (100). R3 leader board...
Mostly cloudy conditions prevailed with random bounce and associated variable lies for the coveted Claret Jug for the 62 competitors.
The early clubhouse leader seemed to be Angus with 6 but many good scores flowed in and it was Rick Kimber who took the Jug on 61. Extremely tidy play helped Rick keep a six off his card resulting in a cut to 10. There were no fewer than four 62s - Tenesi, Angus, new member Edd Maryon and last years Most Improved Golfer Richard Norden. All superb and special mention to Tenesi who came back in 36 just 2 over par. There were dream starts for Tenesi - birdie and Paul Patching - birdie, birdie. Results...
White tees men received 1 and red tees ladies 3 shots from men’s yellow tees. CSS adjustment was again down 1 from SSS. 10 'Twos' recorded and 8 playing handicap changes.
A chill July wind shivered players tarrying outside the clubhouse.
Captains' Day
Honours Boards:
Men |
Ladies
Report by
Kim Chaffart
On behalf of both Captains I would like to thank you all for the big turnout. It was really nice to see of many of you today. Oh and by the way the golf wasn't too shabby either.
The LC showed a bit of nerves on the first tee. She did end up recording a 6 on that hole. A solid par on the 2nd was then followed by an ugly 7 on the 3rd hole. But by the looks of things she had used up all her bad shots by that point (or did she do that yesterday at the Ladies Invite? Sorry John). The LC put the MC and Ladies VC to shame by recording 22pts on the front 9. A nice back 9 (How on earth did her tee-shot not find any of the bunkers on the 16th?) netted 21pts. A total score of 43pts made her leader in the clubhouse. Joe Robinson somehow upstaged the LC (more on that below). Birdies on 4, 9 and 15 allowed him to match the LC's score. But his better back 9 (22pts) give him 2nd place (and he even finished with a 6 on the last hole!).
Tamas Ladacs claims his putter was ice cold today. Drama queen ... A lot of players would swap their round for his 42pts and cold putter. Mark Finnett's strong back 9 lands him 5th place. Rick Kimber closes out the Top6 with another 40+ score.
But nobody was a match today for Cheryl Woodhouse: she scored 3pts on all but 2 holes on the front 9 (on each of those holes she still walked away with 2pts). 25pts on the front 9 would make some people nervous. But quite remarkably she kept her composure. Despite some wobbly knees on the 16th and 17th (she "only" recorded 1pt on each of those holes) she managed to close out the back 9 with 21pts. Congratulations on a great win. Results..
Goes without saying that Cheryl Woodhouse (so close to the Hawtree - bad timing), Joe, the LC and Tamas all earn sizeable handicap cuts. Paul Brown's good round could've been better had it not been for a bit of drama on the ... 16th.
Captain's Day Challenges:
- Ladies NTP on the 2nd was won by Angela Flynn
- Men NTP in 2 on the 5th was won by Lee Marshall
- Ladies longest drive on the 9th was won by Jane Fraser
- Men longest drive on the 12th was won by Joe Robinson
- Men or Lady NTP on the 16th was won by Joe Robinson
The Captains shared some photos: Pic1 | Pic2 | Pic3
After four rounds of the Top Dog Trophy James Barker retains his lead over Rick Kimber. R4 Leader board...
Last notes:
- If you thought you saw an UFO flying over the course today. Don't worry it was Tony Kopczak's club ...
- Has anybody seen Sonia Inniss' putter?
- If anybody found a pair of sunglasses please get in touch with Ed Hall.
It was a sunny Saturday for the 2020 Ladies Invitation. We had 9 games and 18 pairs for the American Greensomes competition played on the Prince’s Course.
We started the day with tea/coffee and bacon/egg/vegan sausage in a roll to sustain energy across the round. Everyone appreciated to be playing in 4 balls and in a fun format, with socially distanced drinks after the competition.
There were many good scores, we had 5 pairs on 42 points. Joint second place on 43 points was Avi Murphy/Patrick Murphy & Elisabeth Piner/Angus Robertson. First place and prize-winners for the day were Sheena Harrington/Damber Thapa with an excellent 45 points. A thoroughly enjoyable day.
Intermittent rain affected all competitors. Whilst it softened the ground, random bounce still featured.
Totally unphased, Raymond Esin and Luke fought it out with astonishing scores of 6 up - Raymond winning The Priory Cup on back 9 countback. Raymond finished the back 9 in level par with 2 birdies. Luke 'blobbed' 12th but earned an ESR of -0.5 so now plays off 11. Well done to both. Gina continued recent good form 3rd 4 up and John Curry 3 up. Results...
With 29 (53%) competitors within 'buffer' of SSS CSS was reduced 1 from SSS (or in bogey terms elevated to 1 up for white and red tees, to 2 up for yellow).
Diamond Jubilee
Honours Board |
Anniversary Trophy
The field faced tough conditions (cf. CSS below). The initial (and unexpected) drops of rain quickly made way for some serious wind (the tee-shot on the 15th felt more daunting than ever). Last year's captain tried his version of a Happy Gilmore and barely made it past the ladies tee. The highlight of the day has to belong to Jay: a nice ace on the 10th provides some consolation for a tough day at the office.
Roger recorded 3 birdies on the first 10 holes. He then safely managed his way through the last 8 holes to finish with a score of 37pts. Scott Sparks's strong 9 (20pts) laid the foundation for a score of 36pts and 2nd place. All the other players used up more than their respective shot allowances. Charlie Whiteman and Ned Shanklyn recorded scores of 35pts. 1st lady Jane Fraser leads a pack of 5 players on 34pts. Results...
CSS: 35pts (only 17 players remained in their buffer)
After 2 rounds of the Anniversary Trophy Bennie Van Heerden takes the lead with 71pts followed by Ray (71pts), Tenesi and Kerry (69pts), Jay and Roger (68pts). R2 leader board...
Mostly cloudy adequately described conditions for morning games and there was still plenty of random bounce often operating in player's favour.
Charlie Forrest stormed into the lead with 2 birdies being 2 under through 5th. This was maintained until 15th when 9 recorded. But nevertheless 61 is astounding golf - well done Charlie and a cut to 15. Keeping an eye on him with another stunning round of golf was Jeremy Ryan 64 with glorious 65s from Seymour, Angus and Joe. In 7th just outside sweep was Julie Ryan beaten on back 9 by Colm! Results...
Amongst the NRs, Alison, Captain Kim and Mark avoided 'automatic' 0.1s back with a scrub at a hole being assigned net double bogey for handicapping.
Congratulations to the sweep winners - Charlie £33, Jeremy £27, Seymour £22, Angus £16, Joe £11, Colm £5.
This was round 3 of 7 for the Midweek Grand Medal and Jeremy leads on 203 from Seymour but snapping menacingly at their heels with just 2 played is Charlie on 127 - a mere 76 adrift. R3 leader board...
JQ Robertson Trophy
Honours Board |
Top Dog
The heat wave of the middle of this week made way for spring weather and some tricky gusts of wind. The drops of rain of the last couple of days still were not enough to provide some extra grip on the greens. Landing the ball short of the green and letting it roll on proved tricky too.
Jay Barker followed a steady front 9 (18pts) with an excellent back 9 (21pts). The only other player on 39pts was Tenesi. But her round was the mirror image of Jay: superb on the way out (22pts) and a bit more volatile on the back 9 (17pts). Therefore the countback rule makes Jay the winner of today's comp. Both players get interesting handicap cuts. Jay's march to Handicap 3 is on. Three players ended on 38pts. Nigel Ward had the best back 9 (20pts) so he beats Rick (19pts on the back) and Roger (17pts on the last 9 holes). Richard Inglis completes the Top6 with his score of 37pts. Bennie Van Heerden narrowly misses out on a Top6 spot despite scoring 24pts (!) on the back 9. Results...
Shoutout to Colm Ivors for birdieing 2 of the 5 par 3's today. And another mention to Roger for his 2 on the 13th.
CSS = SSS = 37pts
The Top Dog Trophy leaders are Jay Barker (30pts), Rick Kimber (18pts), Nigel Ward (12pts), Lee Marshall (9pts). R3 leader board...
Appropriately, the sun beat down on the hottest day of the year for the Midsummer Trophy. Some very good scores but CSS was elevated 2 from SSS.
On top form was Gina with 40 points and this could have been better except for e.g. hitting the pin in 2 on 6th and then recording a 5 for 1. Recovering from anger, a beaming Gina professed herself very happy with her game.
Joe Gonclaves shot another good round 39 points and earned an ESR of -0.5 taking his playing handicap to 12 - well done Joe. Raymond Esin played well for 37 including 'Twos' at 7 and 10. Richard Smith shot a solid 36. Results...
On the course, Seymour Laird drove from 3rd hitting one of the white markers AND over the ditch for a workmanlike 4.
Platinum Jubilee
Honours Board |
Anniversary Trophy
The rain of the last couple of days didn't leave too many traces: the field still enjoyed plenty of bounce and roll on the fairways. The greens could do with more grip. The wind proved tricky at times too.
Two players ended on 40pts. Rhys Jarvis came out on top thanks to a stronger back 9 (21pts). Late starter Duncan Taylor came close (2pts less on the back 9) but has to settle for 2nd. They were followed by 2 players on 39pts. Oliver predicted a good round and he delivered in a big way. A strong back 9 earns him 3rd place. It also moves him a step closer to Cat1. Ray Esin torched the front 9 (23pts). A snowman on the last hole prevented him from breaking into the Top3. Jay continued his good form with another solid round (38pts). Long hitter Bennie Van Heerden completes the Top6. 1st lady today is Tenesi. Results...
CSS: 36pts (Men & Ladies). The Top7 all earn small handicap reductions.
Thunder rumbled and serious rain was not far away so the field (including v. late games) were thankful conditions were not worse.
With April's and May's midweek medals decimated by Covid, this was round 2 of 7. Scoring was excellent at the head of the field with no less than 6 glorious 65s.
For the second time in the last few weeks the overall winner was a
lady - Ronnie on countback from Messrs. Bergqvist, Rojas, Heinrich,
Harrison and Ahad. Still below CSS at 66 were Charlie F, Brian M, and
Jay Barker (also lowest gross).
Ollie recorded eagle at 9th.
Results...
There was a good sprinkling of 'Twos' and a shout-out to Aung Kyaw for a well-deserved ESR cut of 1 down to 32.8 from 41.1 earlier this year. Aung plays off 30 in our competitions and there's every confidence he'll get below this soon.
Jon Wilson illustrated the point that you can blob a couple of holes, staying in buffer zone and not get raised .1.
Finally in the associated Midweek Grand Medal, Jeremy Ryan hold the lead om 139, 4 clear of Seymour Laird and a further shot from Mike Jones and Tamas Ladacs. R2 leader board...
Ladies
Continuing the greater interest in golf in these post-Covid times we had 20 ladies playing today. As we had only 18 slots in our section you might wonder how, but Donna took a slot the men didn't use and Katherina played later in the day.
Playing in her first competition in considerably better weather than she encountered while putting cards in for handicap, Katherina smashed it today with a net 65 and sees her handicao reduced by 1.2 to a new playing handicap of 19. Lia was 3 shots back with a net 68 and also receives a handicap cut of 0.6 but no change to her playing one of 17. Results...
These 2 were the only ones to beat the SSS so CSS remains at 69.
Men
Report by
Kim Chaffart
The field enjoyed nice playing conditions. The fairways still offered quite some roll. But the odd bounce here and there could create some havoc.
Today's winner is early starter Scott Sparks with an excellent 64 net. This was the result of a tidy front 9 (39 gross) and a more volatile back 9 (42). Scott's handicap moves down to 16. Well done. A group of 5 players finished 1 stroke behind today's winner. So based on the countback rule the rest of the Top6 goes as follows: Brian (+4 gross on the back 9), Damber (+4 gross on the back 9 too), Jay, Pete (he will have nightmares tonight over the 17th and 18th hole) and Toby. The lone player on 66 (net) is Roger but he could've leapfrogged all the 65'ers had it not been for an ugly 7 on the 7th hole. Results...
Looks like a lot of players had a card wrecker on their scorecard today (but look on the bright side: there are no pictures on the scorecard). Nick Rogers tried his version of a Dominic Cummings (a shot that goes far but doesn't go OB). On the 10th his tee-shot didn't go far (barely made it past the ladies tee) but thanks to the long rough it stayed in play. He somehow made a 4 from that position. Another player (it wasn't Paul Brown) teed off on the 16th and played his second shot from next to the 6th green .... (if I disclose the name Keyser Soze will come for me ...).
CSS: 67
In the Grand Medal Trophy James Barker holds a 4-shot lead after 3 rounds. R3 leader board...
Spits and spots developed into more persistent rain for later games. Turnout was good at 62 for the third and final round of the Founders' Cup. We were back on the full back white tees at last.
Conditions clearly suited Lee who edged Damber on the back 9 countback to win the J Hume trophy on 40 points. (another) late player Luke scored a very creditable third with 39 and Alvaro and Jay on 38. Results...
We are so familiar with Lee and Damber grabbing headlines of late - congrats to both for ESRs of -.5 and -1 respectively following recent negative net differentials.
In the associated Founders' Cup Lee and Damber tied on 81 and share the cup. New member Joe Gonclaves took 3rd place 78 from leading lady Jule Ryan. R3 leader board...
A Full House to Lee and Damber - with swelling purse balances to boot.
Shaw Cup
Honours Board |
Top Dog
Huge turnout today (83 players). Yesterday's rain made approaches into the greens less tricky. But the odd bounce here and there on the fairways created some confusion.
Spoils of the day go to Jay Barker: 16 pars, 0 birdies (that must be a first for him) and bogeys on 7 and 17 earn him 39pts. 2nd place goes to the man with a plan, Lee Marshall. An excellent front 9 and a birdie on the 10th must have sent his head spinning a bit. 8 holes and 5 dropped shots later he had to settle for 2nd. Still riding high from her win last Wednesday Julie Ryan scored 37pts (23pts on the way in). She beats a pack of 3 other players for 3rd place. Her handicap keeps trending down. Keep at it. Mark Rice, Luke Baker and Tony Bergqvist matched Julie's points total. But based on the the countback rule they finish 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Results...
Some notable bits today:
- Ronnie walked off the 16th with 35pts and some swag. But the endless hunting for Nick and Greg's and the MC's Titleist balls drained all her energy. She couldn't add a single point to her tally.
- Tamas came out all guns blazing and torched the front 9 for 22pts. Roger and Toby had excellent back 9's (21pts).
- The MC recorded 3 birdies (even missed a birdie put on 12) and still only scored 30pts (Thank goodness there are pictures on the scorecard)
The Top Dog Trophy leaders are Jay Barker 18pts, Rick Kimber 12pts, Lee Marshall 8pts, Gunnar Sundberg 8pts. R2 leader board...
A good field of 56 attended for round 2 of the Midweek Founders' Cup. Grey and cooler than of late, allowing concentration on golf and with 2/3 balls - first since lockdown. The courses need rain with hard bounces, cracking of some fairways and grass turning brown. Indeed the depression/pond in front of 10th green dried up from flooding earlier in year (** see further below).
It was a lady who won on the day - Julie Ryan with 41 points; congratulations and a h’cap chop of 2.0! Damber put in yet another good round, beaten on back 9 with 41. Mr Single-Figure Handicap (aka Lee Marshall) returned excellent 40 and is now playing off 9. Solid scores from Jeremy Ryan, Mark Rosamund and Tony Bergqvist. Henry L-B scored eagle at 9th. Results...
In the associated Founders' Cup after 2 of 3 round (best 2 of 3) Lee holds the advantage on 81 ahead of Messrs. Gonclaves 74, Pete harrison and Ryan 73. R2 leader board...
** Paul Grand snapped up a cigarette card on Ebay depicting said depression in 1923 when course opened - see attached with pollarded weeping willows. Front | Back
Monthly Medal / Ladies Committee Cup Rd 2
Ladies
Unusually both rounds were played on Duke's due to a mix up with Glendale. With 3 ladies on 36 points last week it was expected to be a hard fought campaign in the second week but resulted in a runaway win for Tenesi, proving that a long layoff from golf does not need to wipe out consistency. Following up with 35 points gave her a very comfortable winning margin of 8 from Veronica in 2nd pace. Her fellow co-leaders after the 1st round experienced very different days, with Deb halving her score this week! Results... | Leader board...
Well done to Caroline birdieing our new par 5 on the 8th hole and to Sheena for doing the same on the 12th.
Men
Report by
Kim Chaffart
The new course layout keeps testing us. The extra bounce and roll means that quite a few amongst you are hitting short irons into the greens. That would be helpful if the bounces were not that unpredictable. My wedge into the 18th rolled of the green into the 2nd left hand bunker ...
But enough of that on to honours roll. Rick Kimber eagled the 3rd hole. Even though he ran into some trouble on the 14th hole he came out victorious today. Luke Baker struggled badly last week. But he forgot all about that on the front 9 (+3 gross). His back 9 was a bit more volatile: 1 par, 2 birdies, 1 snowman and a few other bogeys. 2nd place is a small consolation. Yours truly finished 3rd with a net 72. Luca loses out to the MC on the countback rule. Seymour takes 5th. Sean Thomas completes the Top6. Lowest gross score goes to Pete Harrison. Results...
CSS: 71
The Grand Medal Trophy tbc. R2 leader board...
41 players competed for the first round of the Midweek Founders' Cup in warm but not exceedingly sunny conditions.
Overall, competitors found conditions tough with CSS elevated 1.
A number of players hit the fairways running with new member Jon Gonclaves returning a magnificent 42 points to win in a round including an '8' at 12th. Lee Marshall similarly NRd at 7th with an exceptional 41. Pete Harrison's hand remained firmly on the tiller from recent win with 39. For the literary Chris Jones it was a good walk spoiled with NRs at 5 & 6 - otherwise > 38pts surely. Brian McMahon returned a solid 37 points. Results...
This was the first competition with sweep after the club has gone ‘cashless’. First 6 men found Sweep credited to their new 'Competition Purse'.
Summer Cup / Ladies Committee Cup Rd 1
Ladies
Three ladies share the spoils today with a score of 36pts. A birdie on the 2nd and an eagle on the 17th helped Tenesi to 1st place. The LC seemed to enjoy today's conditions a lot more than her male counterpart (any rude remarks will be severely punished). Julie Ryan matched Tenesi and the LC and is rewarded with a 3rd place finish. Given the change to the CSS all 3 ladies earn small handicap cuts. All to play for in next week's round 2. Results...
Men
And he's back. Jay Barker clocked a solid round of +3 gross. His 38pts were enough to claim the win today. Two players ended with 37pts. Pete Needham's birdies on 16 and 18 give him 2nd place based on the countback rule. Pete Harrison opened with bogeys on he first 3 holes. But he steadied the ship (2 birdies and 2 bogeys on the front 9). He then went +2 gross on the back to finish on 37pts. More importantly his competition handicap comes down to 5 and he joins the Cat 1 elite. Well done!
Another comp and another Top6 finish for Damber. And then he wonders why we call him a bandit. Nick Rogers had an "If Only" round. He finished the 17th hole on 36pts. Picks his club on the 18th tee and 10min later he walks of the 18th with .... 36pts. Mark Rosamond was on cloud 9 on the first 3 holes. Reality then hit him quite hard on the 4th tee. But 35pts is good enough for a Top6 finish. Results...
Final note: PB you have my sympathy.
CSS: 35pts
There was a minor fire on the roof of the Clubhouse. Some photos were captured. Pic1 | Pic2 | Pic3
Golf will resume with certain restrictions following the lockdown for the Covid-19 pandemic. Committee Notice...
The government has announced the immediate closure of golf course, some quarantine and social distancing measures amongst other provisions to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Committee Notice...
Paul Grand provided this picture.
A field of 48 players enjoyed plenty of sunshine (amazing how dry/solid some parts of the course were) but cool temperatures for the 1st handicap qualifier of the year. Hope you all followed PDH's advice and stayed out of the bunkers. What were the greenkeepers thinking with all the forward pin positions on the front 9? On another note: PP managed to form a ... 6-ball just in front of our 1st game. So much for the social distancing guidelines.
Rick Kimber took the honours today thanks to an excellent front 9 (+2 gross) and a solid back 9 (+4 gross). His net score of 62 puts him in a league of his own and 4 clear of the rest. Rick's handicap gets healthy cut of 0.8 strokes. Gunnar Sundberg finishes 2nd and is the only other player to earn a (small) handicap cut. Despite dropping shots on both par 3's on the front 9 Jay came in with the lowest gross score of 71 and takes 3rd place. Nigel Ward's consistent round of golf gets rewarded with 4th place. Early starter Russell and Adrian Wells complete the Top6. First Lady today is Sheena with a net 67. The highlight of Paul Brown's round today was going level par on all the par 3's. Not a small feat if you remember that he went +10 on the par 3's two weeks ago (go and check it out on the results section). Results...
CSS: 66 (Men) / 69 (Ladies)
Rick also takes the lead in the Top Dog Trophy. R1 leader board...
30 turned out to compete for the March Medal (first of 8 medals through summer with best 5 counting for midweek Monthly Medal Trophy. Drying conditions experienced on Sunday continue with much less lying water generally. The two loops of 9 made a change from Prince's.
Jeremy Ryan kept a six off his card for 71, edging Brett Colley on countback with 72s for Messrs. Ladacs, Mouilah and Laird. Alison took the ladies' honours. Results...
Hassan shot best gross 77 - 38 out and 39 back.
Ladies
Report due soon. Results...
Men
Early chill was exacerbated by stiff wind but forecast rain held off for the light field of 26 for the Spring Stableford round 2 and final Winter Competition round. With drying conditions, it felt uncanny for the odd ball to roll and carry but still plenty of mud/slush.
Continuing from last week's one under par, Jay shot four birdies in a level par round and 41 points to claim the final Winter Competition round from remarkably consistent Damber Thap and Rick Kimber 39 points. Results...
Damber's round won him the overall Spring Stableford with 75 points over the two rounds - 7 clear from nearest contenders Pete Harrison and Charlie Whiteman 65. Results...
Needless to say, congratulations to Jay for winning the overall Winter Competition with 126 points - today's round edging him a further three points clear from non-participant today Peter Needham 122. Well done to Damber 3rd 118. Final leader board...
There was a hint of Spring in the air for the final round of the Midweek Winter Competition. But conditions remained particularly soggy for 1st and 18th.
Brian Ransom rose to the challenge of scoring 45 points to win the last round, four clear from Joe Gonclaves and another from Tamas Ladacs. Results...
Brian's effort was rewarded in the overall Midweek Winter Competition as he drew level with long time leader Richard Norden to share 1st prize cash spoils - 124 each and well done to both. Rick Kimber was 3rd 117 with Jeremy Ryan sharing 4th alongside Joe Gonclaves 116. Final Leader board...
The master of the associated Midweek Prince's Eclectic over four rounds was Tamas Ladacs with an extraordinary 58, two ahead of Kim, Brian and Jeremy 60s; excellent scoring all round. Final Leader board...
Ladies
A mere 6 ladies ventured forth for the last official team event of the winter - another of our favoured Texas Scrambles. I'm sure her playing partners won't mind their team being labelled as Team Tenesi, but she has recorded her 4th team event of the winter. Their score of net 64.3 winning by 3.5. Results...
Starting off in clear blue skies it was hard to believe that there would be showers before we finished, but the skies darkened and rain which is never far away this winter started to fall for the last 6 holes.
Men
A reduced field competed for the March Medal with later games catching a blustery shower.
The field's quality however, was undiminished with Jay rising to the top with a one under par 67 net 62 to win from Aidan Hurley level 68 net 63. Alan King shot a praiseworthy net 63 for 3rd with Brian R, Damber T and Peter N next net 66s (Peter just one over at the turn). Results...
The above order is naturally reflected in the Grand Medal Trophy. R1 leader board...
Interestingly, the order for the first 3 was the same in the Winter Competition R7 stableford results from same round - Jay 42, Aisan 41 c/back from Alan 41.
Judging the timing of his round to perfection, Jay is declared winner of the associated Prince's Eclectic on 60 - just one ahead of Pete Harrisom 61 and two from prior leader Rick Kimber 62. Tamas, Kerry, Paul B and LukeB also had 62s. Final leader board...
Jay also now leads the Winter Competition with just one round left on 123, one ahead of previous leader Peter Needham 122. R7 Leader board...
Early starters missed the rain that bedevilled players for the Midweek Inaugural trophy played over 2 loops of 9 on Duke's. The worthy winner was Richard Norden with a well crafted 38 points. He was followed a point behind by Jon Wilson, Brett Colley and Mark Rosamond. 36 points was no disgrace in the conditions - for Joe Gonclaves, Richard Hodgkinson, Rick Kimber and Jeremy Ryan. Jeremy held back 9 honours with 21 points whilst Brett and Rick secured 3 birdies apiece. Results...
The Inaugural Trophy results are incorporated in the Midweek Winter Competition with 7 of 8 rounds now played. Richard continues a commanding lead on 124 from Brian Ransom 117 and Jeremy 116. R7 Leader board...
Ladies
At least the sun was making an effort as the meteorological spring arrived, though underfoot the depth of puddles to wade through seems to still be increasing. 13 ladies battled forth and most were truly grateful that this once medal round has morphed into stableford.
It was Angela's turn to triumph today with 36 points and beating the 'usual' winner, Tenesi, into 2nd place. Both went out in 16 and were neck and neck until the 14th when Tenesi moved ahead, but was pegged back on the 16th and followed it with a blob on the 17th. So Angela's back 9 of 20 makes her the winner of the spring stableford. Results...
Men
A change of scenery for the field today. Looks like the weather conditions got the better of most of the field. Martin birdied the 1st hole. But then recorded two 7's on the front 9. He capped off a solid back 9 when his pitch from the left side of the 7th green hit the pin and went in for a birdie. Pars on the last 2 holes gave him a score of 21pts on the back 9. His score of 37pts was matched by Charlie Whiteman (birdie on the last hole didn't hurt). But Martin had a better back 9. Pete Harrison was very happy that there only two par 3's today (he did par both of them). But a bogey and no score on the 3rd and 12th (that is the 3rd hole on his second loop) prevent him from improving on his score of 37pts. Bandit Damper (36pts), Aung (22pts on the back 9) and Richard Owen (22pts on the front 9) complete the Top6. Results...
CSS: N/A (but if it had been applicable would've stood at 34pts ...)
Winter Competition (TBC)
119 P Needham, 114 M Heinrich, 112 J Barker, D Thapa, 111 P Harrison, M
Cohen, Keith
As per Peter Harrington's missive: the last two rounds of the 2020 Winter Comp will be played over the next two Sundays.
A cold wind greeted competitors but eventually the sun broke through for the later games. Conditions remained muddy but there was the hint of dry patches on the highest ground -Spring just around the corner perhaps.
Brian Ransom outperformed the field to win round 6 of the Midweek Winter Competition (now extended into March so 8 rounds possible) with 43 points (23 on front 9 alone) pushing an excellent 39 from Tamas into 2nd - in turn beating new member Joe Conclaves and club captain Kim Chaffert on countback. Consistent Jeremy Ryan was 6th with a fine 38 points. Hassan shot level par on front 9 (21 pts) only to fall away on the back 9. Results...
The position in the associated overall Midweek Winter Competition shows Richard Norden still in command on 124 but after today's round it is now Brian and Jeremy R snapping at his heels on 117 & 116 respectively. R8 Leader board...
Jeremy consolidates his lead after 3 rounds of the Midweek Prince's Eclectic on 62, closely followed by Tamas & Mitch 63 and then Kim & Brian 64. R4 Leader board...
Winter Comp Rd 8 / Princes Eclectic
Ladies
It might not have been worthy of a name from the met office, but at times it was hard to stay balanced as the wind gusted around, making the balls oscillate on the greens and tees. Nothing though can stop the continuing good and consistent form of Tenesi Karakaneva who racks up her 4th first place of 2020 - & we've only played 5 rounds on a Sunday. Results...
With 35 points and winning by two, she also improved her Eclectic by 5 shots, finishing with a net 66.5 and 2.5 ahead of Alison Chadwick in 2nd place. The competition was reduced to 3 rounds due to storm Ciara. R4 Leader board...
Men
What's not to like about (wet) winter golf? Strong winds (thank you Storm Ellen), mud galore, lots of casual water and to top it all off some showers on the closing holes for the late(r) starters.
Tamas Ladacs used the front 9 to warm up (17pts). But he recorded a very solid back 9:+2 gross (some nerves teeing off on 17 I guess) translating into 23pts. Kerry unleashed another birdie barrage on route to 39pts (and 2nd place). Early starter Rhys edged out Pete Harrison via countback to take 3rd. Pete Harrison managed to go +8 gross on all the Par 3's today. His 3 birdies made sure he was still able to finish 4th. Keith and Tony complete the Top6. Results...
Winter Competition
No final standing for the WinterComp as we speak since we are aiming to
move some of the cancelled rounds into March (TBC in Peter Harrington's
missive).
Current standings: Peter Needham 119, Jay Barker 112, Mitch Cohen 111, Keith Cassidy 111, P Harrison 110.
The field was reduced with no very early starters. 22 competed with mud and some light patchy rain. These conditions made little difference to some with Brian Ransom emerging the worthy winner on 61 with a level par back 9. Also mastering the conditions were Jeremy Prescott 64 and on lowest gross Richard Owen 65. Val pipped Sheena for best lady on the day. Results...
Jeremy Ryan and Paul Grand scooped two birdies each with Paul heading the 'Twos'.
Competitions cancelled as course was closed due to storm Dennis.
Chilly but very breezy and of course muddy conditions prevailed. All credit to winner Jeremy Ryan who kept a six off his card with two birdies for a consistent 41 points. A fiery 39 points gained Álvaro 2nd on countback from Richard Hodgkinson (inspired no doubt by playing with new club captain Kim).
Álvaro's round contained birdies at 4, 5 and 9 with first eagle for the year - at 14. Brett and Jeremy shared front 9 honours with 22 points whilst Paul Grand was best back 9 with 22 (a handicap secretary's natural competitive back 9 instinct showing through heading three 38s). Leading lady was Veronica 35. Results...
In the associated Midweek Winter Competition, today's comp was 5th actually played (two cancelled) and the leader continues to be last year's Most Improved [male] Golfer - Richard Norden on 114 from Mitch 113, Jeremy 112 and Stephen Haworth 111. Barring rain etc. next and final round is 26th Feb on Prince's. R7 Leader board...
In the accompanying Midweek Prince's Eclectic after two actual rounds played (one cancelled), Jeremy Ryan now leads with a healthy two shot lead on 65 from Stephen Haworth and Mitch Cohen. It is conceivable that in the last round to be played 26 Feb a completely new winner could emerge from the large number of players who have NRd at one or more holes. R3 Leader board...
Competitions cancelled as course was closed due to storm Ciara.
Annual subscriptions are due on 1st February. The rate remains unchanged at £50.
Please check this recent Committee Notice for details and payment options.
Ladies
This week's 10-hole event was a team waltz with 2 teams of 4 and the third requiring a secret partner. This was the winning team and probably no surprise that it included Tenesi (winner in the last 3 of 4 comps) and Ali was the secret partner who'd also figured in Tenesi's teams for 2 weeks. The team score was 36 points of which 19 were contributed by Tenesi with Cheryl & Sheena making up the team. After last night's additional 9ml of rain Duke's had standing water on a couple of the greens and considerable water elsewhere. Results...
Men
Another week, another comp and another win for Damper. Looks like he's picking up a few too many trick of the trade from the single figure handicappers. Damper was one of 4 players on a score of 42 gross. This resulted in a net score of 33.7. Richard Inglis birded the 7th but then ended with 3 bogeys. Peter Needham's 3rd place proved again that he's quite at ease in the mud. Alvaro was another member of the 42 gang. But a DB on the 7th prevented him from finishing higher than 4th. Bennie and Brian complete the Top6. Jay didn't improve on his birdie tree position but he did record the lowest gross score today. Results...
CSS: N/A
Final note: just because the comp is a Non-Qualifier doesn't mean you shouldn't sign your card or record your score on the computer. Card marking is your duty not the Committee's.
The weather was dry but conditions still very muddy for the first Midweek Monthly Medal of the year. Tragedy befell the early clubhouse leader Mitch Cohen who posted 63 but then forgot to sign his card.
Brian Ransome took advantage to win with a solid 67 just a shot clear
from Messrs. Rudkin, Ivors, Ryan and Curry.
Best gross on the day went to John Curry 76 whilst Cheryl flew the
ladies’ flag with 70.
Results...
Five birdies were recorded on 4th whilst it was almost drinks all round from Paul Grand on the 16th 2cm from the hole.
Winter Comp Rd 5 / Princes Eclectic
Ladies
It may have been a gloomy day overhead but down on the ground there were some good scores being recorded. With 3 temps still on Prince's it was another non-qualifier or there would have been some serious handicap reductions.
Tenesi Karakaneva probably thought she'd get her 4th consecutive win with 40 points, but Kinga Nemes played her best round ever to score 41 points, finishing her round with a 5 on her 2nd ball having fired the first one out of bounds. The 3rd good card of the day was recorded by Cheryl Woodhouse on 38. Results...
In the accompanying Eclectic, today's top 5 match the Eclectic's top 5 with Tenesi swaping places with Kinga, leading by just 0.5. R2 Leader board...
Men
Best way to sum up today's comp: 10 players today recorded 40 or more points. Mitch Cohen put in an excellent score of 41pts. Only 2 players bettered that result. Jay birdied 5 holes (with a chip-in birdie on the 18th), went out in 23pts (33 gross) and finished his round on 43pts (66 gross). Even Jay's birdie barrage were no match for Pete Needham who went out in 25pts, walked off the 16th with 43pts (+1 gross). A few jitters set him up for a bogey - DB finish. Still enough to total 45pts. Three other players recorded 41pts. Countback rule pushes Lee out of the Top6 (playing 18 holes of golf on 2h of sleep may be the way forward Lee ..). Results...
Gunner Sundberg birdied the 8th hole. His reward: 5 stableford points! Gregory came within inches of recording the first ace of 2020. The 4th hole took a real pounding today: 6 birdies were recorded on that hole. Finally a shout-out to El Capitan, Nigel Gaymond, who played his first round of golf after recouping from his surgery.
Winter Competition
Pete Needham (119), Jay (112), Mitch Cohen (111), Martin/Keith (107),
Ollie Griffin (106).
R5 Leader board...
Mizzly grey conditions persisted after days of welcome sunshine. Contenders for the 4th Winter Comp round actually played completed 2 loops of 9 holes on Duke's.
Rick Kimber posted an early 43 points in the clubhouse which included two birdies in back nine 24 points and overall gross 73; well done indeed Rick. The chasing pack of Mitchell Cohen, Luke Baker and Stephen Haworth had very respectable 39s with Richard Norden next 38 points. Results...
In the associated Midweek Winter Competition (best 3 rounds with at least 1 round on each course), the report confirms that Richard has consolidated his lead on 124 points, now 12 ahead of Mitchell with Paul Brown now 107. R5 Leader board...
Ladies
What a contrast in conditions today - glorious sun overhead and rock hard ground underneath for almost all the 10 holes. Today's event for the ladies was a 4BBB partners decided within each game by throwing the 4 balls in the air - except the first game where we had a 2-ball.
2020 has started in a winning streak for Tenesi, recording her 3rd consecutive victory with a new partner this week. 3 points ahead of the next pairing, Tenesi and Val were runaway winners on 23 points. Whilst scoring was predominantly down to Tenesi (20 points including a blob), Val's contribution was needed to secure their victory.... we just need a qualifier to be able to trim Tenesi's handicap!!. Results...
Men
Upside of last night's frost is that we didn't bring half of the
course back home. Downside was that some of the tee-boxes were really
slippery for the early starters and that judging any approach into the
greens became really tricky.
Damper takes the spoils (again) today. He was the best of a trio of
players on 20pts. Keith missed out on 1st place after a DB on the 10th
(and final) hole. Tony Kopczak decided to hand in only one scorecard. He
started off in the best possible manner (birdie on the 1st hole). He
kept up his steady golf for 7 holes. Unfortunately he then carded 2
no-scores on the 8th and 10th. Julian James took a bit of time to get
used to the settings. A strong finish takes him into 4th. Patrick
Murphy, Peter Harrington and Pete Needham also finished on 19pts. But
the countback rule awards Top6 finishes to Patrick and the Men's
secretary.
Results...
Martin had a bad day at the office. It's a minor miracle that he was able to swing a golf club with the 7 layers that he was wearing.
Ladies
Just 8 ladies played in this month's scheduled team event, which conveniently meant two teams of 4 for the popular format of a Texas scramble. Despite having been told that this was a slow format for us to play, in the event there was much waiting on the tees, either disproving this point or showing that it was the men who were slow today!
This week's winning team has a great similarity to last week's with Deb deciding she had more chance of winning in that team, she and Julie joined up with Alison & Tenesi to beat the others by three points on 43 with three birdies and just one double-bogey. Results...
Men
Overnight rain forced the greenkeeper to maintain 3 temporary greens. The mud and winds that grew stronger over the course of the day created additional complications. Richard Hanna played the round of his life: 42 (out) and 41 (in) for a 21 handicapper is a tremendous result. (Un)Fortunately his handicap won't change today. Anthony Kopczak triumphantly walked into the clubhouse claiming a net score of 61. Turns out his maths could do with a bit of an upgrade. Tom Cook's maths were up to par and he is keeping up his excellent form. A net score of 64 takes him into 2nd place today. Kim Chaffart birdied one of the temp greens (3rd). The latter part of the front 9 was underwhelming. But some clutch par saving puts set up for a respectable net score of 65 (that score could've even been better if birdie puts on 15, 17 and 18 had not shaved past the edge of the cup). Damber makes it into the Top6 - again. Sean Thomas and Brian McMahon complete the Top6. Richard Owen had a round of extremes today: he recorded two 2's but he also recorded 2 snowmen. Results...
CSS: N/A
32 competitors played a midweek first - the two loops of 9 holes on Duke's. Pace of play was good, in marked contrast to Sunday. Conditions were muddier with recent Monday rain and mud was just the wrong consistency - sticking to trolleys.
New member Bennie van Heerden shot the lights out with a gross 73 (5 over par) and 48 points and 3 birdies. Well done indeed!! Richard Norden again had a stunning round with 42 points and impressive front nine of 24 points to finish second. Paul Brown continued to recover from not playing for a few weeks with 40. Results...
The competition was non-qualifying for handicapping but counted towards the 2019/20 Midweek Winter Competition. After 3 rounds the leader is Richard Norden 115 with Paul Brown chasing 107. R3 Leader board...
Ladies
In view of the latest configuration of the two 9s on Duke's, the ladies opted for another team event on the first Sunday of 2020. With 10 playing, the format was the best two scores for the 3-balls and the best and 3rd best scores for the 4-ball. In the end, there was no contest with the team of Alison, Doreen and Tenesi romping away to a 14 point win. They've obviously cracked the mud and club to use with no run on the ball whereas the rest of us need more practice!!
Men
40 players came out to play two loops of an improvised/shortened Duke's course. It was Luke Baker vs the rest today. He went level par gross on his 1st loop. That resulted in 25pts (!). His 2nd loop was marred by a 7 on his 16th hole (the 9th on Duke's). But 18pts on the second loop was more than enough to make him today's runaway winner. Sunny's better 2nd loop allowed him to take 2nd place from Tom Cook. Jay Barker went +3 gross to claim 38pts and 4th place. Pete Needham and Paul Green both had 37pts and close out the Top6. Results...
Cold weather conditions sometimes force players into "weird" club choice. A player who birdied the 8th today (Duke's 10th hole) hit a really long club into the green. Rumour has it it was his driver. Thank goodness he made the birdie putt.
CSS: N/A
Winter Competition
Ollie Griffin 106, P Needham 106, M Shabani 102, A Wells 100.
R3
Leader board...
Duke's Eclectic
Not played today
14 competitors showed up for the first competition of 2020. Conditions continued to be very muddy (slushy in places) despite relief from rain for a number of days. Three temporary greens so a non-qualifier for handicapping.
Kamil and Kerry were the early clubhouse leaders on 37 points until Adrian posted 41 to win with 22 on back 9 and birdie at 18. Results...
Kerry's round showed much promise - out in 23 points, 4 birdies and
one under par. With one more birdie on the back 9 Kerry is the 2020
Wednesday Birdie Tree leader.
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