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…

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…

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 …)