July 2026
July 2026
J Q Robertson
Another hot, sunny day after a cooler early morning than we have been used to.
Scoring was good, especially for our winner Alex Catlow playing at the back of the field (47 points) and for Giovanni Caboni, playing in the first game (45 points). Brian McMahon (40 points) continues his recent good form in 3rd place and Lia Donath was the highest placed woman on 38 points.
In the men’s Top Dog accumulator, Brian McMahon moves into first place after 4 rounds in the Senior Division (25 points), with Allan Boyd (20 points) and Richard Back (18 points) in 2nd and 3rd places, respectively. In the Junior Division, Robin Thomas and Mike Shabani retain their 1st and 2nd places (18 & 16 points respectively), with Sean O’Sullivan & Gio Caboni both just behind on 14 points (points table below).
Midweek July Medal
Another hot and sunny day with running fairways and good greens.
Angus Robertson showed everyone how to play in Div 1 with a gross73 net 67. 4 Shots back was Richard Owen gross 84 net 71 with Bret Colley gross 83 net 72 in third place. Special mention to Adrian Wells in 4th place gross 88 net 73 which included 4 birdies.
In Div 2, Mr and Mrs Grace went out early (09.30 game) to avoid the heat of the sun. David beat Niamh on countback; both had net 62’s. They were accompanied by Alison Chadwick who carded a gross 88 net 65 for 5th place. Peter Harrington dropped his card into the results box last with a gross 91 net 64 for 3rd place leaving Brian Ransom with gross 83 net 65 in 4th place on countback.
July Monthly Medals
Women
Doreen strikes again with her second monthly medal win of 2026 – which is currently 50% of the Sunday ones played.
Couldn’t get much closer today with 3 on net 69s.
It took some time before the birdie tree got populated this year, but today there were 4 recorded, with Joan getting 2 of them.
The 16th hole was an interesting one – 2 of the birdies coming there (Doreen & Seshi), 1 par and 3 bogeys and then the rest! One game contributing in the last category for all 4 as everyone visited that bunker!- Cheryl didn’t get there with her tee shot, but not to be left out, dinked her 2nd shot in, but was then the only one to get out first time.
After a relatively chilly start, the temperature soon ramped up and the breeze was very welcome.
Men
A warm but cloudy morning for the early starters, with the sun breaking through around 10am and temperatures rising to the mid/high 20s C by midday, with very little breeze. Lots of run on the hard, dry fairways with some very good scores (although also some high hole scores by some players on individual holes).
The Division 1 winner of the July Monthly Medal glass was Richard Smith with an excellent 2-over-gross 70 (net 62). Richard had the best front and back 9s (1 over par on both), with birdies on the 5th and 12th holes. Brian McMahon continued his recent good form as 2nd in Div. 1 with a net 64, scoring 3, 4 or 5 on every hole. Bill Norman and Peter Harrison complete the top 4 Division 1 sweep winners with their net 67s (Oz Doyle not entering the sweep with his net 66).
In Division 2, Steve de Long wins the Monthly Medal glass with his net 64 – but for the 9 on the 18th, he could have had a net 59, with a par on the last ! In 2nd place was James Deissler with a super steady net 65; in 3rd place Alan King with a more volatile net 66 (which included 3 birdies); and in 4th place Tony Kopczak.
With only 5 (of the 8) rounds of the Grand Medal played, it’s too early to spot the main contenders.
Horton Park Friendly – Away Leg
On Saturday 4 July we played the away leg of the 2026 match against Horton Park where we endured a narrow loss: three and a half to two and a half.
There were wins for the pairings of Iker Lanzagorta/Sunny Lall and for Nick Rogers/John Wardlaw. Aidan Hurley/ Kevin Prendergast halved their match. Alas Paul Green/Manny Rasores, Angus Robertson/Richard Owen and Richard Back/Billy Jackson lost narrowly. Performance of the day was from Iker, who had six birdies in a level par round.
We look forward to a convincing victory to overturn the 1 point deficit and provide an overall win in the home leg on 12 September.
Siemens Bowl
Richmond Park’s third‑round tie against Wycombe Heights A brought with it a sense of déjà vu. Two years ago, the same fixture halted our progress, and on Saturday the hills of High Wycombe once again proved a peak just a little too lofty for RPGC to scale.
Away Team — Close, Competitive, but Outscored
Sean, Cuneyt, Julian and Adrian headed west down the M4 — with the customary wave to Heathrow — before climbing into the challenging terrain of Wycombe Heights. The away matches were tight, competitive affairs: one win, one loss, but with the margin of defeat outweighing the margin of victory. It was the kind of away performance that kept hope alive, but didn’t quite tilt the numbers in our favour.
Home Team — Nerve, Effort, and Another Split Result
With Wycombe Heights teeing off significantly earlier, the away team waited anxiously for news from home, where David Grace, Tony K., Robin Thomas and Richard Hanna were battling to overturn the deficit. Once again, RPGC produced one win and one loss — admirable effort, plenty of fight — but the losing margin proved just a touch too heavy to rescue the overall result.
The Verdict
In the end, the arithmetic fell the wrong way. 144:133 points. Wycombe Heights remain a stubborn obstacle in this competition, and for the second time in recent years they brought our Siemens Bowl run to a halt. Still, as ever , there is always next year !