Summer golf almost seems like a distant memory. There was quite a chill in the air when the 7am and early 9am games teed off. Still no excuse for the Glendale staff to already leave winter greens on the course. There was still more than enough roll on the fairways. But I suppose less is said about the greens the better …

All this doesn’t take away any credit from Bill’s score of 41pts today. An excellent 23pts out were followed up with a solid 18tpts on the way home. Peter M had 20pts on front and back 9. But he will rue his PU on the 15th hole. Great second place finish today though. Another week another mention for Kevin P. 17pts out (with a PU on the 8th) were handily compensated by a very solid 22pts on the back 9. Andre P matched Kevin’s score. But unfortunately his back 9 was a bit softer than KP’s (20pts v 22). So 4th place is his reward. Poria torched the course with 3 birdies (matched in that department by Tamas). Even though he birdied 2 holes on the front 9 he “only” recorded 16pts on the front 9. His 21pts on the way in were excellent. Graham C keeps up his good form with a 6th place. First lady today is the Women’s Captain, Sheena.

Results of the challenges
NTP 2nd: Colin Price
NTP 4th: Mike Horsthuis
NTP 11th: Poria Alinia
NTP 16th: Tamas Ladacs
NTP in 2 13th: Will Balakrishnan
NTP in 2 18th: MW Captain Brian Ransom
A Committee member will be in touch re the prize

Women

Don’t really need to do a report since we were all in the same game & know what went on. If Deb had done the back 9 the same way as she did the front then she would have walked it. In stableford terms it was 20 out and 9 back. As it was we finished in handicap order, though we can’t get excited about the scores since 69 is playing to par.

Men

Today’s competition also served as the final round counting towards the Grand Medal Trophy. Scoring was excellent today.

Senior Division
Michael H went round in 37&36 (gross). This translates into a score of 61 Nett. The 2 birdies on the back allowed him to stay 1 clear of John P. 2 facts of John P’s round describe amateur golf at its best: opening with a triple bogey on the 1st hole but then managing to birdie the SI1. What a silly game. Sunny L recovered from a soft front 9 to come home in 36 (Gross). This allows him to finish 3rd. Pete N recorded birdies on 16 & 18 to beat Richard O on countback for 4th place. Aidan recorded a 2 on the 14th. Jay also recorded an eagle. But he accomplished that feat on the 9th.

Junior Division
Is there anything stopping Kevin P? Out in 42 and home 37 gross. The nett numbers are staggering: 33 (out) and ….  29 (in). Well done on another win. Shockingly KP needed the countback rule to take victory today. Paul McG. Also recorded a 62. But he needed a score of 30 (Nett) on the back 9 to record the same feat. Charlie W and Tom S both finish 2 shots back. Tom S recorded the 3rd eagle of the day (also on the 9th). Gunnar S completes the Top5 with an excellent 65.

Grand Medal Trophy
Looks like there is a tie between Will Balakrishnan and Tamas L on 328. Paul Kamerling (340) and Michael H finish distant 3rd and 4th. Duncan T won junior dvision 345 from Dilip349.

The fairways still offered plenty of roll. But to use an understatement: the greens have seen better days. They were very receptive. But unfortunately that also meant that the putts had a harder time to hold their lines (still no excuse for what happened to yours truly – see below). The swirling winds made club selection tricky. That being said scoring proved excellent for the players with higher HI’s.

Graham C’s comment about his round was: I am pretty chuffed. He damn well should be: 21pts (out with a PU on the 3rd) and 23pts in (birdie on 11 didn’t hurt). On paper nobody came close. Expect an ESR and a massive drop in your HI. On paper Richard N seemed a distant second. But he torched the front 9 for 23pts. A couple of bad holes brutally ended his rally on the back 9. Dave C and Brett C both ended on 39pts. But Dave had the stronger back 9. So he finishes 3rd. Our Glendale Liaison Officers PDH and Richard O matched each other scores (Richard birdied the 5th – aka SI2). But 1pt difference on the back 9 breaks the tie in PDH’s favour.

Other bits:
– yours truly topped/knife/held his tee-shot below the wind (last description is quite a reach) on the 7th hole  to land his ball to 1 foot of the cup. I then managed to gloriously miss the putt. A par never felt more hollow than today.
– Jeremy P recorded 17pts on the front 9. Not really worth the mention right? The amazing thing is that recorded those points even though he PU’ed on 3 holes!

Scoring proved excellent in the Silver Jubilee – final round of the Anniversary Cup.

Ed Hall’s extra practice last Wednesday paid dividends today. He went round in 41 and 45 (gross – 31+34 Nett). That proved just enough to hold enough Kevin P. KP recorded 2 birdies on the front 9. But he softened a bit on the last 9. Alan K’s good run of form continues. After a solid front 9 (40 gross) his progress was halted momentarily by a lost ball on 12. But he still managed to be the sole player with a score of 66 (Nett). The Men’s secretary played a solid round of 69 (Nett) to claim 4th. Jim D finished 1 shot further back. But he’d do anything to be able to just play the last 2 holes again. Let’s just say that more respectable scores on 17/18 would’ve moved him a lot closer to the Top2. Michael H and Sean O’S are the last to finish “In the Money”. George T had the best gross score. Deborah P carded the best woman’s score.

Anniversary Cup Standings
Cheryl W (210), Katharina K (215), Lia D (217) , Michael H (217), Ian B (217), John P (219)

Summer golf looked like a distant memory today. The floodgates opened when most of the players were on the home stretch. Scoring was a bit different today since the ladies SI’s were used. Note: some players served double duties and showed up in a couple of pairings.

Alex B and Ian B torched the course. A birdie on 6 set them up for a great score of 25pts on the front 9. The back 9 of 23pts assured them victory. Richard N and Bill N (and not Matt H as indicated in the report) finshed just 1pt behind Alex/Ian. Bill N also teamed up with Richard H to record 23pts on the front 9 and 24pts on the back 9 to take 3rd place. 2 birdies for Brett C/Mike J on the back 9 were just not enough to crack the Top3.

Before we get to the order of the day: what in heaven’s name was the Glendale staff thinking? ….
But is much more enjoyable to talk about today’s golfing highlights.

Richard B’s round can be stripped down to its raw numbers: 4 birdies – 1 Hole In One (our reporter first erroneously mentioned  that RB aced the … 17th – Now that would’ve made it to Skysports/Golfchannel and the youtube golfing celebrities channels – That reporter who also played today’s comp won’t be named/shamed. But her first name starts with a G …). Back (no pun intended there …) to Richard’s round: 34 (gross – out) and 35 (gross – in) is pretty hard to beat. Well done RB. Sweep money has been credited. Expect an ESR this night. Colin Price’s excellent round of 66 earns him a well deserved 2nd place. Another Richard (Richard S in this case) overcame 2 DB’s on the front 9 with a solid back 9 to take 3rd. Alex B had an excellent day. But his scores on the last 2 holes prevented him from bettering his 4th place finish.

MW Grand Medal (TBC):
Chris R (357), Bill N (362), Gina J (366), Colin P (370)

Another hot and sunny day for the Autumn Plate; indeed a week in the 30cs – a record apparently.

Again excellent scoring on Prince’s. Ashley Stephens being first with 47 points and after 11 WHS qualifying rounds and ESR adj -2.0 HI cut from 31 to 24.5 .Cedric came a close second with excellebt 45 and sees his HI reduce after 9 WHS rounds and an ESR adj of -1.0 from 22.3 to18.6.
Mark B played some excellent golf also with 45 points. Mark had 1 over par back 9 and 25 points – and also had an ESR of -1.0 bringing his HI from11.0 9.0. Adran and ED sj=hot some super golf with44s.
Caroline was best woman 43 and Jenny scored 25 points front 9.

A scorching day in September for the difficult format bogey Fred Hawtree competition.

The winner Mtch Cohen was the very early clubhouse leader being 7up; but he was actually 9up on back 9 and 2 over for front 9. Seymour was runner-up 6up whilst Club Champ Richard B was third 5 up – all on front 9 with 2 under par 33

Glorious sunshine with increasing heat for the September Monthly Medal. Conditions were excellent for scoring.

Women (Autumn Meeting Medal round)

What a lovely sunny day for a round of golf & it looks to have suited Silvia to a tee or more appropriately to par. Her gross score of 73 looks more like a nett to many of us & despite already having a low handicap is getting a 0.6 cut tomorrow down to 6.4…. the rest of us can only dream of such a score. So well played Silvia who finished with a nett 66.

Just 2 behind was Jenny with a 68 but with an identical score dropping off the back of WHS there is no change to her handicap.

Men

Exceptional golf from Jim ‘Mr 59’ Matthews with 1 over par front 9 gave Jim a 59 – well done! Jim had an ESR of -1.0 applied after his early 8th WHS score to reduce his handicap from 14.8 to 9.0. he was followed by in-form Jim D 61 – again normally exceptional Oz re turned 62, Charlie W 63 , Paul K 64 Paul G 64 and indeed there were 18 scores in the 60s.
Jay returned 2 over par 66 for best gross and his HI reduced to 3.6.

This was 7th of 8 rounds for the Grand Medal Trophy and order is little chaged from rond 6 –
Will B leads senior 328 from Tamas 329 whilst Duncan leads junior 345 from Dilp 349.

A fair day for final round of Midweek Club championship; dry and bright.

Fine 65s from Naveed and Peter G won the nett for the day with Naveed 158 winner with a birdie at last hole. Russell followed with a lighting 66.

In the Men’s scratch senior division Jay shot an exemplary 73 gross with 3 birdies and 2 under par back 9; this built on his lead from first round to win with 145 from nearest rival Richard B 151. There were notable performances from Peter G 152, and Naveed 158..

Full credit to Patrick M winning with 2nd round 93 to give overall 180 from Adrian 182 and Julian 184.
The Handicap Trophy ( next 2 rounds) shows a 3-way tie on 135 – Peer G, Jay and Uli. Congrats to all.

And it’s congratulations to Gina for again winning the women’s gross 163 from Sheena 176.