Another grey but dry day [see men’s results for bland temperature plot] after many days/weeks on no real rain produced perfect scoring conditions.

Women

As with all these scrambles, the scores end up very close and could not have been much closer today. Ali was the only member of the first game in the clubhouse when others got in & despite declaring otherwise it was probably to let us know that they had a birdie on the 18th, which was in fact her tee shot, her 2nd shot & her 3rd shot which has resulted in them winning today’s event courtesy of the back 9 being a better score.

Now that’s been duly reported! Congrats to Jayne, Susan, Doreen & Ali for what was of course a team effort,

Conditions were definitely drier underfoot today but not exactly what has been described in the intro para as being ‘perfect for scoring’.

Men

The target was set on Saturday by Sean Julliard on 59 which seemed unbeatable until James Goh strolled into the clubhouse on Sunday with 58! Sean shot just 2 over par 70 whilst James at 73 was just 5 over.
Sean is cut from 10.1 to t.6 whilst James cut from13.9 to8.5 assisted en route with a -1 adj ESR. Best absolute gross just 1 over 69 from Ross Hood .

The rest of the field included many good scores but the overall Playing Conditions Calculator [PCC or CSS adj. in old money] was zero. Stats reports for the 2 days attached.

Gunnar and Adrian shot magnificent 62s whilst Patrick Murphy (fresh from the sun and warmth of Costa del Sol) and Robin Thomas 63s.

Indeed, 27 from 55 cards were in 50s or 60s.

Divisional Medal results reflect the above with James winning Senior (low handicap) Division and Gunnar the Junior Division.

The 10:33 grouping were challenged by Glendale’s Frederico at the 2nd tee par 3 to be nearer the pin on green than him. Frederico narrowly missed the green but the competitive trio all landed on green with Mark Bean just 1 inch from hole. Photos attached of Mark’s achievement, a Glendale voucher and the trio proudly sporting their vouchers. Note the immaculately clean trolley and brand new golf bag of the Handicap Secretary in group photo.

Frost early melted and eventually the sun came out. Men’s results report shows an interesting double temp. peak -2:30 and 8:00 in the evening. Mud, some mats and bobbly greens persisted. Holes 8 and 9 were out of action.

Women

Looking at the scores it seems no one was too keen on the conditions out there today and most would have been finishing by the time the sun came out in force. Late starter Gina appears to have taken advantage and was the winner on 27 with Katharina and Monique 2 back on 25.

Recording ‘hole not played’ rather than no score is still causing some confusion but fortunately for those concerned the scorecard is still king!

Men

Brian Ransom shot a stonking 38 points [with 23 back 9], 3 ahead of folllowing35s divided by countback : Nigel Ward, Kim, Colm and Ryan. Captain Kim leads the birdies tree with 3 YTD. Kerry mastered the par 5 with birdie.

In the associated Winter Competition Roger Rojas on 115 has the advantage from Secretary Peter .

In the Duke’s Eclectic Richard Inglis is our leader 67.3 from Brian and Russell 69.1s.

A shortened round of Winter golf for the field today. Luckily the rain held off a bit start of the week. Add that to the reduced (very) low temperatures and the field played a course with substantially less standing water. But the mud was ever present and the greens were tricky (bumpy and slow).

Allan Cobb recorded decent score going out (15pts – that result was matched by 4 other players – curiously most of them were also early starters). He then continued his strong performance by recording the best score on the back 9 (17pts). So quite logically he wins today’s competition. Richard Norden and Angus finished 2pts behind Allan. Countback rule awards 2nd place to Richard (the birdie on the 16th didn’t hurt). Notwithstanding 2 birdies Angus has to settle for 3rd. Julian had a solid round (15 + 14) to take 4th place. 5th place goes to Brian. The women didn’t quite enjoy today’s conditions. 1st woman today was Cheryl in 12th place.

The first competition of 2022 took place in mild but very muddy conditions; late in the round there were spits and spots of rain and the Handicap Secretary’s umbrella bust in a zephr! 4 holes were out of play but some signed in for and entered General Play Scores to qualify for handicap.

Colm put in another convincing score to win by a mile, 34 points.

There were five 29s, separated on countback: Pat Dalton, Duncan, Kerry, Sean O’S and Joe G.

Colm and Julie dominated the scoring analysis stats attached.

Six won sweep .

Meanwhile, on Prince’s James Anslow shot gross 72 with first ESR of the year and a hcap cut from 15 to 12.

Happy New Year!

Playing conditions were not very welcoming. But standing water, lots of mud and the occasional showers didn’t scare off 43 players. The absence of roll on the fairways and limited carry were more than compensated by the forward tees.

Jim Deissler was steady as a rock today: 22pts on front and back 9. A well deserved win. Kevin was gaming a new putter and it worked its magic. Any putt within 6 feet was drained. 21pts on the way in and out allowed him to finish in 2nd place. Brian finished 3rd 1pt behind KP. Richard S had an excellent front 9. 20pts on the way in allowed him to match Brian. But the countback rule breaks the tie in favour of Brian. Jeremy P also recorded 41pts. But his 19pts on the way in send him into 5th place. Julian recorded the best overall score on the back 9 to take 6th (FYI: Roger had the best overall score on the front 9 – also 23pts).

Winter golf made a comeback with a vengeance. Icy temperatures turned the park into a golfers’ version of the Disney movie Frozen. The greens were tricky: judging the speed was challenging. But the lack of carry was offset by the extra bounce on the fairways.

The men’s Secretary is currently the in form player at the club. The H&H combo proved too much for the rest of the field. 22pts out was an excellent start (Owen/Prescot and Woodhouse/Wildman association bettered that score with 23pts each). But they then managed to rack up 25pts on the way in. Just enough to see off the nearest challengers (thank you countback rule). Second place goes to the pairing of Mike Jones and Roger Rojas. Especially Mike seemed to enjoy the winter golf. He drained just about any putt from more than 10 feet. Their 25pts on the back 9 compensated for a more volatile front 9.

As indicated above Woodhouse, Wildman and associates (does have the ring of a law firm in the city don’t you think?) decided to start strong but wavered a little on the back 9. 44pts is still good enough for 3rd place. Best score on the back 9 goes to Susan and Gregory.

Fog at Richmond Park delayed start until 10ish with any entrants having returned home.
Nearby weather station in East Sheen was unaffected by fog but at bottom of main results the wind increase measured 11ish would have cleared the fog at RP and allowed temperature to rise.

The winning combination was Nick Rogers and Gina 48 points separated only by back 9 countback from Justin and Sheena.Third place in this last Sunday comp before Christmas were Mike Shabani and Nigel Ward.

Most Improved Golfer Since 01 January 2021

A small field dealt with mild temperatures but muddy fairways (let’s hope the aeration work by the greenkeepers will work their magic).

Chris Jones’ round was solid on the front 9 (17pts) but downright outstanding on the back 9 (25pts). He needed this tally to stay ahead of Julian who had a very balanced round of golf (20 + 21pts). FYI: both players birdied the 16th hole. 3rd place goes to the in form player of the moment: the men’s secretary Peter. His strong back 9 ( (22pts) allowed him better Jeremy (“only” 20pts on the back 9). Richard Owen let loose on the back 9 (22pts) to claim 5th place. Sheena is the first lady (thanks in part to a very strong front 9 – an honour shared with Andrew Watson). Final note: Peter Goodall recorded an eagle on the 9th.

Very mild conditions prevailed with temp over 13C and soil warming up per results report.

The Harrington and Ivors households will be celebrating Christmas with bespoke hampers – Peter just on top after countback. Both superb 43s. James Deissler shot 42 for 3rd with Paddy Stone and Richard Hanna 41s. All will get Xmas prizesand sweep.

Kevin Prendergast shot the only Eagle 2 at par 4 15th – well done Kevin!
Best woman Sheena 37.

Winter Golf at its best/worst (pick your poison) at the park today. Or as I would’ve said in my previous role as banker: when we play winter golf it is like low correlation between financial assets. Summer golf on the other hand is as if correlation between financial assets were high.

Overall winner (and subsequently winner of the Junior Division) is the Men’s Secretary. 22pts on the back 9 more than made up for a sub-par front 9. Early starter Angus is keeping up his good form. He started his round with a birdie. He kept up some sort of similarity by repeating that feat on the 18th hole. Brett matched Angus’ score but his back 9 was just a bit softer. So the countback rule puts another early starter in 3rd place. Both players are the best of the Senior Division. Mike Jones – yet another early starter – takes 4th place. So may be playing in cold(er) weather does offer a certain advantage.

Weather forecast calls for a few dry days. This would give the course(s) an opportunity to dry up.