Mild and overcast. Light drizzly rain persisted till around 11am causing the already wet course to become even more muddy than when some of us played the course on Friday. Six temporary greens on the front 9 but none on the back 9.

Scoring was “modest” with only Iker, winner of Division 1, managing 36 points. Second in Div. 1 was Peter Harrison (35 points) with Kerry and Greg taking 3rd and 4th spots, both on 34 points. Sean O’ Sullivan’s 35 points was the best in Div. 2, with Charles 2nd (34 points) and Gio 3rd on (33 points).

In the Winter Competition, Allan Boyd and Greg Wright lead Division 1, both having 102 points after 3 rounds. In Division 2, Sean leads with 104 points with Charles Haines 2nd on 99 points.

In the Prince’s Eclectic, Greg Wright leads with a net 62, with Allan Boyd and Richard Owen close behind on net 64.

26 members were booked to play but the weather (wind and rain, occasionally heavy) reduced this number to 20, of which 18 stuck it out for the full 18 holes. A considerable amount of standing water on fairways and greens, 7 of which were temporaries.

Richard Owen won the comp with 33 points (8 pars). 3 members scored birdies:
Graham Cull Hole 17
Alex Braun Hole 14
Jonno McClean Hole 14

After this 3rd round of the MW Winter Comp., Ged Quinn and Julian James lead with 100 points each and also head up the Prince’s Eclectic with net 68’s each. (see attached reports)

Finally, it was good to see the greenkeeping staff cutting back the encroaching ‘bushes/trees’ in front of the 13th tee (on the left), but only by 1 or 2 metres.

Women

The first scramble of 2026 and with 9 of us we could have 3 teams for a change, but still being generous with the number of tee shots required per peron.
With drizzle on the way down we wondered if it would be a miserable damp round, but although gloomy for a fair part, it was mild, no wind and the sun made a break through at times.
Taking the win today was team Deb, Jenny & Susan with a net 63 and playing the back 9 in just 1 over. No team had worse than a bogey on any one hole and team Ali, Elisabeth & Sheena had the only birdie on the first hole.

Good to see Angela again after her previous visit at about the same time last year and to welcome Ali back for her first round as captain mark 2!

Men

It seemed more like Spring than Winter today, with mild temperatures (around 14 deg. C max), occasional hazy sunshine and hardly a breath of wind. For some, it was ideal conditions for good scoring, especially the ‘long hitters’. However, 7 temporary greens made the competition something of a lottery.

In the Senior Division, Richard Back returned from several months away and posted a lowest-gross par score of 68 (net 64) which included an Eagle and 3 Birdies and so takes home the Monthly Medal glass. He was pushed hard by Greg Wright who had 4 Birdies in his gross 69 and was only beaten on countback. One shot back were Thomas Texido and Peter Harrison (both net 65), with Thomas taking 3rd place with an Eagle and 3 Birdies in his round.

In the Junior Division, Attilio Cheso will be taking home the Monthly Medal glass for his net 65 round, just one ahead of the in-form Jonno McLean, with Charles Haines and Rick Smith in 3rd and 4th places respectively.

A bitterly cold morning with a heavy frost on the ground made golf a whole new experience, with tremendous run on the ball and uncontrollable bounces. As the sun shone throughout the morning the course turned from white to green by around 11.30am, except for those areas within the shade, and there was hardly a breathe of wind. A view of the 3rd hole at around 10am is attached.

Most of the field struggled with the conditions on what was otherwise a beautiful winter’s day. Only 3 (of 37) players managed to beat the par score of 36 points. Today’s winner, Jonno McLean (43 points) was the only one to truly master the conditions – his front and back 9’s (20 & 23 points) outshone everyone else and he had 2 birdies and 5 pars. Some way behind Jonno, but 3 points ahead of everyone else, Elizabeth and Brian both had 37 points, Elizabeth beating Brian on countback. Elizabeth had 17 points out and 20 points in (including 3 blobs in her round!); Brian had 19 points out and 18 points in (no blobs).

For the last competition of 2025 the weather was frosty and hard and with one temporary green (11th). The Duke’s course was opened back up for us to a full 18 holes but was playing long which did not favour the women or the short hitters. Only 6 players made 30+ points in such conditions. The best lady on the day was Sheena Harrington.

After last week being disqualified for not signing his card, Billy Jackson came back and scored 36 points to win the competition with 20 out and 16 back. Four points behind was Dave Cato with a steady 19 out and 13 back which included a birdie 3 on hole 3; Julian James claimed third spot on countback from Angus Robertson with his superior back nine, 17 points to 15.

A significantly reduced field played for the December Plate in overcast, chilly, but thankfully dry conditions. The recent dry spell of weather made the course less ‘slippery’ underfoot and lessened the need for ball cleaning.

Scoring was pretty good with almost half the field scoring 20 points or more (compared to a ‘par score’ of 22 points on this shortened course). The winner Ged Quinn beat Olav Bridie, both 24 points, on last 6 countback (holes 6 -10, +2). Similarly, Alan Boyd beat Duncan Taylor, both 23 points, on last 9 countback.

Neither Olav nor Allan entered the Sweep, so the sweep payout goes to Ged, Duncan, Greg and Lee.

The temperature was down to about 6 degrees with a chill wind blowing from the East. However the Prince’s was otherwise in good condition. The top 11 players scored 30+ points with Charles Haines (35 points) winning his first Plate trophy, scoring 20 points on the back nine to push Richard Owen into second place and Duncan Taylor into third spot on 35 points countback. Angus had a good round off 6 handicap to take fourth place on 34 points just ahead of Andy Johnson on 33 points.

Women

With conditions as muddy as ever, the decision was just 3 tee shots apiece which gave another close result. Ali, Bella, Deb & Jenny, maximising their extra 6 shots over Cheryl, Jayne, Joan & Susan even allowing for a 7 & 6 on their card, gave them a 1 shot win.

Both teams had birdies one of them even managing it on the temp green on the 2nd hole.

Hopefully the January event will not be a repeat of the first 2 events when 11 were booked in but only 8 played!

Men

The weather forecast was correct: rain up until around 9.30am, a cloudy, dry interlude till midday, then more rain – challenging conditions for golf, especially with muddy conditions underfoot. We had hoped to have all 18 greens in play, but overnight rain caused the 1st and 2nd to be temporaries.

After a few late drop outs, 34 hardy souls played the December medal with surprisingly only one NR, although there were several double digit hole scores on a number of cards.

In Division 1, Suhail Salim takes home the monthly medal glass with an impressive net 68, just pipping Brian McMahon, Greg Wright and Paul Green (all on 69), and Oz, Paul Kamerling and Joe on 70. Joe had the lowest gross of the day (73) – for the 2nd week running! Chris Mellish could have equalled Suhail if he had par’d the 14th, instead of taking 3 tee shots and recording a 9!

In Division 2, Duncan Taylor was the clear winner, also with a net 68 and takes home the monthly medal glass. Jonno McLean, Dennis Keough and Gerard Ouattara took 2nd, 3rd and 4th places, all on 72. Gerard will be ruing his 9 on the 8th, which spoilt an otherwise impressive card.

It was a chilly and frosty morning with low winter sunshine which became a very pleasant day for golf. However, the soft ground conditions and lack of run on and off the fairways made the course long for most players, even off the yellow and red tees.

Only Joe Goncalves, our winner today on 38 points, ‘beat the course’. Joe had a 4-over-gross round of 74, comprising 14 pars and 4 bogeys – exceptional golf. He was obviously out to impress his two women playing partners ! In 2nd and 3rd places, both on 34 points were Lee Frost and Paul Kamerling, respectively. There was then a group of 4 players on 32 points. Because of the low scoring, WHS decided that there would be a PCC of 2 shots.

The leading women for the champagne prizes were Hilary Casey and Caroline Stillwell respectively, both on 26 points.

For the first time, both the men and women played from the yellow tees (all the tees were almost together anyway). Conditions were frosty to start but slowly improved after the sun came out. Scoring was not bad with over half of the field scoring 30+ points.

Today’s winner with 39 points was Andy Johnson 22 out and 17 back. He just pipped Toby Hunt who scored 38 points. Toby played very steady 19 out and 19 back. Iain Barbour was 3rd on countback also with 38 points 21 out and 17 back. Mitchell Cohen edged into 4th place on countback ahead of Tamas Ladacs with a superior back nine score of 21 to 17 by Tamas.

There is special mention to Charles Haines with his hole in one on the 4th par 3. Also, the only 2 was an Eagle, scored by Greg Wright on the 15th hole. Everyone enjoyed a free drink in the clubhouse thanks to Charles.