We were treated to a fine day, and one which saw a welcome return to the Duke’s course for many, after what has felt an age on The Prince’s course.

Conditions were not easy, as the scoring showed. The fairways offered no run, the deep rough grass was thick, and the greens were midway through their spring preparation schedule, making putting a real challenge and much quicker than for the past few months.

Early starters Alan Treacy (36 points) and Mitch Cohen (34 points) took the honours, with Bill Norman 3rd on 33 points. Two 2s were recorded (by Andy Johnson and Ged Quinn).

Women

Four women played on the newly re-opened Dukes course which turned out to be “not too muddy”, with only two temporary greens and all four survived the full 18 holes.   Susan and Doreen played a 4BBB match against Cheryl and Jayne.   Cheryl and Jayne won the match 3&2. 

Men

After a break of around 3 months of not being able to play the full 18 holes on Duke’s, it was good to have a change from the Prince’s course (and Duke’s 1-11). Unfortunately today was overcast and rather chilly and worm casts made some holes particularly muddy – ball cleaning on every hole was the order of the day.

Best scores were around player’s handicap, with the course playing ‘long’ due to lack of run, wet grass and the cold temperatures. Dan Ballantyne came out on top in Division 1, beating Lee Frost on countback (both 36 points), with Bill Norman and Iker close behind (both 35 points). In Division 2 Cuneyt came out top, beating Charlie Haines on countback (both 37 points), with Billy Jackson 3rd on 35 points and Attilio 4th on 31 points. Billy had the best front 9 of the day (19 points) and Cuneyt the best back 9 (21 points). The hardest scoring holes were the 13th, 17th and 14th, and the easiest were the 10th, 15th and 7th. Birdies were at a bit of a premium, with only Richard Back bagging 2.

After 6 rounds of the winter competition, Richard Owen and Iker top the table in Division 1 with 108 points each (best 3 scores) and in Division 2 Charles Haines leads on 113 points, from Sean O’Sullivan (108) and Billy Jackson (107), these 3 being well ahead of the remainder of the Div. 2 field.  In the Duke’s Eclectic, Chris Mellish leads from Justin, Allan Boyd and Dan Ballantyne ( see attached reports).

A good turn out…..for a ‘work’ day. Can’t complain about the weather and the conditions. Even some of the six temporary greens were quite fast, and many fairways were newly mown and even green coloured.

Scoring pretty good….with 9 twos recorded and 5 players beating net par.
Lowest gross goes to Angus Robertson…71. Very well done. Top net results as follows:

Division 1
Angus Robertson (6):: 65
Kevin Prendergas (14): 65
Julian James (14): 67

Division 2:
Paul Gullet (20): 65
Fhorkan Uddin (17): 66
Peter Harrington (21): 68

….meanwhile, in the Midweek Winter Competition, Kevin Prendergast has taken a probably unassailable lead of 5 points (see report). The Eclectic is much closer however with Bill Norman, Charles Haines and Ged Quinn all struggling for glory, but all stuck together with net 61’s.

Also shout out for Brett Colley….Eagle on 14.

Women

As has been the norm recently the number had dwindled to 6 by the Sunday but allowed for 2 teams of 3 to have a friendly scramble. It is always a surprise that the results are so close, but with both teams having 14 shots there was 1 difference in our scores.
Team Elisabeth, Kelly & Sheena bogeyed every hole on the front 9 but scrambled 5 pars on the back 9 to go with the other 4 bogeys giving them a gross 82.
Team Deb, Doreen & Susan by contrast started with 5 4s and were 2 shots ahead after 9 but despite par’ing 4 holes on the back they also had a couple of double bogeys ending with an 83.

Men

Perhaps it was a good sign that on the first day of the new month, the weather treated us better than forecast and was definitely on the milder side & we were back on the 2nd green again, albeit just the front of it, although they then added the 12th back in.
Some good scoring in both divisions today with no fewer than 8 birdie ‘2s’ listed on the results and 29 in total recorded.
Playing in his first comp since the beginning of January, Mel takes the honours today in Div1 with 41 points, 24 of which were recorded on the front 9 and was 4 ahead of a group of 3 tied on 37 points (Richard O, Iker and Michael).
In Div 2 Brian R followed up his 40 points midweek with another 40 today and took the honours on the back 9 from Charles who matched his score. 1 back was Billy on 39.

Today was also the last round in the Prince’s Eclectic which Charles has won with a net 59 from Mel on 60. Payout for this happens occurs at the same time as the Winter Comp results once that is over (which looks to be dependant upon Duke’s being open or not).

Taking rounds on Prince’s only for now, the Winter Comp leader is RichardO on 108 from Iker on 103 and Allan & Greg on 102.

We were greeted with the best weather of the year so far – blue skies and a warming sun, what a difference!!

Scoring was good with 21 scores of 30+ points. The number of players scoring 2’s also was up as putting was a little easier (except on the temporary greens).

Brian Ransom played a steady game of 19 out and 21 back to get to the clubhouse with 40 points. Just 1 point ahead of Bill Norman, who managed 2 consecutive birdies on 13 and 14 to boost his score to 39 points. Tams Ladacs just edged out Charles Haines on countback with 36 points each. Ged Quinn was 5th with his 35 points.

Duke’s course completely closed due to wet conditions.

It was a cold day but mercifully dry, at least from above, though still a lot of very claggy mud on a number of fairways and a few wet patches around. Seven temporary greens affected scores and only one player in today’s competition can be said to have played to their handicap i.e a stableford score of 36 or better.

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.