Saturday entrants enjoyed best of the sun and temperature per bottom of results report. Yet best on Saturday was 39.

Women

With the Committee Cup deferred to later in the year, there was just a sweep for the women today – though the prize pot of just £12 didn’t make for early retirement. ( A number were away playing Whitewebbs). For the Sunday entrants it was always going to be a longshot that you’d get anywhere near Gina who chose to play on Saturday and seems to have found a very purple patch scoring 44 points. With the bizarre workings of WHS her 8 below handicap score only cuts her by a shot where previously this would have been 8*0.3 = 2.4 cut.

Men

Some superb scoring on Sunday came from Colm Ivors to win 46 pts 23 out 23 in with a ‘blob’. Peter Goodall gave chase 45 – 21 out with a ‘blob’ and 24 back; Gunnar shot very consistent 44 with 22 out and in.

This was a qualifier for NAPGC – entrants in attached report.

Incessant heavy rain made it miserable weather for golf and only 5 hardy souls, of the 10 that signed in, completed their rounds.

Winner was Andrew Watson with an excellent 35 points; runner-up on 33 points was Phil Martin, but all those who finished scored well, considering the conditions. Sweep payout to top 2.

Irrespective at what time players teed off, everybody enjoyed near perfect golfing conditions. Very mild temperatures and gently swirling winds (except may be on the 16th). A large proportion of the field must have enjoyed the extra roll on the fairways. The better players probably appreciated the fact that the greens seemed to become more receptive.

1st place today goes to Oliver Khan. He combined a steady front 9 (18pts) with an excellent back 9 (23pts – matched by Paul Green and only bettered by Tony Barnett. Early bird Gina is first woman today, runner-up with 41pts. Sheena, the Woman’s Captain, matched Gina’s score but “only” had 20pts on the back 9. Richard Owen had multiple birdie putts on the front 9. He still recorded 22pts on the way out. He then finally birdied a hole on the back 9 (the 14th). Unfortunately for him  he lost out to Gina and Sheena on countback. Richard Young is the last player to record 40pts. Chris Jones looked like a lock-in to match/beat that target but an ugly NR on the 18th prevented him from finishing higher than 8th. Michael Gallagher and Phil Martin complete the Top7 and take the last Sweep positions. 

Paul Giles would’ve finished 2nd today but he committed the cardinal sin of not signing his card.

A smaller than usual field played in today’s sweep, for a combination of reasons – regulars on holiday or playing elsewhere, late cancellations due to work and doctor’s appointment, Spring Matchplay matches taking place and unfortunately Chris Rudkin had to ‘retire hurt’ after 6 holes. Nevertheless those who did play enjoyed a fine sunny day with a strong westerly wind.

The ‘Richards’ won the day with Richard Owen scoring 38 points and Richard Norden with 33 points. From reports of the matchplay between Peter Goodall and Peppe, they would have taken 1st and 2nd slots if they had played equally well in the sweep. Sweep payout to top 2 (£6, £3).

Golfing conditions were not optimal. Dry fairways made bounces unpredictable. Even though the greens were a bit more receptive it was still very tricky to hold the greens. The gusting winds complicated things more. To round it all off the greenkeepers’ prayers were answered. Towards the end of play the floodgates opened. The later starters needed their waterproofs and umbrellas.

Richard Y had a steady round (18pts on the front and back 9). Other players ran either hot or cold over 9 hole stretches. So no-one was a match for Richard’s consistency. Juho had an excellent front 9 (20pts). After recording 36pts over 16 holes he looked a lock for a decent score. But unfortunately he didn’t record a singular extra point. 2nd place and the leader position in the ranking of the MW Founders Cup are his. Tamas was in the same game as Juho and also recorded 36pts. He and Richard H had an excellent score of 21pts on the front 9. Despite 3 blobs on the back 9 Tamas still beat Richard H on countback to take 4th. A strong back 9 (19pts) takes Jeremy to 5th place. Peter had an ugly front 9 but was on fire on the back 9 (22pts).

As mentioned: Juho takes the lead in the ranking of the MW Founders Cup.

A large field enjoyed dry and very warm, sunny conditions and the course looked more like a links than a parkland course, with bone dry fairways. The greens had been watered and were slightly receptive, although landing the ball short and rolling it onto the green was the better strategy.

A lot of players recorded scores of 23pts or more on the easier front 9, however our winner, Mark Bean, took full advantage of the conditions to record 4 birdies on the back 9 (over the stretch of just 7 holes – 12th to 18th) recording 24pts on the way in. That strong back 9 helped him to beat a Saturday starter, Dilip Mailvaganam, who’s round was a mirror image of Mark’s: 23pts out and 20pts in. He would probably like to play the 18th again – an untidy 7 was one of the very rare blemishes on his card. Martin Hay also recorded a very strong front 9 (23pts) but he too stumbled on the 18th. Dave Chilvers and Richard Owen take 4th and 5th respectively with very decent scores of 40pts. Nigel Ward and James Anslow are the last players finishing “In The Money”. Suhail was in a very good position to leapfrog Nigel/James (he had 36pts teeing off on the 17th), unfortunately for him he walked of the 18th with a scorecard still on 36pts.

It was a lovely warm, sunny May day, reminiscent of the weather that we had in the first lockdown in May 2020 and definitely ‘shorts weather’.

Peppe continued his recent good form and was today’s winner on 38 points. The foundation to Peppe’s score was his front 9 (22 points with a birdie on the 6th); late round nerves must have crept in with blobs on 16 and 18, so just 16 points on the back 9 – or did Sheena remind him he was playing in the Hawtree on Sunday and not to overdo it today (?). 2nd and 3rd places were decided on countback; both Richard Hanna and Sheena had 36 points with 20 points out and 16 back but Richard really torched the final 3 holes (9 points), with an eagle 5 on the 17th. Sweep payount to the top 3 (£8, £6, £4).

The highlight was Gina scoring her first ever hole-in-one on the 16th – hope everyone enjoyed their complimentary drink. That was only the start of quite an eventful day with 40% of the field playing better than their HI and Richard H, a late joiner to the competition, posting a stunning nett score of 59, which proved too much to beat for the rest of the field.

John Ahad, the club Captain, rounded up 10 very successful days: positive results in 2 NAPGC competitions now followed by individual success – 2nd place with a nett 62. Alvaro in 3rd had the best front and back 9, nothing spectacular (0 birdies) but solid golf over 18 holes. First Woman today is Ronnie; she was the best of large group with scores of 64 (Nett). She could’ve done better had it not been for an ugly 7 on the 1st hole. Toby ends up in the money again. Chris Rough is the last to receive some sweep money. A few players missed eagle putts on the 9th. Tamas recorded 3 birdies.

Peter Goodall takes the lead in the MW Grand Medal Trophy (207).