Richard Owen
Richard Owen
Airlinks Awayday
On a blisteringly hot day, a group of 12 Richmond Park golfers went to Glendale’s London Airlinks course for an exploratory away day, supported by the fact that annual Glendale subscribers can play one free round per month on any of their 7 golf courses.
After some last minute changes to the team set up, due to traffic problems hitting two of the players, three teams of 4 players teed off, playing
- an individual stableford competition, and
- a team comp, counting the best two stableford scores per hole.
The course was links-like (as its name promises), short but tricky, with a few hard, blind doglegs and with greens at least twice the size of those at Richmond Park, but rather forgiving rough. Very enjoyable!
The teams were named the Lions, Tigers and Panthers and came in like this:
Brian Ransom won with a whopping 46 points, not bad after a month-long scoring slump and considering that he didn’t even like the course 🙂
The Lions took the team price, with a convincing 100 points, narrowly beating The Panthers with their 99 points.
Thanks everyone for joining and see you all soon!
Friday Sweep
It was another swealteringly hot day with little breeze early on, although freshening as the day progressed. Fairways were rock hard giving lots of extra roll, which was helpful if the ball stayed on the fairway but not if it ran or bounced into the penal rough. Greens showed signs of response to the now daily irrigation but were still hard, making it very difficult to ‘hold the green’, and some could also have done with a cut.
Scoring was pretty good for most of the field, the men being helped by playing from the yellow tees which made some of the longer holes (4th, 5th, 10th, 15th and 17th) considerably easier. Alex Braun was the clear winner (42 points), with a great front 9 (24 points), keeping up his recent run of good scores. He even had 2 blobs on the back 9 ! As a result of yesterday’s round, Alex’s Handicap Index reduced from 27.0 to 26.0, his lowest ever HI.
Michael Porter grabbed 2nd place (39 points) in only his 6th handicap qualifying round; his new (lower) HI is 23.9 (3.8 below his starting handicap just a few weeks ago). Michael had a shaky start, especially off the tee and was 9 shots over par for the first 4 holes, but then a run of 3 pars and 4 bogeys over the next 7 holes and a further 2 pars coming in showed that there is even better to come in the future.
In 3rd and 4th places, with 38 points, were Pralab and Pat respectively, with very little in the countback. Pralab had his usual steady round with only one blob, whereas Pat birdied the 2nd hole but had 2 blobs on the back 9. Pat’s round sees her HI drop by a further 0.5 to 18.9, her lowest ever index and I’m sure she’s not finished yet.
Best front 9 was by Richard Back (2 under gross: 2 birdies and 7 pars), however he couldn’t keep it up on the back 9. His 3 birdies yesterday did leapfrog him to to top of the ‘Friday Birdie Tree’ though.
Sweep payout to the top 4 (£12, £8, £6, £4)
Rickmansworth match, 1st leg
After last year’s narrow victory , predicated on a first leg “sweep” of all six pairs matches, the Rickmansworth team turned up early for the first leg of this year’s match, kitted out for the occasion with royal blue club jerseys and black shorts/trousers seemingly intent on a much improved performance to the previous year. Our team was a mix of grizzled veterans of previous matches and welcome ‘newbies’ to team competitions.Â
On the hottest day of the year so far, Richard Owen and Seymour Laird led off the team and secured pars on the first two holes to take a quick lead, however the Ricky pair kept ‘bouncing back’ and it was all square after 9 holes. Seymour’s par on the 10th again put Richmond ahead, a lead which they never relinquished, ultimately prevailing by a comfortable 4 and 3 score and taking the internal sweep first spot with 43 points. Our second rookie pair, Naveed Manazir and Richard Norden, were next out and ran out to a comfortable 5 and 4 win and finished third in the sweep with a creditable 40 points. Out third were the experienced pair of Nigel Ward and Tony Kopczak who eked out a 1 up victory in a closely contested matchup. So the first three Richmond pairs had run up a 3-0 lead but things were about to turn in Rickmansworth’s favour. Two more rookies in John Perkins and Paul Green performed well enough to finish with a very laudable 41 points for second place in the internal sweep but ran into determined opponents who closed out a 3 and 2 victory to put Rickmansworth on the scoreboard. John produced a salutary reminder of the importance of reading Club communications by turning up dressed in a blue shirt, much to his embarrassment! Our fifth pair, Roger Rojas and Justin Wildman, enjoyed a strong front 9 scoring 21 stableford points but wilted in the extreme heat on the back 9 and ended up succumbing to their opponents on the 17th hole in a 2 and 1 defeat. Out last were an experienced pair in captain-for-the-day Nigel Gaymond and Angus Robertson. After a promising beginning for Richmond in the first few holes, Rickmansworth were 3 up after 6 holes and despite best efforts, Angus and Nigel were never able to get back on competitive terms, largely as the result of a stunning performance by their high handicapper, playing off 17, who ground our intrepid pair into the dust with a relentless barrage of outstanding play shooting an 80 on his own ball on a tough Duke’s course. Clearly, Nigel brings out the best in that particular player who performed in a similarly spectacular fashion before in a previous leg at Rickmansworth for a 79 playing off a 24 handicap! I will be requesting that I do not face him in future matches!
As always, an enjoyable match with great company, but at 3-3 the return leg at Rickmansworth in September will be a huge challenge. But maybe it is time for us to go over there and give a better account of ourselves. Remember, we only need six points in total to retain the cup as the holders, so let’s go over and fight for those three points!
Clapham Common Shield & Ellis Cup
After a bye in the 1st round, the club played this 2nd round men’s greensomes match home & away against Hoebridge on a lovely warm and sunny day. The overall result was a narrow victory for Richmond Park 220 points : 218 points but it took over 4 hours after play finished for the result to be confirmed/agreed! Next round is against Wexham Park.
The 3 pairs at Richmond Park (Brendan Sullivan & Bernie McDermott, Kerry Sargeant & Alan King and Uli Katte & Richard Owen) teed off an hour earlier than those at Hoebridge. All of the Richmond Park pairs outscored their Hoebridge playing partners on the Prince’s course and together amassed what we believed to be a 16 points advantage. Was this enough ? There was a long wait to see how our away team (Roger Rojas & Mike Shabani, Ross Hood & Pete Malla and Kim Chaffart & Tamas Ladacs) had got on. News trickled through from team captain Roger that “it might be a draw” and copies of the RP cards and back 9 countback scores were requested. Together all the information was ‘audited’ by Roger and the Hoebridge captain and it was found that Hoebridge had mis-calculated some of their team handicaps both home and away, resulting in a 2 points swing to Richmond Park, who won by 18 points at home and lost by only 16 points away. Phew!
Friday Sweep
It was a chilly start but those of us who chose to wear shorts were not disappointed when the sun broke though about 11.30am. Glendale has extended their mowing of fairways and semi-rough but woe-betide anyone who went into the rough beyond, which was penal. There was evidence that Glendale has ‘found’ the sprinklers around the greens and tees but no evidence of them having used them yet – unfortunately !
Perpetual front runner and early starter Pralab posted a score (39 points) which none of us could overtake. His front 9 (23 points) was the foundation of his score, with a birdie on the 2nd and 3 other pars before the turn. Richard Owen played a steady round (18 out and 20 back) to take second place and playing partner Uli Katte was 3rd on 37 points; impressive golf on the front 9 considering he scored 19 points with blobs on the 5th and 8th. Graham Cull’s 36 points sneaked 4th place from Seymour on countback due to his ‘Best Back 9’ score of 23 points, although Seymour recorded ‘Most Birdies’ , one on the 9th and the other on the 11th. Sweep payout to the top 3 ( £10, £7, £4).
Friday Sweep
It was a warm sunny day (200C) with a refreshing breeze. There was bounce and run on the fairways but it’s becoming more difficult to ‘hold’ the ball on the greens and there is real trouble in the rough, which is deep and at it’s most punishing this time of year. Glendale had extended their 1st cut mowing since the last club competition 2 weeks ago, which was some relief.
Scoring proved difficult for most of the field with more than two thirds of the entrants failing to score 30+ points. Two of last Friday’s top 3 were again in the winner’s circle – Seymour Laird 2nd with 36 points and Colin Price 3rd with 35 points. However, this week’s winner was early bird Mitch Cohen with 37 points. Mitch’s round wasn’t looking too good after 6 holes – he only had 6 points, but he par’d 7 of the final 11 holes and had 22 points on the back 9. Sweep payout to the top four (£12, £8, £4, £2).
Friday Sweep
A fine, warm sunny day with bounce and run on the fairways and much faster greens due to the recent dry spell. The rough and 1st/2nd cut were very penal though and ‘to be avoided’ as much as possible.
It was tight at the top with Colin Price taking his first ever 1st place in a singles competition with the club – well played Colin. He pipped early bird Russell Stewart on countback, both with 34 points. Close behind on 33 points were 3 players, Seymour, Peppe and Will, with Seymour taking 3rd place with his 19 points back 9 countback (the best of anyone in the field). Sweep payout to top 3 (£8, £5, £4).
Ballantyne Trophy, round 2
Three men’s pairs played away against Bird Hills Golf Club in this 4BBB NAPGC matchplay competition and were winners 2:1. Our 3rd round match will be against the winners of Hoebridge A and Tilgate Forest B.
It was an overcast and chilly 9am start but fortunately not raining, as the Bird Hills course was already extremely wet with County dispensation granted for Winter Rules to still be in force. Our first pairing of Peter Goodall and Julian James played well but could not overcome the ‘local knowledge’ of their opponents, who won 2&1 on the 16th hole. Our 2nd pair of Uli Katte and Richard Owen won their first hole but were one down after 3 holes; they then clawed their way back to 2 up at the end of the front 9. Their lead was extended with good interplay by Uli and Richard and they closed their match out for a 4&2 win on the 16th green. Our low handicappers, Richard Back and Ross Hood, represented us in Game 3, Richard giving 10 shots and 16 shots to their 2 opponents. Things were not looking good for them when they were 4 down with only 6 holes left and (knowing this) our first 2 pairs waited in the clubhouse for the seemingly inevitable team exit from the competition. However, Richard and Ross achieved ‘mission impossible’ by securing a 1up win with a combination of closing birdies and pars.
Friday Sweep
It was a chilly and overcast morning, which then got wet and windy and by early afternoon it was pretty miserable conditions for golf – no wonder some players ‘went home early’ and well done to those who stuck it out.
Richard Norden was our winner (36 points, 20 on the back 9) separated only by countback from Bill Norman (also 36 points but 19 on the back 9). Pralab came in 3rd (34 points) and will have had the ‘best’ of the weather – his round only really got going towards the end, with 4 pars on the final 5 holes. Rumour has it that Seymour beat Rannesh comfortably in their ‘friendly’ matchplay, helped by a couple of chip-ins. Sweep payout to the top 3 (£10, £7, £3)
Friday Sweep (team competition)
We were fortunate to very largely dodge the heavy showers and it turned out to be a warm and sunny Spring day. The recent drier weather has allowed Glendale to extend their fairway and 1st cut mowing and the Duke’s course was in good condition for golf, with decent run.
The clear winners with 90 points were the team of Bill Norman, Brian Ransom, Richard Norden and Graham Cull (in order of points contribution !). In 2nd place, and not too far behind (85 points) were the team of Julian James, Seymour Laird, Alex Braun and Adrian Wells, and in 3rd place (82 points) were John Ahad, Mayumi, Ian Burgess and Charles Haines.
Sweep payout to the winning team but if it had been an individual competition today the leading scores were:
39 points : Bill & Cuneyt (with Bill winning on countback)
37 points : Julian & Brian
34 points : Richard Norden, Seymour and John Ahad.
Best front 9 was John Ahad (22 points); John par’d five of the first 6 holes and at that stage the team must have felt they were in with a real chance.