Women

A strange day weather-wise but it did keep dry and when the sun was out it was pretty warm, but that swirly, gusty wind did its best to make things challenging. 3 of those playing today aren’t shown in the attached results but it was one of the best turn-outs this year despite it being a bank holiday.

Last week’s top 2 were in the same game and if it had only been 9 holes today Reiko would have caught and overtaken Sheena and was the only one to play better on the front 9 with 20 points. Sadly as Sheena’s game resurrected itself hers sadly went the other way and Sheena amassed 23 points on the back 9 dropping just 3 shots to par.

Men

A windy but dry day for the (2nd) May Bank Holiday Plate; the courses had benefited from some rain during the week. The field was diminished due the Bank Holiday/ a number playing their KO matches.

Some excellent scoring on the back 9 (22 points) saw Rannesh Jansari 40 points the deserved winner on countback from Giovanni Caboni (20 out and back) .Toby Hunt held 3rd spot on his own with a skilfully crafted 39 points. 3 splendid 38s from Peter Abbott, Brian McMahon and Tom O’Hare followed with Peter heading with countback of 21 points on back 9.

Women

Congrats to Caroline, Niamh, Deborah and Ali who won todays Scramble with a score of 48 which included two 4 point birdies. They were also the only team with a double bogey on the card. They had the same gross (75) as the 3-ball team finishing in 3rd (Cheryl, Joan, Angela), but the considerable advantage of 17 shots compared to the 3-ball’s 11 shots… and the extra player of course!

Cheryl/Joan/Angela had 3 birdies. No birdies for the 2nd place team of Jane, Doreen, Lia and Jenny which was the only real difference between all the teams.

Everyone enjoyed the sunshine even though the wind was a little cold at times. Farewell Texas Scramble… we will miss you. Back to medals now.

Men

A bright day for first round [from 8] of the Grand Medal – a cold nagging wind but some run on the ball off white tees.

An excellent 66 with 2 birdies secured Mel Dunn the senior division from Iker Lanzagorta who had another good round 67 with front 9 honours 37; next came Chris Mellish and Raymond Esin with creditable 69s. Will Balakrishnan had back 9 honours with 2 over par 35.

The junior division saw Gerard Outtara win on 71 – this could have been a lot lower save for a 10 on 3rd. James Deissler came second with a consistent 72followed by 74s from Richard Hanna and Lee Frost.

Both courses were closed due to a combination of frozen greens and the rain forecast which could cause long term damage if played on inevitably cancelling both events.

After heavy overnight rain Glendale closed both courses and they will remain closed on Thursday.

First of the autumn cancellations due to heavy rain from the previous day and more forecast on an already saturated course.

Each of us was given a set of 7 clubs including a driver and a putter and it was definitely a struggle for most. Perhaps sending us home with a greater regard for the players of yesteryear. Especially when combined with less forgiving clothing and courses that probably in comparison make RP look to be fantastic.

More images can be found on https://www.richmondparkgolfclub.org.uk/2024-people-and-events/ eventually videos will also be uploaded.

Of course there was one amongst us for whom the day didn’t seem to present that much of a challenge & that despite one of his 4-ball trying to take him out with a whack on the back of his head. Huge congratulations to Richard Smith for his amazing 38 points and comfortable 7 point margin for the win.
To encourage midweek & green fee payers to participate, the club offered a concessionary rate and the 2 5-day players made the most of this offer. In 2nd spot on 31 points was Bill Norman with Giles Rawlinson being the better of the 4 on 28 points to take 3rd place.

It is a fact that the back 9 generally plays a lot easier than the front 9 (the 7th & 8th were again the 2 hardest holes for everyone) and today there were some spectacular differences. Partly no doubt as we were getting more used to the clubs.
Despite the generally low scoring there were 12 birdies amongst the group. Richard Owen’s on the 2nd was no doubt the most impressive after his tee shot left him in a very grassy spot on the back of the bunker on the left. A spectacular chip sent it through the air and into the hole, but alas not winning one of the NTP prizes

And finally it was lovely to see Jon Cooper today who was the organiser of our hickory event 10 years ago and hopefully the NHS can get him back playing.

Women

A sunnier day than forecast and so much quicker than last Sunday’s round. All we needed was some good rounds of golf. to complete it. As is normal, the cards tend to show one or two holes being the undoing of several potentially good scores
Bridget won by 4 shots on a net 67 from Doreen on 71 (on countback). All of us, bar Reiko, were there when she decried her abilities, ignoring her 3 pars and 3 bogeys which based on her handicap gave her 8 shots to use up elsewhere. WHS agrees she played very well and is awarding a 1.1 cut tomorrow to her handicap.

Holes 7 & 8 as may be expected came out as the hardest holes today.

Men

A glorious 65 earned Kerry Sargeant the winning score for the senior division; Kerry started as he finished with birdies and kept a six off his card. A remarkable and consistent 66 earned Richard Smith second place – including an eagle at 14th (the 4th by men on Sundays this year per attached). George Taylor and Michael Hayden followed wit excellent 66s. The in-form Richard Inglis NRd but alaso eagled the 14th – well done!

A fine 64 in late game by Charlie Whiteman won the junior division. A skilful back 9 37 placed Peter Harrison 2nd on 66; a super back 9 from Ian Burgess earned a countback 67 win from Alan King who also had super back 9.

This was 6th round od the Grand Medal (5th in July abandoned) and we see in the senior division Kerry leading 277 just 1 ahead of Richard both 4 rounds played; in the junior division Nigel Ward has a 21 shot lead on 354 from Ian Burgess 375; Nigel built solid foundation with early 3 rounds in the 60s.

The forecast wasn’t great and no doubt everyone had rain at some point. Unfortunately as the women played the 18th there was an ominous clap of thunder. Shortly after they finished there was a cloudburst followed by some fierce thunder & lightning. Glendale then closed the course (the klaxon sounded) and as the men would have been unable to mark their balls to restart from the same place, their medal had to be abandoned.

Women

That was an interesting day on the course and perfect timing for our 2 games – we saw quite a few drowned rats eventually making their way into the clubhouse after the klaxon went. Undoubtedly the wind played a part in some of the scores recorded today and it certainly wasn’t what we’ve come to expect from conditions underfoot in July at the Park.

Congratulations to Sali who recorded a net 69 to win from Silvia with the comfortable margin of 4 shots and will get a small cut in her handicap tomorrow – as we know, not a given with WHS.

There were 2 birdies on the 16th par 3, 1 for Sali and 1 for Elisabeth whose shot your author saw and what a good one it was. Barely a 6″ putt required to slot away her 2, which had it been a stableford comp would have given her 5 points!! Sali’s may have been just as close but unfortunately I didn’t see yours.

Women

After many years of this event, the women of RP decided to participate in England Golf’s Ping 4BBB who award prizes to each club’s winners and runners-up.

Congratulations to the 2 random pairs put together for today’s competition who both finished on 42 points but with a pretty impressive 25 points on the back 9 Doreen & Katharina easily took it from Elisabeth & Reiko.
It’s not the easiest format to look at individual play but Katharina only dropped 4 shots on the back 9 and Doreen’s birdie on the 16th just added to their total.

Men

A sunny start but it clouded over and there was a noticeable cool northerly.

Tough conditions for the June Medal with thick rough just off fairway leading to lost balls and 17 NRs. Again a significant WHS PCC overnight expected as a result.
But there was still some very good golf.
In the senior division Kerry Sargeant carded an impressive 67 – starting with a birdie and with 2 more on back 9 for 38 out 36 back. Kerry had a convincing 5 shot lead from Joe Gonclaves and Wonil Son on 72. ,Paul Kamerling and Louis Dickey were a shot further behind with 73s – Paul with an impressive 38 back 9.

In the junior division the leading light was Dilip Mailvaganam with an incredible 64 chased by Bernie McDermott on 66 – including an eagle at 14 (only 4 Sunday eagles to date this year per attached)=well done! 5 behind was Gerard Outtara with 71. Special mention to Ben Fisher who had a purple patch of birdies on back 9 -3,3,2 at 14-16!

This was 4th in the Grand 1medal series and currently leading senior division is Tamas Ladacs with 4 rounds completed 286 from Paul Kamerling 207 (just 3). The junior division sees Nigel Ward the leader 285 from Tony Kopczack 28 (both 4 rounds).

Definitely a case of girls on top today! With Gina taking the Div 1 honours and Sheena the Div 2 with Jayne in 2nd spot in Div 2. The men had been moved forward to the yellow tees to help alleviate some of the pain of the rough on Duke’s, but it doesn’t appear to have helped much!

Looking at both Gina & Jayne’s cards it is evident that they kept out of the rough and hence their scores, but Sheena’s win included a hole matching 12 on the 12th courtesy of the rough.

Of the 43 entrants there were no fewer than 20 NRs since finding a ball was definitely more luck and stepping in the right spot than being able to see it. Not only did we have to deal with the rough but that cold wind didn’t help – there will no doubt be a PCC adjustment at midnight tonight on the handicaps (it was 2 shots)

After 4 rounds of the MW Grand Medal, Chris Jones leads the way by 3 (287) from Uli.