Women

Numbers which were never high were further depleted when we woke to rain and the prospect of showers continuing through much of the day. As is often the case all we experienced was the occasional light & passing shower much to the annoyance of those who cancelled..

The dowsing of the course in water yesterday definitely had an effect on how it played today but a quick look at last year’s scores for the first round show they weren’t that much lower (except for Silvia of course!)
Joan played a very consistent round with 2 pars, a birdie and a 4 (on the 13th) on the par 3s that helped.
She can probably expect a .4/5 cut overnight as one of her higher scores drops off and goes into round 2 with a 4 shot lead over Sheena with Susan just 1 further back and a commanding lead in the handicap cup.

Men

A little early rain but otherwise dry for first round of Club Championship.

In the scratch championship The First Division is headed by Will Balakrishnan 69 from Richard Back 71 and then Mel Dunn 76 and Greg Wright 77. Some excellent golf -Will was 1 under gross 34 for front 9 whilst Richard scored 5 birdies on the back 9 30. Will’s front 9 included an eagle at par 5 9th .
‘In the Second Division Nigel Ward leads from Robin Thomas 86 (Julian James 85 and Dan Ballantyne 85 ineligible for Club Championship (not booked for round 2/ not enough Sunday Comps played).

In the net results (for Handicap Trophy) Richard Back, Mel Dunn are tied for First Division with 65s. In Second Division Nigel Ward 69 leads from Robin Thomas 70.
Sweeps by division as per attached -special Championship rules not applicable.

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.

Our Kelso Hamilton team of Russell Stewart and Brendan Sullivan are this year’s winners of the Surrey Kelson Hamilton competition!
Their path to the final began back in February at a very cold and wet Surrey National with subsequent victories at London & Scottish, Dulwich & Sydenham, Banstead and Cuddington.
Their east section final was against Walton Heath Artisans which was played at The Drift.
On Sunday 22 September they made their way to Clandon Regis to play The Drift who won the West section for the honour of Overall champions.
A magnificent result made all the more remarkable having played all their matches away from home.

Congratulations Brendan and Russell!

It was a sunny, albeit windy and cool, autumn day and most players stayed dry during their round.

This medal round was played in two divisions, with Handicap adaptations for men playing off the white tees and for the women.

Gina, our habitual early starter, won the day in Div 1 handsomely with a score of 71 net.
Russell and Naveed (who had the best gross score!) follow with 3 and 4 shots behind.

Div 2 was taken by RichardN (with a net score of 69), again with a 3 stroke advantage over runner-up Charles, with Gerard and Teddy following 1 and 2 strokes behind him.

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.