More rain caused both courses to be closed again – as they were the preceding 2 days

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.

What a glorious winter’s day in the sun it was, though spotting the balls could be a little challenging on some holes.
Good to see that many had no issue with scores on the 7 holes with temporary greens

In Division 1, Adrian had a comfortable 3 shot win with a net 68 that included an 8 on the 17th and in second spot was Jonathan.

Division 2 was a different matter with 3 coming in on net 67s. Both Ged and Charles will be ruing their 7s on the back 9. Charles leaving his to the 18th and Ged’s was on the 17th – Paul who took the honours today kept his to the front 9.

With only holes 2-10 open for play it was decided to make it a 9-hole event starting on the 3rd and finishing on the 2nd.

An interesting venture under the grey skies. Although the surface was starting to thaw there was still a lot of run on most of the holes and then the occasional one with a soft fringe that stopped the ball in the more usual winter fashion.

Most opted to stick to 9 holes rather than a second circuit and a few played on Prince’s instead.

Jonno seems to be the man to watch this year, winning his second event of the year. This time his 20 points gave him a 2 point lead over 4 others on 18.

For the women Cheryl & Susan both scored 14 with Cheryl taking it on the back 6.

More heavy rain lead to closure of both courses

A bitterly cold morning with a heavy frost on the ground made golf a whole new experience, with tremendous run on the ball and uncontrollable bounces. As the sun shone throughout the morning the course turned from white to green by around 11.30am, except for those areas within the shade, and there was hardly a breathe of wind. A view of the 3rd hole at around 10am is attached.

Most of the field struggled with the conditions on what was otherwise a beautiful winter’s day. Only 3 (of 37) players managed to beat the par score of 36 points. Today’s winner, Jonno McLean (43 points) was the only one to truly master the conditions – his front and back 9’s (20 & 23 points) outshone everyone else and he had 2 birdies and 5 pars. Some way behind Jonno, but 3 points ahead of everyone else, Elizabeth and Brian both had 37 points, Elizabeth beating Brian on countback. Elizabeth had 17 points out and 20 points in (including 3 blobs in her round!); Brian had 19 points out and 18 points in (no blobs).

For the last competition of 2025 the weather was frosty and hard and with one temporary green (11th). The Duke’s course was opened back up for us to a full 18 holes but was playing long which did not favour the women or the short hitters. Only 6 players made 30+ points in such conditions. The best lady on the day was Sheena Harrington.

After last week being disqualified for not signing his card, Billy Jackson came back and scored 36 points to win the competition with 20 out and 16 back. Four points behind was Dave Cato with a steady 19 out and 13 back which included a birdie 3 on hole 3; Julian James claimed third spot on countback from Angus Robertson with his superior back nine, 17 points to 15.

A significantly reduced field played for the December Plate in overcast, chilly, but thankfully dry conditions. The recent dry spell of weather made the course less ‘slippery’ underfoot and lessened the need for ball cleaning.

Scoring was pretty good with almost half the field scoring 20 points or more (compared to a ‘par score’ of 22 points on this shortened course). The winner Ged Quinn beat Olav Bridie, both 24 points, on last 6 countback (holes 6 -10, +2). Similarly, Alan Boyd beat Duncan Taylor, both 23 points, on last 9 countback.

Neither Olav nor Allan entered the Sweep, so the sweep payout goes to Ged, Duncan, Greg and Lee.

The temperature was down to about 6 degrees with a chill wind blowing from the East. However the Prince’s was otherwise in good condition. The top 11 players scored 30+ points with Charles Haines (35 points) winning his first Plate trophy, scoring 20 points on the back nine to push Richard Owen into second place and Duncan Taylor into third spot on 35 points countback. Angus had a good round off 6 handicap to take fourth place on 34 points just ahead of Andy Johnson on 33 points.