Women

Not quite the pleasant spring weather that most were probably hoping for with that chill swirling wind accompanying us but it will have helped to blow the cobwebs away for those for whom it was their first or second game of the year.

A field of 15 were playing in the Spring Meeting Stableford which is probably the highest turn out of women since captains’ day last year. With the course having dried out and the greens starting to return to normal after their Spring maintenance there was finally some run on the ball.

Sheena just pipped Ali on the back 9 to take first spot today. Both on 34 points with Ali accruing 5 of them on the 8th with a birdie 3 which is also our index 1 hole. Very impressive and also the first birdie on the Sunday Women’s Birdie tree. Subsequent enquiries found it was a 116 yd shot into the green which found the hole.

Men

The forecast was rain in the afternoon but fortunately everyone got round before any fell. The wind slowly increased so the early starters had a slight advantage.
For a change the level of scoring was (slightly) better in Div 1 than Div2 with 3 players in Div 1 each scoring 39 points and the next 3 players each scored 38. In Div. 1, Mel Dunn won on countback from Chris Mellish and Alan Boyd was 3rd. For those with 38 points, Richard Smith just pipped Richard Owen (5th) ahead of Richard Back (6th), so it’s all to play for in Round 2. Richard Back had the lowest Gross of the day (72, playing off 6).
In Div 2 Tony Kopczak topped the list with his 38 points, 1 point ahead of Sean O’Sullivan (2nd), Alex Catlow (3rd) and James Deissler (4th), all with 37 points, 1 point ahead of Brian Ransom (36 points).
Round 2 of this competition is scheduled for Sunday 19th April on Duke’s.

Today’s Spring Stableford Round 2 also doubled up as the last round of the Midweek Winter Competition, which is played over 8 rounds with the best 3 counting. The results are given below, Kevin Prendergast winning by 3 points from Tamas Ladacs.

Today we were blessed with Strong gusty cold winds and showers. Fortunately most of today’s players were in the club house when the heavy hail shower came down. Considering the conditions, scores were quite good. Tamas Ladacs, today’s winner, scored 38 points – 20 out and 18 in, Graham Cull was runner up with a commendable 17 out and 18 back for his 35 points. Julian James (34 points) just pipped 5 players on 33. Richard Marriott came 4th on countback from Richard Owen and Bill Norman.
This was the 2nd (and last) round of the Midweek Spring Stableford and Richard Marriott won on countback from Bill Norman and Peter D Harrington, who all had 66 points.

(There was a number of women playing but with the Duke’s competition cancelled for the winter they either entered a general play score, or simply dusted off some cobwebs from winter hibernation).

The Duke’s course was in good condition for the time of year, with all 18 greens in play (hopefully we’ve seen the last of the fluffy, fairway temporary greens !) and good delineation of the fairways. Some welcome ‘run’ was evident on the fairways, although the greens were ‘bumpy’. Mild weather with little wind, although partly overcast.

Best scores in Division 1 did not beat handicap (36 points), however Peter Needham took the first place honours with 36, followed by a brace of 35’s from Peter Harrison and Gavin Laniger, with Mel Dunn and Sunny Lall scoring 34s. In Division 2 better scores were achieved, with Billy Jackson and Nigel Ward both scoring 40 points, followed by three 38’s from Julian, Duncan and Robin respectively.

Today was also the final round of the Winter Competition (and the Duke’s Eclectic). In Division 1 the top three in the Winter Competition were Mel Dunn, Iker Lanzagorta and Richard Owen, and in Division 2 were Billy Jackson, Charles Haines and Brian Ransom. In the Duke’s Eclectic, Allan Boyd (net 63), Iker (net 64) and Billy (net 65) take the top three spots.

The forecast came true and we had a lovely warm sunny day for the first leg of the 36 hole Midweek Spring Stableford. It didn’t however translate to lots of lovely high scores and no one played to their handicap. It was also a first for 2026 with all 18 greens in play that obviously proved too much for us, especially the 8th being over 50 yds longer than we’ve got used to and which played as the most difficult hole. Lots of birdies on the par 3s with Joe Goncalves making it look easy despite having to putt across at least half of the green on each occasion.
In the clubhouse it looked like a matching pair of 35s for the top 2 spots, but unfortunately Richard Marriot mis-keyed his scores on the last 2 holes which left Peter Harrington the winner with his 35 points followed by Joe on 34 with Richard slipping back to 33 points but taking 3rd spot from 5 others on the same score.

This was also the 7th round in the Winter comp which sees Kevin Prendergast on 115 from Julian James on 110.

Women

Five women came out to play for the last winter team event of the year.   With five being a tricky number Sheena kindly opted to play a general play round with the chaps leaving four to play a team event.   For the second week in a row Cheryl and her partner won a 4BBB match, this time with Alison.  They had a narrow 2UP victory over Jayne and Doreen.   All enjoyed a beautiful sunny,  though windy, day.

Men

Scoring was generally well below par on a cool, cloudy and very windy morning; just 2 temporary greens on Prince’s but the spring maintenance program was evident with bumpy greens such that there was a PCC adjustment of 1 shot.

In Division 1 congratulations to Oz Doyle, winner with net 68, followed by Nigel Ward and Gavin Laniger respectively, both net 70. In Division 2 the winner was Tony Kopczak (net 64) three shots clear of Jonno McLean, Charles Haines and Attilio Cheso respectively, all on net 67.

We were treated to a fine day, and one which saw a welcome return to the Duke’s course for many, after what has felt an age on The Prince’s course.

Conditions were not easy, as the scoring showed. The fairways offered no run, the deep rough grass was thick, and the greens were midway through their spring preparation schedule, making putting a real challenge and much quicker than for the past few months.

Early starters Alan Treacy (36 points) and Mitch Cohen (34 points) took the honours, with Bill Norman 3rd on 33 points. Two 2s were recorded (by Andy Johnson and Ged Quinn).

Women

Four women played on the newly re-opened Dukes course which turned out to be “not too muddy”, with only two temporary greens and all four survived the full 18 holes.   Susan and Doreen played a 4BBB match against Cheryl and Jayne.   Cheryl and Jayne won the match 3&2. 

Men

After a break of around 3 months of not being able to play the full 18 holes on Duke’s, it was good to have a change from the Prince’s course (and Duke’s 1-11). Unfortunately today was overcast and rather chilly and worm casts made some holes particularly muddy – ball cleaning on every hole was the order of the day.

Best scores were around player’s handicap, with the course playing ‘long’ due to lack of run, wet grass and the cold temperatures. Dan Ballantyne came out on top in Division 1, beating Lee Frost on countback (both 36 points), with Bill Norman and Iker close behind (both 35 points). In Division 2 Cuneyt came out top, beating Charlie Haines on countback (both 37 points), with Billy Jackson 3rd on 35 points and Attilio 4th on 31 points. Billy had the best front 9 of the day (19 points) and Cuneyt the best back 9 (21 points). The hardest scoring holes were the 13th, 17th and 14th, and the easiest were the 10th, 15th and 7th. Birdies were at a bit of a premium, with only Richard Back bagging 2.

After 6 rounds of the winter competition, Richard Owen and Iker top the table in Division 1 with 108 points each (best 3 scores) and in Division 2 Charles Haines leads on 113 points, from Sean O’Sullivan (108) and Billy Jackson (107), these 3 being well ahead of the remainder of the Div. 2 field.  In the Duke’s Eclectic, Chris Mellish leads from Justin, Allan Boyd and Dan Ballantyne ( see attached reports).

A good turn out…..for a ‘work’ day. Can’t complain about the weather and the conditions. Even some of the six temporary greens were quite fast, and many fairways were newly mown and even green coloured.

Scoring pretty good….with 9 twos recorded and 5 players beating net par.
Lowest gross goes to Angus Robertson…71. Very well done. Top net results as follows:

Division 1
Angus Robertson (6):: 65
Kevin Prendergas (14): 65
Julian James (14): 67

Division 2:
Paul Gullet (20): 65
Fhorkan Uddin (17): 66
Peter Harrington (21): 68

….meanwhile, in the Midweek Winter Competition, Kevin Prendergast has taken a probably unassailable lead of 5 points (see report). The Eclectic is much closer however with Bill Norman, Charles Haines and Ged Quinn all struggling for glory, but all stuck together with net 61’s.

Also shout out for Brett Colley….Eagle on 14.