Competitions
Competitions
Midweek Grand Medal
Another hot and sunny day with running fairways and good greens.
Angus Robertson showed everyone how to play in Div 1 with a gross73 net 67. 4 Shots back was Richard Owen gross 84 net 71 with Bret Colley gross 83 net 72 in third place. Special mention to Adrian Wells in 4th place gross 88 net 73 which included 4 birdies.
In Div 2, Mr and Mrs Grace went out early (09.30 game) to avoid the heat of the sun. David beat Niamh on countback; both had net 62’s. They were accompanied by Alison Chadwick who carded a gross 88 net 65 for 5th place. Peter Harrington dropped his card into the results box last with a gross 91 net 64 for 3rd place leaving Brian Ransom with gross 83 net 65 in 4th place on countback.
July Monthly Medals
Men
A warm but cloudy morning for the early starters, with the sun breaking through around 10am and temperatures rising to the mid/high 20s C by midday, with very little breeze. Lots of run on the hard, dry fairways with some very good scores (although also some high hole scores by some players on individual holes).
The Division 1 winner of the July Monthly Medal glass was Richard Smith with an excellent 2-over-gross 70 (net 62). Richard had the best front and back 9s (1 over par on both), with birdies on the 5th and 12th holes. Brian McMahon continued his recent good form as 2nd in Div. 1 with a net 64, scoring 3, 4 or 5 on every hole. Bill Norman and Peter Harrison complete the top 4 Division 1 sweep winners with their net 67s (Oz Doyle not entering the sweep with his net 66).
In Division 2, Steve de Long wins the Monthly Medal glass with his net 64 – but for the 9 on the 18th, he could have had a net 59, with a par on the last ! In 2nd place was James Deissler with a super steady net 65; in 3rd place Alan King with a more volatile net 66 (which included 3 birdies); and in 4th place Tony Kopczak.
With only 5 (of the 8) rounds of the Grand Medal played, it’s too early to spot the main contenders.
Horton Park Friendly – Away Leg
On Saturday 4 July we played the away leg of the 2026 match against Horton Park where we endured a narrow loss: three and a half to two and a half.
There were wins for the pairings of Iker Lanzagorta/Sunny Lall and for Nick Rogers/John Wardlaw. Aidan Hurley/ Kevin Prendergast halved their match. Alas Paul Green/Manny Rasores, Angus Robertson/Richard Owen and Richard Back/Billy Jackson lost narrowly. Performance of the day was from Iker, who had six birdies in a level par round.
We look forward to a convincing victory to overturn the 1 point deficit and provide an overall win in the home leg on 12 September.
Siemens Bowl
Richmond Park’s third‑round tie against Wycombe Heights A brought with it a sense of déjà vu. Two years ago, the same fixture halted our progress, and on Saturday the hills of High Wycombe once again proved a peak just a little too lofty for RPGC to scale.
Away Team — Close, Competitive, but Outscored
Sean, Cuneyt, Julian and Adrian headed west down the M4 — with the customary wave to Heathrow — before climbing into the challenging terrain of Wycombe Heights. The away matches were tight, competitive affairs: one win, one loss, but with the margin of defeat outweighing the margin of victory. It was the kind of away performance that kept hope alive, but didn’t quite tilt the numbers in our favour.
Home Team — Nerve, Effort, and Another Split Result
With Wycombe Heights teeing off significantly earlier, the away team waited anxiously for news from home, where David Grace, Tony K., Robin Thomas and Richard Hanna were battling to overturn the deficit. Once again, RPGC produced one win and one loss — admirable effort, plenty of fight — but the losing margin proved just a touch too heavy to rescue the overall result.
The Verdict
In the end, the arithmetic fell the wrong way. 144:133 points. Wycombe Heights remain a stubborn obstacle in this competition, and for the second time in recent years they brought our Siemens Bowl run to a halt. Still, as ever , there is always next year !
Platinum Jubilee Trophy
Very pleasant weather for Sunday golf, the heat wave having subsided and a stiff, warm breeze. Greens in excellent condition.
Winner of the Platinum Jubilee Trophy was Nick Rogers, with a superb gross 79, net 65 (to par of 71), a very steady round with 2 birdies and 8 pars. Hilary Casey was in second place, narrowly beaten by countback, carding 96 gross and 65 net (to par of 74), with a birdie on 10. Congratutions to them.
In the following places, Mike Shabani was 3rd with a 65 net, Bella Mahale was 4th with a 67 net, Niamh Grace was 5th with a 68 net, and of the group of players on 69 net, Duncan Taylor claimed 6th on countback.
This was the second round of the Anniversary Cup and two ladies top the rankings, Lia Donath on 135 from Niamh Grace on 136, beating Mark Bean in 3rd place on countback (report attached).
Midsummer Trophy
It was reported to be the hotest day of the year so far and the Prince’s course was subject to a reduction to only 14 holes, with holes 10 t0 13 inclusive not played due to a sewage spillage caused by very heavy, thundery overnight rain.
However, Angus Robertson managed to golf his way around to score 28 points with 19 out and 9 in. Hot on his heels were Bill Norman and Joe Goncalves who each scored 27 points but Bill gained second place on countback. Jonno McLean followed in 4th place with his 26 points.
Shaw Cup (Men’s Top Dog 3 of 7)
A blisteringly hot day with very little breeze made for tiring conditions, however the Prince’s course was in good condition and the scores were good overall.
This year’s winner of the Shaw Cup is Brian McMahon with a solid 39 points (18 out and 21 back) with a birdie on the 14th. Brian’s win was on countback, from both Allan Boyd (last 3 holes) and Richard Back (last 9 holes). Allan amassed his 39 points notwithstanding 2 blobs on the front 9, and Richard Back’s excellent gross 69 included 4 birdies. Best women were Bella 4th on 38 points (no sweep entry) and Deborah 5th on 37 points (did enter the sweep !).
The status of this year’s men’s Senior and Junior Top Dog, after 3 rounds, is shown below. In the Senior Division, Allan Boyd (20 points) leads from Richard Back (18 points); in the Junior Division, Robin Thomas (18 points) leads from Mike Shabani (16 points) – but it’s still early days in this competition.
Rickmansworth – Home Leg
We played the home leg of our annual match against Rickmansworth on Saturday 20 June on the Duke’s course. This encounter has been a feature of the club’s fixture list for some sixty years or so.
The stand out performance of the day was from Gerard Ouattara and Mel Dunn with their convincing 6&5 win (and an impressive 51 stableford points in our internal better ball competition). Nick Rogers and Russell Stewart (8&6), Alan Treacy and Craig Johnstone (3&1), and Peter Harrison and Richard Back (7&6) were our other victorious pairings. Julian James/Richard Owen and Joe Goncalves/Paul Green couldn’t quite help us repeat the whitewashes we sometimes manage at home. It is always hard for the away team in these matches, so a 4-2 victory for RPGC leaves us a bit of work to do in the away leg in September.
Founders’ Cup – Mrs Millidge ( 5 of 6)
This was the 5th (of 6) rounds for the Founders Cup.
Course conditions were fair and the weather improving as the morning progressed.
The wind provided something of a challenge on some holes, gusting as it
With 1 round left, Gina is leading on 148 with a healthy 7 pint margin over Alex and Ellie on 141.
The Captains’ Day
A good turnout for our Captains’ Day and so nice of them to organise for a good day weatherwise. After the recent days of rain, the course was definitely looking greener but of course that reduced the amount of run, though looking at the top end of the results the higher handicapped players were taking full advantage.
Although this is a mixed event, there are separate prizes for the men’s and women’s winners. For some time the top 2 spots were held by the women until Ryan split them. With a splendid 41 points, Ellie is continuing her current good run of form to win the overall competition and take the women’s first place. For the men, Ryan with his 40 points takes the men’s first spot. With NIamh and Allan both on 39 points they take the runners-up spot in each of the events.
In addition to the main event, your captains organised some addtional challenges – the quiz and no, of pars recorded will follow later.
The nearest the pins (or as Paul G had started to call them, novelty prizes) are as follows:
2nd Hole (nearest in 2): Richard Smith
7th Hole: Men – Nigel
Women – Ellie
10th Hole: Men- Pete Needham
Women: Els
12th Hole (nearest in 3): Will B
16th Hole: Men – Allan
Women – Jenny
18th Hole (nearest in 2): Maher
The organisation etc of the day was obviously taking precedence for Paul, as he forgot to sign his card – though perhaps he just thought it would ensure he didn’t win his own captain’s day.
Many thanks from the women to Alison for providing some half-way refreshments and for our haribos and marker pens.
& to the club for the tab behind the bar.
Paul’s challenge to guess how many pars or better were recorded for the day was won rather appropriately by Ali, the women’s captain. She was closest with her guess of 213. The actual number was 172.
Quiz results won by Roger & Aidan who got 15 out of the 18 correct, are as follows:
Laura Davies
Aaron Rai (USPGA winner)
Jim Barnes (previous Englishman to win the USPGA)
Nelly Korda
Petr Korda
Jessica Korda
Gene Sarazen (first man to complete golf’s Grand Slam)
Lydia Ko
Ben Hogan (second GS)
Inbee Park
Gary Player (third GS)
Annika Sorenstam
Jack Nicklaus (fourth GS)
Lexie Thompson
Tiger Woods (fifth GS)
Lottie Woad
Rory McIlroy (sixth GS)
J H Taylor
Well impressed that they knew so many of them.