Huge turnout today (83 players). Yesterday’s rain made approaches into the greens less tricky. But the odd bounce here and there on the fairways created some confusion.

Spoils of the day go to Jay: 16 pars, 0 birdies (that must be a first for him) and bogeys on 7 and 17 earn him 39pts. 2nd place goes to the man with a plan, Lee. An excellent front 9 and a birdie on the 10th must have sent his head spinning a bit. 8 holes and 5 dropped shots later he had to settle for 2nd. Still riding high from her win last Wednesday Julie scored 37pts (23pts on the way in). She beats a pack of 3 other players for 3rd place. Her handicap keeps trending down. Keep at it. Mark R, Luke and Tony B matched Julie’s points total. But based on the the countback rule they finish 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Results…

Some notable bits today:

• Ronnie walked off the 16th with 35pts and some swag. But the endless hunting for Nick and Greg’s and the MC’s Titleist balls drained all her energy. She couldn’t add a single point to her tally.
• Tamas came out all guns blazing and torched the front 9 for 22pts. Roger and Toby had excellent back 9’s (21pts).
• The MC recorded 3 birdies (even missed a birdie put on 12) and still only scored 30pts (Thank goodness there are pictures on the scorecard)

The Top Dog Trophy leaders are Jay 18pts, Rick K 12pts, Lee 8pts, Gunnar 8pts. R2 leader board…

A good field of 56 attended for round 2 of the Midweek Founders’ Cup. Grey and cooler than of late, allowing concentration on golf and with 2/3 balls – first since lockdown. The courses need rain with hard bounces, cracking of some fairways and grass turning brown. Indeed the depression/pond in front of 10th green dried up from flooding earlier in year (** see further below).

It was a lady who won on the day – Julie with 41 points; congratulations and a h’cap chop of 2.0! Damber put in yet another good round, beaten on back 9 with 41. Lee returned excellent 40 and is now playing off 9. Solid scores from Jeremy R, Mark Rs and Tony B. Henry L-B scored eagle at 9th. Results…

In the associated Founders’ Cup after 2 of 3 round (best 2 of 3) Lee holds the advantage on 81 ahead of Joe G 74, Pete Hs and Ryan 73. R2 leader board…

** Paul Gd snapped up a cigarette card on Ebay depicting said depression in 1923 when course opened – see attached with pollarded weeping willows. Front | Back

Ladies

Unusually both rounds were played on Duke’s due to a mix up with Glendale. With 3 ladies on 36 points last week it was expected to be a hard fought campaign in the second week but resulted in a runaway win for Tenesi, proving that a long layoff from golf does not need to wipe out consistency. Following up with 35 points gave her a very comfortable winning margin of 8 from Veronica in 2nd pace. Her fellow co-leaders after the 1st round experienced very different days, with Deb halving her score this week! Results… | Leader board…

Well done to Caroline birdieing our new par 5 on the 8th hole and to Sheena for doing the same on the 12th.

Men

The new course layout keeps testing us. The extra bounce and roll means that quite a few amongst you are hitting short irons into the greens. That would be helpful if the bounces were not that unpredictable..

But enough of that on to honours roll. Rick K eagled the 3rd hole. Even though he ran into some trouble on the 14th hole he came out victorious today. Luke struggled badly last week. But he forgot all about that on the front 9 (+3 gross). His back 9 was a bit more volatile: 1 par, 2 birdies, 1 snowman and a few other bogeys. 2nd place is a small consolation. Kim finished 3rd with a net 72. Luca loses out to the MC on the countback rule. Seymour takes 5th. Sean T completes the Top6. Lowest gross score goes to Pete Hs. Results…

CSS: 71

The Grand Medal Trophy tbc. R2 leader board.

41 players competed for the first round of the Midweek Founders’ Cup in warm but not exceedingly sunny conditions.

Overall, competitors found conditions tough with CSS elevated 1.

A number of players hit the fairways running with new member Jon G returning a magnificent 42 points to win in a round including an ‘8’ at 12th. Lee similarly NRd at 7th with an exceptional 41. Pete Hs’ hand remained firmly on the tiller from recent win with 39. For the literary Chris J it was a good walk spoiled with NRs at 5 & 6 – otherwise > 38pts surely. Brian M returned a solid 37 points. Results…

This was the first competition with sweep after the club has gone ‘cashless’. First 6 men found Sweep credited to their new ‘Competition Purse’.

Ladies

Three ladies share the spoils today with a score of 36pts. A birdie on the 2nd and an eagle on the 17th helped Tenesi to 1st place. The LC seemed to enjoy today’s conditions a lot more than her male counterpart. Julie matched Tenesi and the LC and is rewarded with a 3rd place finish. Given the change to
the CSS all 3 ladies earn small handicap cuts. All to play for in next week’s round 2. Results…

Men

And he’s back. Jay clocked a solid round of +3 gross. His 38pts were enough to claim the win today. Two players ended with 37pts. Pete N’s birdies on 16 and 18 give him 2nd place based on the countback rule. Pete Hs opened with bogeys on he first 3 holes. But he steadied the ship (2 birdies and 2 bogeys on the front 9). He then went +2 gross on the back to finish on 37pts. More importantly his competition handicap comes down to 5 and he joins the Cat 1 elite. Well done!

Another comp and another Top6 finish for Damber. Nick R had an “If Only” round. He finished the 17th hole on 36pts. Picks his club on the 18th tee and 10min later he walks of the 18th with …. 36pts. Mark R was on cloud 9 on the first 3 holes. Reality then hit him quite hard on the 4th tee. But 35pts is good enough for a Top6 finish. Results…

CSS: 35pts

The government has announced the immediate closure of golf course, some quarantine and social distancing measures amongst other provisions to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Committee Notice…

Paul Grand provided this picture.

A field of 48 players enjoyed plenty of sunshine (amazing how dry/solid some parts of the course were) but cool temperatures for the 1st handicap qualifier of the year. Hope you all followed PDH’s advice and stayed out of the bunkers. What were the greenkeepers thinking with all the forward pin positions on the front 9? On another note: PP managed to form a … 6-ball just in front of our 1st game. So much for the social distancing guidelines.

Rick K took the honours today thanks to an excellent front 9 (+2 gross) and a solid back 9 (+4 gross). His net score of 62 puts him in a league of his own and 4 clear of the rest. Rick’s handicap gets healthy cut of 0.8 strokes. Gunnar finishes 2nd and is the only other player to earn a (small) handicap cut. Despite dropping shots on both par 3’s on the front 9 Jay came in with the lowest gross score of 71 and takes 3rd place. Nigel W’s consistent round of golf gets rewarded with 4th place. Early starter Russell and Adrian W complete the Top6. First Lady today is Sheena with a net 67. The highlight of Paul B’s round today was going level par on all the par 3’s. Not a small feat if you remember that he went +10 on the par 3’s two weeks ago. Results…

CSS: 66 (Men)/69 (Ladies)

Rick also takes the lead in the 2020 Top Dog ranking. R1 leader board…

30 turned out to compete for the March Medal (first of 8 medals through summer with best 5 counting for midweek Monthly Medal Trophy. Drying conditions experienced on Sunday continue with much less lying water generally. The two loops of 9 made a change from Prince’s.

Jeremy R kept a six off his card for 71, edging Brett on countback with 72s for Messrs. Ladacs, Mouilah and Laird. Alison took the ladies’ honours. Results…

Hassan shot best gross 77 – 38 out and 39 back.

Ladies

7 pairs entered the 4BBB that is the second part of the Spring Meeting.

Angela and Deb made the error of a better front 9 (20 points) to be pipped for 3rd place on the back 9 by Tenesi & Ronnie who had an evenly matched 19 out & back. But in 2nd place with 41 pts was Sheena & Cheryl and taking 1st spot was Kinga & Ali

Thanks to the prize buyers and for the pizzas and chips organised by Ali & Deb.

Hope you’re enjoying some chocs by now Tenesi!!. Results…

Men

Early chill was exacerbated by stiff wind but forecast rain held off for the light field of 26 for the Spring Stableford round 2 and final Winter Competition round. With drying conditions, it felt uncanny for the odd ball to roll and carry but still plenty of mud/slush.

Continuing from last week’s one under par, Jay shot four birdies in a level par round and 41 points to claim the final Winter Competition round from remarkably consistent Damber and Rick K 39 points. Results…

Damber’s round won him the overall Spring Stableford with 75 points over the two rounds – 7 clear from nearest contenders Pete Hs and Charlie W 65. Results…

Needless to say, congratulations to Jay for winning the overall Winter Competition with 126 points – today’s round edging him a further three points clear from non-participant today Peter Needham 122. Well done to Damber 3rd 118. Final leader board…

There was a hint of Spring in the air for the final round of the Midweek Winter Competition. But conditions remained particularly soggy for 1st and 18th.

Brian R rose to the challenge of scoring 45 points to win the last round, four clear from Joe G and another from Tamas. Results…

Brian’s effort was rewarded in the overall Midweek Winter Competition as he drew level with long time leader Richard N to share 1st prize cash spoils – 124 each and well done to both. Rick K was 3rd 117 with Jeremy R sharing 4th alongside Joe G 116. Final Leader board…

The master of the associated Midweek Prince’s Eclectic over four rounds was Tamas with an extraordinary 58, two ahead of Kim, Brian and Jeremy 60s; excellent scoring all round. Final Leader board…