Competition Reports
Competition Reports
Autumn Mixed Foursomes
With prizes for both the gross and net winners being awarded at the Annual Dinner the cards needed to be checked so it was only announced, as everyone tucked into their pizza, that the results had yet to be ratified. In a very unusual outcome, 2 pairs had incorrectly entered their scores at the Park with one having a major impact on the results.
Unfortunately for the clubhouse leaders, Rich & Doreen, this meant a downgrade to 2nd place in the net and a promotion to winners for Alex & Cheryl with a net 74. They had entered a 7 on the screen for their score on the 18th but both their marker’s and their own card showed a 4. They were the only pair to bookend their round with pars on both the 1st & 18th.
The gross winners (Paul & Sheena) remain unchanged but sadly the clubhouse pair in 2nd place had entered a score which did the opposite for the same values, resulting in a fall down the rankings and promoting Ray & Gina to runners-up.
Despite the speed of the greens seemingly catching most out, a look at last year’s results shows that today’s were better. Interestingly the 1st hole came out as second hardest today and seems most struggled to get a ball off the tee and into play on it judging from the scores.
Whilst the booking sheet for the public was full, those playing ahead of us were obviously going at a good pace as our rounds were only just over 4 hours, which while not good for an effective 2-ball were great for a Saturday morning.
Harrington Trophy (3 clubs & putter)
A pleasant day for golf, overcast and not cold. Which suited most players. About half the field scored 30+ points with only 3 clubs and a putter.
Tamas Ladacs clearly chose his correct clubs with an amazing score of 41 points. 20 out and 21 back having only 2’s and 3’s pointers on his card.
He was 5 points ahead of Brett Colley and Peter Harrington on 36 points with Brett just edging 2nd place on countback.
Chris Rudkin just beat last years winner Peppe Monterosso also on countback into 4th place with his 34 points.
October Monthly Medal (GMT Rd 8 of 8)
Women
A very different day by the time we finished from the one we started out with and a look back to the October medal in 2024 indicates it was considerably colder & already wet underfoot. It does seem the time of year when we get a good turnout, along with us the men’s sheet had few spaces.
It was lovely to have Katharina & Uli back with us for the day using clubs kindly lent by Gina who also played her first Sunday comp of the year.
Some good scoring today with Sheena taking the hours with a net 69 followed by Lia & Niamh both with 71s. A most impressive front 9 from Gina saw her drop only 2 shots to par, but sadly she couldn’t keep this going on the back 9.
The playoff for the Barton Bowl was played in conjunction with the medal and was also won by Sheena with 37 points next to Lia’s 35.
Men
A bright autumn day for round 8 of the Grand Medal.
A superb 63 from Joe Goncalves won the first division -Joe was level par on back 9 and had the lowest gross score of the day – 70. He was followed by Chris Mellish with a glorious 65 and Lee Frost 66.
In the second division Suhail Salim reigned supreme 64 from Charlie Whitemen 66 which could have been even better except for last 2 holes. Next were commendable 67s from Richard Young, Nigel Ward and James Deissler.
This was final round in the Grand Medal which sees Iker Lanzagorta confirmed as first division winner 339 a point from Richard Owen 340.In second division Charlie Whiteman wins 348 from Seymour Laird and Rannesh Jansari 350.
Midweek Autumn Pairs
The weather was overcast but warm with a heavy air. The greens were a little slow but maybe that was just a reflection of my putting.
Playing off the Red pars and index was novel for the men off the white tees.
However, Dave Cato and Julian James dovetailed well with 21 points out and 24 back for their 45 points. Their scorecard had 9 x 3 pointers and 1 x 4 points for a birdie plus no 1 point scores,quite impressive!!
Runners up on countback were Shrila Amin and Pepe Monterosso with 42 points.
An enjoyable day was had by all.
Autumn Stableford – Round 2 of 2
A quieter day after the passage of Storm Amy but still windy – with sunny periods.
A sterling performance from Simon McKnight won the second round of the Autumn Stableford with 39 points – Simon also won front 9 honours with 22 points. Just a point behind was Mark Bean 38 points followed by another good round of 36 points from Michael Pham.
The aggregate 36 holes was won by Michael with 75 points and tied for second place were first round joint leaders Olav Bridie and Giovanni Caboni; next came today’s winner Simon and best woman Bella Mahale.
David Lloyd (Amida) Friendly
A mixed team of 12 RPGC players took part in the annual match against a team from the David Lloyd Hampton (DLH) club on Saturday the 4th of October 2025. This fixture has been played for more than 10 years against a team from DLH, which used to be known as Amida. The DLH team held the honours for the competition winning at home last year and hoping to retain the bragging rights on their visit to Richmond Park this year.
The match was played on the Duke’s course, with the women playing from the red tees and the men from the whites on what was a very windy day, as the tail end of storm Amy closed some of the public parks across London but not the Duke’s course. To the credit of all players who had signed up for this fixture, and despite the yellow weather warning, they turned up for the challenge and after a morning roll and a hot drink we headed to the first tee at 9.15am to begin the first of 6 four ball better ball games. It was thankfully a dry day but at times the wind was gusting very strongly which made standing still to hit the ball a bit of a challenge at times.
The first Richmond Park team of Bella Mahale and Russell Stewart came out of the blocks really quickly and were 6 holes up at the turn finally winning 7 & 6. The second game, played by Joan Mulcahy and Simon Russett, was much tighter for the front nine but they then dominated on the back nine and won 3 & 2. The third team of Monique Hubaille and Sajid Khan had an even tighter game but won on the last hole. Team four, Seema Sandhu and Ed Hall, had an easier time of it and were four holes up by the fifth, eventually winning 6 & 4. Team five, Ellie Rhodes and Maher Sharma had a similar dominant round and finally won out 4 & 3. Team six comprising Jayne Maxwell and Richard Owen were up against much stiffer opposition (including the DLH long hitting lady captain) and lost their game after 15 holes, so a drop of consolation was taken by the DLH team. So, overall, a big win for Richmond Park taking 5 of the 6 games to win the day.
Pizza was thankfully consumed at the end as we warmed up after the first real taste of chilly Autumn weather. All games were played in good spirit and the DLH team were generally impressed with the course and enjoyed the challenge but perhaps, not the result!
Home advantage was a big advantage in this match. Again, well done to everyone for braving the elements to play. Unfortunately, we were unable to get everybody in the picture (below) – this is the best we have.
Midweek October Medal (Midweek GM Rd 8 of 8)
A fine weather day on the course for the October Medal.
The winner of Division 1 was Jayne Maxwell with a very steady net 66 followed by 3 players on net 67 with Richard Owen 2nd on countback from Ray Esin (Lowest Gross of the day) and Dave Cato in 4th place
Division 2 was won by the ever present Richard Norden with a net 65. Richard also had the lowest gross of Div 2 with 84. Richard Marriott came 2nd with a net 67 just ahead of Cheryl Woodhouse with her net 68. Andy Johnson came 4th on countback with his net 69.
It was a good day to be a Richard!!
Very well done to Division 1 winner Dave Cato who finished 1 point ahead of Toby Hunt.
Also very well done to Peter D Harrington Division 2 who had a more comfortable margin of 2 points over Andy Johnson,
Autumn Stableford – Round 1 of 2
A grey day for the first round of the Autumn Stableford. Rain caught the last games.
There were no fewer than 5 40 points but Olav Bridie took winning place with a superior back 9 of 23 points; the other 40s came from Giovanni Caboni (plenty in reserve with 3 ‘blobs’), best woman Bella Mahale, Lee Frost and Chris Jones,
Well done to Deborah Potter for 24 points on her back 9 and also to Brian McMahon for his eagle at 15th.
Men’s Invitation
The event was played on a bright sunny Saturday and although not attended by the usual numbers, was enjoyed by all competitors. Three of our new women took part and agreed it was a great alternative to playing in the weekly competitions.
Prizes were award to the runners up and winners, who included two of the new women.
Runners up with 44 stableford points were Ed Hall and Kelly Hewitt
Winners with 46 stableford points were Ellie Rhodes and Maher Sharma.
Midweek September Plate
A pleasant dry bright and autumnal day for the September Plate on Duke’s.
The in-form Jonno Mclean won with a great 40 points – Jonno had room in the bag for even more having picked up on 2 holes. A shot behind was Kim Jabbour with a creditable 39 points . Next on 37 points were best woman Sookkyyung Park, Andy Johnson, Chris Rudkin and Peppe Monterosso. Recent NAPGC Seniors champ Angus had 35. Ed Robinson had notable back 9 21 points.