Good to see such a large turnout for the first Saturday event of the year and a fair number of new faces playing. The weather was kind to us and everyone seemed to enjoy the pizzas and chips afterwards.

Congrats to Els, in her first competition, and to Dave on pipping Sheena & Sean on the back 9 for the win.

A short rain shower for many slowed the greens, but Tom Simpkins clearly had no problem quickly adapting and proceeded to trounce the course by 5 (playing off 12) and is winner of the Priory Cup. Very well done.
Iain Barbour achieved an almost equally impressive 3 up playing off 31.

Women

Huge congratulations to Doreen for beating the rest of the field by 3 shots, which would have been better were it not for a penalty score, in the first Sunday medal of the year for the women.
Playing off a somewhat lower handicap, Gina was second with the lowest gross.

Conditions were interesting today with what seems to be an ever present swirly wind along with a course that has become dry very quickly.

Men

It was a chilly and very windy start to our rounds but mainly sunny conditions then developed, just one short shower and wind seemed to ease a little.

Clearly the weather and course conditions were a test for almost everyone, with only 4 of the 48 players managing to play to their handicap, or better. However, Peter Harrison (Division 1) was undetered and played an exceptional round, 10 shots under his handicap for a net 58 – Peter had a level par 33 on the back 9 and 5 pars and 4 bogeys on the front 9. Allan Boyd (net 65) and Nigel Ward (net 67) were 2nd and 3rd respectively in Division 1, with everyone else in Div. 1 playing over their handicap.

In Division 2, Gregory Jean- Baptiste wins the monthly medal glass with his net 67, 3 ahead of Sean O’Sullivan, with Olav and Liam Roberts taking 3rd and 4th places, a further shot back.

After just 2 rounds in the Grand Medal (best 5 rounds from 8), the Division 1 leader is Nigel Ward on 137, who has an 8 shots lead over Kerry and Oz. In Division 2, Greg J-B leads with 138 shots, 3 ahead of Jonno, with Julian James & Charles Haines a further 5 shots back.

We had the best weather of the year so far, temperatures in the 20’s and quite a few of the men players wearing shorts. However, despite the Dukes being in good condition and the greens generally truer than they had been for a long time, the overall scores for The Masters Bowl stroke play event were fairly average with only half a dozen people matching or bettering their handicap, no twos being recorded and more than a dozen entering No Returns.

Early starter Gina Jillett will be taking home RPGC’s Masters Bowl with her net 67, beating Martin Hay on countback. Just behind were Bill Norman and Graham Cull (both 68), and Charles Haines and Tom Simpkins both on 69.

It was a chilly, windy day but pleasant when the sun was out. Good delineation of the fairways although the grass was longer than it should have been because the greenkeeping staff had been engaged in turf laying during the week on Prince’s. Congratulations to:
1st: Olav Bridie, 36 points
2nd: Greg Wright, 35 points (countback)
3rd: Brian McMahon, 35 points
(Joe Goncalves would have won on 36 points with his 4 birdies and the lowest gross score, if he hadn’t been disqualified for submitting an unsigned card !)

The weather was kind with a pleasant temperature and a gentle breeze. The greenkeeping staff had been busy laying new turf on the 7th and 16th tees, on the re-shaped 13th greenside bunker and on the left hand side of the last bunker before the 14th green.

Kim Chaffart was in the early groups out and posted a gross 71 (net 64) in Div 1, which proved too good for the rest. Kim dropped 3 shots to par on the first 5 holes, then par’d the subsequent 13 holes. This was Kim’s best round since June 2025. Nearest in Div 1 on countback was Susan Smith with her net 68 from Bill Norman, Richard Owen, Pralab Barua, Julian James and Richard Smith (all with net 68).

In Div 2 Alison Chadwick also posted a net 64 just beating Graham Cull with his net 65. Richard Marriott followed with his net 67 with Mike Jones and Richard Norden with net 68’s.
After 2 rounds of the Midweek Grand Medal: In Div 1, Julian James & Angus Robertson jointly lead on 135 shots, from Bill Norman and Richard Owen, both on 138 shots. In Div 2, Fhorkan Uddin leads on 138, from Richard Marriott (139) and Mike Jones & David Grace, both on 141.

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.