Club Matches
Club Matches
Hawtree – Team A Rd 1 At Abbey Hill
Result: 2-3 Loss
Team
Martin & Tracy Wright
Ian & Julie Smith
Kerry Sergeant & Di Jackett
Jon Cooper & Doreen Dolby
Jason Loubser & Veronica Mitchell
The Richmond Park team traipsed miles up the M1 to Milton Keynes to play Abbey Hill in the first round of the Hawtree. This is a mixed competition consisting of 5 mixed pairs a side playing foursomes match play. Each pair alternate tee shots and then take turns to play after that until the hole is finished. Shots are decided by taking half the combined handicap differences.
Excitement started early with one carload of three team players understanding that the tee off was an hour later than it was. Fortunately they are conscientious team members and got there early for the later incorrect tee time. This meant they arrived in the nick of time and rushed off to play their match. Probably not the ideal start and I apologise if my instructions were inadequate.
The first pair out were Tracey and Martin Wright who met a tough pair of opponents and found themselves 5 down after 10. They dug deep and clawed back to all square standing on the 18th tee. They feel justifiably peeved that Martin’s drive found a hidden pond that their opponents had not mentioned existed. I suppose all is fair in golf but it seemed a rotten way to lose the match – one down after a terrific fight back.
Next off were Ian and Julie Smith who had to give 7 shots. They too ran into tough opponents and ran out 3 and 2 losers. Jason Loubser and Veronica Mitchell paired up for their first taste of Hawtree golf and a fine job they made of it, pulling out an easy 4 and 3 victory to put Richmond back in the chase.
Kerry Sergeant and Di Jackett tore the course up. They played a brother (off 1) and his sister but never looked like losing the match. Kerry and Di were some 4 over par when they won the match on the 13th – 6 and 5!
This left the match all square and gave your captain another chance to make a name for himself. Unfortunately it turned out to be ‘pratt’. I partnered Doreen Dolby who carried me pretty well but we spent most of the match one down. We pulled back to level with three to play, one up with two to play – and knowing the outcome of the match rested with us I could see glory coming our way. Unfortunately I couldn’t see the green on the 17th and so we stood all square on the 18th tee. To cut a long story short – their 2 handicapper hit a magnificent shot some 220 yards for 2, leaving an uphill 8 foot putt. Doreen hit a fantastic iron over several bunkers and onto the green leaving yours truly a tricky 20 foot right to left downhill putt. Needless to say, Doreen missed the 12 foot uphill putt to tie the game and Richmond exited the Hawtree by the narrowest of margins.
My opponents were great to pay with – as I believe all the Abbey Hill team were, and we wish them the best of luck in round two.
Whitewebbs – Team B Rd 1 against Tilgate Forest
Result: tba
Team
Doreen Dolby, Molly Hood, Veronica Mitchell, Jan Oliver and Cathryn Leftwich
Report to appear here.
Clapham Common – Rd 1 v Iver Golf Club
Result: Win by 11 points
Home team (+16)
Rob Urquhart & Richard Owen
Toby Hunt & Dave Winter
David Marsh & Jason Loubser
Away team (-5)
Jon Cooper & Phil Flanagan
Ian Smith & Nick Heale
Graeme Syme & Tim Meyer
RPGC started the year with a stonking victory over Iver Golf Club. The format is teams of six on the home course and six on the away course playing greensomes stableford. The total points for both teams are added up home and away and the most points overall wins.
Getting 12 players for the Bank Holiday weekend was no easy task, and I would like to thank all of you who turned out and did such a sterling job. Iver is a tricky 9 holer and your Captain made his first big mistake by encouraging the team to practice on the very fast putting green. The Iver team sat in the clubhouse and watched the lambs practice putting, knowing this was the only green not sanded and hollow tined, ensuring three putts for most players for the first six holes!
The away team fielded two new members to ‘team golf’ in Nick Heale and Graeme Syme. Graeme partnered Tim Meyer and achieved a very creditable 28 points, whilst Nick carried – I mean played with – Ian and also achieved 28 points. I played with Phil Flanagan, who decided this was a good day to try out his new spectacles. I now know what ‘astigmatism’ means, the glasses having an inbuilt bias for all putts of 5 feet to the right. Suffice it to say I would not park next to Phil for the next week or two until he gets used to them. It did, however, provide me with a ‘first’ as Phil started to ask me to read his putts for him. Hitherto, no-one has ever let me read anything for them, including the local rules. Phil and I three putted our way to a stunning 29 points. Overall, we lost away to Iver by 5 points. We then waited an hour for the home team results (a three and a half hour round at Iver – really!).
Eventually the results came through. Our secret weapon – Richard Owen and Robert Urquhart – had burned up the course with 39 points – a massive 14 more than their playing partners. Dave Marsh and Jason Loubser (another welcome new team player) beat their playing partners by three and Toby Hunt and Dave Winter met expectations with a reliable and hefty 35 points. Thanks to the away team holding on – and the home team winning by an amazing 16 points – the first round ended in a win for Richmond Park.
Whitewebbs – Team A Rd 1 At Portsmouth
Result: 2-3 Loss
Ladies Team A (Julie, Lia, Lorna, Sheena, Tracy) met Portsmouth in the 1st round of the White Webbs Competition. It was closely contested, with two matches halving, and these could easily have gone either way. Portsmouth won 3-2. Thank you to the team for a vigorous effort.
Whitewebbs Team B Results
The Ladies fell to Sandown Park in Round 3 of this NAPGC competition and promptly took consolation in some retail therapy. More…
Whitewebbs – Team B Rd 3 at Sandown Park
Result: 1-4 Loss
The team comprised Sheena Harrington, Di Jackett, Maureen Slade, Julie Smith and Tracy Wright.
Spirits were not high going into this match as most of the team had not so fond memories of the course – which is a 9-hole one in the centre of the racecourse. We’d also been warned that since the new management had taken over it was not possible to book tee times so we would have to turn up and hope that the public weren’t out in force. Fortunately, despite the glorious weather, we had no delay in starting and only one other 2-ball slotted in between our games on the second nine.
Our one victor was Julie Smith with a tight tussle that went to the 17th, sadly the rest of us were not so fortunate. One good piece of news from our Treasurer’s perspective is that they very kindly gave us courtesy of the course, so there is no cheque to write Dave!
Despite beating us soundly our opponents were very friendly and we each enjoyed the games, followed by some shopping in the newly opened Discount Golf Shop – so something good came out of it after all!
Hawtree – Team A Rd 3 v Little Hay
Result: 3-2 Loss
Winning pairs: Martin & Tracy Wright, Jon Cooper & Di Jackett
Losing pairs: Ian & Julie Smith, Dave William & Maureen Slade, Kerry Sargeant & Sheena Harrington
We finally got to play our match against Little Hay 8 weeks after the last round, and sadly could not continue our winning ways being beaten 3 – 2.
As in the previous round we were mainly giving shots to the opposition but our victorious pairings made it look easy – Di Jackett & Jon Cooper winning 7 & 6 and Tracy & Martin Wright by 5 & 4.
Unfortunately the rest of us didn’t, with yours truly continuing an unbroken record of never having won a Hawtree match. Little Hay’s team had combinations of low men and high ladies which worked for 3 of their pairs, but obviously not the others!
They made us very welcome all seeming to be a friendly bunch and we enjoyed our day there.
Hawtree – Team B Rd 2 At Huntswood
Result: tba
Report to appear here.
Clapham Common – Rd 2 v Basildon C
Result: Loss by 30 points
Home team
David Marsh & Michael Rossiter
Jon Cooper & Peter Harrington
Rob Urquhart & Richard Owen
Away team
Kerry Sargeant & Toby Hunt
Ian Smith & George Martin
Phil Flanagan & Tim Meyer
On a day of heavy showers and horrendous rough the disappointed home team made a valiant effort to overhaul last year’s National winners, who surrendered nothing in terms of skill and good fortune.
Basildon had clearly lost none of their strong competitiveness to win, and win they did, by 9 points at home and 21 away.
Whitewebbs – Team B Rd 2 Home to Bird Hill
Result: 3½-1½ Win
The team comprised Sheena Harrington, Anne Koychev, Maureen Slade, Julie Smith and Tracy Wright.
As with our Hawtree team, the Richmond Park team were the givers and not the receivers, with Anne having to give 2 shots on 4 holes, her opponent receiving 22 shots. It was only in Maureen’s game that no shots were exchanged with this game going to the 18th green before Maureen sunk the winning putt.
Needless to say this statistic in their favour only enhanced their already very friendly approach to the afternoon, despite one of their team preferring to be watching the FA Cup Final. Although I’m sure that once she found out the result she wasn’t so bothered.
The weather (cloudbursts on & off most of the morning) and the Cup Final were helpful in keeping people away from the course, but despite not having to wait too much, if at all, at most of the holes the round still took 5 hours courtesy of the penal rough around our newly narrow fairways. Fortunately for us, we spent more time looking for the Bird Hill balls than we did our own, a fact reflected in our victory.