NEWS UPDATE W/E 16 August 2008

The week did not start well, when on Tuesday due to the vagaries of the English summer the course was virtually unplayable and the Medal Competition had to be cancelled.   This was unfortunate to say the least as many members had  spent the last month mentally preparing themselves for the humbling experience of match play from the white tees and the possibility of having to record somewhat larger numbers on their scorecards than is usually the case.  The anticlimax proved too much for some who had to retire to the clubhouse for liquid sustenance and animated conversation late into the afternoon.
 
On Thursday the team visited Thorney Lakes where they received a bit of a drubbing losing by 5½  games to 2½.

Kevin Whittle & Bob Goddard lost 6 & 5. Brian Hester & Peter Bryan won 2 up
Nick Carter & Arthur Dethick lost 1 down.  Keith Barratt & Terry Loomes halved.
Ray Taylor & Barrie Griffin  lost 2 & 1.  Dick Wray & Stuart Picton lost 5 & 4.
John Rudin & Maurice Arnold won 2 & 1. Frank Copsey & Rob Elliott lost 2 & 1.

Meanwhile back at Rutland the sun was shining although the wind was sufficiently strong to cause a few problems.   However eighteen members enjoyed a Stableford competition (best 2 from 3) with Bill Ansell, Roy Armitage and Nigel Coombs producing the highest score of 78.

NEWS EXTRA

I now have more information on the Sleaford Away-Day on 31 July.
Twenty six members turned up to start the day with coffee and bacon rolls. Having been assured by the resident Pro that it would stay dry everyone started with high hopes.   However within 40 minutes it started to rain and  very quickly it was raining the proverbial stair rods.  This lasted for about three quarters of an hour with everyone taking shelter in various strategically placed refuges.  Fortunately Sleaford is based on very sandy soil which drains quickly.  In general the fairways were not as pristine as ours but the greens were very good and the rough was quite light, almost friendly compared with some that we know.  Following an excellent meal the prizes were awarded as follows:

Ladies Prize - Maureen Loomes
Winner Division 1 - Peter Bryan
Winner Division 2 – Stuart Chapman
Best front nine - Bob Goddard
Best back nine - Maurice Arnold
Best par 5’s - Graham Cole
Best par 3’s - Pauline Knight
Nearest the pin - John Brunning
Mystery pair - Brian Hester & Ray Miller
Mystery pair - Tony Staples & Arthur Dethick

Peter Bryan who had organised the day thanked Maurice Arnold and Ray Taylor for help with the scoring and producing the results, and asked for a volunteer to organise the Autumn 2009 Away-Day.  Our thanks go to Peter for all his hard work in organising the event this year.

NEWS UPDATE W/E 9th August

On Tuesday despite somewhat inclement weather forty eight members competed in the annual ‘Yellow Peril’ event.   This is the event where the striking of the yellow ball seems to create added pressure on some of those seeking to make a respectable contribution to their team’s score.
However no such pressure was felt by the winning team consisting of Vic Pheasant, Graham Gittings and Mike Pell, who amassed a creditable total of 84 points and were duly rewarded with £24 prize money.
Second place went to Jim Fleming, Ted Leighton and Terry Loomes with 81 points and  third place to Dick Wray, Peter Bryan and Mike Ingham with 79 points.

Two club matches were played this week with Rutland County being  successful on both occasions.   On Monday in a closely contested match they completed the double over their visitors from South Kyme winning  5 games to 3 for the second time this season.  

Kevin Whittle & Stuart Picton won 6 & 4.   Brian Hester & John Rudin halved.   
Ray Taylor & Peter Harle won 3 & 2.  Dick Wray & John Brunning lost 1 down.
Arthur Dethick & John Meadows lost 2 & 1.  Keith Barratt & Maurice Arnold won 4 & 3.
Graham Cole & Terry Loomes halved.  Rob Elliott & Stuart Chapman won 1 up.

On Wednesday the visitors from Belton Woods were defeated by 5½  games to 2½.
Kevin Whittle & Ron Snape won 6 & 5.  Brian Hester & John Brunning lost 2 & 1.
Tony Whiting & Nigel Coombs won 7 & 5.  Nick Carter & Terry Loomes lost 2 & 1.
John Rudin & Peter Bryan won 1 up. Barrie Griffin & Ken Jakeman won 4 & 2.
Arthur Dethick & Stuart Picton won 4 & 2.  Keith Barratt & Graham Cole halved.

W/E 2nd August

On Tuesday the team visited our local rivals Burghley Park where they enjoyed a closely contested match narrowly losing 4½ games to 3½.

Kevin Whittle & Mike Frankish lost 6 & 5.  Brian Hester & Arthur Dethick lost 3 & 2.
Ray Taylor & Stuart Picton won 2 & 1.  Frank Copsey & Terry Loomes halved.
Tony Whiting & John Rudin won 1 up.  Barrie Griffin & John Mason lost 3 &1.
Keith Barratt & Dick Wray lost 1 down.  Nick Carter & Rob Elliott won 1 up.

On Thursday some forty members travelled to Sleaford for an away day competition. This was one less than expected as one of our members experienced one of those ‘senior moments’ that we are all prone to from time to time and put a new slant on the term ‘away day’ by staying away completely.

Back at Rutland over twenty turned up for an individual Stableford competition.   The most notable performance was that of Eamon Walsh who weighed in with 44 points.  In the spirit of handicap golf Eamon submitted a card and was duly rewarded with a two point handicap reduction.

NEWS FLASH

Great news, we have a volunteer to carry on Richards work while he is incapacitated. So it is a big thank you to Nigel Coombs who has kindly stepped into the breach.

Anyone who has competition results, match facts or any of the snippets that Richard provided us with, would you now send them through to Nigel.

Tel: 01778 561008. Email: NJ.COOMBS@GMAIL.com

NEWS UPDATE W/E 1ST AUGUST

Gentlemen, unfortunately our illustious correspondent has been struck with ill health again. Which unfortunately means that we will not being getting our weekly match and nature reports. I am sure that you all join me in wishing Richard a speedy recovery, we need him on the course as well as sitting at his computer providing us with news of the weeks events.

NEWS UPDATE W/E 25TH JULY

This Tuesday saw a large turnout in excess of 100, keen to participate in Captain’s Charity Day, which was followed in the evening by a well-attended Charity Dinner.

Despite the size of the field, it was the regular names which were once again to the fore: in the First Division Maurice Arnold was the winner with 38 points, whilst Captain Kevin Whittle beat Nick Carter for second place on count-back, with 36 points; in Division Two Rex Houlden had another good day, to win with 38 points.  The fast improving Paul Gosden was second a point behind and Bill Walsh claimed third with 34 points. Arthur Dethick had the best front 9, winning with 21 points on count-back and Terry Loomes won the back 9 on count-back with 20 points.  The best lady was the in-form Jan Reynolds with 33 points; nearest the pin on the 4th was John Brunning and on the 17th, Rob Elliott.  Nearest the line on the 8th was Mike Reynolds, his effort in the first 3-ball of the day defying the efforts of the entire field to improve upon it. Peter Knight won the similar prize on the 14th.  John Heywood won the putting competition with 19 points, whilst Dave Roberts and Pauline Knight scooped the 2’s pool with a very rewarding £29 each, demonstrating that it isn’t always the ‘big names’ that win the big money!

The following day was somewhat of an anti-climax, for a doubtlessly jaded team were taken to the cleaners on our own patch by our friends from Elton Furze, whose significantly more difficult home course provides them a true handicap which is nevertheless very handy when playing away on less difficult courses such as ours.  I cannot help wondering how they might get on at Toft or Stoke Rochford, both of which we regard as challenging in their different ways! Kevin Whittle & Bill West won 1 up; Brian Hester & Frank Copsey lost 4&3; Barrie Griffin & Stuart Picton lost 1 down; Dick Wray & Rob Elliott won 1 up; Nick Carter & Peter Bryan halved; Arthur Dethick & Paul Gosden lost 3&2; Ray Taylor & Richard Simmonds lost 4&3 and Vic Pheasant & Graham Cole lost 5&4, so it was 21/2 matches to us and 51/2 matches to them.

NEWS UPDATE W/E 18 JUL

This Tuesday saw the rare appearance of a Texas Scramble as the weekly competition, with 3-ball pairings drawn at random by organiser Nick Carter.  Such events do much to cement the social cohesion of the Section by mixing up players of differing handicaps to play as a team rather than as individuals. It was disappointing, therefore, that the field of 44 was rather thinner than might have been hoped for.  Nevertheless, on returning to the clubhouse, it was heart-warming to see long-past-captain Colin Frost paying us a social visit from afar, Dr John Heywood returning after a period of illness and the redoubtable Alan Weedon hobbling about on his crutches just a couple of days after his hip re-re-placement operation.  Such is the social cohesion I mentioned, providing a magnetic alternative to domestic bliss!

The major benefit of the Scramble was that if one lost a ball in the rough it didn’t really matter, so play proceeded at a reasonable pace, although search parties were frequently to be seen.  I must make a serious plea here for the use of better balls by our players, because the four I found were all of very indifferent quality and hardly merit re-use.  One does expect better reward when tramping the rough (on behalf of one’s playing partners, of course)! Now that players have become used to finding as well as losing balls the sting has rather gone out of the critics, most of whom now see our rough as underlining the essential character of the course. Having gone round in a gross 70 the team of John Rudin (again), Barry Maddock and Barry Malthouse would have been anticipating something better than second place, but they were pipped by the in-form trio of Arthur Dethick, Mike Glenister and vice-captain Brian Hester, whose gross score was one stroke less.  Hopefully more will participate next time.

On Wednesday a team of 12 travelled to Orton Meadows on a lovely day to share good company and a good meal with their opponents.  It always does taste better when you win, particularly away from home! Kevin Whittle & Paul Gosden won 1up; Brian Hester & Terry Loomes halved; Ray Taylor & Frank Copsey won 5&4, with Frank claiming a remarkable gross 78; Nick Carter & Rob Elliott came from3 down with 6 to play to win 1 up; Barrie Griffin & Mike Glenister won 2&1 and Arthur Dethick & Maurice Arnold won 2up –a most satisfying winning margin of 51/2 to ½.

NEWS UPDATE W/E 11 JUL

Tuesday saw a strong field of 60 participate in the monthly Stableford competition, wherein I had the interesting and instructive experience of playing alongside John Killin.  John, a very likeable ex-Customs and VAT officer and a recent member, has quickly earned himself something of an unenviable reputation as a very big bandit! So I was interested to see how he fared off his now18 handicap that, for the first 9, earned him the unspectacular reward of just 14 points.  This galvanised him to the remarkable and possibly unique return of 25 points on the second 9, completed in just 37 shots, or 2 over par.  So how did he do it? Well, he assesses each shot very carefully, lines himself up with equal care and then from a very short back-swing propels the club-head powerfully down and well through the ball which, on landing, bites like a pro’s ball bites.  I warrant there can be no finer striker of the iron shot in the club – an excellent example to us all.  He also favours his longer irons rather than fairway woods which, in conjunction with his controlled back-swing, are his keys to eliminating error.  Allied to a sound putting technique, his second half performance was, to say the least, hugely impressive and a delight to watch, with long irons to the 15th and 18th greens being particularly memorable. Despite earning a further 2-shot chop to 16, making ten strokes off his initial handicap in 3 months of competitive golf, I don’t doubt he still has the potential to drop several shots further. Even so, he only earned second place in Division 1 because, right out of the blue, longstanding member Mike Frankish had a dreamboat round of 43 points and the widest smile in the clubhouse, despite dropping back to his vintage-days handicap of 14.  Division 2 produced scores more realistic to the prevailing conditions, Jan Reynolds’ 32 points finishing second to Colin Brown’s winning 35 points.  Captain Kevin Whittle won nearest the pin (again) with aforementioned Colin Brown nearest the line.

Wednesday’s home match against local rivals Greetham Valley was played against the backdrop of a horrendous weather forecast that, fortunately, failed to materialise before we had cleared the course. We thought our rough would do for them, but sadly their talents proved more than equal to the task as they completed the double over us again, winning a very close match by 41/2 games to 31/2.  Kevin Whittle & Graham Cole won 4&3; Brian Hester & Terry Loomes won 1 up; Nick Carter & Mike Glenister lost 1 down; Keith Barratt & John Rudin won 3&2; Ken Jakeman & Rob Elliott lost 2&1; Barrie Griffin & Arthur Dethick halved; Tony Whiting & Stuart Picton lost 1 down and Ray Taylor & Richard Foers lost 2&1.