April 2009

Coming Up In This Month

Lionel Vaughan Trophy

Rich Bonser & Mark Allen won the Lionel Vaughan on Count Back, beating Ant Henfrey & Colin Henfrey on the back 3 holes. Both pairs got 42 points in the betterball stableford, and when the back 9 scores were looked at scores were level. The back 6 is the next form of count backm and scores were still level. The back 3 holes were needed to determine an winner and Allen & Bonser just edged it. There were 3 scores of 42 points, with Dave Goodman & Dale Baker taking 3rd on count back. Shane Kenney and Danny Noton were 4th, while Ben Hall & Lee Tebbutt finished 5th after the local rules had done their job. Dave Sewart played on his own, and managed a respectable 36 points, meaning he finished higher than 8 pairs.
Juniors April Medal
Jake Ellson won the juniors April Medal after he beat Sam Buckley by one shot. Jake shot 93 off his 28 handicap to give him a nett 65. Jake has now been cut to 26. Sam Buckley contined his good form with a 99 gross, nett 66 to get him cut to 31. Briony Allen was third with a nett 67 off 23. Briony has now been been cut to 21. Jake Hurst lost 1 shot from 22 to 21 after his gross 89 nett 67 was beating on count back by Briony. Craig Seal shot 88 to get the lowest gross. More good scored from the juniors is fantastic to see. The result sheet can be found in Results-Juniors.
Two New Competitions Approved
There have been two new pairs competitions which have been approved the the committees to be played throughout the season. The first is a 9 hole summer matchplay league where matches can be played at any time throughout the summer. For this competition you must enter your pairs names with payment in the red folder in the clubhouse on or before Sunday 17th May. Full details of this competition can be found in the Results-Pairs Summer League section of the website. The other will be a series of 9 hole social evenings which will be run on a Friday night. It will be a case of playing on a Friday night at whatever time you wish, and then staying in the clubhouse afterwards fo drinks and food. More details will be put on the website soon, and they will be found through Results-9 Hole Social Nights.
Mens Winter League Final
Ben Hall & Ed Eley won the mens winter league on Saturday 11th April after beating Andy Vale & Kev Wood 4&3 in the final. There was a lot of good golf played by Hall & Eley, with a number of birdie and not many dropped shots too good for Vale & Wood. The first hole was halved after Wood holed a good putt after Eley had made 4. The second hole was won by Hall & Eley with a 4, while Hall birdied the third to putt them 2UP. A 5 Nett 4 from Vale halved the hole with Hall's 4, while the 5th was also halved in fours. Three great shots on 6 from Eley, Vale and Wood set up good birdie chances, but only Eley could convert to putt them 3UP. Hall made 4 Nett 3 down 7 to putt them 4UP. The 8th hole saw Hall & Eley both make bogeys, while Vale made 4 Nett 3 to give Vale and Wood some chance. A few poor tee shots from Vale & Wood on 9 meant Hall & Eley went 4UP once again, while pars on 10 halved the hole between Eley and Wood. Eley then birdied 11 to go 5UP, while the 12th was halved by Vale's 5 Nett 4 with Eley's 4. Birdie chances went by on 13 for Hall and Eley to win the match on that hole, but with the half the match went to dormie. Some awful second shots on 14 meant Vale won the hole with 5 Nett 4 to get back to dormie 4, but two great shots from Eley to 25 feet meant the end of the match was close. Hall hit his third shot to 12feet, and after Vale had not holed his 4 Nett 3 chip, Hall stepped up and rolled in his birdie putt to win the winter league, knowing Eley had two for the match had he missed. A big thank you goes out to club captain Stuart Robinson who walked round to referee the match.
Two New Competitions Approved
There have been two new pairs competitions which have been approved the the committees to be played throughout the season. The first is a 9 hole summer matchplay league where matches can be played at any time throughout the summer. For this competition you must enter your pairs names with payment in the red folder in the clubhouse on or before Sunday 17th May. Full details of this competition can be found in the Results-Pairs Summer League section of the website. The other will be a series of 9 hole social evenings which will be run on a Friday night. It will be a case of playing on a Friday night at whatever time you wish, and then staying in the clubhouse afterwards fo drinks and food. More details will be put on the website soon, and they will be found through Results-9 Hole Social Nights.
New Out Of Bounds In Place on 4th
There is now out of bounds which on the 4th hole. You will be out of bounds if your ball ends up on the practice ground or in the ditch or the hedge. You are in bounds if you are in the trees on the left hand side of the hole, but once your ball leaves the trees and ends up on the practice ground you are out of bounds. If you are in the hedge or ditch on the left at any point, you are also out of bounds. If in doubt please hit a provisional. Please check the notice board opposite the pro shop for various notes regarding the course.
Pete Hurst Wins Hall Of Fame
Immediate Past Captain Peter Hurst won the Hall Of Fame Qualifier with 42 points playing off 16. Peter has now been cut to 14 and it shows all that time playing golf during his captains year last year has payed off. Peter won the competition by 1 point in a competition that was filled with good scores. Richard Bonser was second with 41 points, while there were 40 points for Paul Hillson, Ron Allen and Roger Loach, will Paul Hillsdon taking third on local rule. The standard of scratch for the competition came down 1 shot to 70.
Mens Order Of Merit Rules To Change
Due to the large victory margain by Ed Eley in the first mens order of merit last year, the committee are currently discussing a change to to the rules. The two options currently seem to be either on weekends where there are two competitions, only one competition can count to the order of merit. This will mean the people who play twice cannot win as many points. The other option, which seems to be the favourite choice from a number of members, is that only 10 competitions count. That would mean out of all of the competitions you play throughout the year, your top 10 scoring competitions would count towards the order of merit. This would allow somebody who had two good scores in consectutive days to not be penalised. If this rule is approved you could play in all the competitions, and you would score points for all of them, but then the top 10 points you scored would be calculated and the winnere would be the person with the most points from those 10 competitions.
Menphys Charity Stableford
Steve Buckley won the Menphys Charity Stableford on Saturday 18th April with 40 points. Conditions were not easy early in the morning, with the wind blowing quite heavily on the racecourse causing a number of problems. Steve was playing of 18 for the competition, and has now been cut to 17.6, meaning his playing handicap stays at 18. Ed Eley finished second with 39 points, beating Andy Vale who finished third on 37. Andy Vale finished third ahead of Dave Sewart and Tim Bingham on count-back. This was the second time Eley had beat Vale in a week, with the Winter League victory coming the week before. It would also turn out to not be the last.
Juniors April Medal
Jake Hurst won the second Junior Medal in April with a fantastic gross 82 off 21, giving him an amazing nett of 61. As a result of this Jake has now been cut to 18, although the handicap committee are certainly aware of this awesome score. Ian Timmins was second with a gross 98 nett 65 ff 33. Ian has now been cut to 30. Ian beat Charlie Patel to third. Charlie shot a gross 101 off 35 to give him a nett 66 and get cut to 33. Craig Seal also had a good knock, with a gross 82 off 15 giving him a nett 67 and cutting him to 14. It would turn out to be a cracking warm up for Craig, as he went on to win the Kerry Styles the following day. Lee Prendergast was 5th with a gross 110 nett 69. Dale baker also had a good knock, with a gross 77 off 8 giving him a nett 69 and the lowest gross. There were nett 70s for Paul Abbott, Sam Buckley and Adam Fletcher-Warrington. Fantastic scores juniors, keep up the good golf and good scores and the handicaps will keep falling like they have been.
Mens Kerry Styles Cup
Ed Eley won his second gold letter in 8 days when he won the Kerry Styles Cup with a nett 66 playing off 3. Ed shot a fantastic gross 69, which included a very impressive 8 birdies, 5 of which came in the first 7 holes. Ed missed a birdie putt on the last to equal the course record of 68, which is held by Tidge Gharial, Ben Hall and Lee Tebbutt. Ed has now been cut to a career low 2.8. Ed seems to be hitting form at the right time. Andy Vale continued his fantastic form with a gross 82 nett 68 to finish ahead of Jay Smith on count-back. Andy has been playing extremely well and consistent recently, with his last three rounds all containing solid golf. This was the third time in 8 days Vale had been beaten by Eley, although it will only be a matter of time before Vale wins a gold letter. Although with the handicap committee meeting soon he might be cut even more from his new 12.8 handicap. Dave Goodman finished 4th with a gross 76 nett 71, while the always consistent Lee Tebbutt finished 5th with a gross 73 nett 71 giving him the best gross due to the trophy going to Eley.
Ladies Kerry Styles Cup
The ladies Kerry Styles Rosebowl was won by the lady whose Grandfather donated the trophy to the club. Kerry Coulter got 38 points playing off her 12 handicap to win the competition by 3 points. Lina Souza was second with 35 points, while Margaret Palmer finished 3rd with 34 points. It was not easy to score at the weekend, with a number of the men struggling to play to their handicap. Well done to Kerry!
Juniors Kerry Styles Cup
Junior captain Craig Seal won the Juniors Kerry Styles Cup by 5 shots from Dale Baker. Craig shot gross 82 nett 68 off his 14 handicap, and he has now been cut to 13. Dale Baker shot 81 playing off 8 to give him a nett 73 and the best gross of the day. Some of the juniors might have found it difficult to adjust to playing off the white tees, as do some of the lower handicappers, but the more they play from the backs the more it will improve their games.
Scratch Team
The scratch team won their first match of the season on Thursday 23rd April when they beat Market Harborough 4 and 1/2 2 and 1/2 at Oadby. 2 and 1/2 points were won out of the top 4, with Ben Hall and Ed Eley winning and Adam Jacques getting the half. Dale Baker put in a very good performance at no. 2 but unfortunately lost on the last. Tidge Gharial, Dave Sewart and Dave Goodman won in the back 4, with Richard Primrose the other loss. The next match is at home to Ullesthorpe on Thursday 7th May. See the scratch team page for more of a report on the match.