FROM AUGUST - Mens Captains Charity Competition

Ray Clark got a very impressive tally of 43 points in the Captains Charity Competition played over the 19th and 30th August. Ray's score of 43 points won him the competition by 4 shots, and in the conditions it was a very good score. The wind was up and with the course still not brilliant andything over 40 was going to be a very good score. This was proved by the fact Ray was the only golfer who scored more than 39 points. On the Saturday the Standard of Scratch remained at 70 so Ray missed out on some handicap cutting, but on Sunday the Standard Scratch went up to 73, and it was in form Roger Loach who capitalized. Roger was second on, after his 39 points beat Ryan Archer on count-back. Roger won the McDonald Trophy the week before and after this latest round has been cut to 8.1, with a playing handicap of 8. Ray has been cut to 20 after his win. Alan Simpson and Richard Bonser were fourth and fifth respectively. Rich got 36 points and beat Steve Ablett and Asra on count-back. With his sixth place finish Steve extended his lead at the top of the Order of Merit table. It has been a slow last few weeks for Steve, who has been letting people get themselves back into contention, but he has now decided to start playing properly again. Steve now leads the Order of Merit by 41.92 points ahead of Scott Merrell.

FROM AUGUST - Junior John Crane Qualifier

Charlie Patel won the Qualifier for the Jon Crane wth Nett scores of 66 & 63, some fantastic scoring for Charlie. The top 4 players go through to the matchplay, with the semi-finals and the final being played on the same day. This was a very tough test for Charlie, but he came through all 36 holes with no problems, even shooting a terrific Nett 63 in the afternoon round. Jake Ellson was second, with Nett scores of 74 and then a terrific 63 in the second round. Jake Hurst was third with 71 & 67. Danny Keogh was very solid around his handicap, and with Nett scores of 71 and 70 he finished in fourth place. Charlie has been cut to 24 after this fantastic performance, while Jake Ellson has been cut to 17. Jake Hurst was also cut to 10.

Mens Chamberlain Autumn Cup

The Chamberlain Autumn Cup was played over the weekend over the 5th and 6th of September, and Ed Eley returned to form with a solid Gross 73 Nett 69 to win on count-back ahead of Geoff Kiff. It was a very solid round of golf by Ed, hitting 14 greens and had it not been for a poor day with the putter the score would have been much lower. With this win Ed closes in on Steve Ablett in the Order of Merit, closing the gap to just under 20 points. Ed has got himself cut back down to 3 after this competition. The Nett 69 from Geoff Kiff equated to a Gross 90 off his 21 handicap, and Geoff has been cut to 20. Andy Vale returnded to competitive golf after a few weeks out with a Gross 82 Nett 70 to finish 3rd and extend his lead in 5th place in the Order of Merit ahead of Ben Hall. Richard Bonser and Dave Leet both shot Gross 84 Nett 71 to finish 4th and 5th respectively. Ant Henfrey, Ryan Archer and Scott Merrell all shot level to their handicaps. Scott Merrell also picked up points on Steve Ablett, with Steve failing to make the top 10.

Junior Medal

Oliver Fletcher-Warrington won the Junior September Medal on Sunday 13th September when he shot a Gross 78 playing off his 9 handicap. This equated to a Nett 69 and it meant Oli won the competition on count-back ahead of Ian Timmins. Ian shot a Gross 93 Nett 24. Both players have been cut but they have not lost a whole shot, Oli getting cut to 9.2 and Ian getting cut to 23.7. Paul Abbott was third with a Nett 70 while Liam Prendergast was fourth with a Nett 71. Oli currently leads the Junior Order of Merit with not many competitions left to go.

Dave Goodman Aces 3rd Hole

On Sunday 21st September in the Mens Anniversary Trophy Dave Goodman hit his first ever hole in 1. Unlike normal holes in one at Oadby which come on the 10th or 16th, Dave decided to really push the boat out by hitting his ace on the 3rd. The 3rd is a par 4, and Dave shots was made even more incredible by the fact he attempted to hit a fade around the big tree. The ball didnt really fade but it went dead straight, faintly clipping the top leaf on its way through. The ball was nowhere to be seen, until Ed Elet looked in the hole and saw it sitting in the bottom of the cup. It was fantastic shot and a fantastic achievement for Dave, who other than for that shot did not play that well on the front nine, but he will never forget that shot, as will his playing partners. Well done Dave!

Mens Anniversary Trophy

Scott Merrell won the Anniversary Trophy on Sunday 20th September when he shot a Gross 78 Nett 67 playing off his 11 handicap. As a result of this Scott has been cut to 10 and has also gone to the top of the Order of Merit for the first time this year. Scott is now 1.92 points clear of Steve Ablett, who came 4th in the Anniversary with a Gross 83 Nett 69. Steve has now been cut to 13.5, still a playing handicap of 14, but it was another solid performance from Steve, who will now be determined to get back to the top of the rankings. In between those two were Darren Peden and Paul Hancock. Darren was beat by Scott on count-back after he shot a solid Gross 76 Nett 69 off 9, despte a bad finish to the round on 16 and 17. Paul Hancock shot Gross 89 Nett 69 to finish 3rd. Paul has been in the top 5 an awful lot of times this year, probably making more appearances in the top 5 than anybody. Paul is 4th in the Order of Merit, behind Ed Eley, who finished 7th in the Anniversary after a solid 1 over par 73 Nett 70. Ed won the lowest Gross. Dave Goodman shot a Nett 77 despite making a fantastic hole in 1 on the 3rd hole!

Pairs Summer KO

The new pairs summer league was concluded on Sunday 27th September, with the final taking place between the pairs of Brian and Adam Fletcher-Warrington and Ed Eley & Jan Reading. It was a very close match all the way through, and in the end it went into extra holes. On the 1st extra hole Brian 3 putted which would have won the match, but despite some luck on the 2nd extra hole, Ed Eley and Jan Reading could not contend with the shots that were give, and even though Jan also got a shot, the match was over, Brian and Adam taking the crown. It was the first year the 9 hole competition has been played, and Im sure everyone who played in it will agree it was a lot of fun to play in. Next year the competition will start a sooner in the year, and it would be great to see some new pairs entering the league next year.

Pat Murphy KO

Asra won the Pat Murphy Knockout on Sunday 27th September when he beat James Whitehead on the last in the final. Both players had bet some fantastic players to get into the final, and it proved to be a fantastic contest. In the end it came right down to the last hole, with the score all square. In the end Asra made a 3 putt 5, and after some tree problems James Whitehead ended up making 6, meaning Asra won the Knockout. It is a fantastic competition to win, and it is one of the biggest of the year, as it tests out players matchplay skills. Asra has been playing solid golf throughout the year, and in the end it was a well deserved victory, so congratulations Asra. Whitehead has also played some fantastic golf throughout this competition, and had he won he would also have been a worthy winner, so although he fell just short in the end, it was a good achievement. So well done to James also!

Junior Order Of Merit

This year was the first year that the Junior Order of Merit was played, and in the end it was Oli Fletcher-Warrington who won the competition, with Andy Keogh finishing second. Not all of the competitions played counted towards the Order Of Merit, but the main comps and some of the monthly medals/stablefords were also included, and Oli played very solid consistent golf throughout these competitions. Oli has played very solid, consistent golf throughout the year, playing well in the mens competitions that he has played in as well. Oli won his first gold letter a few weeks ago, which was the Junior Aniversary Trophy, and with the Junior Order Of Merit also looking like being a gold letter, it could be 2 in the space of 2 weeks for Oli.

Mens Xmas Stableford

The Xmas stableford, which was played over Sat & Sun 26th & 27th September, saw some outrageous scores returned, with the top 5 accumulating 39 under par. It was Paul Hancock who sat on the top of that bunch, with his 46 points good enough to win the competition by 2 shots. Scoring conditions were good on both days, with both days producing fantastic scores, and the CSS coming down to 69 on both days. Tim Bingham finished 2nd with 44 points, and he beat Dave Sewart on count-back. Dave's 44 points equated to a level par Gross round. The top 6 were all cut at least a shot, and Paul was cut from 20 to 17, Tim from 16 to 15, with a new exact of 14.5, and Dave from 8 to 7. In form golfer and Order Of Merit leader Scott Merrell finished 4th with 43 points, getting him cur from 10 to 9, and Joe Larkey was 5th on 42 points. Joe has now been cut to 20, and Joe was 1 shot clear of Barry Frith, whose 41 points was good enough for 6th, and good enough to cut him back down to 12. It is not very often you finish 7th with 41 points, but that is exactly what happened to Ed Eley, whose 41 points was a very good round of Gross 70. Ed only missed 2 greens all day. There were 4 scores of 40, with Werner Brach, Steve Buckley, Kev Wood and Alan Simpson coming 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th respectively. Martiin Morton, playing in his 2nd competition in 2 years off his new handicap of 13, got a very solid 39 points, and with Tom Doblander 13th with 38 points, that meant there were people as low down as 14th who were under their handicaps. There were 4 scores of 37 points, with Ben Hall 14th after coming back in 34 and -3 Gross for the last 10 holes, a backnine which included no socres worse than 4. With the CSS comign down, Ben went up 0.1 for shooting 1 under his handciap. Lee Cracknell was next, followed by Gaz MacKenzie and then Mark Allen. 18 people were under their handicap over the course of the weekend, and a further 5 were level to their handicaps. Conditions for scoring were perfect, with little wind, the sun shining, and the course starting to improve, despite the pins still being at the fronts on some holes.

Mens Order Of Merit

With few comps left in the season and the race for the Order of Merit, Scott Merrell is looking very good for the title, with his 4th place in the Xmas Stableford extending his lead at the top. With Steve Ablett not very well, Scott had a very good chance. Another solid 43 points was good to extend his lead from 1.92 points, to 31.92 points from Steve. Steve still has a chance, and it is certainly looking like it is now between those 2, although with the golf Ed Eley has been playing recently, he still has a chance. Ed is sitting in third place, and is currently 64.33 points behind Scott, so a few competition wins for Ed would put him in good position, but with the course playing the way it is, and the scores that are coming in, it will require an awesome round fo golf from Ed to win a comp due to his very low handicap. Paul Hancok picked up 60 points for his win in the Xmas stableford, and he is still in 4th, but is now only 78 points behind the leader. It is looking like Paul is to far away now, but more golf like that at the weekend, and who knows what will happen. Andy Vale is still 5th, having not played in the comp he did not move at all, but after his 2nd place Tim Bingham has jumped ahead of Ben Hall into 6th, with Ben now in 7th. It is pretty much impossible for anybody outside the top 4 to win the Order of Merit, but if it is mathmatically possible, it is not very likely to happen with the golf that is being played. It has certainly been an exciting year so far in the Order of Merit, and there might well be one more twist before it finishes.