Men’s Golf Report
I did say I was hoping to see some great scores on the day of the Alan Scott Trophy and Jo Cochrane duly obliged with a stunning score of 47 points (69 gross) to win the trophy; well played sir! Second and third places were taken by Roy Martin and David Worden, both scoring 39 points. Our Ladies’ Captain, Angela Atkins, won the ladies’ first prize with Caroline Nettel in the runners-up spot. Best of all, we had a nice dry sunny morning!
Conditions have continued to be challenging with the course closed on some days and carry-only when open. The non-qualifying roll-up scheduled for 29th February did not go ahead due to course closure. That said, the course is in remarkable condition considering the volumes of water that it has had to absorb and dissipate. Many other courses are closed or only partially open for play. Back home in Longford, Ireland my Mum tells me that the new Club Captains have yet to hold their drive-in, normally it’s in early January, with the latest re-scheduling having moved it to 14th March …
Please note that our Grounds Team advise that there are a ‘large number of unrepaired divots on fairways and unrepaired pitch marks on the greens, where no effort has been made to make a repair. As the ground is so soft, even the slightest scuff becomes a scar on the greens and will take longer to repair.’
This is a perennial issue at our Club, along with leaving bunkers un-raked and failing to shout a warning when a wayward ball is struck. On Sunday last there was hardly a green on which I didn’t repair at least two pitch marks. For the avoidance of doubt this is not an issue that can be simply linked to busy periods at weekends. Stats gathered by the Course Marshals show that the course frequently has more players on it on certain weekdays than at weekends. Let’s make 2020 the year of TLC for our course everyone.
The next Club Roll-ups are on Saturday 7th March, with qualifying AM and PM competitions for the first time in 2020. They’ll be organised by Vice-Captain Paul Taylor in the morning and Paul Gordon-Brown in the afternoon.
The inaugural Ireland vs. Rest of the World Match, a mixed greensomes event, is now fully subscribed, and will be played on Saturday 14th March. Thanks to all who’ve signed up, we have sixteen players on each team, with five ladies on each team. Vice-Captain Paul Taylor has kindly agreed to captain the RoW team and we’ll be deciding our pairs and the playing order during this week.
Just a final note to welcome David Birn as our Scratch Team representative on the Men’s Golf Committee and we thank Vince Thorne (our course record holder) for his time on committee.
Gerry Dennigan | Men’s Golf Captain
Senior Golf News
The February Grail was played on 4th March – two weeks late due to bad weather. The course was still very wet in places so the competition was non-qualifying. 37 Seniors played despite the fact that trolleys and buggies were not permitted. In the event the rain held off until 1pm so most groups had an enjoyable round and completed their golf in the dry.
Prizes were awarded to the following:
1st David Bouch 40 points
2nd Simon Lucas 39 points
3rd Neil Symons 38 points
4th Suresh Vara 37 points
Congratulations to David Bouch for another Grail win and for (almost) playing to his age.
March Grail
This will take place on Wednesday 25th March.
Salute the Services
Please sign up at Reception for this annual event which takes place on Monday 23rd March. This year’s event features the Fire Service and net proceeds will go to charity. As usual there will be a display before the golf so it should be a very enjoyable day.