Senior Men’s Golf Chairman’s Blog

We have now reached the true winter season of golf. Only the hardiest of us get out on the course and the fact that we are able to do so owes much to the dedicated work of the ground staff and green keepers.

In the past fortnight, there has been heavy rain and frost and occasional mist, all of which make playing problematic and provide challenges for keeping the course open. Many congratulations to Peter Bradburn and his team for the way in which play has been possible against the odds.

Winter Knockouts

We are now well into the winter knockouts with the first round of the Colum Sharkey being concluded by the end of the month. This has already given rise to a number of close matches, not least when recently Jim Kumar defeated Hassan Dajani on the 24^th hole of their match – the extra six holes having to be played on a second day. Playing behind them, I watched them closely to see if there were any clues to the result. Only on their sixth hole did we see the tell-tale handshake signifying the end of the match. Well done to both of them!

Last week we played a Texas Scramble. Several late additions to the field meant that most teams had four rather than three players. We have become used to Louis and Matt printing our team cards including the handicap allowance for the competition to be handed out by the starter as we go out.

On this occasion, one no show meant that one team was reduced from four players to three without notice and there was much discussion about what additional allowance a team with one fewer player should get. Some actuarial discussion left the organiser with a delicate task but Louis has assured me that the final result shown below was correct.

Three teams tied on Nett 56 – commendable scoring in difficult conditions.  On countback, the winning team was Peter Bateman, Nick Pack, Denis Gould and Hassan Dajani.  Runners up were Andrew Hine, Martin Flint, Trevor Hearle and Kevin Doyle. Well played to them all.

November Grail

This week we played the November Grail. A field of more than 50 golfers entered, though this was reduced to 48 after some anticipated bad weather. In the event the Grail was played on a cold but sunny morning. Nine players out of the field – a little under twenty percent – bettered their handicaps on a day of varied scoring. The leader board finished as follows:

1st Roger Gilbert                39 Points
2nd Peter Bateman            38 Points (countback)
3rd Bengt Grundberg        38 Points (countback)
4th Chris Cowan                 38 Points (countback)
5th Nicholas Brown           38 Points

Congratulations to all the prizewinners.

Christmas Nine Holes and Lunch

Booking is now open for the Seniors’ Christmas and nine holes on 13th December. This is a fun event where pairs can enter either to play Greensomes on the front nine or Four Ball Better Ball on the back nine. Seniors can invite Lady Members to play with them, make up a pairing from other seniors or get the organisers to find them a partner.

At lunch we generally sit down in the groups with whom we have played. If enough Seniors sign up, the prizes will include champagne, decent bottles of red wine or golf balls. I look forward to seeing you then.

Douglas Millar, Senior Men’s Golf Chairman