Yearly Archives: 2018

With the day’s temperature expected to hit 36C the club offered an early hit-off time, 8.30 am; a number of players took that option while many others headed out at the usual time of 9.30 am.  What a difference a week makes, last Wednesday cold and blustery, this week hot with a gentle breeze.  In fact the weather was almost perfect for golf; some relief from the hot sun with the cooling breeze.  There was plenty of summer run but pleasingly there is still a nice covering of (dry) grass on most fairways.   The greens were very slick having been recently mown and apart from some bird damage were in good condition.  On a hot, reasonably still morning all players enjoyed the challenge of a Par event and recorded the following results.

Winner –  Darlene Baker (19) Square from  Beryl Cole (26) -1 & Pam Drummond (36) -2

Men’s Winner – Bruce Robb (32) + from John Freestone (22) -4

Players hit-off in the first round of the 2018 Flatstick Roofing Summer Cup under clear skies with virtually no wind.  Each round will see the top 10 golfers allocated points, players have two chances to score in each round; Sat and Wed. Whilst the 100mm+ of rain from last weekend saw a green tinge across many fairways the very sudden death of the winter grass (42C will do that) saw relief, to a club length fairway played.  Scarifying and rolling of the greens made for quicker than usual putts with a tendency to move off the line (unless you were putting down a scarifying cut).  The still day and plenty of run on the fairways should have seen excellent scoring but all golfers found it very difficult to put a number of good holes together.  On a still, hot afternoon the results were;

Winner; Scott Williams – (18) +1 C/B from Mick Nicholls Jnr & Bob McLennan, Chris vanDerVliet – (25) & John Laing – (29)  Square

NTP; 15th – Rob Rea

The change in the weather over the last week was almost unbelieveable. The day was cool to cold, some misty rain and very strong, gusting winds from the south-west.  With over 120mm of rain falling from Thurs to Sun the fairways were much softer but there was still plenty of run for well struck shots.  The greens were good but slower than in previous weeks, only three greens showed new bird damage.  On a very difficult day for golf the results were;

Winner & January Medalist; Pam Drummond – 117/41/76 from Elaine Scanlon – 110/32/78.

Men’s Winner; Hugh Williams – 101/22/79 from Bruce Robb
Least Putts; Pam Drummond – 31 and Hugh Williams –  31.

After the hot, dry weeks of early January 48mm of rain on Thursday evening and another 23mm of Friday evening were very welcome; the course showed some signs of green.  However, the moisture in the soil soon steamed up under the ever warming sun and everyone had to get through yet another hot and humid round.  Players got occasional relief with a cool breeze from the east, as the day drew to a close, the breeze moved around to the NW.  While most of the course had reasonable cover there were areas of very disturbed soil (courtesy of the Little Corellas) and the rain had made these quite sticky however a free drop got all players out of trouble.  The softer fairways pulled up all but the best drives and when on the greens it soon became apparent that they were again quite quick with much less borrow that in previous times.  Once again two octogenarians lead the way with accurate woods and irons and excellent putting.   On a sticky afternoon the results were;

Winner & January Medallist; Mick Nicholls Snr – 91/23/68 from John Laing – 99/30/69. Scott Williams – 91/19/70 & Daniel Wright – 76/4/70

NTPs; 15th – Michael Squires, 16th – Bob McLennan

Least Putts; Daniel Wright – 25

The month of February sees the 4th RGC Flatstick Roofing Summer Cup, there are eight rounds, (Wed and Sat – Par, Stroke, Stableford & Monthly Medal) but only a player’s best three rounds will count.

It was a perfect day for an early start on the golf course.  Players teed off from 8.30 am in the first round of 2018 Silver Spoon and Mona McLeod.  A heavy dew was still on the greens for the first three or four holes before the sun broke through and dried things up.  The weather was perfect and the course in great condition, apart from the terrible damage caused by the pesky corellas, they continue wreak havoc on the greens.  After a very enjoyable round members shared a lovely lunch to celebrate Pam’s special birthday. On a beautiful day to be out in the Park the results were;
Women’s Winner; Pam Drummond – 107/43/64 from Jenny Hartley-100/28/72 & Lorraine Robb – 107/35/72
Men’s Winner; Bruce Robb (34)  – 40pts from Hugh Williams (22) – 35 pts & John Freestone (33) – 35 pts
Least putts; 29 – Pam Drummond  (to round off a lovely birthday )

Texas Ambrose is a slight variation on normal Ambrose. While the best drive is aways chosen, (subject to each player taking the requisite number of drives), team members then hole out playing their own ball.  The best two scores are recorded for the team score.  Play began under clear skies with a rapidly rising temperature and no wind.  All players struggled with the extreme humidity for the first nine holes however a slight SW wind arrived later in the day cooling everyone down.  After the extreme heat late in the week the fairways had dried considerably and golfers got excellent value for well struck drives.  The greens were in excellent condition, apart for the Little Corella damage, and generally putted quite fast and very true.  The format allowed many players to record excellent scores on numerous holes and saw the lowest team score of 90 pts.  On a still, hot day the results were;

Winners; Les Gaunt, Pam Drummond, Bob McLennan & Hugh Drummond – 109 pts from Bruce Robb, Mick Nicholls Snr, Wayne Robb & Mal Mottram – 105 pts & Scott Williams, John Freestone, George Crow & Ron Walker – 105 pts

Individual scores; Women – Pam Drummond – 55 pts. Men – Mick Nicholls Snr – 53 pts

NTPs; 1st Mick Nicholls Jnr, 15th – Ron Walker & 16th Mick Nicholls Jnr

Near perfect conditions greeted the field as they headed to the first tee for a Stableford round of golf; there was not a breath of wind and the sky was clear.  The course was in very good condition with evidence of many hours spent on the mowers.  Our trusty band of volunteers do a great job. Little Corella damage on the greens have been repaired and putting was true and smooth on most holes with players being rewarded when putting straight and strong.  Towards the end of the round a blustery wind affected some holes and the temperature began to rise but with only a few holes to go this created no real problems.  On a beautiful day to be out in fresh air of Romsey Park the results were;

Winner; Beryl Cole (26) – 38 pts from Jenny Hartley (29) – 34 pts and Elaine Scanlon (32) – 33 pts

Men’s Winner; John Freestone (23) – 35 pts from John Laing (30) – 33 pts

With around 10mm falling on Friday evening the fairways were a little softer and the green tinge that had suffered through last Saturday’s 42C was again evident across most fairways.  Players headed to the tee under overcast skies with a gusting westerly wind, rain looked to be on the horizon.  As the round progressed the wind swung around to the north before moving back to the west.  Steady drizzle for much of the round also made gripping clubs more challenging.  As with the last few weeks many players found it difficult to put together a steady 18 holes, numerous had wonderful front or back nines only to fall away.  In the end it was up to two “old stagers” to show the way and to bring just one of the younger brigade along with them.  On a wet and windy afternoon the results were;

Winner; Ron Walker – 91/24/67 from John Laing – 100/31/69 & Mick Nicholls Jnr – 90/18/72

NTPs; 1st – Rob Rea, 15th – John Moody & 16th – John Laing

The 2018 Wednesday season kicked off  with a friendly game of Ambrose. The weather was perfect for golf and the round was completed before the sun became too hot.  The course has dried out considerably making the fairways quite hard which resulted in some interesting bounces and of course a lot of run. The greens are in very good condition apart from the terrible bird damage on some.  The day’s results were;
Winners; Pam Drummond, Jenny Hartley and Wendy Gosden 83/17.6/65.4 from Elaine Scanlon and Darlene Baker 84/12.75/71.25

With the day’s temperature predicted to reach 40C the club’s “Extreme Heat Policy” was activated and play began at 8.30 am.  A good sized field of “hard nut” golfers headed out with gusting winds from the NE, as the round progressed the wind strengthened and then moved to the NW.  Players had to contend with both the wind, the harder fairways and some deep, corella lead damage on a few greens.  Over the round the greens hardened making high approach shots a bit of a gamble.  The team of Wright/Nicholls Jnr had a stunning from nine recording 38 points but as the temperature rose it was the older, cooler heads who came to the fore.  In the end the day’s winners were able to overcome three wipes to record an excellent score.  On a very hot and windy morning the results were;

Winners; John Freestone/Mick Nicholls Snr – 69 pts from Shannon Wright/Mick Nicholls Jnr – 62 pts

Individual scores; John Freestone (23) – 37 pts from Mick Nicholls Jnr (19) – 34 pts & Shannon Wright – (14) – 33 pts

NTPs; 15th – Les Gaunt & 16th – Shannon Wright