Yearly Archives: 2018

After a week of frosts, heavy dews, rain and some hail the course was well and truly wet.  The cold air, soft fairways and occasional gusts of  south-westerly winds all made for a more than usually challenging round of golf.  Club captain, Scott Williams began the round well with a top shot and a birdie on the first but from then on scoring grew increasingly difficult.  No-one was able to settle in to a rhythm and reel off a number of pars, in fact a par was .  Despite the tough conditions all groups moved well and everyone was back in the warm, Tennis Club rooms well before 4.30 pm.  On a cold and difficult afternoon the results were.

Winner; Mal Mottram (11) – 34 pts from John Freestone (20) & Mick Squire (7) – 30 pts

NTPs; 1st – Scott Williams

Bacchus Marsh West Golf Club hosted a Captain and President Day and Wendy Gosden and Darlene Baker represented Romsey GC.  The day was a Stableford Irish Foursome with teams of four. On the pair 3s all four scores were recorded, three scores on the par 4 and the best two on par 5s. On a very, very, very windy day the top team had a commendable score of 111 points. Interestingly this winning team was a combination of Bacchus Marsh West and Gisborne and included a past club champion of Romsey GC, Marg Ivory (Marg Crump – RGC Champion 2001/02).

The round was played under very heavy conditions. Fairway shots pulled up on the first bounce and anything in the rough was very difficult to get out. Greens were good if not slick with only a couple of them showing the effects of the recent rains.
Results;

Women; 1st     Wendy Gosden, 2nd    Jenny Hartley, 3rd     Darlene Baker

Men; 1st      Bruce Robb

The stroke field teed off on a cold, surprisingly still day with plenty of winter sun.  Players again battled soft, wet fairways and very cold air, hitting a green in “regulation” proved to be very difficult.  Players with a good short game had a distinct advantage.  There were still some bare patches that had still not recovered from February to June’s extended dry, so “relief to a handspan through the green” was given.  All greens were good allowing players to attack the cup, overly confident putts could, and did, slide well passed leaving difficult second putts.  Whilst there is a deal of new growth across the whole course the fairways are really beginning to take off.  They will soon be back to their best once the soil temperature begins to rise.  On a sunny, but very cold afternoon, the results were;

Winner; Rob Rea – 91/18/73 from Bruce Robb – 106/30/76

The temperature was 6°C when the field hit off for the Silver Spoon Playoff and by the end of the round it was 4°!!! Needless to say conditions were challenging and scoring well was difficult. The softened fairways pulled the ball up quickly and reduced forward momentum but those who could stay on the fairway were not so badly affected . The greens were variable with some being quite soft but most were true and still quite quick.
In a round of very few highlights Pam Drummond chipped in on the 17th and Darlene Baker birdied the 15th with a longish putt.
Leila Beasley was the nine hole winner.
The major highlight however was Elaine Scanlon winning the day and progressing to the final of the Silver Spoon at Eastern Golf Course in November, well done Elaine.

It was a very challenging afternoon for golf, icy cold, rain predicted and strong winds moving between the west and the south-west.  The club’s oldest shield, first played in 1965, was up for grabs; the final being between Anthony Lakey/John Freestone & John & Andrew Laing.  The strong winds and very soft fairways saw bogie or double bogie good enough to halve or win a hole, par was the exception.  The match was a close affair with with neither team getting more than one hole ahead until the second half of the back nine.  During the round there was plenty of excellent driving and chipping but more importantly some amazing escapes from under or over trees straight onto the green and some extremely “courageous” putting.  With three holes to go it was dormi-three but no-one was prepared to lie down.  It was not until the 17th that the final was decided.  As for the stroke field, well, scoring was such that it was almost as if no-one turned up.  On a very cold, windy afternoon the results were;

W. E. Tom Final

Anthony Lakey (4)/John Freestone (2) D John Laing (7)/Andrew Laing (0) – 2/1

Discussion aplenty this morning as we assembled at the Tennis Club rooms before teeing off. The only topic of conversation was the wind. The howling north westerly was blowing a gale and was forecast to get even stronger as the day wore on. But we were all in agreement that it was only a bit of wind and Wednesday is golf day so off we headed to the 8th  tee which ( is the starting point from our temporary club house accommodation).
The wind played havoc with the ball when it was a cross wind but adjustments were made and all players enjoyed a the round of Pinehurst with the eventual winners being Jenny Hartley and Darlene Baker 95/20.5/74.5 closely followed in second place by Lorraine Robb and Elaine Scanlon.

The June Medal was contested on another chilly afternoon however, the sun did shine through here and there.  During the round the wind shifted from the south to the south-west, golfers also battled cold air and quite soft fairways.  The greens continue to be fast and very true.  A number of the field had not played art Romsey for quite a while and found it all to easy to three putt after an exuberant first putt sailed well passed the cup.  The conditions made it difficult to post a good score, especially when steady drizzle fell over the final few holes.  With works being undertaken at the Golf & Bowls Clubrooms the golf club has relocated to the Romsey Tennis Club rooms.  We would like to thank Kaitlyn Stevens (MRSC) and the Tennis club for their support.  On a very cold afternoon the results were;

Winner & June Medalist; John Freestone – 93/20/73 from Mal Mottram – 86/10/76

NTPs; 15th – Kevin Dunn & 16th – Andrew Clement

Least Putts; Scott Williams – 24

Congratulations to Jenny Hartley on winning the June Monthly Medal with a very good score of 98/24/74.  Pam Drummond was runner up, with Darlene Baker third.
Bob Dwyer returned the best score for the men on the day.