Saturday December 26th – Boxing Day Stableford

A strong field assembled  at 8.00 for an 8.30 start and all were eager to get out on the course before the day heated up. It  was wonderful  to welcome back Michael McCarten who had just finished basic training  at Kapooka in NSW.  The rain of Mon and Tue, ~35mm, saw most of the course in excellent condition with good cover on the fairways and surrounds.  Recent maintenance works to the greens mower saw fast and true greens.  The Santa Ana couch grass, sown in mid Nov, is now coming through and quite easily seen.  The season has been almost perfect for the couch grass sprigs and the club is eagerly looking forward to mid/late Feb when the cover should much greater.  The clear, still conditions saw some excellent golf with with a good number of players shooting better, at or just below their handicaps. On a beautiful early summer’s morning the results were;

Winner; Andrew Laing (19) – 41 pts from Mitch Atlas (9) – 38 pts, Mick Nicholls Snr (24) 37 pts, Ryan Davies (22) – 37 pts & John Freestone (24) – 36 pts

Saturday December 19th – Monthly Medal – Stroke & Putts

For the first time in many, many months the players were able to meet in the rooms before the round.  With both the Golf Season and the Bowls Season being turned upside down the shared rooms have become more than problematic.  Both clubs were playing competition and then having Christmas Drinks but the combined numbers were too large for the one location.  For this day the Management Committee agreed that the Golf Club would use the rooms while the Bowls Club would use the outside undercover area.  The course was refreshed by the 7mm of rain on Wednesday and the additional irrigation designed to give the Santa Ana couch grass the best possible start.  Conditions were good for the December Medal; some excellent scoring was expected and a number of players rose to the occasion.  The day’s results were;

Winner and December Medalist; Ryan Davies – 90/22/68 from Davie Kenney – 89/20/69, & Rob Slade – 93/24/69

Women’s Winner; Lis Manktelow – 92/21/71

NTPs; 1st -Les Gaunt, 15th – Andrew Clement, 16th – Mal Mottram

Least Putts; John Freestone & Les Gaunt – 26  (Could not be separated on a count-back)

The day also saw presentations for the small number of annual events that had been concluded.

The Algie Mitchell Shield – Davey Kenney with RGC Captain Mal Mottram

The W. E. Tom Shield – Simon Donovan & Ryan Davies with RGC Captain Mal Mottram

The Ken & Helene Newnham Shield (Medal of Medallists) – Toby Clement

The  Rose Scanlon Shield – Darlene Baker

The President’s & Captains Award (For Conspicuous Service) – Hugh Drummond with RGC Captain Mal Mottram

Recognition for efforts during the major works program across Romsey Park (Sponsored by The Romsey Bottle-O)

Bruce Robb, Clive Mensforth, John Freestone, Mal Mottram, Hugh Drummond, Steve Wilkins & Andrew Clement. (Ron Walker absent)

 

Wednesday December 16th – Stableford

A small but dedicated group of golfers took to the course in chillier than expected conditions. A starting temperature of 11°C slowly increased to a warmer 22°C by the end of the round.   The dreaded corellas have returned and a flock of ~80 were seen around the twelfth tee, hopefully they confine themselves to the fairways although last time they did venture out onto the oval.  The course is still quite green and well grassed with the greens looking very good and playing well. Congratulations and thanks to our volunteer workforce who have done a super job all year. Results of the Stableford Event

1st ; Rob Slade – (26) 38 points
2nd; Jenny Hartley – (24) 35 pts
3rd; Sherif Abdel-Sayed – (27) 30pts

Saturday December 12th – 4BBB Stroke

Another wonderful early summer’s day, bright sunshine and a NE wind that seemed content to blow a bit at noon then just spend the afternoon wandering quietly among the trees.  While there were a few damaged spots on a few fairways, they had generally recovered well from the couch sprigging and the radical bounces of the last two weeks were much more uncommon.  The corellas had returned but their numbers were still low so only slight damage to a few of the greens. The good conditions saw some excellent scoring with a number of pairs well under par. Highlights of the day were two outstanding shots on the par 3 15th and 16th.  On a top day for golf the results were

Winners; Rob Slade/Davey Kenney – 63 from Lis & Chris Manktelow- 63, Mal Mottram/Mick Nicholls Snr – 65 & Rob  & Bill Bretherton – 66

NTPs; 15th – Sherif Abdel-Sayed, 16th – Mal Mottram

Wednesday December 9th – Ambrose, Nth Pole Rules

North Pole Rules were used in Ambrose format to finish off the 2020 year of golf on Wednesdays. Each of the twelve holes played had different conditions such as “no woods allowed for the duration of this hole”.   Fun and laughter were the themes of the day and everyone enjoyed the friendly atmosphere.    Highlights of the day were Chris’ chip in birdie on the 15th and Connie’s consistently good putting. Results were;

Ist; Kath Jekabsons/Wendy Gosden/Connie Cecys – 55/19.3/35.7

2nd; Lis Manktelow/Jenny Hartley/Chris Manktelow – 50/13.8/36.2

3rd; Neryle-Lea Sparke/ Beryl Cole/ Roger Sparke – 53/16.3/36.7

 

 

Saturday December 5th – Stableford

With the day’s forecast predicting heavy rain and thunderstorms in the mid afternoon tee-off was changed to 9.30am with a shot-gun start.  The field teed of in generally good conditions.  The greens were fast and true seeing  numerous players sinking long putts to salvage par.  While there were still a few chopped up areas most of the fairways had recovered well from the couch grass sprigging and it was possible to see the new couch grass pushing its way through. Towards the end of the round the northerly wind blew up a little pushing balls well off line but by that stage most players were resigned to their fate.  Rain began falling as the groups finished their final holes and made their way to the shed so, all in all, an excellent choice by the RGC captain.

Winner; Ralph Senn (26) – 42 pts from Davie Kenney (20) – 36 pts, Mal Mottram (8) – 36 pts & Steve Wilkins (18) – 35 pts

NTPs; 15th – Mick Nicholls Snr

Oh, the corellas are back in the park, low numbers at the moment but who can tell just how many wil turn up to celebrate Christmas in Romsey?

Wednesday December 2nd – Stroke

A very chilly wind greeted golfers on the first tee as they prepared for the final round of the Rose Scanlon Shield, a Stroke and Putts event.   The wind persisted but the sun managed to warm things up throughout the day. The morning’s results were;
9 Holes
1st; Hugh Williams
2nd; Bruce Robb

18 Holes
1st; Darlene Baker – 92/21/71,

2nd; Jenny Hartley – 101/24/77  C/B from

3rd; Rob Slade – 98/21/77

Least Putts
1st; Lis Manktelow – 30 putts

Saturday November 28th – Monthly Medal, Stroke & Putts

Two days of around 30C and steady winds had seen off any casual water from the weekend’s 35mm+ of rain; the couch sprigs will be loving the  moisture  and the heat.  The day began well, warm, clear conditions, a gentle breeze from the Sth and RGC captain Mal Mottram dropping his tee shot onto the 1st green.  As the round progressed the wind blew up a little and moved to the SW but it had little effect on the golf.  A number of players performed very well considering the effects of the couch grass sprigging was a major factor on all fairways.  Returning a score at or better than handicap was an excellent performance.  It was also wonderful to welcome back ex RGC member John Gradie who was down with a group from NSW for a wine education tour.  On a top day for golf the results were;

Winner & November Medalist; Scott Williams – 87/18/69 from Andrew Clement – 82/10/72, Mick Squire -77/2/75 & Matt Burkett – 105/30/75

NTP; 1st Mal Mottram

Least Putts; Scott Williams – 25

Wednesday November 25th – 2B Multiplier Stableford

There was a runaway winner in the 2 Ball Stableford Multiplier with the team of Steve Wilkins and Chris Manktelow winning by a margin of 18 points. Well done team.   Their score of 57 points was a clear winner from Wendy Gosden and Darlene Baker who recorded 39 points.
Third was the team of Beryl Cole and Rob Slade with 37 points on a count-back from Lis Manktelow and Chris Manktelow, also on 27.
The work around the course continues with volunteers watering extensively to help the recent sprigging of couch grass across the fairways. We can’t wait to see the fruits of their labour.

Saturday November 21st – 24 hole – Captain’s Vs Clement’s

The club was very pleased to see the huge turnout for the Captain’s Vs Clement’s 24-hole event.  RGC, like almost all DDGA clubs, was unable to hold our 2020 Open “The Graeme Clement Open” this was a more than suitable replacement event.  The course had been sprigged with Santa Ana couch on Monday and Tuesday so drives often got quite unusual bounces with some balls turning almost 90 Deg.  Still on such a wonderful day, with such enjoyable company and a challenging format all was good.  The event was played over “The Old Course”layout, 12 holes 4BBB Stableford in the morning with pairs changing for the afternoon 12 holes.  Wendy  Gosden and Lorraine Robb did an amazing job with the salad rolls for lunch with players sitting in small groups well away from each other under the trees.  Despite the challenges of the fairways numerous groups were able to return good scores.  Elaine Scanlon and Mal Mottram did a top job organising the event and sorting the payments and scores.  It was also wonderful to see life members Bruce Robb, John Laing and Peter Scanlon down for a quiet drink and a chat at the end of the day and past captain Neil Jarman playing the whole event.  On a top day the results were;

Captain’s team; AM – 163pts, PM – 157 pts – Total – 320pts

Clement’s Team; AM – 160 pts, PM – 152 pts – Total – 312 pts

NTPs; 1st – Jim Patton, 8th – John Freestone, 9th – Andrew Clement, 10th – Mal Mottram

Best 2nd shot (3rd) – Andrew Clement

Longest Drive (4th) – Mitch Clement

Best individual score; Mitch Atlas – 65 pts