Another amazing week, 36C on Tuesday, cool, overcast weather for the following two days then almost 20mm of steady rain on Friday.  The course was again in good condition and the wily old heads prepared to take full advantage. There was a 25 – 30 Kph wind from the SSW which later swung around to the S, this played havoc with the final few oles where the OOB on the 18th cost a number of players shots.  The course had soaked up the rain very well but there were a few wet patches here and there where balls plugged or picked up mud, no relief was given except fo plugged balls.  The round finished with two of the club’s veterans fighting it out over the final few holes, even then it was almost too close to split them.  On another almost spring day the results were;

Winner; Les Gaunt (4) – 35 pts C/B from John Freestone (23)
NTPs; 15th – Les Gaunt &  16th – Bob Dwyer

After around 5 mm of rain late on Friday the course was again in top nick.  Fairways just hard enough to give good value for well struck drives and the greens very receptive to wedge and high iron approach shots.  The greens again putted very true, unless you were above the hole on the 5th or the 7th, so players who aimed at the hole were well rewarded.  The “Golf for a Cause” (Double comp fee with 1/2 going to cancer research) drew an excellent field however, the Ambrose format was perfect for the larger numbers.  A couple of teams had “skiting rights” but, as usual, actions spoke louder than words.  The day was one of great hilarity with teams cheering each other on or attempting to “get inside each others’ heads” to gain any advantage.  The stakes, a glass and a few balls were certainly high enough!  The mild afternoon saw some excellent golf, on a beautiful, almost spring day, the results were;

Winners; Rob Rea/Andrew Clement/Jim Patton – 67/8.2/58.8 from Sherif Abdel-Sayed/Ron Walker/John Freestone – 73/11.3/61.7
NTPs; 1st – John Freestone, 15th – John Freestone & 16th – Rob Rea.

The 2017 Wednesday syllabus got off to an excellent start.  The weather was very pleasant, rarely getting above the mid 20’s and the course was in top nick.  Teams of two or three took to the field and enjoyed their round over “The Old Course”.  At par 45 this is a very tricky layout with many players coming unstuck at our “Amen Corner”, three successive par 3’s.  On a very relaxed morning the results were;

Winners: Darlene Baker /Wendy Gosden/Jenny Hartley – 52/11.8/40.2 from Sherif Abdel-Sayed/Elaine Scanlon – 50/9.7/40.3
NTP; 8th – Darlene Baker.

With the day’s temperature predicted to be 34C the club’s heat safety policy did not need to be activated. Conditions meant that those in carts were hoping for a more relaxed afternoon but as the round wore on some found there was little truth in that. The field teed off with a steady NE breeze to cool things down a little and to add just a bit of spice when shots got above the tree line. The warm, dry air saw balls travel surprising distances providing some players with quite short approach shots. However, in the end the hot, dry conditions took their toll on many golfers out and it was a battle between two of the cart pairs to win the day. The day’s results were;

Winning pair – Jim Patton (21)/Mick Nicholls Sr who celebrated his 80th birthday at the beginning of Jan, (24) – 71 points from Andrew Laing (19)/John Laing (30) – 67 points
NTPs; 1st – Jim Patton, 15th – Daniel Wright (very close to jackpot) & 16th – Andrew Laing

After Saturday’s exellent golf players were looking forward to getting back on the course, having a relaxed round and posting a good score.  The 1st round of the year began with a slight southerly breeze and some light but steady drizzle.  During the round the breeze grew stronger while the drizzle dried up after the first four or five holes.  It was another exellent morning for golf and the scoring was again good.  The morning’s results were;
Winners; Andrew Laing (19) – 40 pts & Elaine Scanlon (33) – 38 pts