March 5th Actual playing golf has been possible elsewhere and it is a pleasure to report that our team of 4 in the annual Tom Smart ( now Memorial) Trophy, hosted by Ludlow, performed well and came 2nd= with Cleobury and Oswestry on 89 pts. 16 clubs took part in a Tex Am format with the rules stipulating 2 players under and 2 over 18 handicap; any 2 scores on each hole to count. Our team picked by captain Terry to accompany himself was Mike Williams, Bob Holloway and Alan Hooper. Not surprisingly Ludlow players were not as rusty as everyone else and made home advantage pay, scored 98 pts and took the honours.
A small group of Seniors, anxious not to lose the ability to hit a golf ball during the closure of our course, has been seen at Ludlow on 26th Feb and at Bewdley yesterday March 5th. Paul Oatley showed on both occasions that his loss of form in the last 2 years, resulting in an increase in handicap from 19 to 28, was temporary and on both occasions he has led the field; at Bewdley notably scoring 41pts. Well done Paul; your persistence and determination has been remarkable and has proved worthwhile.
February 2020. This month has been a disaster. On 6th a Texas Scramble was held using 9 holes. 1-8 and 18, and playing them twice. Since then our course has been out of action, suffering from torrential rain and very strong winds. A big clean up has started and Seniors and others have been doing their best to get us up and running as soon as possible. In the meantime this year’s Round Robin has been abandoned as have our own winter knock-outs.
Thursday competitions have suffered as badly this winter as any in the recent past. Jan 16th and Jan 30th were both cancelled owing to paucity of holes open. In between on Thursday 23rd a Captain’s charity fundraiser did take place. An individual Stableford over 16 holes was won by Tony Green with 34 pts, closely followed by Eric Rookledge on 33, with Stephen Palmer nicking 3rd place from Andy Chambers on cb, both had 32pts. Terry Bufton, Robert Head and Phil Samuel had the distinction of a 2. We hope to play a Texas Scramble on Thursday 6th.
January 9th 3 Div Stableford aka January Medal.
Following heavy overnight rain many of us expected the course to be closed and many thought, as we played wet hole after wet hole, that the course should have been closed.However a good turnout of 32 members enjoyed fresh air and exercise and relief from the company of those at home and some benefited financially and balls-wise. Despite the conditions Kevin Room began 2020 in fine form scoring 36 pts – 4 under par and winning overall; the other star was Tony Green who had the remarkable achievement of 3 2s, 1 on 6,14,and 17. Rob Brotherwood, off 8, won div 1 with 32 pts and Bob Holloway, off 21 won div 3 with 29. Next week a Yellowball competition is planned to add a little fun to our SAD lives. ( Seasonal Affective Disorder) caused by lack of SUN.
December 3 division Stableford, aka December Medal. Thursday 5th December. 16 holes available.
33 players braved the winter conditions and enjoyed the day to a greater or lesser extent. Jim Shaddick, who has plenty of time on his hands while attending the pro-shop, clearly has been thinking about his game, and returned to his 2018 form in a big way to score 34pts, 6 more than 2nd place in div 1 claimed by Andy Chambers. 2 players returning to the fold, Malcolm Clark in recovery from treatment, and Ian Robertson, in recovery from visiting Scotland, took the first 2 places in div.2 with 29 and 26 pts respectively; and 2 regular Weds clubnight friends, Charlie Tune and John Stevenson were first and 2nd in div 3 with 29 and 28 pts. Taffy ” I’ve not played for 7 weeks” Jones and Robert Harris won the balls sweep for their skill in getting a 2 on 6 and 17.
Christmas Capers with prizes for ALL who play next Thursday 12th December.
Winter 3 Division Stableford, aka Nov. Medal. Thursday 21st November.
15 holes were open but conditions were very difficult as balls plugged both on fairways and around the greens and were not easily found even when hit straight off the tee. Greenkeepers were working manfully to clear leaves but there are still many more on the trees waiting to join their fallen siblings and conceal our balls from sight. Dave Jones who putted with laser-like accuracy was not affected by the conditions and scored 32 pts to win div 1 and be overall winner; so he is the first to book a place in next year’s President’s Cup. The consistent Kevin Room also topped the par of 30, this time by 1pt, and won div 2. John Stevenson won div 3 with 29pts. Congratulations to Robert Head who scored the only 2, on the 6th, and had 24 balls to share with his playing partners.
Monday 18th November.
Disappointment for the Round Robin team at Forest Hills. Newcomers to the competition Forest Hills were too strong for a good team assembled by our captain, Dave. Their course clearly does not suffer when there is rain as much as ours does and our players had problems possibly caused by lack of play recently. The only winners on the card in a 4.5 – 1.5 loss were the two Terrys, Carver and Bufton, who arrived an hour late owing to an accident on the A49.
Thursday 31st October. Singles Stableford.
Our annual Poppy Appeal was postponed owing to the awful flooding on parts of our course and a singles stableford was played over the 15 holes which were open and were remarkably fit for play. Phil Green missed a short putt for par on the first then proceeded to par 9 of the remaining 14 holes to score more points than the joint total of his playing partners. Not surprisingly his 35 pts put him in first place beating Andy Chambers into 2nd who also scored well to achieve 33. Kevin Room managed a 2 on holes 14 and 17 and was joined as a ball sweep winner by Dave Botwood, Ian Fraser and Bill Brown.
Thursday 24th October. 3 Man Beast.
12 groups played in the latest fun day to raise money for the Captain’s charity. Vice Captain Dave Jones, fresh from leading the RR team to 2 wins, partnered Bill Brown and Charlie Tune and came away with first prize with a score of 82 pts, which defeated Tony Green, Cyril Jennings and Ray Chambers, also 82, on countback.
Wednesday. 23rd October. Round Robin v Ross Away.
A 2nd away match in the Winter league in 3 days brought a 2nd win. Ross used to be a notoriously difficult place at which to win but we followed a big win there last year with a narrow victory this time. The first 2 pairs back in the clubhouse suffered narrow defeats by 2&1, and it took a half by Kevin Room and Martin Pugh to get us on the scoreboard. 2 narrow victories followed, both 1 up – Rod Garvey with Alan Hooper and Ray Chambers with Kevin Waterman securing those, and Terry Bufton with Robert Head had the biggest win 3&2 to make the score 3.5 – 2.5.
Monday 21st October Round Robin v Upper Sapey. Away.
This match became our first in the winter league this season since our match v Forest Hills was postponed last Monday. New rules and regulations mean that there are only 6 pairs instead of 8 competing in each match, so a 5-1 victory was an excellent way to welcome Upper Sapey back into the fold after an absence of a few years. The one defeat was close 2&1; and three of the other matches had the same score but in our favour; however Iain Ashcroft and Tony Green managed a 4 and 3 win and the secretary in waiting, Andy Chambers, playing with the departing hon. sec won 5&4. Ross away on Weds await us.
Thursday 17th Autumn Texas Scramble.
13 groups of 3 took to the course and enjoyed a dry day, even though the course was a little wet in places owing to recent rain showers. Winners with a gross 63 off the lowest handicap of 8 so net 55 were Rob Brotherwood, Kevin Room and Phil Samuel; also with a net 55 but gross 65 off 10, coming in 2nd place on cb, were Terry Bufton, Ed Jones and James Forrester. There were 10 2s but to share the ball sweep 2 2s were needed and Rob Brotherwood’s group managed this as did David O’Dowd, playing with Iain Ashcroft and Graham Flowers.
Monday/ Tuesday. 14/15th October.
On Monday our “A” team in the National finals won their semi-final versus Bridport by 3 matches to 1. The following day the final started at 8.30 v Colchester and after the 4 matches the score stood at 2-2. A sudden death play off was played each team’s lowest handicapper and our Catain was beaten at the first extra hole. Congratulations go to the 4 members of our team, Tony Green, Iain Ashcroft, Mike Privett and Jim Shaddick, who repesented LGC so proudly and flew the flag for us so notably.
GOOD LUCK TO OUR “A” TEAM AT STAVERTON PARK IN THE FINAL OF THE NATIONAL COMPETITION.
Presentation Day. October 10th.
This day started with a consolation Stableford for all those who had not been successful enough to qualify for the President’s Cup. Robert Head had a good round and scored 36pts but winner of this comp was Ian Fraser with 39; and Ian also had the only 2. The President’s. Cup for those who had won a cup during the year was won by Phil Samuel gross 91 net 70 with the ever consistent Rob Brotherwood in 2nd place with a gross 80 ( lowest of the day) net 71; Andy Chambers had the only 2 in this comp.
There followed the Presentation of the Cups and Trophies which had been won during the year and the winners can be found on Masterscoreboard under the relevant competition heading. The 2 “secret” Cups which are ongoing throughout the year i.e. the Geoff Skelton Medal Cup, presented to the player with the best 6 net Medal scores from the 8 summer medals was won by Iain Ashcroft (416) with Kevin Room(417) only 1 shot behind; and the Eclectic Cup was won by Terry Bufton gross 57 net 50 with Alan Hooper 2nd, also gross 57 but net 51.
October Medal Thursday October 3rd.
Only 1 player of the 35 cards processed managed a sub 70 net score, so well done Martin Pugh for your net 69 from gross 82; that makes 3 medal scores in the 60s from your summer medals, will that put you in the frame for the Geoff Skelton Cup? Captain Terry came 2nd in div 1 with gross 84 net 71 beating Tony Green on cb who had the consolation of a gross 77 being the lowest gross of the day. In div 2 David O’Dowd made good use of having 2 shots on the 10th and won with gross 89 net 70 and takes his place in next week’s Presidents Cup since Martin had already qualified. Stephen Palmer maintained his good form to take 2nd place with gross 93 net 72. In div 3 Malcolm Davies returned to winning ways with gross 96 net 71 with Phil Samuel in 2nd place gross 94 net 73. Alan Hooper had a 2 on 6 and 14 – the pin must have been accessible on 6 because Kevin Room and Terry Carver also had a 2 there; while David O’Dowd fluked one on 11. Congratulations to Rob Brotherwood on becoming the 2nd winner of the Race To Ford Bridge competition; yesterday he played well enough to maintain his lead and won with 786 pts beating Alan Hooper on 772.
Thursday 26th September.
The advertised 3 man beast became an individual Stableford to make life easier for the organiser and starter. 33 players took to the course and 7 matched or bettered the par of 38 pts off the yellow blocks. Taking the honours with 40 pts came Stephen Palmer off 22, and leading a trio on 39 was John Lucas off 25; in 3rd place on 39 was Phil Green off 15. Iain Ashcroft scored the only 2 of the day.
October Medal on Thursday 3rd – the last of the summer Medals and the last chance to have a 6th qualifying score in the Geoff Skelton Medal cup. It will also be the last qualifying competition in this year’s Race To Ford Bridge, in which 3 members have topped 700 pts.
Monday 23rd September. The ADMAG. Alun Davies Mixed American Greensome.
Our 3rd Internal Seniors/Ladies mixed event of the year was missing a few regulars, notably Wendy and Phil Lawrenson; but Julie Powell stepped into the breach as organiser and another successful day was enjoyed by all 9 pairs. The rain held off until the last group were on the 18th and the scoring was very good as players have become accustomed to this tricky format. Every pair managed par of 36 Stableford pts and 5 achieved 40 or more. Heather Cass playing with Andy Chambers who was making his Mixed debut scored 42 pts and came 3rd, beaten on cb by Terry Bufton and Lesley Turbutt, and the winners were Joan Hunt and Alan Hooper with 46 pts. Andy took the prize for NP on 6 and Alan on 17.
Thursday 26th September.
Our Competitions Secretary has decided to abandon the idea of trying to have a 3 Man Beast competition on next Thursday for a couple of very good reasons. He had several drop outs from the Medal last week and in a team event that makes life very hard for the starter; he has had complaints of people being lonely when paired in a 3 ball when the other 2 are sharing a buggy. So the comp this week will be a singles stableford.
September Medal. 19th Sptember.
Kevin Room was the star of this show with a hole-in-one on the 11th! An amazing feat for someone who,, like most of us, rarely reaches the 11th with his drive. Huge congratulations, Kevin, and thanks for the drink. The rest of Kev’s round was pretty good too to give him the overall win with a gross 81 net 63 and being in div 2 he pushed Bill Brown into 2nd place with gross 88 net 67. Bill had hoped to make it 3 wins in a row in his division – but winning July, August and 2nd in September is a fine achievement. In div 3 Jeremy Finney continued his recent good form and took first prize with gross 87 net 66 beating Phil Samuel gross 91 net 70. On a remarkable day of good scoring Iain Ashcroft shot a career best gross 75 off 12 – the lowest gross of the day- for a net 63 disappointing the other sub 80 scorer, Dave Jones, whose gross 78 net 67 gained him 2nd place.
Last Summer Friendly v Wharton Park at Ford Bridge.
Terry Bufton’s summer of success in the friendly matches took a sad turn in Autumnal September; first a defeat at Church Stretton then, horror of horrors, defeat at home to Wharton Park. Today we lost 3-4, though back in April we won on their course. Our 2 winning pairs were Dave Jones with Andy Chambers and Jim Shaddick with Alan Roberts who can’t wait to get involved in next year’s matches after winning every time he has played this season.
Winter KOs. The sign up sheets are on the noticeboard. Please put your entry fee of £3 for each competition in the box when you add your name. The draw will be made at the end of this month but only from those names which are on the envelopes. No money in box means no entry in the draw.
Summer KO Pairs.
Congratulations to Richard Cattermole and Phil Green on winning the Summer Pairs; they had a narrow win over Ray Chambers and Ian Robertson, defeating them on the 1st extra hole.
Thursday 12th.
Derrick Jones Cup.
As usual on this occasion it was a pleasure to see Vicky Jones, Derrick’s widow, and Yvonne Harris at the end of the day. Vicky was welcomed by Terry our captain and invited to make the presentations. Winning by a large margin was Jeremy Finney on 42 pts and Iain Ashcroft came 2nd with 39.
Thursday 5th September. The Ancients Cup + The new Terry Carver Challenge Trophy.
To encourage our members to play in a competition where they feel there can be only one winner we now offer the TC Trophy to be awarded to the best net score out of the computer before the Age Allowance is applied. Terry offered us this splendid trophy in memory of his captaincy in 2015.
Bill Brown turned back the clock a few years and shot a gross 86 which gave him a trophy winning net 64 off his 22 handicap. 3 players had a net 67; the best of these the amazing Charlie Tune gross 101 off 34 followed on cb by Robert Head gross 80 off 13 and Robert Harris gross 83 off 16. Another Robert (Brotherwood) had the lowest gross 77. It hardly needs saying that when the Age Allowance was applied Charlie Tune won by a record amount with Ron Plant, who shared Charlie’s buggy, a distant second. Robert Head had the distinction of 2 twos (on 6 and 17) and shared the ball sweep with Ted Amos a 2 on 14.
Wednesday 4th September.
A great day for LGC Seniors. Our “A” team in the National Classic Competition qualified for the semi-finals and final weekend in October at Staverton Park. Led by Tony Green who won his singles the team beat Greenmount GC from Bury by 2.5 to 1.5. Well done Tony, Jim Shaddick, Mike Privett and Ian Robertson.
Monday 2nd September. Summer Friendly v Church Stretton Away.
A defeat on the slopes and ravines of Church Stretton, as our opponents took ample revenge for our victory over them at Ford Bridge. Alan Roberts with Terry Carver and Dave Jones with Bob Holloway gained draws to win the 1 point in our 1-5 defeat. This was the last away match this summer since S. Hereford was cancelled owing to an accident to one of their caterers.