Author: Richard Booth

This week we review Finals day and Medal final plus other competitions from last week so we have bucket loads of winners and scores to report on. And of course next week, the new 4th hole comes into play on Monday with new scorecards and much more. Keep an eye out for the Greens Committee bulletins that will be arriving in your inbox over the next few days.

For your information, I have contacted the following seven GPS companies: Garmin, Bushnell, Skycaddie, Motocaddy, Powakaddy, Shotscope and GolfBuddy to tell them about the upcoming course changes. Some have come back to me and some haven’t. Apparently it can take up to four weeks for the changes to go live. I will do my best to keep on top of this.

Medal Final – Captains Cup 2022

It was a nett 67 log jam at the top on Saturday for the men’s Medal Final. John Kennedy won the three way card play off, Adam Laitt finished second whilst Andrew Fishwick was knocked back into third place.

Finals Day

Five finals took place on Sunday and the ladies Charlton Cup was played a few days earlier on the Wednesday. The Bech Cup will be played at a later date. The results were as follows:

John Webb beat Chris Adams 3&2 to secure the Reid plate.

Amanda Greaves & Sue Bryant beat Jan Ravenscroft & Gillian Brogdon to win the ladies foursomes 2&1.

The Gordon Murray Memorial was won by Anne Webster & Mike Kirchin 5&3. They beat Al & Claire Makin in the their match.

Tracey Thompson beat Clare Withey on the 18th hole to secure the Charlton Cup.

The Owen memorial Bowl was won by Ben Fallows 2&1 after a close fought match with Eric Healey.

And finally the men’s Scratch Knockout was won by Dave McGlennon. Chris Brown was the beaten finalist in this match.

Congratulations to all the winners and to the beaten finalists, commiserations! We’ve all been there, dust yourselves down and come back stronger next year. Well done to all of you for playing these matches in a great spirit.

Ladies Section

Freda Hunt win the ladies 18 hole Max Medal competition last Thursday with a nett 73. Janet Grant was second. In the front nine Max Medal, Sue Bryant won with an excellent nett 33. Jean Green finished runner up. And Vicki Wells won the nine hole knockout competition and can be seen below receiving her prize.

Seniors Section

Last Wednesday, the seniors played golf had lunch and then followed it up with their AGM and presentation. Busy, busy!

The Tuttle is played over nine holes and was won by the evergreen Bill Walsh with 20 points. Peter Hardern was one point adrift to finish as runner up.

The Timpson is played for by the slightly more “experienced” seniors and John Bacon took top spot with 36 points. Mike Massey was second with 35 points.

The “youngsters” battle it out for the Morren. Tony Adamson won this with 39 points. Bob Siddle was second with 38 points.

We have lots of golf on this weekend with the men’s Medal Final on Saturday and Finals day on Sunday. Here’s the running order for the latter:

12.00pm Reid Plate
12.15pm Bech Cup
12.30pm Ladies Foursomes
12.45pm Gordon Murray Memorial
13.00pm Owen Memorial Bowl
13.15pm Scratch Knockout

Presentation to follow completion of all matches circa 17.30. Please note that the Carlton Cup will be played on a alternative day, to be confirmed. Please come along and watch if you’re not participating!

Foot-Joy Winter Clothing

I’m putting together an order for some FootJoy winter clothing such as mid layers and polos with the Hale GC crest on. Please click here to visit their website and if there’s anything that you would like me to get for you, just drop me an email. Of course, if you’d prefer it without the crest on that’s possible to.

Pleas just bear in mind that I may not be able to source everything but I will let you know shorty after you contact me. I will also confirm the price with you before ordering.

President’s Prize

Congratulations to Pat Jefferies and Phil Hickson for winning the President’s prize on Saturday with an excellent 40 points. Jane Wilkinson and John Bacon were two points adrift and finished as runners up. Kathleen McNairney won the nearest the line prize, Al Kenney won the men’s nearest the pin and Sue Fallows won the ladies nearest the pin.

Men’s Clothing Sale

Please pop in and grab a bargain. All polos in the sale are 50% off, some have the Hale GC crest on and some don’t. There are also some bargain waterproofs and outer wear to be had. The prices of these vary depending on the item.

Adult Junior Results & Other Junior News

We had sunshine and one heavy downpour on Friday evening but eight pairs battled round. Ben & Chris Hinton were the winners on the night with an excellent score of 23 points. The runners up were Ollie Grieves and his grandfather John Book.

The winners of the season long Order of Merit were William & Ben Hutchinson so well played to them. They are now the proud custodians of the Claret Jug for the next 12 months.

We have one final get together of 2022 which is the End of Season Junior awards which takes place on Sunday 6th November. It’s a nine shotgun start at 2pm followed by a meal in the dining room and a presentation. Please save the date and I’ll send out more details shortly.

For those of you that are members and have a handicap, we have two more junior comps scheduled as follows:

Sat 24th Sept. Tee times from 1400 – 1420
Sat 15th Oct. Tee times from 1400 – 1420

Ladies Back 9 Stableford

Congratulations to Sally Wright for winning last Thursday’s competition with 19 points. Trina Walsh finished in second place with 18 points.

Ferrets On Tour

Thanks to John Webb for this great photo of the Ferrets whilst on their recent tour of Cascais, Portugal. How many of this line up can you identify??

We have both the President’s Prize mixed foursomes competition on Saturday and the final Adult Junior event of the season on Friday to look forward to this week. And I’m sure the rains of Monday night and Tuesday will have been welcome by the greenstaff.

Medal 8

Congratulations to ex captain Cliff Wright for shooting an excellent nett 63 to win Saturday’s final medal of the summer campaign. Freddie Gillan also did a great score but finished just one shot back. Andrew Fish wick was third with a nett 65.

Ladies Front 9 Stableford

Well done to Pauline Keeling beating for scoring 20 points last Thursday to defeat Jane Wilkinson on a card play off and win the 9 hole competition.

Photo

Thanks to John Book for sending in this highly informative photo. I don’t think it has any relevance whatsoever to anyone here at Hale GC, do you??

A relatively quiet week before things build up again in September. Remember the club’s Finals Day is on Sunday 18th so if you aren’t competing, why not pop down and watch some of the action?

Bank Holiday Frolic

Wow, what a score by Kathleen McNairney to win the ladies section of yesterday’s individual nine hole stableford. She recorded a whopping 26 points! Gwynneth Bramwell finished second with an equally not too shabby score of 24 points. Tarik Rashid won the men’s competition with 21 points and Martin Bramwell was second with 20 points. The only two of the event was recorded by Dave Smith on the 7th hole.

Ladies Results

Well done to Jennifer Bradley for winning last week’s back nine stableford with 19 points. Kerry Bailey was point adrift to finish as runner up.

The winner of Ladies Medal Trophy Final which was played on Sunday 21st August was won by Anne Webster with a nett 71. Gillian Healey was second with a nett 73.

The winner of the Ladies Stableford Final which was played last Thursday will be announced shortly.

PGA Seniors Championship at Formby GC

One of younger members Ollie Greaves, his father Jon and grandfather John Book (also a member) had a great day out Formby over the weekend to watch the PGA Seniors Championship. Ollie met lots of the players and filled up his autograph book. And he’s come back to WA15 keener than ever 🙂

Just a results round up this week as I’m on hols 🙂 More news next week.

Ladies Invitation Day

The weather wasn’t great but there was a super turnout for this competition last Thursday. The format was teams of four playing stableford with best two scores to count on each hole.

The winners were Vicky Chamberlain & her guest Claire Whitney from Heaton Moor GC and Tracey Thompson & guest Barbara Taylor from Leigh GC. Second place went to the team of Gwynneth Bramwell, Libby Smeathers (Knutsford GC), Louise Gerald and Cindy Fryer (also from Knutsford GC).

The nearest the pin prize went to Tessa Bryant from the RAC GC in Surrey and our very own Gill Kay won the nearest the line prize.

Seniors Stableford 6

Humphrey Grundy rolled in a few putts while rolling back the years to win this event last Wednesday with 20 points. Three players then tied on 19 points with Richard Robinson securing second spot and Bill Wrigley taking third position.

Nine & Dine

Last Friday’s Nine and Dine which was played over the back nine was won by Paul Gilbert, Mandy Gilbert, Philip Long & Terri Broadbent with 50 points. Second spot went Sally Wright, Ann Coulson, Johnny Yates & Al Kenney with 46 points. With the same score but losing out on a card play off were Robert Spark, Barbara Spark, Ian Hunt & Freda Hunt.

Mixed Centenary

Congratulations to Corinne & Andy Veitch for winning Saturday’s mixed centenary mixed foursomes event with an excellent 43 points. Jennifer Alan Bradley finished in second place with 39 points. Vanessa & Peter Veitch also recorded 39 points were beaten into third following a card play off.

This week we have a results round up, news of a cracking deal on a junior set of clubs and information about the divot bag racks that you might have seen on the course. Enjoy the read!

Medal 7

Well done to Danny Fox for winning last weekend’s Medal 7 with an excellent gross 74, nett 64. Second spot went to Phil Hickson with a nett 65 and one shot further adrift was Roger Laitt to secure third place.

Deal of the Week

This a great Lynx set for a junior golfer. The recommended height range is for children that are 54-57″ tall. It consists of a camo style golf bag, a driver, three irons and a putter. The original retail price was £169. They are on sale for this week at £115 which is over 30% off. There’s just the one set so get your skates on!

Lady Captain’s Charity Day

In the extreme heat of last week, Louise Gerald won the 18 hole stableford event with a cracking score of 39 points. Gill Kay and Tiff Fielden finished joint second with 37 points.

Jennifer Bradley played equally well to win the front nine stableford competition with 21 points. Pat Jefferies was one point behind to finish as the runner up.

Senior Summer Scramble B9

Congratulations to Mike Massey, Tony Adamson and Michael Wells for winning last week’s seniors nine hole Texas scramble with 25 points. Bill Wrigley, John Kennedy and Phil Long were runners up with 24 points.

The previous week Richard Robinson won the nine hole stableford with 21 points. He beat Martin Oldfield who had the same score on countback.

Driver vs 3 Wood

Click here to read a great article from Shotscope comparing the pros and cons of hitting a driver versus a three wood from the tee

Divot Bags

In case you are wondering these frames containing divot bags are moved around the course by the greenstaff. When I took this photo the other day they were positioned on the eighth hole.

The idea is that you collect a bag from beside the tee, fill in any divots you find as you play the hole and then leave the bag on the rack which is positioned near the exit point of the green.

Many thanks for your cooperation with this initiative.

We have another round of results this week plus a great deal on a waterproof golf bag.

Away from golf, my family and I were very fortunate to go to the ladies commonwealth hockey final on Sunday at Birmingham University where England won the gold medal by beating Australia. I’ve certainly not seen anyone win a gold medal before so we had a great day out.

Gents Centenary Trophy

Congratulations to Adam Hyde for winning the Centenary Trophy on Saturday with 40 points. Bill Harvey continued his good form and had the same score but was beaten on a card play off so finished in runner’s up spot. John Moss was third with 39 points.

Deal of the Week

This week we have a great value waterproof golf bag on offer. The Powakaddy DriTech bag in black/gun metal/hot pink was £219.99 and for this week only it’s just £150. There’s only one so if you are interested, don’t delay….

Ladies Centenary Trophy & Back Nine Stableford

Well played Tiff Fielden! Last week she won the CentenaryTrophy with a gross 78, nett 69. Gillian brogdon maintained her very good recent form to finish second with a nett 70. Clare Withey finished third with a nett 71.

Kerry Bailey was victorious in the back nine stableford with 20 points. Karen Stockton was second with 19 points.

Gentleman Captain’s Match vs Ringway

Last week the men beat Ringway at Hale GC. Below are photos of gentleman captain David Wainwright with their captain after the match. Plus there’s Ted Shaw retrieving his ball from the hole following his gross two, nett albatross on the 6th hole during the match. Thanks to Danny Fox for sending in these snaps.

We moved into the holiday season so it’s a little quieter at the club but the rain of the last few days will hopefully make parts of the course a little lusher.

In this week’s missive we have the usual results round up and news of the latest offering from Ping, the ChipR. Enjoy!

Nine Hole Stableford

There was a good turnout for the nine hole stableford which was played over the back nine last Saturday morning. Phil Long won the men’s event with 20 stableford points and Tom Sloan was second, having been beaten in a card play off. Tiff Fielden won the ladies event with 19 points and Terri Broadbent finished second and like Tom, she too was beaten via countback.

Gentleman Captain’s Day

Congratulations go to Gillian Brogdon for winning this event last week with a great score of 43 points. Lady captain Judy Pinnington was second with 42 points and Jane Wilkinson was one point further back to take third spot.

Jennifer Bradley won the nine hole competition with 20 points. Caroline Massey was second with 18 points. The whole day went really well and a good time was had by everyone who took part.

The previous week Lynette Lodge won the Hilda Timpson Trophy with a magnificent 65 nett. Gillian Brogdon is clearly in form as she finished runner up, just one shot behind Lynette. Anne Webster was third with 67.

Ping ChipR

We have a demo of the new Ping ChipR which has already proved to be really popular with pre sales. I have had a few goes with it and it feels really good and fosters lots of confidence.

As Ping describe on their website, “the ChipR is fully engineered for golfers who may lack confidence with their traditional wedge and frequently struggle with chip shots. The ChipR combines elements of a putter and a wedge to improve performance around the greens and lower scores without fear of chunking or blading shots”.

Prices start from £149. Click here for more details and please contact me if you like to give it a whirl.

The Callaway fitting van is visiting on Friday so please let me know if you would like to book one of their remaining demo day slots asap.

The rest of this week’s missive cover the men’s, ladies and Nine & Dine results from last week.

Summer Stableford

Well done to Matthew Hodder for shooting an excellent 42 points. Tom Sloan and Al Kenney both scored 41 points but Tom secured second place after a card play off.

It is worth noting that in Medal 6, which took place the previous Saturday, the top three positions were all taken by players in their 80s. In order, they were Bill Harvey, Mike Massey and John Bacon. This week Matthew was the winner and he is aged 15… what a contrast and what a great advert for the game! Many thanks to Ian Goulty and Chris Wood for sharing these observations with me.

Ladies Competitions

The results for last Thursday’s Hilda Timpson Trophy will be announced at tea this Thursday. We do however know that Sue Bromley was the winner of last week’s Max Score Medal with a nett 36 beating Val Nelstrop on a card play off. Wendy Jenkins was third with a nett 37.

Nine & Dine

Well done to Vanessa & Peter veitch and Jennifer & Alan Bradley for winning this best two from four team stableford event on Friday with 45 points. The Adamsons and the Sparks were the runners up with 40 points. Fran Adamson and Jane Bacon won the best newcomer awards.

Thanks to Phil Long for organising and for enjoying the photos that were taken at the presentation afterwards!

Well what an Open! It certainly lived up to it’s big billing based on it being staged for the 150th time. Cameron Smith was superb all round but just a magician with the flat stick. And poor Rory’s majorless run continues – hitting 18 greens in regulation in the final round and not winning must really hurt.

Back at HGC, Roger Sheen has become a big Cam Smith after he drew him in the Open Sweepstake to take the top prize. Plus thanks to Janice Moss for the photo below of the crowds waiting for Tiger on the Friday for what might be his final appearance in the Open at St Andrews… we will see!

Medal 6

Congratulations to full time gardener and part time golfer Bill Harvey for shooting an excellent nett 64 to win Medal 6 at the weekend. Mike Massey and John Bacon both had nett 68s but Mike clinched second place after the card play off.

Ladies

The winners of Ping fourball betterball competition played last week were Jane Wilkinson and Amanda Greaves with a tremendous score of 50 stableford points.  Gill Kay and Mandy Gilbert finished runners up with 45 points.

Well done to Helen Armstrong for winning the nine hole stableford with 20 points. Jackie Murphy was second also with 20 points but lost out on count back. Special mention to Sally-Anne Heaford and Caroline Smith for recording good scores on the day.

Ping Demo Day

Thanks to Oliver Hunt from Ping for running the demo day yesterday in the sweltering heat. Thanks also to the six hardy HGC members who came along to try out and in many cases buy the latest and greatest equipment on offer. It’s a superb service from, in my experience, one of the best manufacturers in the industry.

Bunkers

A few members have mentioned to me recently about the bunkers not being raked properly. Also the rakes have been left in inconsiderate positions. The Greens Committee will be sending out more information in due course on the latter but for the time being, please be courteous and leave the bunkers in good shape when you leave them.

R&A 9H Challenge Final

Here’s a note from Sally Wright after she and Ann Coulson represented Hale GC in the final of the R&A 9 Hole Challenge at St Andrew’s  on the eve of the 150th Open Championship.

They were one of 20 teams from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Australia & New Zealand & were lucky enough to play holes 1-4 and 14-18 on the Old Course. They came 4th with 34 points only 2 points behind the winners.

Captain Peter Forster, gave them a guided tour of the R&A St Andrew’s clubhouse followed by a celebration dinner there after the competition.  They said their 2 days at St Andrew’s were nerve wracking, truly amazing and an experience they will remember forever!

One of my highlights was driving over the old railway sheds on the 17th Road hole and Ann did the most amazing drive over Grannie Clark’s Wynd on the 18th which was applauded by the onlookers.

Hole in One from Canada

Craig Rea just got a hole in one on the 16th hole at Fernie GC in Canada. He hit a six iron and it took one hop before rolling into the hole. The hole was 164 yards long. He can be seen celebrating the ace with Gwynneth & Martin Bramwell, wife Michele Rea and Andrew Gething. Well done Craig, hope the bar bill wasn’t too pricey!