After a bit of a blip 10 days or so ago, the recent fair weather continues which has meant lots of golf still taking place. The competition results from the last seven days are summarised below.
Mens and Ladies Saturday 9 Hole Stableford
We had a tremendous turnout for the inaugural nine hole stableford on Saturday, with close to 100 players taking part. The gents and ladies were able to play in groups together or in single sex groups and two competitions were held concurrently.
Mandy Gilbert finished on top of the leader board of the ladies event with a whopping 22 points. Well played Mandy and that reduces her handicap to 14.8. Helen Allott and Gill Kay both scored 18 points but Helen took second place following the card play off.
On the men’s side, Alex Mills won with 19 points so another one of our younger players developing into a very tidy golfer. There was then a real log jam with ten players who scoring 18 points. Roger Mattocks clearly had the strongest finish to his nine as he finished second after the card play off and Peter Hindle was third.
Ladies Stablefords
Well done Diana Hogben who won Thursday’s 18 hole stableford with 35 points. It’s pleasing to see that Nancy Fallows and Diana Harris, two of our newer members, finished in second and third place both with 33 points.
There was a big field of 25 for the nine hole competition. Sharon Thorne who had played on the preceding Saturday who with an excellent 20 points. Kathleen McNairney finished second with 18 points.
Owen Knockout
Congratulations to Roger Laitt for beating Roger Lamb on Sunday to win the Owen, the men’s matchplay competition. I looked at Roger L’s route to the final and he had to beat some very good and in form players to get there so he’s clearly played well throughout the competition.
Mixed Knockout
The final between Tony Bray & Vicky Chamberlain and Eric & Gillian Healey takes place this afternoon (it’s Wednesday morning as I write this) so good luck to both pairs. The result will follow in next week’s missive.
The ladies competition had to be cancelled due to the weather on Thursday but the ladies 9 hole open Turkey Trot went ahead on Friday. This was despite spells of heavy rain and even some hail, as the photos below show. It was a great event with lots of teams taking part. Special thanks to Gillian Brogdon and Gillian Healey for all their hard work arranging the competition both beforehand and on the day.
Lady Captain’s team
The 9th green covered in hail
Ceri Hyde battling on in the hail whilst Judy Pinnington looks on
Seniors
Congratulations to Andrew Fishwick for winning last week’s nine hole winter stableford with 18 points. Bernie Wilcox was second with 17 points.
It was remiss of me not to mention the winners of the seniors competition in September so here goes, better late than never! Andrew Fishwick won the Morren Trophy with 40 points, Roger Fielding won the Timpson Trophy with 36 points and John Moss was the winner of the 9 hole Tuttle Trophy. Congratulations to you all.
Photos
Thanks to Andrew Page for these lovely autumnal photos from the course during his recent Sunday morning game.
The first holeThe view from the 3rd fairway looking up the 4th hole
The first Bogey of the winter campaign took place on Friday and Saturday. The weather on Saturday was appalling but many of the golfers battled round which was truly a tremendous effort.
Joe Mills was the winner with five up and put it down to have played several times in Wales over the summer with equally terrible weather! Jonny Gray was the last out and had to contend with near flooded greens but despite that scored three up. Ian Ponter was third having lost to Jonny on count back. The CSS was 68.
Lady Captain vs Lady Secretary
The annual match between LC’s team and LS’s team took place on Thursday. The format was fourball betterball over nine holes and 52 ladies took part, which was a great turn out. It ended up being a draw which meant all the players could enjoy their harvest lunch equally 😃
Winter Golf
Oh no, it’s that time of year again ☹, preferred lies are now in operation. The use of mats will follow in due course.
New Mens FJ Clothing In Store
Please pop into check out the latest Autumn / Winter styles from FootJoy. The photos below give a teaser of some of the styles that are now available.
Gentleman Captain’s Challenge
Junior captain Charlie Hindle and partner Alex Mills stormed to victory in Sunday’s gentleman Captain’s Challenge. Bad luck captain Jonny and Jonny Gray who took the defeat in their stride. As the photo below shows, all four of them had a great time.
The mound on the right hand side of the first has been re-contoured and trees have been planted in the Out of Bounds area by Sharman’s field. Both changes will add definition to the hole when they’ve had time to bed in. Well done as always to Russ, Dave and Ben for continuing their hard work of maintaining and improving the course.
Last week was a much quieter week on the golf course compared to recent times with no gents or ladies competitions taking place.
However the ladies did have an exchange day with Wilmslow GC. They came here on Thursday of last week and 45 of our ladies went to Wilmslow on the day before.
A fun competition was played with nine teams of three playing 18 holes and six teams playing 9 holes. The winners of the 18 hole competition were Claire Makin, Emma Daynes & Sally Wright who scored 81 points. Mandy Gilbert, Helen Davies & Wendy Jenkins were second with 76 points.
The 9 hole competition was won by Jean Green, Vicky Wells & Jane Wilkinson with 33 points on count back meaning Judy Anderson, Judy Pinnington & Moya Malthouse were pipped at the post and had to settle for second place.
Autumn Skies
Thanks to Sue Bryant for these great photos which she took out on the course recently.
Al hits 60
Al Kenney recently had a significant birthday. Here’s a photo of his golf themed birthday muffins with a little something to help wash them down, lovingly made by his daughter Hannah.
This week’s missive is a bumper read (hence the headline) catching up on lots of results and other news. And what about Bryson’s US Open victory at Winged Foot hey? As a result, Ben Hogan style flat caps, single length irons with grips as thick as cricket bat handles and protein shakes are now selling fast from the Pro Shop… 😂
Medal Final
Congratulations to Jonny Gray for winning Saturday’s Medal Final with an excellent 65. His gross score of 75 was also the lowest of the competition on a day that many found scoring difficult. This was reflected in the CSS rising to 70, two higher than the SSS. Commiserations to Bill Dixon who was just one behind with a nett 66. George Rowland was third with a nett 68.
Ping Demos
For just a couple of weeks, I have lots of Ping demos in store with many different options for you to try. There are mens and ladies drivers, woods, hybrids and wedges – there’s even some left handed items. Please pop in to take a look before the Ping ASM has to take them back.
Ping Demos
Ladies Competition Results
Lady captain Irene Kirk romped home to victory in the 18 hole Par with a cracking score of four up. Congratulations LC! Second place went to Louise Gerald with her score of one up.
Eighteen ladies played in the nine hole stableford which was a very good turn out. Vicki Wells finished as the winner with her score of seventeen points. Second place went to Lynette Lodge, just nudging Gail Sampson into third on account of a card play off.
Clothing Sale
The clothing sale has been going well. I have both men’s and ladies’ items. More ladies items were added at the weekend so please take a fresh look when you are passing.
Ladies and gents sale rails
Adult Junior
Well done to Ben & Chris Hinton for winning Friday’s Adult Junior competition. Sadly because of Covid, the season was condensed from the usual five events to just one so winning the claret jug (beware of imitations!!) was based on just one event. The Hintons scored 21 stableford points over the nine holes from the forward tees to gain top spot. Second place was shared between Jack & Phil Hickson and Marcus & Neil Thompson with 20 points.
Junior captain Charlie Hindle, Ben, Chris and I at the presentation.
We had a great turn out of seventeen pairs and many stayed for drinks and a bite to eat afterwards. I always say this but these are truly great events which the players involed love. In fact, it’s often tricky to tell who has the broadest grins at the end of the rounds – the experienced adult golfers or the newbie juniors 😀
Junior Stableford
Dan Turkington scored 19 points to win Tuesday’s nine hole stableford. Well played Dan. Charlie Hindle finished runner up. Ten juniors took part.
Titleist Tour Speed
Titleist have launched a new golf ball, the Tour Speed. Click here to read more.
Titleist’s latest ball offering
Titleist now provide seven different models for you to choose from which can be a little bewildering when trying to select the best ball for your game. However their ball fitting link (you can find it here) is very simple and helps you to narrow it down with just a few clicks.
Ladies Away Win
Thanks to Jim Mossop for sending in the following prose and photo.
“A rapturous, spontaneous ovation greeted four Hale Ladies as they arrived in the marquee to join the double birthday celebrations of Andrew Kay and Keith Thompson on Thursday. Word that they had won the prestigious Prestbury Ladies Open Fourball Am Am Stableford had preceded them. Step forward Sally Wright, Tracey Thompson, Mandy Gilbert and Gill Kay. Our Gentleman Captain, Johnny Yates, was soon on his feet to add to the congratulations. What was already a joyful birthday dinner soared to another level when the enchanting quartet took their places. They have decided not to give up their amateur status.”
Wine glasses – far more practical than any trophy!
Gentleman Captain’s Challenge
The other Sunday saw a special Captain’s Challenge – a putting competition with Andrew Richards and John Acratopulo. Unfortunately “the Best Putter In The Club” wasn’t quite in the groove (he’d not putted for 5 years!) so Andrew and gentleman captain Jonny were defeated!
Captain Jonny and John Acro – the perfect bookends!!.
Further afield, we have the US Open to look forward to this week at Winged Foot. Whilst back here at Hale, we have the men’s Medal Final on Saturday and hopefully a continuation of this great weather 🌞
We had a fantastic turnout for the President’s prize on Saturday with 40 pairs taking part. The winners were Gwynneth Bramwell and Paul Simpson who scored an excellent 39 points. Second place went to Caroline Perkin and Paul Taylor with 37 points.
Gwynneth, president Barbara Grant and Paul
Barbara & family and the prize table from Saturday.
Briggs Trophy
Congratulations go to Claire Makin for finishing second out of forty six entrants in the Briggs trophy which was played last week at Mere GC. This is one of the premier strokeplay competitions for ladies in Cheshire. She scored an excellent nett 74 having never played the course before.
Fungus
I was sent in several photos last week of this incredible fungus /mushroom growing short of the seventh green. The second photo it next to a scorecard for scale.
Congratulations to Dave Madeley for winning Saturday’s Medal 8 with a nett 66 and reducing his handicap to 13.6. Ben Fallows and Chris Ravenscroft both had 67s but Ben finished second following the card play off. Al Makin had the best gross of the day with a 74. The CSS was 69.
Best Two from Three
The ladies played a nine hole threeball betterball competition last Thursday followed by lunch. They had a great turnout with 17 teams taking part. The winners on countback with 42 points were Corinne Veitch, Min Fishwick and Kathleen McNairney. Second place went to Janet Grant, Vanessa Veitch and Vicki Wells.
Kathleen, lady captain Irene Kirk and Corinne at the first ladies awards presentation for some time at the club.
Seniors Summer Stableford Final
Well done to Roger Mattocks for winning this event with 19 points. The ever consistent Barry Jefferies was one point behind in second place.
Next week it’s the Timpson Trophy and the Seniors AGM on Wednesday the 16th.
Junior Stableford
Angus Morris won Tuesday’s junior stableford with a great score of 20 points and reduced his handicap to 35.2 in the process. Second place was shared between Dan Turkington and Isaac Povey, playing in his first competition, with 15 points.
Retail Therapy
I’ve just got in a good selection of waterproof junior Adidas CP Traxion golf shoes in sizes UK 3 up to UK 6. They are great value at £40 per pair.
Some of you have already enjoyed the benefits of 25% off the ladies summer clothing but there are still lots of items left so why swing by to take a look.
Photo
Thanks to Sue Bryant for this lovely photo of the how the clubhouse is currently looking.
Well done to Mandy Gilbert for battling the elements to win last Thursday’s ladies max score Medal with a 75. Second place was shared between Gill Kay and Corinne Veitch with 76s. Tiff Fielden won the alternate day Medal also with a 75.
Twenty two ladies played in the nine hole max score Medal. Rosemary Bowden finished on top of the leaderboard with a nett 36. Lucy Daynes was second with a nett 37.
Summer Stableford
Congratulations to Paul Simpson for winning Saturday’s Summer Stableford with a splendid 40 points. Graham Bryant continued his recent good form to finish in second place just one point adrift. Ian Goulty was third with 37 points. The CSS was 68.
The gentleman captain Jonny Yates and the winner Paul Simpson
Seniors Summer Nine Hole Stableford
As I’m a little later than usual in sending out this week’s missive, I can include the results from the final Seniors stableford of the campaign which took place on Wednesday 2nd September.
Well done to John Bacon for winning with a fine score of 21 points. Before going out he’d complained of his golf being all over the place so that just about sums up golf doesn’t it? Bill Harvey edged into second place with 19 points ahead of Tony Sampson via a card play off.
Thirty seniors have qualified for the final which takes place on Wednesday so good luck to all those worthy qualifiers.
An Open Letter to New Golfers
An article which appeared in Golf Digest recently gets, in my opinion, the right blend of humour and advice for new golfers. Bear in mind that it’s an American publication so it has a U.S. slant to it. Click here to take a look.
View from the practice ground the other day – with barely a cloud in the sky 🌞
Well done to Keith and Tracey Thompson for winning the Mixed Centenary trophy on Saturday with 38 points. Second place went to Jan and Chris Ravenscroft with 37 points. Both pairs played together and it was neck and neck until the outcome was decided on the final green.
Special mention to Ann Davies and John Bacon who played in the worst of the weather in the morning. They scored 18 points on the front nine but were completely drenched and so couldn’t carry on.
I bet that was Paul Simpson’s finger trying to block out the Gentleman Captain’s face with his finger 😂
Ladies Stableford
Congratulations to Claire Makin for finishing on top in last week’s 18 hole stableford with 36 points. Diana Hogben was second with 34 points.
Twenty five ladies played in the 9 hole stableford competition and Emma Daynes was the winner with a cracking score of 22 points. This reduced her handicap to 27.6. Jane Perks finished second with seventeen.
Seniors Summer 9 Hole Stableford
Tony Adamson was the winner with 19 points last Wednesday beating Tarik Rashid into second place via a card play off. This was the penultimate event of the series before the final in September.
Green Fees
As a reminder, when you book a guest to play with you on the Club V1 booking system the green fee is NOT automatically taken from your account. Please let the Pro Shop or the bar know before or immediately after play and we can process the payment.
If you can always try to pay using your HGC swipe card, then it really helps with the admin as this creates a more robust “paper trail” on the system. I go through the tee sheets every seven to fourteen days to chase unpaid green fees.
If a green fee has been taken from your account incorrectly, I’d suggest contacting me in the first instance. Remember though that this is far less likely to happen if you amend the tee sheet if your guest didn’t actually end up playing with you or you decided not to play at all perhaps because of bad weather etc.
Many thanks for your understanding and cooperation with this.
Gordon Murray Salvers
For your information, the Gordon Murray mixed foursomes knockout draw has now been made and can be viewed on Club V1.
Dress Code
There have been one or two members mentioning that some golfers are not following the club’s dress code. For instance, male golfers should wear shorts with long socks of any colour or white short socks. Please click here to read all the regulations.
Congratulations to the club’s hard working treasurer Paul Gilbert for winning Medal 7 on Saturday with a nett 68. Barry Jefferies and Graham Bryant had the same score but were beaten into second and third place respectively on countback. The CSS was 68, the same as the course’s SSS.
Hilda Timpson Trophy
Well done to Diana Hogben for winning the Hilda Timpson in the glorious sunshine last Thursday with a nett 72. Claire Makin can sympathise with Barry and Graham as she was beaten following a card play off. Gillian Brogdon was one shot back in third place. The CSS was 71 which is the same as the par of the course.
Back Nine Stableford
Vanessa Veitch won with 17 points and Jane Perks was second with 16 points. Fourteen players took part.
Golf Access
Well we finally managed to get a Golf Access event to take place on Tuesday following the disruption caused by Covid-19. Five juniors and six of the new ladies temporary members graced the fairways and played three holes from the forward tees. Everyone really enjoyed the encouraging format for newbie golfers. We have three more events on the 1st, 15th and 29th September coming up up so if you’d like to play, please let me know.
Please click here to find out more details about Golf Access.
Thanks to lady captain Irene Kirk for the photos of some of the competitors – some even had their own entourage 😃
