Well it’s Ryder Cup week and the battle commences on Friday morning from Whistling Straits GC, Wisconsin, USA. Can Europe triumph again or is the difference in the world rankings that favours the American side just going to be too wide a margin to bridge? I’m sure you’ll all be tuning in to watch the drama unfold.
Finals Day
Sunday was Finals Day with four of the club’s knockouts being decided. Tony Sampson beat Andrew Cowan by 2 & 1 to win the Owen Memorial. Current lady captain Irene Kirk and former lady captain Caroline Massey prevailed against Gillian Healey and Ceri Hyde in the ladies foursomes. The Gordon Murray Salver (the mixed foursomes knockout) was won by Caroline Perkin and Peter Veitch. They beat Sally Budd and John Webb in the final and the score was 3 &2. And finally Freddie Fallows, triumphed against Andrew Fishwick by 3 & 1 in the Reid Plate.
Tony & gentleman captain Johnny yates 
Caroline M, Johnny & Irene 
Irene, Peter, Caroline P & Johnny 
Johnny & Freddie
Freddie Fallows also won the inaugral junior knockout on Tuesday evening by beating Edward Lythgoe in the final 3 & 2. The Bech Cup between Jan Ravenscroft and Irene Kirk is to be played this week as is the Charlton Cup. Tiff Fielden and Louise Gerald feature in this final. Good luck to you all!
End of Season Sale
We have some discounted men’s polo shirts and mid layers plus some men’s and ladies shoes as per the photos & information below. Everything is at least 30% off so pop in and grab a bargain!
Mens, Stuburt, size 9 only, softspikes, waterproof, were £64.99, now only £44 
Mens, Stuburt, size 9 only, softspikes, waterproof, were £59.99, now only £42 
Mens, Stuburt, sizes 8, 9 & 10, spikeless, waterproof, were £69.99, now only £49 
Mens FJ, size 6W only, softspikes, waterproof, were 79.99, now only £55 
Mens, FJ, size 12M only, softspikes, waterproof, were £87, now only £60 
Mens, FJ, size 8.5M only, softspikes, waterproof, were £87, now only £60 
Ladies FJ summer shoe, sizes 5M, 6M & 7M, spikeless, not waterproof, were £79, now only £55 
Ladies, FJ, size 7W only, spikeless, waterproof, were £115, now only £80 
Ladies, FJ, size 6M only, soft spikes, waterproof, were £105, now only £73
Medal Final & Sandiford
Well done to John Bacon for rolling back the years and making use of his many shots (that’s only because he tells me so whenever he collects his scorecard from the Pro Shop!) and winning the Medal Final on Saturday. He shot a nett 66. Martin Oldfield and Martin Bramwell scored nett 67s to finish in second and third place respectively.
At the presentation after play, Lee Bramley was also award his trophy for winning the Sandiford. This is for the best four nett scores over the course of the season from the eight Medals that are played. His total was a stunning 264, sixteen under par. Second place went to Alex Mills who was three shots back. Brian Greenbank was third with 274.
Johnny & John 
Lee & Johnny
Stats
I really enjoy following Lou Stagner on Twitter (@LouStagner) as he regularly posts really interesting stats that will help golfers of all levels understand the game a little more and ultimately this information can help us all improve.
The data below tells us the number of double bogeys or worse golfers of different levels have per round on average. It becomes clear that for club golfers scoring better is more about getting rid of the big numbers from your scorecard rather than having to make lots of birdies. So take a look at your own game, is your strategy adversely affecting your scoring?
Ladies Away day
Below are the details of the trip and the photos below courtesy of Wendy Jenkins. Thank you Wendy for sending this onto me to put into this week’s missive.
It was Lady Captain’s fun Exchange Day at Poulton Park Golf Club last Thursday and the ladies attending received a warm welcome from the Exchange Club. There were tricky water hazards on certain holes but thankfully the Ladies Competition Secretary (Sally Wright) had come prepared to retrieve the balls that her team mates (Judy and Wendy) had put into the brook!
Two ladies who were certainly not sick as parrots on the day were Sue Fallows and Gill Kay. Sue got nearest the pin in two shots on the first hole (a par 4) and then followed up by holing her putt for a birdie. Gill also got a birdie on the 10th. They were each awarded a feathered friend! The winners of the front-9 four-ball better ball competition were Sue Fallows, Vicky Chamberlain, Diana Harris & Judy Anderson. In second place were Tracey Thompson, Min Fishwick, Jane Perks and Ann Davies. The winners of the back-9 better-ball competition were Gill Kay and Sally Budd. In second place were Freda Hunt and Vicki Wells.
Prize presentations were made after an enjoyable dinner back at the Hale Club House and Lady Captain took the opportunity to present the prizes and trophies to the outstanding Ladies Finals winners. Tiff Fielden was presented with the Ladies Medal Final Trophy for her jaw dropping nett 63 winning score. And Tracey Thompson was presented with the Ladies Par Final Trophy, having achieved an excellent 5-up score, and with Chris Marsh receiving vouchers for her very creditable 3-up score, having beaten Lady Captain to the par final runner up slot on a card play off.
Sue & LC Irene 
Gill & Irene 
Vicky, Sue, Diana & Judy 
Gill & Sally 
Irene & Tiff 
Irene & Chris
Cheshire Golf Union Centenary Trophy
A quick shout out to Jonny Gray who represented HGC in the Cheshire Golf Union Centenary Competition which took place on Sunday at Stockport GC. Jonny scored 36 stableford points, just four behind the winner, to finish in fifth place in a field of thirty seven players.
Seniors Competitions
Well done to Rob Manley for winning the Morren trophy (age 74 and under) last week with 40 points. Adam Hyde was second. Martin Oldfield won the “super seniors” Timpson Trophy (for the 75 year olds and over) with 38 points. Cliff Wright was second. Roger Fielding won the Tuttle trophy (9 hole stableford for 75s and over) with 19 points.
The previous week, John Gower-Jones did fantastically well following various joint replacements in recent months to win the nine hole Summer Stableford final with 20 points. That man Martin Oldfield popped up again to take second place.