A View From The Green

After the wet fixture at Bromsgrove 3 weeks previously all eyes were set upon the weather forecast hoping for a dry day at Shrewsbury GC. One of the Society’s most popular course choices and a very nice course saw 16 players tee off chasing the Spring Trophy, 10 GoY points and the infamous Green Jacket. A couple of short showers, including some hailstones, didn’t take the edge off the day. ‘Who needs a Driver when you have a 5 iron in the bag that you can consistently hit 200 yards and over with’? That was exactly what Stu Gordon said as he plotted his way around the course to record a net 67 and his 6^th Major win. 2nd place with a net 71 went to Birthday Boy Archie Shaw with 3^rd place going to Captain Richard Marsden with a net 73 (on count back).

Nearest the Pin’s went to Darren Brown on the 6^th and Neil Slater on the 14^th. Wooden Spoon went to Neil Kinsey who claimed he had the ‘worst game of his life’. Golf can be so painful!!!!!

Handicap changes see Stu Gordon cut 0.62 and Jack Shaw 0.13. Increases to handicaps went to Steve Astley 0.72, Hayden Mills 1.62, Richard Marsden 2.25, Bob Skorek 0.87, Archie Shaw 0.12, Darren Brown 0.38, Simon Biddulph 0.75, Roger Mole 0.75, Neil Slater 1.15, John Shaw 0.37 and Wayne Kinsey 0.5.

The next Fixture is at Uttoxeter GC on Sunday 26^th April.

Our 2026 season, with 27 members, kicked off with the 1st fixture of the season see us take a 30 min drive to an old favourite, Bromsgrove Golf Club. We have usually played Bromsgrove later in the year, so often seen a bit of sunshine and a dry course. Today was not the case with Buggies suspended and showers forecast in the afternoon.
With Richard Marsden as Captain this year and Mark Richards as his Vice Captain we had16 players tee off, looking to register points in the Golfer of the Year. The weather had other ideas though. A couple of heavy showers hit during the back 9 holes, which resulted in 3 players walking off, cold, soaked and unable to grip a Club.
Undaunted by the weather Neil Slater hit a magical 40 points to take 1st place, with Hayden Mills 2nd on 35 points, having rejoined the Society this year after a year’s break, and Archie Shaw pinching 3rd place on 34 points.
Wooden Spoon went to Steve Astley but he also hit his 34th Nearest the Pin on the 7th, which now puts him level with Paul Dukes at the top of NP table. Roger Mole took the Nearest the Pin on the 11th, his 18th in the Golf Society to move up to 5th.
Handicap changes saw Neil Slater the only player cut by 0.75. Jack Shaw (0.5), Steve Astley (0.88), Neil Kinsey (0.62), Archie Shaw (0.38), Stu Gordon (0.87), Carl Ralph (0.67) and Suky Dhir (0.12) all saw slight increases.
The next fixture is on Easter Sunday (5th April) at the well-liked Shrewsbury GC.

Our 256th Golf Society fixture saw a return trip to Arscott GC in Shrewsbury, which we last played in June 2012, which saw a victory that day for one of our former players and winner of Golfer of the Year, that year, Dave Evans.
The weather forecast during the week was for very heavy rain but ‘lady luck’ or perhaps Carlos arranged for some decent, dry weather along on a course that had some superb greens and fairways to match. Certainly one to look at again next year.
Captain Jack Shaw was celebrating his 30th birthday and hoped to seal Golfer of the Year with a win, on his birthday, but Aaron Gordon had other ideas. Aaron shot a 1 over gross 71, to record 43 points and take the win and more importantly 10 points, that puts him 6 points behind Jack, going into the final fixture. Bob Skorek remains in 2nd place after taking 2nd place with 40 points. That leaves Bob just 5 points behind Jack so it is all to play for at Bridgnorth with Jack on 49 points, Bob on 44 and Aaron on 43. 3rd place went to Roger Mole on 40 points also.
Nearest the pins went to Darren Fillingham, Bob Skorek and Aaron Gordon.
Handicap changes see Aaron cut 1.25, Bob 0.88, Sam Jones 0.75 and Roger 0.62. Those lucky enough to see their handicap increase are Neil Kinsey 1.13, Richard Marsden 0.75, Archie Shaw 0.62, Carl Ralph 0.63, Neil Slater 0.63 and Darren Fillingham 0.37.
Our final fixture of the year is Bridgnorth GC on Sunday 12th October.

Wharton Park, a course we hadn’t played at for just over 10 years, was the venue for our 9th fixture of the season. The forecast was bleak with frequent showers predicted which fortunately turned into one shower of a couple of minutes on the early part of the course. Then the sun came out and we were treated to a nice warm day on a course that was challenging if you walking with some distance between green to tees on some holes. In the absence of current leader of Golfer of the Year, Jack Shaw, a few players had their eye on catching Jack at the top of the table.
The course was in great condition considering the lack of rain lately and we saw a number of good scores recorded, as we have seen so frequently this season. Richard Marsden took one of the nearest the pins but the second one becoming a rollover to Arscott as nobody hit the green on what proved to be a very tough hole. The Wooden Spoon was taken graciously by Roger Mole. 3rd place with 39 points was Aaron Gordon, who was outdone by his father, Stuart, who took 2nd with 40 points. The Winner was Simon Biddulph (41 points), with his first win in 5 years and only his 4th ever victory.
Golfer of the Year has changed considerably with Jack Shaw’s lead now cut to 5 points and 12 points separating the top 6 places, with only 2 fixtures to go.
Handicap changes see Simon Biddulph cut buy 1.22, Stu Gordon cut by 0.63 and Aaron by 0.5. A number of players gained up to 0.5 of a shot back.
Arscott is the next fixture on Sun 21st September, which ironically is Jack Shaw’s birthday.

Our 8th fixture of the year saw a short trip to one of the most popular courses we play, Astbury in Bridgnorth. The trophy was the Treasurers Trophy, which was the last trophy our Society founder and custodian for 12 years, Glenn Millard won, before his very sad passing in April.
With a warm day forecast, 20 players (1 guest) descended onto the 1st tee discussing their aching joints, bad backs and other various ailments. The course was in great condition and this was evident with 8 players coming in at par or below. Nearest the Pins went to Neil Kinsey (27th NP win) and Jack Shaw (3rd NP win). The Wooden Spoon went to Wayne Kinsey, who really didn’t play that bad, with a 77 net. 3rd place went to Neil Kinsey, who is certainly getting used to his new clubs now, with a net 65. Second was Simon Biddulph, with a net 64 and the Winner with a superb 61 net was Jack Shaw (his 3rd major win).
Golfer of the Year is now getting serious. Every player who has played a fixture this season now has at least a point. Leading the way is Jack Shaw with 41 points (best 8 from 11), followed by Bob Skorek with 35 and Mark Richards with 31. With 3 fixtures left (Wharton Park, Arscott and Bridgnorth) it is all to play for.
Handicap changes see Jack cut from 8.38 to 6.5, Aaron Gordon 8.38 to 7.63, Neil Kinsey 14.13 to 13.75, Sam Jones 28.88 to 27.75 and Simon Biddulph 29.88 to 28.75. Stu Gordon gets 1.38 back and is now 25.88.
Next fixture is Sunday 31st August at Wharton Park.

Our 2nd fixture re arranged at the last minute due to events at Little Lakes took us to Chesterton,18 members plus 2 guests turned out on a very sunny day being quite warm. Thou the course was not in its best condition with very dry fairways and greens that had recently been scarified, the test faced everyone, unusual for a course needing water badly for early April. Winning his 11th Major saw Bob Skorek win with an impressive net 62 9 under par 4 shots clear from last months victor Aaron who shot another great score 76 gross net 67. 3rd and a rare top 3 finish saw Flick with a net 69. Nearest the pins went Asha (32) and Roger (17) with the wooden spoon going to John Shaw. Once again I’ll reiterate THAT ALL SCORE CARDS MUST BE SIGNED BY PLAYER AND MARKER yet another scorecard handed in not signed by either party, the score was outside the top ten so it didn’t affect GOTY points

Our 26th season got underway at Local course Oxley with 26 members this year in the society. 18 members turned out to contest the March Medal with a traditional staple ford competition. Winning his 5th Major with an impressive 75 gross shooting 42 points was Aaron, just edging out Jack S. with 41 points, Simon finished 3rd with 39 points. Nearest the pins were Aaron (5) and Archie G.(12) The wooden spoon saw a society record, 27 points which would normally get you in the top 10 finishers became the worst score that honour went to Neil S. Our 2 new members Sam Jones and Jack Hayfield both off 28 didn’t finish in the top ten but had respectable scores Sam playing his 5th round with the society and Jack his 1st round off a provisional handicap. PLEASE NOTE. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO HAND YOUR SCORE CARD IN CORRECTLY. SIGNED BY YOUR FELLOW MARKER AND SIGNED BY YOURSELF. PLEASE REFER TO THE BLOG THAT WAS POSTED. (HEADED SCORECARDS) 20-6-2023 AFTER THE EVENT AT SHREWSBURY
Unfortunately a disqualification had to be applied as it broke every rule. Simple mistakes are made understandably at times and will be corrected before declaring the scorecard prior to the presentation on the day. Minor place errors (up to 10th GOTY points) will be corrected if affected, and a quite word on the next venue will be mentioned to any culprit.

Our final fixture came to a close at Ombersley G.C. where 16 members turned out for a medal competition, not only was the Spring Trophy contested, but GOTY would be decided. On a day the clocks went back the weather was exceptional for the time of year.4 groups of 4 battled it out going out in the order that they had attained in points for GOTY. Out 1st was the leaders who produced low scores and made it difficult for everyone else. Only Jack and weenie could win the GOTY. Jack put the stake in the ground by shooting 76 gross net 64 an 8 under par total with weenie shooting an impressive 73 gross net 69. Going in to the event weenie held a 3 point lead so Jack now was 2 points behind. At this stage it looked all over for Jack despite having the winning score, but following their group Asher came in with a net 65 and Glenn with a net 66 making weenie and jack tied for GOTY.NP went to Roger {16} and weenie {34} the wooden spoon went to Neil S. The presentation later saw Jack getting his 2nd green jacket for the season with the announcement that for the 1st time in the 25 year history that the GOTY. was tied, but both Jack and Weenie decided that their could only be one winner and challenged each other to a play off hole, the 10th hole was selected right outside the club house for all to see, earlier in comp play Jack had birdied the hole whist Weenie had bogeyed it. Unfortunately tee shots decided it has Jack put his out of bounds and Weenie went on to birdie the hole so Weenie claimed the GOTY. for the 6th time. On a final note the society is only as strong as the members who take part and despite a difficult year with the weather (the worst I can remember in the 25 years over a season) we managed to do it, going forward to next season ain’t going to be any easier with rising costs and morning tee time availability so venues will not be easy and might not please everyone. Remember that the Society was formed for bunch of friends and family to enjoy a day out on a Sunday morning playing the game they love and hate at times knowing good banter would follow with stories to tell. A special thanks to Simon for his dedication and hard work that people don’t see. Hope to see everyone at this years presentation and AGM. which is important for moral and satisfying to know the hard work and time is appreciated, so could those who normally don’t bother to attend please make an extra special effort for the forth coming events.

Memories from the memorial day for Barry Kinsey, held at The Mount (Perton G.C.) from the Society, he played for, for nearly 20 years.
On Sunday 13th October our Society honoured Barry’s memory by having a fun day to celebrate his life and times shared with us.
24 members turned out along with 2 close friends who played many rounds of golf with. The day started as always with a get together breakfast bap before the fun competition got underway. The format was two teams of 12 pairs, playing a match play stapleford comp.
2 playing Captains Asher and Carlos with their teams battled it out with Team Carlos winning 4 – 2 During the day each player had 4 nearest the pins to take on 2nd,7th,10th,13th, and a nearest the pin in 2 shots at the 12th hole, helping them along the way fellow non playing members Archie and Wayne provided refreshments at the 10th tee with Beer and Chocs. When the comp was completed everyone enjoyed a much welcomed food supplement of Sandwiches and chips which took no problem to put away. The Presentation had many prizes inc. the winning trophy, nearest pins, and the wooden spoon together with a raffle and 1-30 draw. Despite the weather leading up to the event, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and I’m sure Barry’s spirit was present and he would have approved of the celebration that took place in his name. The Barry Memorial Trophy will be kept in the SESC on display in the bar and played for every year as a Ryder Cup end of season event.
Neil and Wayne would like to thank everyone that participated, along with non playing golfers and those who couldn’t make it sending their best wishes.

Our penultimate venue at Ludlow saw 17 members turn out on a windy day, course was in good condition and a medal comp lay ahead. There were quite a lot of high gross scores out there but it did not trouble the winner who shot 74 gross net 69 and I tip my hat to Weenie (15) majors in total and his 1st win this year, 2nd on countback was Simon recording his 3rd top ten finish this season with Neil S. 3rd with a net 72 his 3rd top ten as well .N Pins went to a rare turnout from Mitch (13) and Aaron (4) The wooden spoon honour went to Suky GOTY now is a two horse race with todays winner on 55 points and Jack who failed to score today still on 51 points, only Asher could tie if he won the last fixture and the top 2 failed to score.