A View From The Green

The fixture at Wrekin Golf Club looked to be an interesting affair, with Golfer of the Year looking tight, and only 12 members attending, it was all to play for. A lovely warm day saw a course that was in beautiful condition with near perfect greens and tee boxes. However, the fairways were very dry and it was tough to stop a ball anywhere on the course, as we all found out. Fresh from his pre-Birthday celebrations in Liverpool and having his birthday on the same day as the Society fixture, Roger Mole must have had one eye on the green jacket. Unfortunately, his father-in-law, John Shaw had other ideas, preventing Roger from claiming his 7^th Major, hitting a lovely 44 points. It was John’s 3^rd Major and followed on from his 2^nd place at Ludlow. Richard Marsden continued his good run of late with 39 points, to take 2^nd place, beating Roger Mole on count back. Richard extended his lead in Golfer of the Year by a point and is now on 45, followed by Roger on 39, with John Shaw moving up to 3^rd with 32 points.

Nearest the Pins went to Hayden Mills on the 2^nd hole and John Shaw on the 14^th.

Wooden Spoon went to Steve Astley.

Handicap increases went to Steve Astley 0.87, Archie Shaw 0.37, Darren Brown 0.63, Simon Biddulph 0.5 and Carl Ralph 0.25.

Handicap cuts were given to Hayden Mills -0.13, Richard Marsden -0.75, Mark Richards -0.37, Neil Slater -0.38, Roger Mole -0.37 and John Shaw -1.63.

Next Fixture is Astbury on Sunday 9^th August.

Once again the weather was favourable for the trip to Ludlow GC. A short par 70 course, that was in lovely condition, playing Stableford format, produced some good scores. 4 players shot par or better and it is not very often 28 points gets the Wooden Spoon.

Neil Kinsey found his form, after over 2 years without a win, to record his 19^th Major win with a score of 40 points, with his card also including 2 NR’s. John Shaw finished 2^nd with an excellent 39 points and Sam Jones 3^rd on 36.

Wooden Spoon went to Darren Brown who inherited the ‘Champ to Chump’ title after winning at The Chase but finishing last at Ludlow. Roger Mole continued his fine run of ‘nearest the pin’ wins taking both to put him on 21 ‘nearest the pin’ wins.

Golfer of the Year is now getting very interesting after 6 fixtures. Richard Marsden leads the way with 36 points, Roger Mole is 2^nd on 31 points, with Neil Kinsey 3^rd on 28 points.

Handicap changes see cuts for Neil Kinsey -1.13, Richard Marsden -0.13, Roger Mole -0.25 and John Shaw -0.25. Increases went to Bob Skorek +1.5, Mark Richards +0.25, Archie Shaw +1.08, Darren Brown +0.25 and Neil Slater +0.25.

The next fixture is the Wrekin GC on Sunday 19^th July

Sunday 7^th June saw some better weather, a dry course and the highest slope score that we play this season, at a course we last played 24^th April 2022. A high slope score not only means a more challenging course but higher handicaps also. Stableford was the format chosen by the Captain and Vice Captain, which proved to be a very good decision.

However, we had 5 players carding level par or better, with some great golf played, with 4 points on a hole recorded no fewer than 16 occasions.

With his new clubs barely 2 months old Darren Brown recorded 42 points and took 1^st place to win the Bass Cup. 39 points saw Captain Richard Marsden continue his good run of form and take 2^nd place, with Roger Mole with 38 points in 3^rd place. It could have been a lot different for Roger but the last 3 holes hurt him, returning only 2 points.

Nearest the Pins (6^th and 11^th holes) were taken by Roger Mole and Richard Marsden. These were Richard’s 21^st nearest the pin and Roger’s 19^th.

Stu Gordon picked up the wooden spoon with a score of 27 points, that on another day would have probably got him in the top 10 scores.

Handicap changes see nobody lose any shots and Steve Astley (1.75), Neil Kinsey (1.62), Richard Marsden (0.35), Bob Skorek (0.12), Mark Richards (0.25), Stu Gordon (0.62), Darren Brown (0.25), Simon Biddulph (1.0), Neil Slater (0.75), Darren Fillingham (1.12) and Wayne Kinsey (1.75) gain handicap increases.

On to Sandwell and another change in Weather. A Temperature of about 7 degrees and a shower was the order of the day as we tee’d off at midday. A few heavy showers e4arly in the round took the edge of the day on a very nice course with some challenging greens. Luckily the Stableford format chosen saved a number from some very high scores.

Hayden Mills, having rejoined this year, is enjoying his Golf and took 3^rd place with 37 points, Captain Richard Marsden took 2^nd place with 38 but neither could stop Neil Slater recording his second win of the season with 39 points, which now also takes him to the top of Golfer of Year on 25 points. Wooden Spoon was collected by Simon Biddulph having recorded 10 NR’s over the 18 holes.

Handicap changes include Steve Astley -0.5, Hayden Mills -1.62, Neil Kinsey +0.37, Richard Marsden -1.62, Archie Shaw +0.75, Darren Brown +1.0, Jack Hayfield +1.88, Roger Mole +1.12, Carl Ralph +1.12, Sam Jones +2.12, Suky Dhir +0.13, John Shaw +1.13 and Wayne Kinsey +1.63.

Nearest the Pins both went to this Years Captain Richard Marsden, who now has 19 to his name.

Some dry weather greeted us at Uttoxeter but it also made it a little tougher to hold the greens. After a Quality Bacon roll and a bit of moaning about handicaps the Golf commenced. It was also the 1^st time we had played Uttoxeter when the course was dry. As always the day was won or lost on the Greens and Steve Astley triumphed with 36 points, with Paul Dukes 2^nd on 34 and Bob Sporek 3^rd on 32. Most seemed to have a tough day, no more than Roger Mole who collected the Wooden Spoon.

Nearest the Pins went to Paul Dukes on the 6^th and Richard Marsden on 16^th.

Handicap changes saw Steve Astley lose 1.13, Richard Marsden lose 1.75 and Neil Kinsey gain 0.5.

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.