A View From The Green

Our 9th venue saw 17 players battle it out at The Belfry together with 2 visitors got challenged by the Derby course. The day started off with pouring rain but still very humid conditions, a relatively short course favoured the high handicapper but that wasn’t to be the case. Winning his 7th Major with an impressive 43 points a net 78 his best knock to date was John Lee. and that coming off 4 poor knocks, not scoring any points this season. Hayden came second with 39 points with regained form from Asher who was 3rd with 38 points. N Pins went to Hayden (12) and Neil (25)and the wooden spoon honour went to Bob with the best ever highest stable ford total of 29 points. GOTY is now very interesting with no less than 6 people who can win this year inc. 3 past winners who share 9 GOTY victories. Jack who was absent today leads with 51 points with 3 players on 45 points Weenie, Asher and Archie with Sting and Neil K. further back but within striking distance providing Jack doesn’t extend his lead.

Our 8th event at Church Stretton which was originally our 1st that was abandoned due to thick cloud cover didn’t go that well again, strong winds up to 40 Mph tried to disrupt proceedings, however 19 very keen, mad golfers took to the stable ford task ahead. Knowing the scores would be over par for the majority the winning score that was posted was 34 points and that went to young Jack who proved his form by winning his 1st Major after having 3 previous runners up places and now leads GOTY by 10 points. 2nd place went to Asher with 32 points with 3rd Glenn having 31 points. NP’s went to Aaron (3) and Moley (15) with John L. claiming the wooden spoon honour. With 3 events left the Belfry, Ludlow and one fixture tba. GOTY looks more than over ?? with Jack 10 points clear of Archie and 13 clear of Weenie in 3rd it looks very difficult to catch him. But pressure does funny things we will have to wait and see.

Our 7th event took us to Telford for a Medal competition,20 members took to the challenge on a warm and pleasant day. The course was in average condition quite a bit below its usual standard with greens varying soft to firm and slow to average speed. Coping better than most saw Stu win his 4th Major shooting a net 68, defending the same trophy the Raden’s Shield which he won at Ludlow last August. Neil K. was 2nd with a net 69 and Weenie 3rd with a net 70 which inc. 3 birdies and 10 pars. NP went to Neil K.(24) and Carlos (14) the Wooden spoon honour went to Neil S. GOTY as got tight at the top with the leader not scoring any points today Jack and father Arch are joint top with 41 points with Neil K. in 3rd with 34 points and Weenie 4th with 33 points, the next event in one week time takes us to Church Stretton our re-arranged fixture from March which was abandoned after a few holes due to low cloud making visibility impossible

Our 6th comp took us to Shifnal, a new venue for the society and it didn’t disappoint, thou a bit on the pricey side it was well worth it. As all new venues do, we played a staple ford comp. 19 members turned out with 1 visitor which was quite good for this season so far, the weather was very warm with little wind, as near as perfect as you could get. The course was in incredible condition with greens excellent that were very tricky to read as most of them sloped which was hard to see. Winning his 1st comp this season and his 20th Major was Glenn amassing 41 points with Jack 2nd with 37 his 3rd runner up this season and sees him at the top of GOTY.3rd with 35 points was Asher. Nearest the pins went to Glenn (22) and Nikky (7) with the Wooden spoon honour going to Aaron. After 6 events Jack on 41 leads GOTY by 3 point from his Dad Archie on 38 with Glenn now 3rd on 26 after his win today.

Our 5th fixture took us to Uttoxeter which should have been played in April but was cancelled due to a waterlogged course. A Medal comp lay ahead on a well conditioned track with decent greens, the key to it was being able to place your drives on to the fairways that were lined with numerous positioned trees. The only downfall was probably the teeing areas. Only 14 players turned out which was very disappointing probably due to a re-arranged fixture and a week before our next fixture, however this challenge tested most of us and not being a staple ford competition. Note the breakfast was mega probably too much but it was the caterers 1st week at Uttoxeter so prob wanted to impress. This didn’t stop the top 3 finishers shooting par and better, winning his 1st comp this season and his 18th Major in total, now 1 behind Glenn was Neil K. shooting a net 68 just pipping Weenie 2nd and Jack S. 3rd who shot a par 69. Nearest the pins saw a rare win for Suky (3) and Carlos (13) with Suky claiming the wooden spoon honour. GOTY now sees a father and son joint leading with 32 points a seven point gap to joint 3rd being Neil K. and Weenie

Our 4th outing took us to Shrewsbury G.C. on a warm day with threatening showers forecasted. 20 players turned out for a stable ford comp. The course was in excellent condition with very quick greens. It was back to back victories for Nikky shooting a great score of 41 points 5 under par her 7th major which denied Jack Shaw of his 1st major shooting 39 points, 3rd on count back with 36 points was Bob. As it was Captains Cup our Captain this year Archie Shaw added a nice touch presenting not only a bottle of Jack Daniels to the winner but a bottle of plonk to the wooden spoonist which happened to be a happy Suki just edging out Moley who would have had 3 on the trot. Nearest the pins went to a rare visit from Dave Flavell (7) and Neil K.(23) which also was a rare achievement of not being NP but nearest the pin in 2 shots on the 18th par 4 as the only 2 par 3s on the back 9 were over 200 yards. After 4 events still leading GOTY is Archie S. 26 his son Jack 24 and Nikky in hot pursuit on 20

Our 6th fix took us to Astbury for the Secretary Shield on a dry sunny day, not bad after a downpour during the night but the course was in good condition with exceptional greens and tricky pin positions, where the rough played a major part. 20 players turned out for a stapleford comp which took 4.5 hours to complete. Winning her 6th major was our Geordie girl Nikky with 38 points she hit the ball long and straight and with an advantage of 1200 yards on the men but did have a lower handicap because of the slope index being 10 higher, 2nd just missing out by 1 shot was Glenn 37points leaving his final putt on the lip of the hole,3rd with 35points was Weenie. Nearest the pins went to Nikky (6) and Simon (10) with the wooden spoon honour going to Moley his 2nd consecutive one (no pressure for the next venue) Early days GOTY sees Archie Shaw out in front on 21 points having 3 4th placed positions and his son Jack 2nd with 15 points

Our 5th fixture (actual 2nd ) of the season was held at The Vale playing for the Bass Cup. Another disappointing turn out saw only 15 players turn out, probably down to the unpredicted weather and course reports before hand. Never the less the day turned out to be dry and sunny for the 5 hours out there just missing the heavy rain and thunder that followed the completion of the event. A par 74 saw only one player shoot net par that being Asher winning his 15th major 2nd tied 5 shots behind on count back was newly father Jack Shaw edging out Daz F. finishing 3rd. Nearest the pins went to Bob (11), Archie S.(4) and Nelly(4) the wooden spoon went to Moley

Our 25th Season finally got underway at Bromsgrove which was our 4th fixture of the season. The first 3 fixtures being abandoned or postponed due to adverse weather conditions. Only 16 members contested the Stapleford competition and by all means it was a very disappointed turn out. Nether the less everyone enjoyed a lovely breakfast before the challenge of the good conditioned course with challenging greens. A rare turnout by Aaron saw him win his 4th Major with 39 points and his Dad (Stu) coming 2nd with 37 points, 3rd place went to evergreen Wayne with 36 points. Nearest the pins saw only one winner Neil S.(11) with the other one not being threatened, who also had the honour of the 1st wooden spoon of the season. There were stroke index cuts to the first three players Aaron cut .63 Stu cut .37 and Wayne cut .50

Following my comments on the 4th Aug 2023 post, regarding World rules and Old R&A rules and no suggested alternatives. The best way going forward is to stick with the World rules, but for it to suit our Society we can adjust it slightly without causing any issues to anybody’s handicap. I’m proposing to calculate everybody’s best 8 scores from your last 12 rounds this will tighten up your current handicap and will more or less give you a more accurate handicap in the current year and not taking into account your previous years form which applies at present. Just to confirm all handicaps are worked out with your Gross score minus any score above your stroke index allowance for every hole (stapleford inc.) Every gross score is based om a par 72 course so for example when playing a course par 71, one shot is added to your gross score etc. Playing on the day your handicap will be slightly less than you stroke index displayed at all courses this is because we are playing in a competition and and your stroke index is multiplied by .95 so for example an 18 (stroke index) handicapper would play off 17 (17.1) before slope rating comes into power.