A View From The Green

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.

Our final fix took us to Cleobury Mortimer where the GOTY. would be settled between 5 possible players. A Medal comp lay ahead on a very overcast day which turned out to be a very wet day. The course was not in its best condition with cored greens, temp tee off mats, fairways that needed cutting, bunkers I’ve got no words for and overgrown grass around the greens but as the saying goes it was the same for everyone. Not value for money by a long stretch a lot of complaints but yet again no one around by the time we had finished to complain too. 18 members contested the task ahead and leading the way with his 1st major of the season and his 19th major was Glenn with an impressive net 65 5 shots ahead of Flick who achieved his only top 3 finish this season and Neil S. came in 3rd with a net 71 not only his 1st top 3 finish but his 1st points of the season, Wooden Spoon honour went to Asher. NPs went to Glenn (21) and Neil K. (22) GOTY went to Carlos who finished 7th and scored 4 points which was enough to hold off Daz and John L. who failed to finish in the top ten Nikky could only manage 10th with 1 point and Stu thou a 5th place finish, 6 points wasn’t enough. Final handicap changes sees Glenn cut 1.37 shots Flick and Neil S. cut .75 Bob cut .25. Asher and John L. receive .25 shots back with GOTY Carlos getting .63 back.
Congratulations to all our winners this season and all other members that make up our Society. Next year we will celebrate our 25th season so please continue to support and enjoy.
Finally thanks to Simon for his dedicated work over the last 10 years when he took over the organizer role from me, its a demanding role at times not only on the day of each event but work needed to be done close season with booking courses to suit the majority of members, trophy engraving and everything else that goes unnoticed to make the Society exist. Please support our fun Ryder Cup event on the 22nd Oct at Astbury

Our penultimate fixture took us to Bridgnorth G.C. following a very hot week greeted us to another hot and muggy day mixed with out breaks of heavy rain a task by itself. 23 members turned out for a stapleford comp around a testing course, fairways and greens in particular were excellent. Nether the less there were good scores every where with the Wooden spoon being won with 27 points total, that going to 2 time winner this season and a fancied GOTY. contender Carlos. Hayden’s rare turn out this season saw him collect both N.Pins now on 11 honours all time. Winning his 7 major and the Banks’s Cup for the 2nd time was Archie Shaw with 39 points, he last won this cup 22 years ago in 2001. he narrowly beat D.Flavell who also shot the same score but his back six holes wasn’t enough having the same back nine of 20 points, 3rd was Nikky with 37 points. GOTY. Now looks very tight going into the last comp at Cleobury next month (1st) Oct. With Daz and Carlos not picking up any points today left the door open for Nikky and John L. Standings are Daz 45,Carlos 43,John 42, and Nikky 41, Stu has an outside chance with 35 points but would need to win and rely on others failing to score Handicap changes see increases for Neil K..88 and Asher 1.37 now 12.50 S.I. starting the year on 8.13 Sing Suki and Glenn get .75 with Archie G..87 Despite winning Archie S. only cut .25 and Dave F. .50