A View From The Green

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

Our 9th fix saw us at Ludlow Golf Course which is inside the actual race course. Condition was excellent and greens very good. 19 players contested the stapleford event for the Raden’s Shield (Cor count cup) and after a superb bacon bap best this season id say, it was time to battle. Winning his 3rd major was tee iron playing Stu with a 38 point total, runner up was last months winner John with 37 points and third with 36 points a 75 5 over gross was Weenie, NP both went John (8) Wooden spoon honour went to Simon who had his worst round to date. GOTY is very close with 3 players looking good Captain Daz on 45 points, Carlos on 43 and John on 40 with 2 events to go. Handicap changes see Stu cut .75 Neil K and John cut .50 Weenie and Nikky cut .25 with Neil S and Bob getting .50 shots back. Note: Daz B. as now had 6 consecutive rounds of his best 8 from 20 rounds

The World Handicap System calculator which our Society uses at present in MY opinion was designed for club golfers who are likely to play at least once a week. Together with questionable course slope ratings which can affect your handicap by 4 shots for an high handicapper and 2 shots for an average 18 handicapper in your favour. WHS is designed for your best 8 rounds from your last 20 and an average club golfer is expected to play at least 40 times a year or more. Again with MY opinion the old R & A rules worked better punishing the Winners and under par players but also rewarding up to 2 shots over a Society season of 11 rounds if ever present. In summary again in MY opinion the WHS rules works great and more accurately for club golfers but doesn’t suit Societies like ours. A golfers goal is to play and accomplish a round of golf in as few shots as possible and handicaps are given to suit your current chances of shooting level par. Comments to this post would be interesting to learn of how you feel about it and stop negative comments relating to handicaps. Going forward our society is stronger than its ever been, something I am very proud of and continues in the right manner, anyone wishing to state their feeling can be addressed at our next AGM when the group can discuss issues.

A week after our re-arranged fix saw us at the Wrekin GC. 18 Members turned out with un-predictable weather ahead. The course was in superb condition and the greens were as good as you get, fast and flat. The weather turned out to be very wet especially on the back nine which didn’t suit the later tee times. Medal comp lay ahead on this par 66 track. Winning his 6th major was John Lee shooting a net 64 2 under, Daz B. came 2nd with a net level par 66 and 3rd was Nikky 1 over. N Pins honours went to Moley (14) and Daz B.(3). After 12 months break due to work commitments welcomed back Boppa who predicted and won the wooden spoon honour. GOTY now looks tight with Carlos leading by 1 point after failing to score, but Captain Daz with his 9 point 2nd place closes up Our winner today John goes into 3rd 10 point adrift of the leader with Moley creeping up the table a further 2 points away with only 3 events to go. Handicap changes see’s John L. cut half a shot to 13.88 SI Daz cut .62 to 22.88 and Moley cut .25 to 25.63.Shots back see’s Neil K. get .87 back now 11.00 Glenn .50 now 17.63 and Simon .50 now 27.25.

Our 1st fix postponed from March saw us at the Shropshire course. With having 3 fixtures in July the turn out was low with only 16 members contending. Medal was the test on the Blue and Silver tracks, Winning his 6th major with net 65 was Moley having an opening gross 44 1st nine being the key, 2nd with a net 66 was Sting finding the water at the last which cost him victory and 3rd came Jack his 1st time in the top 3 with a 67. Wooden spoon honours went to his dad Archie. Nearest pins went to Glenn (20) and Sting (16). Handicap changes sees Moley cut .93 to 26.75, Sting cut 1.0 to 15.13,Jack cut .62 to 15.25. GOTY Standings sees Carlos now 10 points clear of Daz B.

Telford Golf and Country Club hosted our 6th fix of the season with 23 members turning out on a warm muggy day, greens were excellent and the overall course in very good nick. A stapleford test lay ahead but should have been medal with the course being a lot shorter than stated having quite a few holes shortened with forward tees, but that’s hindsight for you. The average point total was 35.6 on the day so many shot under par helped by a very high slope rating of 134 together with the shortened distance. Not surprisingly 40 points got posted 1st by Wayne who blobbed 16 and 17 but turned out to be only 4th best. Stu pipped into 3rd with 41 points followed by Daz B. second with 42 points. Leading the way winning his 5th mayor with 46 points was Dave F. a 81 gross net 62 round. A new unwanted record got broken saw the wooden spoon won with 28 points by Asher. who also won NP, his 32nd time with Nikky (5) winning the other one. Significant handicap changes; Dave F. now off 16 stoke index from 16.88 Carlos cut .38 to 20 Stu cut .75 to 26. GOTY standings see’s Carlos 8 points clear of Daz B. who is one clear of Stu on 25 points all 3 are still involved with the 8 from 11 rule.

A point to make on scorecards which the majority of members manage to do right. Members (21) who played out latest comp. at Shrewsbury would have seen Archie G. don the Green Jacket. Unfortunately this victory had to be taken away from him. Can I remind everyone that when we all come off the 18th green and 1st thoughts is normally a beer or two at the 19th there is still a responsibility to check your scorecard especially when you have played well and in with a shout. Having signed your card you are declaring your result. The scorecard you are given on the day is your responsibility until you pass it to the player you have marked with your signature on, then its up to the player to check his card and agree/disagree with his score and then sign it. No one should be marking two cards. Very often cards don’t get signed and calculations are questionable but can be overlooked when they don’t affect the top ten finishers. On the day errors will be adjusted and members spoken to if they are obvious and it affects the result. For several reasons on this occasion the Stapleford winning score got overlooked.

21 members contested a stableford test round Shrewsbury probably with the best greens we will play this year. With warm weather and little wind low scores were expected. Following a lengthy score card check that seemed straight forward at the time results had to get amended. Winning his 11th Major and 2nd trophy this season with 37 points was Carlos narrowingly beating John L. with a better back nine, who had 3 blob’s on his back nine inc. the 18th.3rd saw Stu on 36 points again beating 4th place John S. who won here 2 years ago. Nearest the pins honour went to Sting (15) and Moley (13) who just managed to avoid the wooden spoon on count back which went to yet again Wayne. Handicap changes saw Carlos get cut .75 now down to 20.38 stroke index, John L. cut 1 full shot now down to 14.38 SI. The only significant change on shots back was Moley .5 now off 27 SI. and NOTEABLY Wayne who’s handicap has jumped up 3.38 now off 50.13 SI. There is now one to catch in GOTY Carlos has a 10 point lead over his closet rivals.

A short trip to Astbury Bridgnorth was our 4th venue of the year, a par 71 medal comp faced a good turnout of 24 players inc.one visitor. A warm and muggy day for once saw a few tired legs at the end, with good difficult greens to read and semi rough (ball height) tested the better golfer. So keeping the ball on the fairway tee to green was the key. News soon got round that someone had shot a gross 39, 4 over for the 1st nine holes and playing off 26 gave him a net 26,9 under par. Surprisingly !! it turned out to be the winning score a gross 90 net 64,7 under. Captain Daz Brown being the victor on this occasion winning his 3rd major. 2nd with a respectable net 68,3 under par was John L. and 3rd was Carlos on the podium again this season with a net 71. Nearest the pins went to Weenie (33) and Arch Shaw (3) The wooden spoon once again went to Wayne.
Handicap changes saw Daz cut 1.12 on his stroke index, John L. .38 and Carlos 1.0 shot s back were Simon .87, Suki .75, Archie G. .63 and Nikky .50 Wayne’s handicap went up .75
GOTY. saw the top 4 players fail to score before todays event, Mitch still leads with Carlos on 18 points, with Badger and Daz B. one point behind on 17.