A View From The Green

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.

Our 3rd fixture took us to The Vale and hoping the weather was going to be better so far, although the course was boggy in places it played well. No buggies allowed though which didn’t help the turn out. Only 15 members battled out a par 74 medal competition.
Winning her 5th Major with a net 73 1 under was Nikky with Hubby Neil runner up with a net 76 having a better back 9 than 3rd place Moley Only 5 player broke a net 80. Nearest the pins honour went to Asher(31) and Sting(14) only Weenie has a better total with 32.Wooden spoon honour went to Arch Shaw.

The 2nd fix took us to Uttoxeter a very overcast day which threatened rain all day and didn’t let us down unfortunately. Following his 3 wins last year Carlos lead the way with his 10th Major shooting a one over 70, 35 point total, runner up and in the top 3 again was Badger with 34 points and 3rd saw Mitch shooting 33 points. The NP went to Jack our new member this year and Flick (6) the wooden spoon went to Wayne.
Handicap changes notably saw Carlos get cut .75 now 22.13, Badger got cut .62 now 17.38 and Aaron and Bob cut .25 now 9.88 and 20.00 respectively. Receiving shots back were Ash and Nikky both getting one full shot and Daz B. .62 and N.Slater .50

The 24th season got under way at Gaudet Luce {our 2nd fix} after our 1st fix was cancelled after wet weather. However with the course being closed the day before it should have rung alarm bells for the task ahead.
The Spring Trophy was challenged by 20 members and despite the boggy conditions under foot there were a few good scores with no less than 10 players scoring +4 or better. After a 3 year break from the Society Mitch playing off 6 came in with 74 Gross 38 points to seal the win, second with 36 points was Neal S and 3rd continuing his return to form and last years runner up for GOTY was Badger. Claiming the NP’s were Nikky {4} and Sting {13} but having a bad day saw Arch G. claim the Wooen Spoon.
There were 7 handicap cuts inc. Mitch -0.62 now off 5.13 Neal S. -0.50 now off 24.25 and Badger -0.50 now 18.00 Among members getting shots back were Asher .75 now off 8.88 and Sting .50 now off 15.63

Our season ending event saw us at Astbury near Brigdnorth a substitute course for a washed out Oswestry. Despite a very wet week leading up to the day, Astbury played OK. 19 members took part in a medal event and with 3 key players contesting for GOTY all 3 fittingly played together. Winning his 1st event this season saw Captain Badger shoot a net 67 four clear of Dave F. with John L. finishing 3rd with 74. NP’s were Weenie (32) and Dave F.(6) the wooden spoon honour went to Stu. GOTY could have gone to no less than 8 players despite 2 members not able to make it, one being Nikky who was leading by 1 point prior to the event. Finishing 5th and 6 points and 48 points in total saw Neil K. win his second GOTY 21 years after his 1st. Runners up were Nikky and Badger on 43 points with Daz F. 4th.
Only one handicap cut on the day was Badger who got cut 1.5 now 18.5 stroke index, Carlos, Stu and weenie received .5 shots back and Dave F. .25 and Asher .13. Over the season the biggest cut’s were Badger 2.38 now 18.50, Mark 2.0 now 21.50, and Neil S. 1.75 now 21.13. Shot back were Wayne 2.63 now 46.63, Stu 2.38 now 26.13 and Bob and Daz B. both .87 20.50 and 24 respectfully.

Our penultimate fixture saw us at the par 66 Wrekin GC.A bright sunny day with a good conditioned course welcomed a surprisingly stapleford competition. Leading the way to his 3rd major this season and 9 in all with 40 points was Carlos just edging out Daz F. who also shot 40 points but his back 9 of 20 points wasn’t enough to beat Carlo’s 22 points.3rd with 39 points was captain Badger recording his third, third place finish.NP went to Nikky (3) and Roger(12) with the wooden spoon honour going to Wayne.
Going into the final comp on the 23rd Oct the GOTY looks very tight with no less than 8 players who could snatch the title, but realistically only 4 have got a great chance, current standing see’s Nikky leading with 43 points then Neil K on 42, Carlos on 41 and Daz F. on 40 points.

Uttoxeter became our 9th fixture this year and marked our 250th competition since we started in 2000.
A foggy morning greeted us to this very old course, a short but very tricky track with undulating, very tight fairways. Together with greens which were in poor condition made it a tough test for all.
Stapleford was the challenge today as with all new courses we play, which reflected in the scores as no one managed to shoot under par.
With 34 points saw Glenn win his first competition this year and his 19th major in total. Second with 31 points was Nikky and Captain Badger was third with 30 points.
NP went to Glenn (19) and Carlos (12), with John Shaw having a bad day getting the ‘wooden spoon’ honour.
There were no handicaps cuts as no members shot under par, however there were several members who received shots back.
They were Wayne,1.13, Nikky and Suky .75, Roger and Daz F .62, Archie S and John S .50, and Archie G .37.
GOTY has become very interesting with only two events left as the previous top 4 failed to score any points. The rest of the field took advantage.
Neil K still leads on 42 points with his better half Nikky on 36 points followed by todays winner Glenn on 35 points. Roger and Archie G are tied for fourth on 32 points.

22 members contested the Treasurers Trophy on a par 74 course inc 6 par 5’s, many were expecting a stapleford comp but Captain Badger called for medal contest. Surprisingly 12 members shot par or better on a dry warm day with little wind.
Despite having 3 wooden spoons this year so far Suky found his form and came in with winning net 69 just 1 shot ahead of John L. who edged out John S. with a better back nine. NP went to John L.(6) and Asher (30) who also won the honour of the wooden spoon.
Handicap stroke index changes sees 10 members get cut inc. Suky 1.13 now 24.25, Neil K. .63 now 10.50, and John L. .62 now 15.38, receiving shots back inc. Simon .87 now 26, and Daz F. .75 now 25.88 Bopa had .62 back now 30.25 and Asher and Carlos got .50 back 8 and 23.50 respectively GOTY now stands Neil K.42 Roger 32 and John L. 31, NEXT VENUE new to SEXGS IS Uttoxeter on the 11th Sept which will be the Society’s 250 Event