A View From The Green

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

21 members contested the course in Droitwich and despite a tricky course Medal play was comp for the 1st time, historically stableford as been the task. Only 1 player managed to beat the par of 70 with just 4 others a few shots over on a very warm muggy day. Shooting a gross 80 net 69 saw Neil K. win his 2nd major this year and 17th in total matching the leading all time mayors won. 2nd on countback was Badger with a net 73 narrowly beating Archie G. having a back to back 3rd place.NP went to Stu (2) and Moley (11) but it was another bad day for our 2021 GOTY having his 3rd honour this year of the wooden spoon. Not so much change in the handicaps surprisingly with only Badger being cut .25 and 6 others having shots back including our winner Neil .13 now off 11.13 Daz B received 1 full shot and Jonh L. .75
GOTY has now a clear leader Neil K. on 37 nine points ahead of Carlos 28 who is 2 points clear of dark horses Roger and Arch G.

Our 6th fix and 1st visit to Raven meadow saw 22 members battle out a Stableford comp. on a very warm day. With a par of 69 on a relatively short course, low scores were expected, in fact 2 under par 38 points finished 10th. With a 43 point total a 1st major and completing that all 27 current members have now won a major went to Darren Fillingham narrowly beating Nikky with a 42 point total but only on countback as Archie G. recorded the same total.
NP went to John S. (12) and Suky (2) with the wooden spoon honours going to Darren B. Handicaps saw 14 members get cut with 5 receiving shots back. The most significant cuts was our winner Daz F. cut 1.37 Mark R. cut 1.25 and Neal S. 1.13 and Nikky 1 shot those who had shots back were Stu .75 and Archie S. .75.
Golfer of the year is getting very tight now 8 players within 8 points of leading, with the top 5 from our previous round drawing blanks gave others a chance to close in Carlos 28 still leads by one to Neil K. 27 with wife Nikky now in 3rd only 2 points behind who is 2 points ahead of Daz F.in 5th.

17 members turned out for our 5th event at Oxley Park on a dry overcast but warm day. A 2nd medal comp this season was closely contested with 2 net 68’s and 2 net 69’s leading the way. With a better back 9 saw Carlos win his 2nd major this season and his 8th over the 19 years he’s played. Just edging out 2nd place Roger. 3rd place was very similar seeing Neil K. edging out John L. The N. Pins went to Neil K.(21) and Daz F.(2) with the wooden spoon going to Glenn.
The handicap stroke index saw 14 changes with 12 members getting cut and 2 having shots back ironically despite winning Carlos was one of them receiving 0.38 shots this is because his 21st oldest round that dropped off the calculation 8 from 20 was a better gross round than the one he made today,the other being Wooden spoonist Glenn receiving 0.13 shots, out of the 12 getting cut saw Daz F. cut 1 full shot, Neil K. 0.87 and Suky 0.87.
Golfer of the Year status see’s Carlos 28 points leading by 1 point from Neil K. with Sting in 3rd on 21 points.