Goodbye to Steve Akrill

Steve Akrill who has been involved with the Clubs Junior Section for many years, the majority of which as Junior Organiser will be moving to Yorkshire in early June. Below is Steve with some of the successful Juniors in their Under 14 Cup on 30th May.

Away Match v East Herts - 23rd May 2017

The away match against East Herts “The Stags” was played in sunny conditions with the course in good condition and was enjoyed by all. The Stags lost only 3 home matches last year and so it was good to record a 5.5 to 2.5 victory which their 2016 club captain Alan Thomas described as a rout!

Several matches went to the last hole for wins or draws. We enjoyed a 2 tee start from the 1^st and 7^th holes, 4 matches off each tee which enabled all to be back in the clubhouse in good time for a nice lunch. Phil White made his first appearance for the team this season and he joined immediate past seniors captain Jim Peacock in a good win (3/2). Good wins also for Captain Fred and Organiser Keith Hargreaves (2/1) despite Keith being in serious discomfort with a bad back. Wins for Steve Foster and Keith Fuller (1 up), Steve Collins and Brian Bullen (3/1) and for Nick Seeley and Colin Fox (2/1) with Neil Pinnington and Malcolm Lee managing to secure a half on their last hole with a long putt from Malcolm so well done the team for reversing a 5/3 loss in the fixture last year.

 

Keith Hargreaves - Organiser

Competition and Match Organisers - 2017

Competition Organisers
Match with the Ladies JOG(Y)  Organiser Les Bolland - 9^th March
Four Ball Better Ball Trophy CAR(W) Organiser Bill Walker – 14^th March
Annual Medal Trophy JOG(W) Organiser John Ellary – 25^th April
Rex Bullock Shield CAR(W) Organiser Neil Pinnington – 2^nd May
Ken Robinson Scramble CAR(W) Organiser Tony Goodson – 16^th May
Rex Cleaver Championship Trophy JOG(W) Organiser Geoff Beck – 13^th June
Reg Batson Aggregate Trophy JOG(W) Organiser David Crosby – 11^th July
Annual Stableford Trophy JOG(Y) Organiser Phil White – 25^th July
Seniors Member and Guest Day JOG(Y) Organiser Bill Walker – 1^st August
Seniors Captains Day JOG(Y) Organiser Jim Kerr – 29^th August
Seniors' Away Day Organiser Richard Coventry – 31^st August
Baliff Shield CAR(W) Organiser Bernard Gurney – 26^th September
Gordon Percival Team Trophy CAR(Y) Organiser John McPherson – 3^rd October
2 Clubs & Putter CAR(W) Organiser Chris Roy – 10^th October
Autumn Singles Stableford CAR(Y) Organiser John Ellary – 17^th October
Seniors v Juniors, TSB Trophy JOG(W) Organiser Dave Gauge – 24^th October
Match with Ladies Section CAR(Y) Organiser Les Bolland – 31^st October
Arthur Lucas Cup (Bring & Win) CAR(W) Organiser Graham Mckay – 14^th November
Christmas Fayre CAR(Y) Organiser Graham Mckay – 19^th December

Match Organisers
Saffron Walden – Steve Collins
Beds & County – Graham McKay
Wellingborough – Malcolm Lee
Bourn – Bill Walker
Aspley Guise & Woburn Sands – Chris Roy
Dunstable Downs – Brian Bullen
St Neots – John Ellary
Harpenden Common – Peter Grimes
East Herts – Keith Hargreaves
Leighton Buzzard – Peter Dean
South Beds – Nick Seeley
Gog Magog – Steve Foster
Letchworth – Peter Jarman

The Ken Robinson Scramble - 16th May 2017

The Ken Robinson Scramble was played on the Carthegena Course on the 16^th May in sunny and humid conditions which was a window of nice weather in a week forecast with rain. The competition was played to a slightly different format than usual but the pace of play was generally very good although there were mixed reports about the format which was not enjoyed by all.

There were 80 entrants and some very strong teams which was reflected in the scoring. The section were able to welcome some virgin seniors to the competition Colman O’ Toole, Phil  Cottier and Anthony Bell.

In 4^th place and just outside the prizes by 0.1 were Graham McKay, George Turner, Harry Wakefield and Phil White

In 3^rd place with a gross 64 and nett 57.2 was Alan Curtis (who couldn’t stay for the presentation)Colin Fox David Gauge and Dave Henderson(recovered from recent ill health and back to his chirpy self).

In 2^nd place with a gross 62 and nett 55.5 were the OBE’s (over bloody eighty)pairing of Alan Fowler and Robin Smith both doyens of the club and still playing excellent golf with David Lincoln and John Ellary.

However in 1^st place  with another impressive gross score of 61 and nett 55 was Derek Page, Steve Cooper (also restored to health after a heart scare) Steve Ackrill (playing in his last seniors competition before moving to pastures new up north) and our blogspot organiser and seniors photographer Algy Grimes. Algy putted like a demon or perhaps like Gerry Gentle did last year when his team won.

The Winners
Derek Page, Steve Akrill, Steve Cooper, Algy Grimes

 

2nd place
David Lincoln, Alan Fowler, John Ellary, Robin Smith

 

3rd place
David Gauge, Colin Fox, David Henderson (plus Alan Curtis not pictured)

Tony Goodson, Comp Organiser

Home Match v Harpenden Common Seniors - 9th May 2017

A cool cloudy day greeted the teams on the John O’Gaunt course, using a two tee start worked well with most players arriving in the clubhouse with plenty of time to relax and enjoy a drink before lunch. A superb Steak & Ale pie followed by Bread & Butter pudding for most, all served by Dawn and her team.

The result was a draw 4/4, but had a JOG player not missed a birdie putt of 2 feet on the last hole we could have won another match, but it was lost therefore a draw ensued. It would be unfair to name him but he took it in good spirit. Bill Walker hit one of his opponent’s trolley and bag and asked if that meant a two shot penalty for them!! It was quite unusual today for a Seniors match with a lot of low handicaps on both sides, including three in single figures in the HC team.
Captain Fred and myself lost 2 & 1 but we were up against the Seniors Captain and Club Captain from Harpenden. It was a great performance by Arthur Taverner (HC Seniors Captain) bearing in mind it was two years to the day that he underwent a quadruple bypass, he is still making birdies.
As match 2 was approaching the 9^th green they noticed a number of lady members approaching the 10^th tee, someone said who are all those ladies and what are they doing, Jim Peacock then said “I don’t know, my wife is one of them”. Not wanting to interrupt the Seniors’ match the ladies went off to play the Carthagena course.

Great wins by Gerry Degaute & Jim Peacock (4&3) and Terry McSweeney & William Skelding (6&5), David Crosby & Peter Wade (3&2)  and Ken Doggrell & Ray Smart (1 hole) ensured the half overall was achieved.

The John O’Gaunt nearest the pin was won by Geoff Beck, well done. However, there was a little confusion when the marker arrived in the clubhouse because the last name was Gerry Gentle, we have a comedian in our midst because Gerry was playing elsewhere. It would seem that William Skelding always wants to be on the sheet at every home match, he used his own permanent marker, and it is permanent!

Finally, thank you to Alban Macdonald for donating a voluntary fine of £5.00 to the Captain’s charity. He had forgotten his tie for lunch.

Algy Grimes - Organiser

Away Match v St Neots Seniors - 5th May 2017

As we arrived at St Neots the sun was shining with a slight breeze. The course was in fine fettle and the greens were fast. The match commenced, Fred and I went 1 down immediately. From then on it was a game of nip and tuck, no one side went more than 2 holes up or down. Fred and I won the sixteenth and halved the seventeenth leaving us 1 down we were both on the eighteenth for 3 and they were chipping on for 4, Fred sunk his putt for 4 and halved our match. It would seem there was a lot of banter between each group as the results came in. Dave Evans had to leave the course feeling unwell leaving Vice Captain Jim Kerr to gamely battle on but had to concede too many shots to his opposition. 

There were good wins for Richard Coventry and John Gregory who managed to overcome an inform Gully Mann and Alan Aitken playing off 4. A notable hole was the 14th which was halved with a birdie by Richard.

Also wins for Gerry Gentle and Ray Smart and Keith Fuller and Richard Westergreen-Thorne.

All enjoyed a very good carvery and a super bread and butter pudding, everybody stated they had enjoyed the day fantastically and looked forward to the return in June. Oh the match result nearly forgot it was a half 4 each.

Match report John Ellary - Organiser

 

Rex Bullock Trophy - 2nd May 2017

Organiser pipped at post by Michael Tomblin

The Rex Bullock Trophy was contested over the Carthagena course in beautiful sunny weather with the occasional stiff breeze to make things interesting, Course was in great condition and greens were running at a gentle speed which suited some of us. The scoring was generally good with 15 players (of the 87) scoring better than their handicaps. There were also 15 2's recorded on the day from 13 different players (Phil White and organiser both carded two 2's).

Alan Anderson claimed 3rd prize on countback from Jim Peacock both scoring 39 points. 2nd prize went to organiser Neil Pinnington on 42 points narrowly losing out to the champion and Rex Bullock Trophy Winner Michael Tomblin who scored a magnificent 43 points.



Michael Tomblin



Alan Anderson

Neil Pinnington