Seniors Captain's Day - 30th July 2019





Captain Dave Gauge held his Captain’s day on the John O’Gaunt course on 30 July. It attracted 88 participants competing for the Kethro Tray. Also at stake was the captains vs the vice captains shield.

The Kethro Tray was won by Bryan Hankins with a very creditable score of 36 points, particularly given the blustery winds and occasional heavy showers.  Michael Newstead came second on count-back with Sam Standen coming 3^rd on 35 points

The captains vs the vice captains shield was won by Seniors Captain Dave and Club Captain Phil Haddow who beat Vice Captain Peter Horlock and Senior’s Vice Captain Bill Walker with a combined stableford score of 60 points to 59 points.

Other honours went to Harry Wakefield for a hole-in-one on the 16^th hole.  David Wrench was nearest the Pin on the 4^th hole.  MS-UK representative Chris Lee was nearest the Pin on the 10^th hole, and Jim McIlwaine was nearest the pin in 2 on the 11^th hole.

Finally, a crazy putting course was laid out on the practice green with Club Captain Phil Haddow winning the putting completion by completing the 9-hole course in 23 putts.

The day also resulted in a Raffle contribution to MS-UK of £331.

All in all a very enjoyable day made more so by the shot-gun start which resulted in a full house for the presentation of prizes.

 

 

Senior Captain David Gauge with Club Captain Phil Haddow
and their guests



Ladies booking everyone in

The various winners are as follows-

Skills winners 

Nearest the Pin on 16th with a Hole in One
Harry Wakefield 

NtP on 4th - Dave Wrench

NtP on 10th -

NtP in two on 11th -

Winner putting comp - Club Captain Phil Haddow

Overall winner - Colin Stokes MBE (Guest from Prostate Project)

Captains won competition with Vice Captains

Third Place - Sam Standen

Second - Michael Newstead

Winner - Kethro Tray - Brian Hankins

 Bill Walker - Vice Captain
 Organiser

 

Away Match v Bourn - 24th July 2019

It was a confident John O’Gaunt team that arrived at our new Golf Club on a sunny morning, ready to fight for the two and a half points needed to bring the elusive silver scroll back to John O’Gaunt for the first time in living memory, if not ever. We took coffee on the patio as the clubhouse is undergoing major refurbishment, and the conservatory was baking at 8.00 in the morning. The good news was that we were having lunch in the marquee as this was much cooler.

I was partnering Gerry Gentle and it soon dawned on us that we would have our work cut out if we were going to get anything out of our match. Having been 2 down very early we managed to clamber back to all square but were then ‘Hewletted’ as Keith Hewlett turned on a majestic spell of golf which resulted in him finishing the round 5 over gross. We were the first to fail to get a point.

As each pair returned to the clubhouse the story was the same and the final result was a crushing 8-0 defeat that meant the elusive scroll remained at Bourn for at least another year.

The main reason for the defeat however is attributed to the ghastly shorts worn by Dave Wood which he claims were bought by his good lady but I have my doubts.

 

Peter Wade did win the award for shot of the day, however. 

 

 

Results;

Dave Gauge and Gerry Gentle lost 3&2

Keith Blankley and Keith Fuller lost 2&1

Algy Grimes and Peter Wade lost 4&3

John Cocksedge and Barry Donavan lost 5&4

Dave Wood and Derek Young lost 3&2

Ray Smart and Bill Walker lost 2&1

Neil Pinnington and Nick Schumann lost 3&2

Gerry Degaute and Peter Imray lost 5&4

Senior Section Annual Stableford Trophy - Tuesday 23rd July 2019

For the first time in a number of seasons the entry for this event was full and a waiting list had to be introduced. This is a very encouraging sign as some competitions in recent seasons have had a diminishing start list. Let’s hope it is a sign of an upward trend in the future.

It was a very bright sunny day, which was marginally more pleasant for the early starters than those following later, as the temperature rose as the morning progressed and was extremely hot by the time the final groups returned to the clubhouse.

One by product of the dry and warm spell is that one gets a lot of roll from the course although this is often counteracted by a few dubious bounces when the ball returns to earth.

However some very good golf was played and all the winners were to be congratulated.

A vote of commiseration should go to the trio of Jim Kerr, Kevin Donnelly, and Richard Cobb all of whom amassed a creditable 36 points, got cut 0.3 but still finished just outside the prizes.

Results;

1^st Steve Collins. 38 points

2^nd Jonathan Lean 37 points
3^rd  Alan Kirkham 36 points

Nearest the pin was Clive Thompson

Dave Gauge

Seniors Captain

Winner - Steve Collins

Second - Jonathan Lean

Third - Alan Kirkham not there for photos so David wonders if he should keep the voucher!!

Nearest the pin - Clive Thompson (and he got the Birdie)

Home Match v Gog Magog Elders - 16th July 2019

On a sunny day in July, the 16^th to be precise, Gog Magog Elders came to challenge John O’Gaunt Seniors on Carthagena.   Following coffee and meet and great reception there was a great hush as the pairings were announced.  The air was filled with cries of, “Who am I paired with?”  “What are their handicaps?”  and the quiet thoughts of, “What chance do we have against them?”   First on the tee was each teams’ Senior’s Captain and Match Organiser.   The watching crowd voiced their approval as one, two, three, four drives all split the fairway.   The competition was underway.

Throughout the day many a tree, grassy rough and sand-traps were found by erratically hit balls and anyone listening would have heard cries of despair, “Not Again?” and “Why do I keep doing that?”, and even more colourful language it is not polite to report here.

Carthagena in summer is not an easy course and she showed she could “bite,’ the unwary on regular occasions.

After four hours in the sun the playing was complete and the warriors trickled in ones and two’s to deliver their results to the official scorer.   Gog Magog Elders to took the lead, the second result levelled the match.   The results were coming in thick and fast now and the overall result swayed first one way then the other, until the outcome rested on the result of game 8.   We waited in anticipation for the game 8 players to arrive.   We waited and waited, where were they?    Finally they appeared and made their way to the scorer’s table, which team had won the final vital point?   Then it was all over, the final score John O’Gaunt Seniors 5 points, Gog Magog Elders 3 points.   John O’Gaunt had won the day, but no doubt Gog Magog Elders will be lying in wait when the return match is played later in the year.

 

Michael Newstead,

Organiser

Reg Batson Medal Trophy - 9th July 2019

Warm but slightly cloudy skys greeted the top thirty qualifiers for the Reg Batson Trophy to be joined by myself who felt extremely out of place.

However the competition was good and the scores we excellent considering it was a medal competition played on the John O’Gaunt.

As usual the top of the leader board was congested with countback coming into force to separate the eventual prize winners from the near misses.

The other usual thing that happened was that Robert Anderson won the nearest the pin competition.

Commiserations go to Ian Simpson and Paul Stallard who narrowly missed out on the prizes, but congratulations go to Robert Bage who won the competition with a net 70. Runner up with 71 was Paul Jeeves, with Gerry Gentle 3^rd and Dave Wood 4^th both with 73.

 

Dave Gauge

Seniors Captain

Here are the photos of the various winners -

Robert Anderson

Fourth - David Wood

Third - Gerry Gentle

Second - Paul R Jeeves

Winner - Robert Bage

Away Match v Dunstable Downs - 4th July 2019

On a beautiful sunny day we played our re-arranged match on a wonderful course that was in  excellent condition with fast greens. After last year's white wash I’m very pleased to report a 3.5/4.5 loss.

Captain Dave & I had a great start with three birdies on the first five holes. This lead was reduced (mainly due to their organiser Roger - nickname five counties - due to his sometimes wayward drives, was out driving us by 50 yards) to dormy 1 on our 18th hole but with a very useful pitch & putt from Dave we won two up.

Graham Court & Steve Collins had a great win with a net score of 63.

Terry McSweeney & David Crosby managed to win 4 & 3 even though David picked his ball up prematurely on the green resulting in a lost hole?

Gerry Gentle & Malcolm Lee managed a good half after being 2 down with 3 to play.

Gerry Degaute & Keith Fuller lost 2 & 1 even after Keith had made a 60 foot putt on the second green.

Sam Standen & Peter Wade had a good reason for losing as their opponent Terry went round in 63!

Finally my banking (Is this the right word?) pair of Robert Anderson & Peter Jarman lost . The reason they gave was having to give up to 10 shots away.

Lunch was a very tasty pie & veg followed by a choice of 3 desserts!!

Brian Bullen

Match Organiser.

Home Match v St Neots - Tuesday 25th June 2019

For the return match against Peter Gleason and his team from St Neots Golf Club we were unfortunately without the playing expertise of our match organiser Graham McKay. We were however fortunate to still have his efficient organisation and he was at the club bright and early to ensure everything was in place and things ran smoothly.

As I was denied the services of Mr McKay's playing expertise I was fortunate to be able to call on the admirable skill of our Hon Sec David Crosby.

However much we tried we never quite got to grips with our opponents, as it is always hard giving shots to somebody who hits it 20 yards further than you, and we had to concede defeat. However it was a close and friendly game and we withdrew to the clubhouse to await the following results.

One of the joys of being captain is that you get two chances to win, and in this case after losing my individual match, my team came to my rescue to make me and my colleagues winners by a score of

Five matches to three.

Pairings for the day were:-

David Gauge & David Crosby

Ian Simpson & Jim Peacock

Jonathan Leane & Peter Jarman

Steve Clark & Michael Newstead

Sam Standen & Colin Newbury

Barry Donavan & Keith Blankley

Peter Grimes & Jim Kerr

Fred Williams & John Ellary

Jim Kerr was a double winner as he also picked up the nearest the pin on 4.

 

Dave Gauge

Seniors Captain