John O'Gaunt Golf Club Seniors Section: Senior Section Member & Guest Day

The thunder crashed, the lightning lit up the sky and the rain came down in torrents. Luckily this only happened minutes after I got home from the Member and Guest Day.

The day itself went off without too much incident. The heat did take its toll on a number of the competitors but thankfully all did recover.

A total of 38 teams entered for the day, with guests being invited from 29 different golf clubs. I have received many kind words of thanks from guests, expressing how much they enjoyed the day. This is especially pleasing given the way the fairways on John O’Gaunt are struggling at the moment.

All the teams that competed

Given the heat, and the fact we were playing on John O’Gaunt, a good standard of golf was maintained with half the field scoring 35 points or more. Three teams were tied on 40 points. Despite my best attempts to find ways to disqualify the other two teams my brother and I lost out badly on count back and finished fifth. Also losing out on 40 points were Alan Kirkham and Nick Forshew, who finished fourth. At least Nick could console himself having won a raffle prize and a skill prize.

Third place went to Richard Farrow and Derek Quail, with Richard winning nearest Pin on 4. Kevin Barbour and Kevin Flynn came second on 41 with Kevin winning a Longest Drive prize by smashing a drive well past the bunker on the 9th.

The winners of the Whitbread Trophy were David Crosby and Alan Capps with a magnificent 42 points. This just proves how important the choice of Guest is. Not only did Alan contribute 33 of those points, but he did it in style by holing his second shot on the 12th (the third hole they played) for a magnificent Eagle and 5 points,

The total list of skills prize winners is:

Nearest the Pin on 4th (Members): Richard Farrow

Longest Drive on 9th (Guests): Kevin Flynn (Letchworth G.C.)

Nearest the Pin in 2 on 11th: Barry Sullivan (Bedfordshire G.C.)

Nearest the Pin in 2 on 12th (Members): Derek Page

Nearest the Pin on 16th (Guests): Nick Forshew (Stevenage G.C.)

Longest Drive on 17th (Members): John Thoday