Christmas Fayre and Baz Backhouse Trophy, December 20 2022

 

Seniors Captain Algy Grimes presents winner Nigel Underwood with the Baz Backhouse Trophy

The snow melted, the sun came out and 72 seniors celebrated the return of golf after a week of hibernation with a shotgun start on the Carthagena course to compete for the ever-popular Christmas Fayre and Baz Backhouse Trophy.

The 72 entrants had been on tenterhooks all week as a blanket of snow covered the two courses. The chances of playing the competition looked slim as the icy grip continued.

The seniors committee scratched their heads and came up with a Plan B. With a fridge full of meat prizes which would not keep it was decided to meet in the clubhouse and raffle the prizes off. Some even thought this would enhance their chances of winning!

Then, on the day before the competition,  came the breakthrough we had all been hoping for. Yes the Carthagena course would be playable so it was all systems go.

What  would the scores be like with 18 temporary greens? Well, as it turned out, remarkably high.

In first place with 47 points, four ahead of his nearest rival, was Nigel Underwood. Three birdies and 13 pars. Well done Nigel.

In second place with 43 points was Terry Domagala and in third place, on countback, was Dave Wrench with 42 points.

Commiserations to Nick Schumann and Peter Wade who also came in with 42 points but narrowly missed out on a podium place.

In all, 39 players scored 36 points or more. Maybe it shows how much we have missed our golf during the enforced break.

And after the golf? A pre-Christmas festive atmosphere with everyone enjoying a drink on the Seniors Captain Algy Grimes and a guaranteed prize, which included cuts of meat, bottles of wine, cases of beer, chocolates and biscuits. No wonder this is one of the calendar’s most popular events.

Before the prizegiving Algy awarded trophies to 2022 winners who were unable to attend the annual presentation dinner and a thank you bottle to Jim Kerr for helping to organise the roll-ups.

Second place: Terry Domagala

Third place: Dave Wrench

Michael Newstead: Four Ball Better Ball Trophy

Paul Jones: John Freedman Annual Medal Trophy

Jim McIlwaine: Jubilee Trophy

Clive Bassindale: Gordon Percival Team Trophy and Green Tilley Singles K/O Trophy

Tony Goodson: Foursomes K/O Trophy runner up

Richard Herbert: Third place in the Golfer of the Year Competition 

Jim Kerr: thanked for helping to organise the roll-ups

Ian Riches: Green Tilley Singles K/O runner up

Frosty roll-up December 8 2022

 Nine intrepid seniors braved below zero temperatures rather than go Christmas shopping! First prize, with 38 points, was won by Andy Brown and Blog Editor Tony Lloyd.

Seniors Captain Algy Grimes did not play but made a special journey to thank roll-up organisers Anthony Bell and Peter Salmon for their efforts which he rewarded with a bottle of wine. David Barlow was thanked at the Presentation Evening on Tuesday and Jim Kerr will receive his bottle of wine in due course.

Annual Presentation Dinner December 6 2022

One of the highlights of the Senior Section year took place in the Burgoyne Suite when 2022 winners stepped up to receive their trophies from Club Captain Rob Bage and Senior Section Captain Algy Grimes.

The evening started with the unveiling of a cheque to the Senior Captain's Charity, the UK Sepsis Trust, for £4,060. Algy announced that, with gift aid, the total raised for the charity this year was £6,594.54.

Senior Section Treasurer Richard Coventry and Captain Algy Grimes with the charity cheque

Andy Brown receives the Four Ball Better Ball Trophy which he won with Michael Newstead

Winners of the Ken Robinson Texas Scramble: David Crosby, Steve Collins, Richard Knell and Alban Macdonald

 Peter Imray: winner of the Rex Cleaver Championship Trophy and Bessant/East Scratch Trophy

Reg Batson Aggregate Trophy winner Dominic Murphy

Keith Fuller, winner of the Annual Stableford Trophy

Tony Walters, who won the Whitbread Member and Guest Trophy with Simon Harden

Algy Grimes and Rob Bage, winners of the Captains v Vice-Captains Shield

Rob Bage, winner of the Kethro Tray Captains Trophy

Peter Imray, winner of the Jim Peacock Away Day Trophy

Daryl Hayler, winner of the Bailiff Shield

Chris Roy, winner of the Martin Ives Memorial Shield

Gordon Percival Team Trophy won by George Burnham and James Stirling pictured, and Clive Bassindale

Philip Armstrong, winner of the Leo Pickett Two Clubs and a Putter Shield

Paul Jeeves, winner of the Neville Hoole Autumn Singles Stableford Trophy

Sue Lee, Juniors Organiser, collects the TSB Trophy won by the Juniors against the Seniors

Seniors Vice Captain Jonathan Lean, winner of the Arthur Lucas Cup

Christopher Walker, winner of the Holmwood Plate knockout

Richard Westergreen-Thorne, winner of the Baz Backhouse Christmas Fayre 2021 Trophy

Paul Clark and Fergus Moynihan, winners of the Foursomes Knockout Trophy

Alban Macdonald who, with Tony Goodson, was a Foursomes Knockout runner-up

Golfer of the Year: Barry Donovan

Second place in the Golfer of the Year competition, Rob Bage

Fourth place in the Golfer of the Year Competition Peter Imray

Fifth place in the Golfer of the Year Competition Richard Cobb

Algy thanks Master of Ceremonies David Wood for organising the presentation evening

Algy thanks David Barlow for his help organising the Tuesday/Thursday roll-ups

Senior Knockout Finals November 24 2022

 

Seniors Captain Algy Grimes congratulates Christopher Walker on winning the Holmwood Plate.

The senior section knockouts are now complete after months of keen competition.Congratulations to the winners, commiserations to the runners-up and to the rest of us? Better luck next year.

The first to be completed was the Foursomes in which Paul Clark and Fergus Moynihan beat Alban Macdonald and Tony Goodson.

Ian Riches and Clive Bassindale met in the final of the Green Tilley … even though Ian had got his days mixed up and played four holes in the roll up on Carthagena before it was pointed out to him that Clive was waiting in the car park to play their match on John O ‘Gaunt.

Maybe the extra four holes took their toll as Ian, after being four up after nine, was eventually defeated on the 18th.

Congratulations to both for a good final and excellent story for the Blog.

The last to be played was the Holmwood Plate between Golfer of the Year Barry Donovan and Christopher Walker.

This time Christopher had the bragging rights, although it was a closely fought battle.

Christopher was four up after 10 but Barry fought back with sand saves on the 11th and 12th. The two halved the 15th and 16th, Christopher “had a disaster” on the 17th but held on to win on the 18th.

Look out for the entry opening for the 2023 knockouts in the spring. Full details of the rules and how to enter will be covered in Richard Westergreen-Thorne’s newsletter.

Green Tilley runner-up Ian Riches and winner Clive Bassindale

Senior Section Committee Meeting November 8, 2022

Notes of the Senior Section Committee Meeting

8^th November 2022

Attendance:

Algy Grimes (AG), Jonathan Lean (JL), Bill Walker (BW), Richard Coventry (RC), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT), Tony Lloyd (TL) Andy Shilton (AS)

Apologies: Tom Simm (TS) and Mike Tipper (MT) sent their apologies

MT had been in discussion with AG prior to the meeting and AG updated the meeting  regarding the Swap Day and Charity weekend. 

Minutes previous and matters arising

Agreed with no matters arising not on the agenda.

Action Points from the previous meeting:

- meeting with Rob Bage was deferred 

- reciprocal arrangements for matches 

AG reported that the discussion related to one off events and not our matches with other clubs. We will need to be aware if the Swap Day goes ahead.

- Swap Day

AG updated the meeting on the current position where a proposal endorsed by MT, Lorna Jerome and AG would be going to the club committee for agreement in the near future.

- New Members Liaison role

It was confirmed that we would wish to have this new role in place for the new golf season. It will be an ex officio role that will be advertised to members. RWT will produce a draft role description and circulate to the committee. Once agreed we will seek expressions of interest amongst the membership with a view for the role being in place by the AGM.

- Courtesy Membership

Following email discussion amongst the committee it was agreed not to proceed with this idea.

- Dunstable Downs (DD)

RWT outlined the latest correspondence regarding DD and the circumstances leading up to DD not playing us in 2023.

Captain’s Report (AG)

Autumn Stableford Trophy – 18th October High scores were the order of the day on a beautiful autumn day for the Autumn Stableford Trophy played from the Carthagena white tees. The winner was Jeevie Jeeves with 41 points. In second place, on 40 points was Peter Wade, who scored 11 points on the last three holes alone. In third place, also on 40 points was Anthony Bell, whose game highlight was a birdie on the par 5 10th. Seven other players scored 36 points or more. Match v the Junior Section – 25th October. The Seniors meet some formidable opponents during the year, but rarely are they faced with such stiff opposition as John O’Gaunt’s very own juniors. Today was no exception. A total of five matches were played in good spirits on a fine October Tuesday. Conditions were very pleasant with the JOG Course looking as good as usual. Sue Lee welcomed everyone and thanked them for participating with a friendly smile on their faces, even if the Seniors were quietly grimacing to themselves! The trophy, which has been played for since 1982, was won very convincingly by the Juniors, some of them a joy to watch. One of those Juniors was only 8 years old and what a game he had, remember the name, Albert Watts! I announced the result as a whitewash defeat for the Seniors and presented the trophy to the Juniors  Vice Captain, Nathan Church. 

Annual Stableford Trophy – 26th October The Annual Stableford Trophy, postponed this summer because of a high-temperature weather warning, was finally played with 59 of the original field competing on the John O’Gaunt course. The conditions were perfect, but the course was playing quite long with some entrants falling prey to the autumn leaves. The winner, with 39 points, was Keith Fuller. In second place, with 36 points, was Peter Jarman and in third place, with 33 points, was Ian Simpson.

The result also decided the Golfer of the Year competition with Barry Donovan coming out on top with 77 points. Although Barry failed to record a first place in any of the qualifying competitions, his sheer consistency paid off. In second place was Club Captain Rob Bage, on 62 points, followed by Richard Herbert, 59, Peter Imray, 58, and Richard Cobb, 52. 

Scramble with the Ladies Section – 1st November Sunshine and showers - or should that be squalls? - greeted ladies and seniors playing on the John O’Gaunt course. But the conditions failed to dampen the spirits of the 88 entrants in this ever-popular scramble. Four teams scored nett 60 points but on countback third place went to Christine Billington, Stuart Gardner, David McNair and Rhona Stallard. In second place, also on 60 points, was Clive Bassindale, Anna Hoad, Paul Jones and Hilary Pearmain. But the winners, on nett 59 points, were Val Cooper, David Crosby, Nigel Underwood and Graham Lewis. Thanks to David for finding his feminine side by standing in at the last minute for a lady who had to drop out. 

Unofficial “gentlemen of the day” prize went to yours truly for breaking into a rare sprint in pursuit of Lorna’s brolly! The raffle raised £260 to be shared between the Ladies’ and Seniors’ captain’s charities. A great atmosphere in the clubhouse with so many around for the presentation.

Swap Day The proposal has now been seconded by Club Captain Rob Bage and I think there will be no objections to follow and we await the outcome of the GCM confirmation. Donation of a 4-ball voucher for Cambridge Country Club - A relatively new member, Jed Isbell, is donating a 4 ball voucher for auction, the result of the highest bidder will be announced at the ‘Bring & Win’ day. Bids to be emailed to me by the 14th November, if there are more than one bid on the same highest amount, I will give them the opportunity of increasing their bid and if still the same I propose we have a draw for the winner.

Vice Captain’s Report (JL)

JL briefly outlined his contact with members since the last meeting.

Immediate Past Captain’s report

BW had nothing to report.

Treasurer's Report (RC)

RC explained that we are waiting for a number of invoices to be settled by the club and it was agreed that AG/RC would follow this up.

Otherwise, all is fine with the accounts and our balances.

RC is to have a discussion with another member shortly who has expressed an interest to take over the Treasurer role for 2023.

RC will organise an end of year gratuity for staff as is our usual practice.

Secretary’s Report (RWT)

At the last meeting I reported an increase in our membership due to the club opening some 5-day membership places to those on the waiting list for club membership. Several more new members have materialised since the last meeting and a number have attended the roll up. We also had an existing club member join our mailing list so we are up to 235 and will cross reference this with club membership in the new year when 2023 club fees have been paid.

With the withdrawal of Dunstable Downs from the match list and addition of Northampton being agreed we are now able to finalise our calendar. I have copied it to you as part of the agenda and would welcome an ‘expert gaze’ from the rest of the committee to see if there are any errors before I send it out to members.

The change to Northampton has skewed further the balance of home and away matches but we had no real choice given the lateness of the change and I appreciate Michael Grace helping to find a day that worked for us and the club for the home fixture as a one off. The good news is that we will need to find a Tuesday for the home game the following year. We will also need to switch St Neots, who kindly changed because of the 75^th anniversary celebrations in 2023, and Michael and I hope to find a better day for the Beds and County game which is always affected by courseworks. This may give some flexibility to adjust the balance and I will attempt to start early on this to get ahead of other clubs getting other commitments in place.

As a rough guide I think that around 175 people have taken part in our competitions and matches this year. Whilst most people have participated multiple times, I noticed that there were 24 people who only played in just one GOTY event and it may be worth considering if there was something that we needed to be aware of to encourage greater participation.

Other items are covered elsewhere on the agenda.

Competition Secretary’s Report (JL)

Since the last meeting we have had the following competitions.

The Gordon Percival took place on 11 th October. There were 87 in the secret team competition with one spare who just played in the Martin Ives. The Martin Ives was won by Chris Roy with 39 points, second was John Sandland with 38 points and third was Graham Lewis with 37 points.

The Gordon Percival Secret Team winners were George Burnham, Clive Bassindale and James Stirling.

The Autumn Stableford Trophy took place on 18 th November with 87 entries and one late withdrawal. This was won by Jeevie Jeeves with 41 points. Second was Peter Wade with 40 points and third was Anthony Bell also with 40 points.

The rearranged Annual Stableford took place on 26 th October. Because entry was limited to those who were due to play on the original date and also because the revised date was not suitable for some of the entrants, we ended up with only 60 players and 2 late withdrawals. This was won by Keith Fuller with 39 points. Second was Peter Jarman with 36 points and third was Ian Simpson with 33 points. Only 2 players played to their handicap or better reflecting the difficult conditions on the day.

Although technically a match rather than a competition, the Seniors took on the Juniors on 25^th October and came a close second in every match! A whitewash. 

The Annual Seniors and Ladies scramble took place on 1 st November. Slight controversy when the winning team of Val Cooper, Nigel Underwood, Graham Lewis and David Crosby won with net 59. David stepped in at the last minute to replace a late withdrawal of one of the ladies.

Upcoming are the last 2 competitions – The Arthur Lucas Bring and Win and the Christmas Fayre. So far we have 66 entered for the Bring and Win so Shotgun start is no problem.

The Christmas Fayre is on CAR and because of the work on the 16th , I have discussed this issue with Michael and agreed that this competition should not be a Qualifying competition. As a rule, winter competitions should not be qualifying after around mid-November. The 16th will have a temporary tee at the top of the slope and will play at between 180 to 200 yards. As this is a fun competition, we can allow players to play this hole and Stableford points will still be calculated, but it will still show as a par 4 on the system.

I have now changed both of these competitions to be non-qualifying.

Action:

After discussion it was agreed that JL, TL and RWT would arrange for a list of the Senior Section 2022 winners is circulated to all members via the newsletter.

Match Secretary’s Report (AS)

We have now completed our matches successfully fielding full teams in all games.

 

Our final set of 6 matches had 5 away games in them and unfortunately, we won 1, drew 1, and lost 4, including finishing with a whitewash at Leighton Buzzard.  This meant that our season ended with 9 wins, 4 draws but 13 losses.  The final 6 results skewed the overall picture considerably.

 

We have used 59 players of the 73 registered on the system.  Everyone that wanted to play got games.  Though some of the members with lower availability only played in 50% of the games they put themselves in for.

 

Things to improve.

 

We need to improve the use of the technology by our organisers to aid communication, but most importantly we need to get our selection and team sheets posted somewhere that everyone can find it.   If we could get a spot on the web-site then it would help this process greatly.  I will be renewing efforts.

 

Other observations

 

From anecdotal observation at £22 we have been the most expensive team for our members of any.  Considerably more than the £17 that Leighton Buzzard get charged.

 

I believe that in every match we have given away more shots than we have received.  Sometimes many more.

There was a discussion about the points raised by the report and this included discussion about match fees. We do seem to be about the most expensive of the clubs we play but it is difficult to compare like with like. For example, some clubs have a halfway house where their members pay for refreshments on top of their match fee, we make a small contribution from our match fees to senior’s funds, menus are different at each club, etc.

There was also a discussion about the number of people dropping out of matches after being selected to play. Whilst some withdrawals will be unavoidable there does seem to be more cases of withdrawals than in the past. This will be factored in to the communications with members for 2023 and monitored during the year.

Action:

It was agreed that RWT and AS will liaise about publicising matches for 2023 and encouraging members old and new to take part.

It was agreed that we would like to have a fixed cost for match meals in 2023 with a choice within this price as this will make the administration easier for both the club and the seniors. AG subsequently raised this with the General Manager and the club will get back to us.

Annual Dinner and Trophies

Dave Wood (DW) attended for this item and outlined the current position regarding numbers and the arrangements for the evening.

It was agreed that the Roll Up organisers who are not committee members should be invited to attend if there were available places.

RC outlined the arrangements for the prizes and the costings.

DW confirmed that all trophies are at the club at present and the Arthur Lucas winner needs to be asked to leave the trophy after the presentation for engraving.

Action: 

AG subsequently met with the Ladies Captain and she has agreed that we can use the table centres prior to their dinner two days later.

AGM

RWT confirmed that the Notice of Meeting will be circulated at the beginning of December. The arrangements for the meeting will be the main item at the next committee meeting in January.

Prostate Day

Jim Kerr and Tony Goodson have written to the committee stating their intention to stand down from organising the day. It was agreed to minute the committee’s thanks for their hard work and efforts to make the day a success.

It is yet to be confirmed if, with the planned club charity weekend likely to take place in 2023, the event will be able to take place. AG agreed to follow up with the club as a matter of urgency.

BW and David Barlow would be willing to organise the event for 2023 on behalf of the club if it is given the go ahead and sufficient golf vouchers will be available for the auction.

Action:

To be returned to at the next meeting and as noted above, AG to follow up with the club.

Roll up 

With the work taking place on the 16^th on Carthagena it was confirmed that:

In the roll up we play the 16th as a par three with the same handicap index as usual and scores should be recorded based on it being a par three so if you get a shot on the hole then a 3 is 3 points, a 4 is 2 points and so on.

RC raised the fact that whilst we do not run a roll up when we have a competition some members would probably like to play in a roll up if they were not taking part in the event. The current practice is to organise a roll up if there is not a seniors competition on that day or if the numbers taking part are relatively small such as the match v Juniors and the Away Day.

It was agreed that this would continue but that a note should be placed in the Newsletter to the effect that members, on those occasions, are welcome to go to the Conservatory and informally arrange a game amongst those who turn up.

Action:

As the next such event is next Tuesday RWT agreed to put such a note in the Newsletter this coming weekend and again whenever the same circumstances occurred in the future.

AOB:

Peter Imray asked that the committee consider changing the format of the Match v Juniors to a 4 Ball Betterball format. After discussion it was agreed that TL would discuss this with Sue Lee next year.

Chris Roy asked that we pass on a concern to the club about the slope of some of the bunkers when getting in and out of them. The committee agreed that we should monitor and raise with the club as necessary.

AG subsequently spoke with the General Manager on the matter whose view is that these are hazards of the course and people need to pay attention when near them. 

Gerry Degaute raised a a point about having ‘Super Seniors’ tees to encourage older members to continue playing. This was discussed and AG subsequently raised with the General Manager who suggested AG raises the point with the Golf Committee.

Date and time of next meeting 

19^th Jan - major agenda item is the AGM.

Arthur Lucas Cup, November 15 2022

 

Seniors Captain Algy Grimes presents winner Jonathan Lean with the Arthur Lucas Cup

The result of the Arthur Lucas Cup, played on John O’Gaunt in challenging, and at times extremely wet conditions, could not have been closer.

Three players came in with 35 points, Chris Dennis, David Streatfield and Jonathan Lean.

Countback placed Chris in third place but deciding the winner was more difficult. David and Jonathan’s rounds were almost identical and the organiser (also Jonathan as it happens) had to go back to stroke index 7 to separate the two. On that hole, the seventh, Jonathan scored a birdie while David scored par. So the trophy went to Jonathan.

Sixty-nine entered the popular “bring and win” competition where everyone brings a prize and no one goes home empty handed. There were, however, 12 withdrawals due to injury or weather and a slight hiccup when there were seven players remaining and only six prizes on the table. The mystery was solved when Graham Lewis confessed that the prize he had brought was still in the boot of his car!

The morning had started with much conversation about the dire BBC weather forecast which predicted everything bar a plague of frogs.

The conditions were reasonably good until Jonathan, playing with the Blog Editor, tempted fate with the immortal words: “It’s not as bad as forecast.”

Sure enough, minutes later the heavens opened and everyone got a good soaking. 

Footnote: While the rest of us dry our clubs out ready for the next bout of Autumn weather, Jonathan will be celebrating his win in the Caribbean!

Jonathan and Algy with David Streatfield, runner up on countback by the narrowest of margins 

Third Place: Chris Dennis, who also scored 35 points

Fourth place: Len Greaves, who scored 33 points

Does anyone mind if I go home? A fed-up Richard Coventry

Roll-up record, Tuesday November 8, 2022

 The roll-up achieved what was possibly a post-covid record with a total of 27 players crowding into the conservatory on Tuesday… just like the old days.

The entertainment was provided by organiser Bill Walker, who insisted on the blog photographer getting all his balls in camera shot (not possible without a wide angle lens - Ed) and Richard Coventry who, arriving last, proceeded to pull his own ball out of the bag to go straight out. Despite David Crosby’s best efforts, Richard would not be shamed into putting his ball back into the bag.

Winners were Pete Salmon and Dave Sutton with 44 points, followed by Pete and Bob Isaacson on 42, Gavin Little and Bill Conway on 42, Paul Jones and Tony McLean on 41 and Trevor Darrington and David Barlow on 40.

If you don’t want to miss out on the roll-up experience, be sure to turn up on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Meet in the conservatory between 8.30am and 9.15am clutching a ball and £1. It’s as simple as that.

Notes of Senior Section Committee Meeting, October 13, 2022

Attendance:

Algy Grimes (AG), Jonathan Lean (JL), Bill Walker (BW), Richard Coventry (RC), Richard Westergreen – Thorne (RWT), Tony Lloyd (TL)

Apologies: Andy Shilton (AS) Tom Simm (TS) and Mike Tipper (MT)

TS had provided AG with some samples of clothing which incorporates the 75^th anniversary of the club in 2023. It was agreed that we would like seniors to have an option to have the additional logos embroidered onto new senior section jumpers and polo shirts they purchase for 2023. 

Action:

RWT will clarify with TS what will be available and publicise accordingly in the Newsletter. RWT agreed with TS after the meeting that the extra embroidery would be at no additional cost and would be launched to club members on 1^st December.

Minutes previous and matters arising

Agreed with no matters arising not on the agenda.

Action Points from the previous meeting:

AG and BW to arrange to meet with Rob Bage – yet to be arranged

DW to continue the process of preparing for the presentation Dinner and to be invited to the next meeting of the committee – completed

DW and RWT to liaise over communication to members and timescales - in hand

JL to liaise with RC over consistency with prizes for competitions for 2023.- in hand

AG to contact Les Bolland about previous practice for the Christmas Fayre prizes and RC to liaise with AG – completed

RWT to contact the clubs interested in playing us – on the agendaj

RWT and AS to liaise about the content and timeline for communications to members about the match programme in 2023 - in hand

AG to liaise with the Club as to whether they would agree to the Seniors’ Section taking responsibility from the Club for the Prostate Project Day as a discrete event within the 2023 calendar – covered within the agenda 

Captain’s Report (AG)

The 30th August saw the Bailiff Shield played for. High scores were the order of the day played from the Carthagena white tees in sunny but slightly breezy conditions. Twenty-one of the 81 entrants scored 36 points or more, with the winner, Daryl Hayler, scoring an impressive 42 points. In second place, with 40 points, was Alban Macdonald, and in third place, with 39 points, was club Captain Rob Bage, coming just a week after his victory in the Senior Captain’s Day.

Seniors’ Away Day was held at Rushden Golf Club on September 8, the weather was kind to us with only 5 minutes of rain and the course was in very good condition given the recent weather. Yes, it was green. Rushden Golf Club looked after us very well with an excellent breakfast and half way house refreshments.

The winner with 38 points was Peter Imray, second on count back Paul Jones and third Robert Isaacson with 36 points. Jonathan Lean, Malcolm Roberts, Robert Anderson and David Price were nearest the pin on the par 3’s.  Next year we are going to Burghley Park on 14th September, put it in your diary.

Away to Millbrook, held on September 6th 2022. This was the JOG Seniors first away encounter against The Millbrook GC seniors. The weather forecast was not favourable, and we did have a few seconds of rain as we walked to the first tee. However, from then on the weather relented and provided ideal golfing conditions. To speed up play we had a 2-tee start, 4 groups off the 1st and the second 4 groups off the 10th. Most of our team found the course quite a challenge. Not unexpectedly JOG only managed 2 wins to 6 losses.

Next up was the away match at South Beds on 14th September. With a 12 noon start the weather was dry and sunny.  The course was in good condition with lots of grass on the fairways. Again, a two tee start meant everyone was back in the clubhouse in a timely manner. Overall JOG won 4.5 – 3.5.

Gog Magog away followed on 1 th September, 2 games in 2 days, It is always a great welcome from the Elders at the Gog’s, and with coffee and introductions done, it was time for the main event. The weather was a lot cooler of late but provided good golfing conditions. The overall score was 6-2 to the elders.

On 20th September we held a past Seniors’ Captains lunch which is hoped will become an annual date in the Seniors diary. Many Senior Section Captains have enjoyed lunch in the Burgoyne Suite since the section was launched in 1977, some 45 years ago, but never before have so many gathered around one table.

Those attending were; current Seniors Captain Algy Grimes, Colin Poole, Brian Bullen, Bill Walker, Jim Kerr,  Fred Williams, Richard Coventry, Alan Fowler, William Skelding and guest, Club Captain Rob Bage.

Yet another away match on 2nd September we arrived at Harpenden Common on a very pleasant September morning and with good memories of our 7-1 win over them back in May. Following a 3 tee start we came in losing 5.5 – 3.5.

Our last home match of the season, and my last as Captain, saw us welcome Bedford & County. It was an overcast start to the day, with the clouds allowing the occasional glimpse of the sun and eventually a small shower of rain towards the end of the match.  Playing off the yellow tees on the John O’Gaunt course, the fairways were in super condition, although the greens had been treated during the few days prior to the match and took a bit of getting used to. We managed a 4-4 draw overall.

On 26th September away to Leighton Buzzard, this was our last match of the 2022 golfing season and I had delegated the task of leading the team to Vice Captain Jonathan Lean. After such a long hot summer it was rather a shock that the day dawned with a chill in the air and drizzle. The course had recovered from the ravages of summer sun and was green throughout. However, it resulted in a whitewash loss for JOG.

On 4th October we played the Annual 3 Clubs and a Putter competition, The Seniors proved once again that you don’t need a full set of clubs to record a good score. Out of 66 entrants in the Stableford competition, 19 players scored 36 points or more. The day was also marked by two holes-in-one, by Andrew Bowen on the Carthagena 2nd and John Church on the 11th. The winner, with 41 points, was Philip Armstrong, who achieved his win with driver, seven iron and gap wedge.

Golf Sub-committee – latest meeting was held on 10th October. 

It was reported that IG now shows all tee bookings for competitions, societies etc so that members can follow course availability via the IG App.

Match fees with other clubs will in future be invoiced to other clubs and not to be reciprocal as now.  Concerns were raised in the meeting about the extra burden of work and risk of errors this change would cause if implemented for 2023. 12 of the 13 clubs we play are reciprocal and this creates a simplified system.

Action:

AG to follow up. Our position is that we strongly favour the reciprocal system but are very willing to make it easier for the accounts department to administer if that were to be helpful.

Mike Tipper is organising a Charity Committee and the date for the first meeting of the committee was discussed and AG and JL hope to be able to attend. The Prostate Day was not discussed but will be part of the discussions which include the proposed Club Charity Weekend.

To be able to enter Club boarded competitions, players will need to have submitted at least 3 cards in the previous (rolling) 12 months.

The club is looking at having all Strokeplay competitions played as 3 balls on the 2-ball course of the day from 2024.

Captain’s Christmas Fayre is on the 10th December and there was some debate over meat prizes with it being 14 days before Christmas. Match fee £8.00

The Swap Day was also discussed at the Golf Committee Meeting and AG is following up and report back at the next committee meeting any feedback from the General Committee.

Action:

It was agreed that, with a couple of minor amendments, the new Swap Day proposal formulated by AG should be presented to the General  Committee.

Vice Captain’s Report (JL)

JL briefly outlined his contact with members since the last meeting.

Treasurer's Report (RC)

The system for collecting income and making payments with the club is generally working well although there are still occasional issues. 

RC outlined the current financial position of the seniors, and a discussion took place as to the amounts that will be provided to subsidise the Christmas Fayre and Presentation Dinner. RC will liaise with DW about engraving of trophies and AG offered the name of an engraver if DW wished to look elsewhere.

Secretary’s Report (RWT)

Membership has continued to grow since the club released some extra 5-day memberships and two new seniors who have just joined the club have been added since we last met. Both hope to play rounds with us and attend role up which is a good start. We also had an established member of the club wishing to join but his 60^th birthday is not until 2023 and so he has to be on hold until January. Another club member signed up to play in our Autumn Stapleford and I have written to him to make him welcome. No response to date.

We can pick up the induction of new members elsewhere on the agenda.

We were in the high 180’s for membership when this year started, and we dropped the membership fee, and we are now at just under 230. I will need to go through the club membership list to check on leavers over the winter months when new subscriptions are made. Whilst the move away from a subscription and the growing club membership has brought in new members, of whom quite a few play in our events, we are still able to cater for all who want to play, albeit with one tee starts for the most popular events, and the roll up has proved to be an excellent way to get people into our activities and meet fellow seniors.

I have been liaising with Dave Wood regarding the arrangements for the Annual Dinner and the publicity for it via the Newsletter and all seems well in hand at the moment. 

I am disappointed that we have not been able to confirm the calendar for 2023 due to the Dunstable Downs and Swap Day concerns and this is covered in a separate item on the agenda. I have already had requests for a sight of next year’s calendar from people planning holidays and I want to publish it to seniors well before Christmas. If we can do this it will also help Andy with setting up the matches, recruiting organisers and alerting members to the date to help them plan what they want to play in, etc.

The AGM will soon be upon us, and this is a separate agenda item. I now need to start planning for the AGM as we must get the notice of meeting and nominations out to members before Christmas.

Competition Secretary’s  Report (JL)

Since the last meeting we have had the following competitions.

The Bailiff Shield was on Tuesday 30th August. We had a full field of 81 having a 2-tee start. It was won by Daryl Hayler with 42 points. Second was Alban Macdonald with 40 points and third was Rob Bage with 39 points, edging out 4 others on countback.

The 3 Clubs and a Putter was held on 4th October with 66 entrants. It was won by Philip Armstrong (again!) with 41 points. Second was John Church with 40 points and third was Chris Saunders also with 40 points. A remarkable 19 players achieved 36 points or better.

The Gordon Percival takes place on 1 th October. There are 87 in the secret team competition with one spare who is just playing in the Martin Ives.

Remaining competitions are Autumn Singles Stableford on 18 th October and Annual Stableford on the rearranged date of 26 th October. We also have the Arthur Lucas Bring and Win and the Christmas Fayre plus the match against the Juniors and the Match with the Ladies to arrange. I have set up entry lists for these matches but numbers will generally depend on the number of Juniors and Ladies available.

I have liaised with Tony Lloyd and together we have put all 2023 competitions on the system.

Christmas Fayre arrangements were discussed and, as the field is limited to 75 due to the Shotgun start, there is likely to be more applications than places. It was agreed that an entry list will be opened for up to 100 members and a ballot will take place to select those who are able to participate. As the Fayre is subsidised from competition entry fees throughout the year it was agreed that the ballot would be based upon the number of entries by individuals into GOTY competitions. Priority entry will be given to those members with a minimum of 3 GOTY entries.

Arthur Lucas Bring and Win £3

It was confirmed that the entry fee is £3 because there are no prizes for the first three in this event.

Match Secretary’s Report (AS)

AS in on holiday and so there was no report. All matches for the year have been completed.

Annual Dinner and Trophies

Dave Wood (DW) attended the meeting and discussed the arrangements for the dinner. This discussion included confirmation of who is invited to attend as guests and which competition winners and knockout finalists are also invited to attend before opening out to other members.

It was agreed to take the two-course option for the meal which is £25 per head and to subsidise this for members and their guests to bring the price per head to £20 each. With an earlier start of 6.15 for 6.45 and a two-course menu it is hoped that this will ensure an earlier finish time to the dinner and presentations than last year.

DW has the trophies and engraving in hand and was thanked for his hard work.

Calendar 2023 and matches with other clubs and Swap Days

RWT updated the meeting on the current position with Dunstable Downs for 2023 and circulated a list of possible other clubs and options open to us. It looks unlikely that Dunstable Downs will agree to 16 a side which leaves three options. Agree to their proposal to go to 12 a side, agree to their proposal for 2023 only to give us time to look elsewhere, stick to our decision on 16 a side and look elsewhere.

Of the other clubs that are possible to approach it was agreed that RWT should contact Northampton in the first instance, try to arrange something with them and keep the committee updated.

Until the fixture issue is resolved the calendar for 2023 cannot be published.

AG reported that the Swap Day remained on the club calendar for 2023 – see note in Captains report.

New Member Liaison Role

It was agreed that welcoming and inducting new members was an important function of the seniors. It was further agreed that the appointment of a person to lead on this would enable us to enhance what we currently do and help keep in touch with new members to the club and to the section over the first months that they join.

It was further agreed that such a role would be ex officio and that it would be advertised in the Newsletter in coming weeks and any current members interested would be invited to discuss the role with the committee.

AGM

RWT distributed copies of the 2021 AGM Notice to Members and Agenda for the AGM held in February 2022. It was agreed that similar arrangements will take place for the 2022 AGM to be held in February 2023 and that the Notice of meeting will be distributed in December 2022 with the closing date for nominations for officers to be in January 2023.

RC informed the meeting that he will be standing down as Treasurer at the AGM and the meeting discussed appointing a new Treasurer. RWT will publicise the vacancy in the Newsletter over coming weeks.

Roll up 

A discussion took place about the time that groups are sent out in the roll up, particularly the last group. 

It was agreed that we do not want the timings for the last group to be sent out creeping forward and the roll up organisers have been informed of concerns that have been recently raised. However, it was agreed that no other further action was necessary at the present moment. 

AOB:

Courtesy Membership

Discussion took place as to whether we should insert a Courtesy Member clause into the Constitution to allow the committee discretion to invite a small number of under 60’s to participate in seniors events.

Action: 

BW to draft a possible clause for the committee to consider at its next meeting.

Club 75^th Anniversary

AG and JL are representing the seniors at a forthcoming meeting to discuss the arrangements for the clubs 75^th Anniversary celebrations in 2023.

Hole in One

With two recent holes in one in seniors competitions there was an issue on the day with use of the Captains Card to contribute to the cost of the drinks that were purchased. The matter has now been resolved.

Charity Weekend

As mentioned above MT is forming a committee to look at the various aspects of this. The committee are keen for the seniors to be involved and will be represented at the initial meeting of the committee.

Date and time of next meeting 

8^th November 

19^th Jan - major agenda item is the AGM.