Rex Cleaver Championship June 23 2026

Paul Conibear receives the Rex Cleaver Championship Trophy from Tony Lloyd

It was the middle of a heatwave and we were playing a medal from the John O'Gaunt white tees. 

Not only that, but the start times were delayed by an hour because early morning thunderstorms over Sutton had left the greens flooded.

Our man at the sharp end, Competition Secretary Nigel Underwood, was unphased. He was there at 6.50am negotiating with the pro shop, dealing with last-minute withdrawals and trying to put the start sheet into some kind of order.

Step up the pro shop and Richard Childerley to make some sense out of it all and ensure it ran as smoothly as possible.

Result? Most of the original field made it round the course and staggered into the bar to compare notes on a pretty challenging day. At least 32 Deg C and little if no breeze.

Early starters probably had the cooler conditions and one man in particular coped better than most.

Congratulations to Paul Conibear who won both the Rex Cleaver Championship Trophy for the best nett score (69) and the Bessant-East Scratch Trophy for the best gross score (79).

Runner up in the Rex Cleaver was Peter Harvey on nett 69 and in third place was Andrew Brookman on nett 70.

The three divisional prizes were won by:

Paul Hammond (Up to 14 shots) 71 nett

Keith Howlett ((15 - 19) 74 nett

Terry Domagala (20 Plus) 72 nett

Raffle prizes (£10 pro shop credit) were won by Ken Wareham, Keith Garden, David Barlow and Richard Westergreen-Thorne.

Paul Conibear also won the Bessant-East Scratch Trophy for best gross score

Divisional prizewinner Terry Domagala

Divisional prizewinner Keith Howlett

Longest Day Challenge June 21 2026

 

It's 6.30am and the four club captains, from left David Barlow, William Gilbert, Paul Fletcher and Jean Cobb line up on the Carthagena 1st ahead of their epic 54-hole Longest Day Challenge in aid of Garden House Hospice, Letchworth and St John's Hospice Moggerhangar. The group finished the challenge almost 12 hours later on the JOG 18th by which time they had raised the magnificent total of £2118 including JustGiving donations, gift aid and cash donations on the day

Mission accomplished: David, Paul, Jean and William on the JOG 18th

How to leave bunker rakes - new advice

 If you missed the recent club newsletter, advice on where to leave bunker rakes has now changed. Instead of leaving rakes in the bunker, they should be left outside the bunker and away from the direction of play. See below, as an example, where the rake has been left on the Carthagena 18th.

Seniors v St Neots June 16 2026

 

Seniors Captain David Barlow and organiser Tony Walters with their St Neots opponents

Organiser Tony Walters reports

With the day starting at a cool 13 degrees, it was a surprise to see a blistering hot finish.

The captain’s match was a finely balanced affair, with holes being traded and by the 11th a 3 hole lead
was in hand, but alas the pairing of Bob and Steve fought back giving them a hole lead on the 18th.
The second match went to a 2-1 loss, then the third match came in at a 5-4 win for the home team.
As we were sat in the bar the 5th match came home also with a 5-4 win, then came a tie for the 6th
match and a loss of 3-1 to our 4th team.
The 7th match also came in with a tie, which followed a long period of nail biting whilst the 8th match
remained on the course with unraveling tales of 50ft putts by Trevor to score birdies. The home
team was receiving 53 shots whilst the visitors were languishing with a mighty 153 shots. To which
the 8th away team received a mighty 45 points with the home team receiving a mere 5 shots in their
bag.
To much celebration and hugs by the Captain our final pairing came in with a 6-5 victory, bringing
the match to a fully deserved draw.
The day was finished with the captains favorite of chicken, to which he stated that he is all
chickened out and cannot take any more so with luck chicken is off the menu for future home
matches and the selection of the chocolate brownie was well received.
The nearest the pin prizes were won by Paul Life and the St Neots Captain

Seniors at home to Leighton Buzzard June 9 2026

 

 Captain David Barlow and organiser Trevor Darrington with their opponents on the JOG 1st

 Organiser Trevor Darrington reports

The day started well and the promised rain kept away when the Captain and Organiser teed off at 8.30. Other than a few dribbles of rain, it was a sunny, but sometimes windy day. The course was in great condition and was complimented many times by the opposing Captain Peter Robson and partner (Dave Nero). In such conditions there were no excuses for not playing well. Unfortunately, the Organiser hadn’t read the script and played abysmally. Captain David played very well and kept us in the game which other than on hole 4 when we went 2 down, was level or 1 in it either way. The killer punch was hole 14 when Dave Nero was in the trees on the right and hit a 5 iron through umpteen trees to land the ball just off the green. His regular chip and putt secured a par and going 2 up.

Captain David gave us some hope with a shot to about 3 feet on the 16^th for a birdie and nearest the pin prize. Sadly, after an enormous drive on the 17^th, yours truly duffed the second, third, fourth and fifth shot to leave Captain David having to hole from 12 feet for a par to take the game down the 18^th. Unfortunately, the ball shaved the hole for a 2 & 1 loss. A pretty good result bearing in mind Dave Nero played pretty much par golf on the back 9.

As always, the food was excellent. “Chicken and chips” (they really must get bigger plates for this meal) and Pavlova for dessert.

As mentioned, Captain David won the JOG nearest the pin on the 16^th and Captain Peter Robson won for Leighton Buzzard on the 4^th.  

After the speeches, it was revealed that the final score was a 4-4 draw, so honours even. I’m sure everybody is looking forward to the away match on 13^th July when we need to master the somewhat quirky, but testing, Leighton Buzzard course.

Final scores:-

David Barlow and Trevor Darrington – Lost 2 & 1

Nigel Underwood and Tony Lloyd – Lost 3 & 2

Dave Wood and Graham Gadsden – Lost 4 & 2

Ian Maddison and Terry Domagala – Won 2 Up

Steve Luckman and Paul Hammond – Won 5 & 4

Richard Westergreen-Thorne and Neil Pinnington – Won 2 Up

Tony Goodson and Michael Newstead – Lost 3 & 2

Paul Life and Steve Mathers – Won 1 Up

The only question now is, has Neil Pinnington found his car keys yet??

    

Past Captains and Committee Away Day Rutland Water June 4 2026

Clockwise from left: Steve Mathers, Richard Westergreen-Thorne, Nigel Underwood, Terry Domagala, David Barlow, Dave Wood, Jim Kerr, Warren Churms, Fred Williams, Rafe Bateson, Bill Walker, Richard Coventry (trying unsuccessfully to hide) and Tony Lloyd

 Thirteen past senior captains and committee members braved blustery conditions on the challenging Rutland Water golf course and only one managed to complete the course without dropping a shot.

Bill Walker was alone in never missing a fairway, never finding the water, never losing a ball and never missing a putt on the difficult greens.

But that was because Bill, nursing a back injury, was dosed up with pain killers and caddying for Richard Coventry.

The rest of the field didn't fare so well.

In fact it was such a difficult day that Dave Wood won the champagne with 27 points.

Nearest the pin prizes were won by Richard Coventry and Fred Williams.

Many thanks to Steve Mathers who organised the day for us.

For those of you who are signed up for the Away Day at Rutland Water on Sept 3, you are in for a treat. And if the golf isn't going too well, you can always admire the amazing views of Rutland Water from most of the fairways.

I'm told it is one of those courses that rewards golfers who have already played it once - so watch out for the 13 who played it on Thursday and know their way around!

Steve Mathers presents winner Dave Wood with a bottle of champagne

Nearest the pin winner Richard Coventry: a tricky shot across a lake with danger everywhere

Nearest the pin winner Fred Williams: a long par 3 with a sloping green difficult to stay on

Above and below: some of the amazing views of Rutland Water with the ever-present clouds threatening to soak everyone

Longest Day Challenge - June 21

 

Please support your captains in their Longest Day 54-hole Challenge by donating to one of their chosen charities - St John's Hospice, Moggerhangar or Garden House Hospice, Letchworth. You can donate by using the QR codes on the above poster or by following the links below.

John O'Gaunt's fundraiser for Sue Ryder - St John's Hospice

John O'Gaunt's Fundraiser for Garden House Hospice Letchworth

Algy makes the TV news - or does he? June 3 2026

 

 Viewers of BBC Look East might have been forgiven for thinking that a man interviewed in Bedford was our own Algy Grimes. Shoppers were being asked about disruption from the East-West Rail project. When Algy was approached for comment by the Blog Editor he said: "It must be a lookalike. I am on holiday in the Arctic Circle!"

Jog Seniors at home to Brocket Hall June 2 2026

Captain David Barlow, match organiser Terry Domagala, Pete Middleton. and Vic Chuntz

Terry Domagala reports on a day of drama at home to Brocket Hall

On what always promised to be a mixed bag of weather, we were certainly not
disappointed! An afternoon start against a very strong Brocket Hall team started in relatively
good weather, which was soon to disappoint.

 By the time the first group got to the fourth Tee it started to rain, hard enough to try to take shelter under the trees. Looking across the course the rest of the groups were all doing the same. With the rain easing off enough to continue play, the Brocket team were showing how well their handicaps travel. Both of the Brocket courses have an easier slope rating than the Carthagena!
Myself and David Barlow were playing against a very strong pairing of joint captains, Vic
Chuntz and Pete Middleton who were showing how well their handicaps travel. Despite
some strong golf from David and myself, including a lovely putt on the sixth from organiser
Terry Domagala we were soon two down by the turn.
Then the weather came into play again, with the first group on the 14th Tee and the
last on the 8th, the thunder started. With the klaxon sounding, the course was cleared
and players returned to the clubhouse! After deliberation it was decided to abandon the
match, and the catering staff did an excellent job off bringing dinner forward by a couple of
hours.
For dinner we were treated to a feast of Gammon and bubble and squeak, followed by a fruit
crumble pie and custard, not a piece of chicken in sight!
I would like to thank the team Daniel Emkes, Paul Jones, Peter Imray, Barry Donovan, Oz Osman,
Jeff Thompson, Warren Churms, Paul Life, Paul Jeeves and Roy Brown in what was a
disappointing and sometimes confusing afternoon. Most of all a big thanks to the catering
team for their adaptability.

Result: match abandoned