Club News

Our annual weekend event at Wokefield Golf & Country Club was brought forward a week due to the World Cup Final and for once, we had good weather. Despite always being in the middle of July we have had wind, rain and thunder storms in previous years but this year, although very windy it was warm and in the main sunny. However, the course was scorched dry due to lack of rain generally and we all experienced some very wayward bounces! But at least the ball travelled a good distance, shame it wasn't always in the right direction..

We had our usual good turnout with 25 for the main individual event on Sunday and 21 on Monday for the team scramble, as a few people had to leave for work commitments on the Monday morning.

This meant a last minute change from 6 teams of 4 to 7 teams of 3. It was nice to meet up with non-golfers Linda Martin, and Jacqie and Luzie Rusling again who came along to give other halves moral support, not to mention enjoy the facilities at the hotel.

The individual stableford competition, which counts towards the Order of Merit saw some high scores with 6 scoring 36 and over but the runaway winner was Andy Wilkinson with a massive score of 43 points - Andy has since been cut by 3 shots!

John Nicholas came 2nd with 39 points and Ogy John was third on count back with 38 points. Tom Senior (playing off 8) also had 38 and came 4th and Jack Boniface was 5th, also with 38 points.

John Nicholas won the men's Longest Drive and Jeff Ridge won the Nearest Pin. Guest Mei Tierney took the ladies Longest Drive but not one of us ladies actually managed to land on the green for the Nearest the Pin, despite me picking the easiest par 3 on the course!

Tom and Ogy were joint winners in the loudest trousers competition. Us ladies looked very dowdy by comparison!

As usual, we made the draw after dinner and prize-giving for the scramble event on Monday, dividing teams in one high, one medium and one low handicapper. This meant that the team handicaps were pretty evenly matched. I was lucky enough to find myself with lowest handicapper Tom Senior who can easily reach the green on any given par 4 hole in 2 together with "Big Tom" Ralston who had travelled down from Cheshire along with newly retired Dr Richard Corke who as usual was official photographer for the weekend. (Just as well since the photos that John Nicholas took on my camera were atrocious..)

After a very sociable and liquid evening in the bar we all retired to bed ready for team photo on the lst tee at 9.00 the next morning. Obviously on a high from his victory on Sunday, (maybe we should have cut him there and then!) Andy Wilkinson and his team of Kevin McEvoy and Neil Burton took lst prize with a net score of 68.1. Brendan O'Meara's team (Ogy John and Jane Ridge) came 2nd with 69.3 and Jim Daniel's team with Michelle Sears and guest Andy Greaves came third with 71.6. After a faltering start (although we did use my drive on the 1st hole!) the 2 Toms and I came 4th so not too bad, despite having to cope with Tom's trousers with a hangover!

Thanks to everyone for making the weekend such a success, some great golf and great company. We are now looking forward to our next weekend fixture at Meon Valley in September.

I am pleased to announce that we are returning to Belek, Turkey for our 2011 Spring trip.

Only £669 per person fully inclusive - excluding flights

Due to the success or our Spring trip in April 2009 and also the untimely cancellation of our scheduled trip in 2010, we are returning to the luxury all-inclusive resort of Belek, Turkey in April 2011. And the good news is that the price has been held at 2009 prices if you book early! You pay for the basic cost of the trip to the GCGB but have the option of booking the flight yourself either directly on the Thomas Cook Website or through our tour operator, Golf Escapes who are ATOL and ABTA protected. Turkey is now THE golfing destination and Belek boasts eight championship golf courses, catering for all levels of player. Besides golfing, Belek also offers a wide range of adventure sports like wind surfing, water skiing, sailing, rafting and mountain climbing.

The Papillon Ayscha Hotel is a top 5* luxurious all inclusive beachside resort where all food, drinks etc. are included in the package price. The Hotel has several bars and restaurants, Beauty Centre, Turkish Bath, 4 swimming pools and every type of sporting facility you could wish for. It is ideal for the non golfer so partners are more than welcome.

Details of the trip are as follows:

• PAPILLON AYSCHA HOTEL - 5*
• 7 nights - All Inclusive (ALL food and drinks included)
• Twin/Double Rooms
• Option to book the flight direct with Thomas Cook or through Golf Escapes
• All Transfers & Shuttles
• Pre-Booked Tee Times
• 5 Rounds of Golf (1 Monty, 1 Tat, 2 Carya, 1 Nobilis)
• Daily Prizes

PRICE: £669 for hotel and golf · Approx. £216 for flight · £120 for single room suppl. £519 for non golfer (hotel only)

If you would like to reserve a place on this luxury all inclusive trip, simply contact the office on 020 8391 4666 or email katebrown@golfclubgb.co.uk and pay a deposit of £150. (2.5% surcharge if paying by credit card)

DON'T DELAY, BOOK TODAY!

Our annual NatWest Trophy pairs event was held at Surrey National GC this year, back in May, a very hilly course near Coulsden in Surrey.

My luck with good weather continued and we had another bright dry day.

The event was a 27 hole pairs better ball competition with 14 pairs entering including 6 guests.

Third place went to Geoff Wicks and his guest Dean Clark with 67 points, second place went to Nigel Smith's sister in law Margaret and Neil Burton with 68 points and first place went to the young Irish lads, Kieran Kennelly and Danny Morrissey with 69 points, so a very tight competition. Kieran and Danny had more blarney than the famous stone and we look forward to seeing them again. Kieran also won the Longest Drive and Dean Clark won the Nearest the Pin.

Singing Hills GC had come highly recommended by all those who had played there before, including club members Brendan O'Meara and John Nicholas.

We were not disappointed - set in the beautiful rolling South Downs with an excellent club house and superb food, the day was excellent value all round.

We had a great turnout with 27 golfers and yet again lovely weather!

Brendan, Jim Daniels and John Nicholas had played the course the day before as a warm up which was beneficial for John, maybe not so for Brendan who had scored 44 points but didn't do quite so well on the big day - I'm still waiting for your previous day's card Brendan!

We had 18 players scoring 30 points and over, including novice golfer Emma Bunting who came in with a resounding 33 points, well done Emma! Third place was Tony Hebb, second place on count back was guest Jim Holgate and not surprising lst place went to John Nicholas with 39 points. Jeff Ridge just missed out on the prizes with 37 points and I must mention the fact that I scored the same as big hitter Steve Lynham, my best achievement, although he admittedly had a bad day! He did redeem himself by winning the Longest Drive and Tom Senior won the Nearest the Pin.

We shall definitely book Singing Hills again next year.

If anyone has any courses they would like to suggest for the 2011 fixture list please let me know. I always try to include a mix of old favourites which are excellent value for money together with some new courses. Rookwood is one suggestion already in.

You may remember our "truly International Member" Rinaldo Marcella who is actually Scottish, despite his name, living in Germany and playing golf in the Middle East. We have recently heard from him again and he has got married. I never could resist a man in a kilt and was delighted to receive a lovely picture of Rinaldo and his wife on their wedding day.

Rinaldo writes:

"Have been playing golf in Germany and around the world since our last email. I have been back to the Middle East and played several times. I got married last December in Mauritius (had my kilt on) and the hotel had its own golf course Oh Joy! I had a great caddy, my new wife ha ha! I played lots and now my wife is going to take lessons, we will join a club here in Germany and play together.

I met a lot of people on the golf course in Mauritius and nearly won the hotel championship, some really good golfers! One of the best rounds I have played even though I had a 10 yes a 10 on the second and still managed 40 points not bad for an old guy ha ha! If not for the 2nd hole I would have won!

Hope all is well with you happy golfing to all!"

Keep in touch Rinaldo and enjoy married life!

We have had some queries regarding the adjustment of scorecards when entering medal play scores. As already indicated on our "How to Complete a Scorecard", we adjust all gross scores to a maximum of 2 over par and ask members, if possible to adjust their scores accordingly in a spare column on the scorecard. There has been some confusion as to whether this is adjustment is a net double bogey or gross.

After checking the CONGU rules, Our National Captain, Gary Jackson, clarifies the situation thus:

When the GCGB receives a scorecard it is important to indicate whether the competition played was stroke play or stableford and the tee colour played from (white or yellow) as this impacts the SSS and PAR.

In the event that this was a Stableford competition, then no 'double bogey' adjustments are made as this is based on the number of points scored and takes into account the stroke index for each hole.

Your handicap would be lowered if you scored more than 36 points and 0.1 would be added to your handicap for scores which are less than 36 or within the 'buffer zone', also taking into account the SSS/PAR.

Stroke or medal play is handled very differently, again the scorecard must indicate the tee colour played from.

The card is checked hole by hole with any individual hole score being adjusted to a double bogey as required.
The adjusted gross is then totalled and entered into the system.
Again handicaps will be lowered if Adjusted Gross less Handicap comes below the Par for the course or will be increased by 0.1 if Gross less Handicap exceeds PAR taking into account your buffer zone.
Again SSS is used in the calculation.

Therefore in summary:

1. Double bogey adjustments ONLY applies to Medal competitions (does NOT apply to Stableford competitions)
2. Double bogey adjustments are done on a hole by hole basis (e.g. If for a par 3 the player had a total of 6 shots, this would be adjusted to a total/gross 5 regardless of handicap)
3. Stoke index can be ignored as this is only applicable to Stableford play for points scoring .

18th August sees the start of Nigel Smith's 2nd year as Captain with his Captains Day at Maylands G & CC, Romford. Cost is just £59 a head for coffee bacon rolls, 27 holes (an individual stableford and 9 hole team event), 2 course dinner and prize giving. We will team everybody up for the afternoon round. Simply call the office to book in or use the website booking form.

A new venue for GCGB this year is the Marriott Resort hotel and golf complex at Meon Valley, Southampton. 2 days golf, overnight twin sharing accommodation, evening dinner and full English breakfast all for just £100. Again, call the office for further details and to book in.