Men’s Golf Captain’s Blog

Surrey County Golf

Fantastic news: our John Ling team (over 55s, 4BBB team competition), captained by Nigel Brown, defeated Cranleigh Golf and Country Club on Monday. It was a very close match (3-2), with the final pair of Danny Gesua and Russell Gooding winning on the 24th hole. The team now play Dulwich and Sydenham (away) in the fifth round, with the match to be played by 12th August.

Unfortunately, on Saturday, the Scratch squad lost their latest match played away against Boyce Hill Golf Club in the South-East League Competition.

Daily Mail Foursomes

Rob Cutler and Nigel Reynolds march on, having now reached the fifth round. They will soon be playing a pair from Sand Martins Golf Club, near Wokingham.

Captain’s Prize, 2nd July

I was delighted that the competition had a full entry and pleased to see a good number of newer and younger Members in the field. Thankfully we were blessed with good weather, albeit somewhat breezy.

The winners (on countback) with 44 points were Marcus Carrigan and Les West, with Derek Mason and Chris Jones in second. In third place, with 43 points, were Graham Huntingford and Matt Woolston. Ben Angood was nearest the Pin on the 7th hole, and Will De Quant nearest on the 13th.

Many thanks to everyone who entered and of course to the Club’s staff, in particular Elouise for serving countless jugs of Pimm’s at the 7th, Nikki and her team for managing a busy bar afterwards, Ken and Joe for making sure the golfing side of things went smoothly and of course Tristan and Louis for pulling everything together to make my day such an enjoyable one. I must also thank Clodagh, my wife, for not only being with me on Saturday morning at the 7th but also her support during my captaincy year. All the entry money will be going to my chosen charity for the year, Regenerate.

Club Championships, 25th June

Many congratulations to Scott Stanley for winning the 36-hole Club Championships. He put in a stellar performance winning by nine shots, shooting 72 in the morning and 65 in the afternoon. Alex Tonge was second (74/72) with Charles Bowen-Rayner in third on countback. This was the third time that Scott had got his hands on the coveted trophy, having won it in 2019 and 2020.

Logan Trophy (over 35s scratch amateur)

Last week Scott Stanley and Alex Tonge entered this 54-hole stroke play competition, played at Liphook Golf Club. Unfortunately, they didn’t make the cut after the first two rounds but it’s great that Roehampton Club was represented in this prestigious competition. It was won by Hampshire’s Stuart Archibald, following a three-man play-off.

Captain and Pro Challenge Series

Whilst I was away on holiday, two matches were played with Past Captain Gerry Dennigan, and Simon Butler my Vice-Captain playing in my place. Sadly, neither of them won – Gerry and Jake Watson lost 5 and 4 to Danny Gesua and Graham Post, and Simon and Ricky lost on the 18th to Stuart Loggie and Greg Waunford-Brown.

I also failed to register a win in my match last week vs Russell and Lauren Gooding – his daughter, losing 2 and 1 (Will was my partner). Lauren is studying at and playing golf for Colorado State University. Russell played exceptionally well, helped in no small part by a putting lesson from Will the previous week. Ricky and I play Roger and Ed Mountney on Sunday.

Tristan McIllroy

Members will have been informed that Tristan is leaving Roehampton Club to take up a new job at St George’s Hill Golf Club. His leaving will be a blow to the Club, and he will be greatly missed but the opportunity for him is too good not to take. On behalf of the Men’s Golf Section, I’d like to thank Tristan for all he has done to support the Golf Section, and the support and guidance he has given me and my predecessors as Men’s Captain. Tristan will be with us until the end of September; rest assured more will be said and done to acknowledge his huge contribution to the Club.

Scratch Medal, 3rd July

Six players entered the competition, with Peter Crocombe carding a gross 67 to be victorious by four strokes ahead of Nick Wells who carded a level par round of 71. Great golf.

Members should note that competitions labelled ‘Scratch Team’ are open to any player with a handicap of 6.1 or lower.

England vs Rest of World, 30th July

This friendly match takes place at the end of the month: 18 holes, 4BBB team event. I will lead the England side, with Welshman and Men’s Committee member, Russell Gooding, leading the ROW team. If you would like to play in the match, please sign up using this link.

Men’s Golf Awards Dinner, 18th November

I’m very pleased that, with the kind help of Suzanne Collins, Andrew Cotter, the BBC sports commentator, will be our guest speaker at our annual Men’s Golf Dinner. Andrew has been commentating at this year’s Wimbledon but he is better known for his work in golf and rugby. He also commentates on athletics and the Boat Race, and his tweets/commentaries about his two Labradors went viral during the pandemic, leading to a Sunday Times column.

During the evening, we will present the prizes of all the major competitions to the winners. Please put the date in your diaries now.

Golf Etiquette and Club Rules

I’m sorry that this blog has to end on a negative note, but there are still Members who are failing to rake bunkers, repair pitchmarks, replace their divots on the fairways or use the divot boxes on the par 3 tees. Can we all do better please?

And also, I ask Members to abide by the golf arrangements which have been in force now for many months, in particular the rule that Thursdays are set aside for singles and foursomes only. I played last Thursday evening, and there were three groups (all men) who were playing either a 3 or 4 ball.

Happy golfing everyone.