As I have been off the course since Christmas, I was pleased to put a toe back in the water, playing a few holes, first last week and then again on Monday.
Those who have been studying the weather will not be surprised to hear that on both occasions it was ‘carry only’. I was gratified to see how well the course has been standing up to the winter inundations.
The greenkeepers have done a splendid job in keeping the course open and playable against the odds. I hope that we can get a really protracted period of dry weather to allow the course to dry out properly and for the greens to become firm again.
The wet winter weather fully justifies the planned drainage work in July and August on several greens to protect the course for the future.
The Seniors have followed a regular programme of Wednesday competitions and the numbers participating demonstrate the appetite for winter golf at Roehampton Club.
On 17th January, we played a team Stableford in the format four clubs and a putter. A team of Hassan Dajani, Ev Schenk and Gilbert Ellacombe won with a score of 83 points.
The following week, another team event was played with teams having a yellow ball. This passes round the team on successive holes with the player using the yellow ball on a particular hole having their Stableford points doubled. The winning team comprising David Bouch, Anders Grundberg and Gilbert Ellacombe won on countback with a magnificent total of 111 points.
On the last Wednesday of the month, 31st January we competed for the monthly Grail. Scoring was generally good and the leaderboard finished as follows
1st Nicholas Brown 41 points
2nd Gavin Tingle 39 points
3rd Julian Bass 37 points (countback)
4th Nigel Brown37 points
Congratulations to Nick, a new member of the Seniors Committee, and to Gavin who was playing in a senior event for the first time.
Come February, on the 7th we played a team Stableford with mulligan. The winners were Paul Gordon Brown, Brian Hall, David Paterson and Nigel Karmel who had an adjusted score of 88 points.
On 14th February it was a team Stableford with Joker. On the hole where a player plays his Joker, his Stableford score is doubled. A team of Paul Gordon Brown, Alun Hughes and John Randel amassed a creditable total of 90 points and won by three points.
It was typically wet on the 21st of last month when a reduced field competed for the February Grail. Almost half of those who had originally entered withdrew because of the weather. The scoring over all was modest but not among the winners who were:
1st Raj Vara 40 points (countback)
2nd Simon Lucas 40 points
3rd Richard Lurcott 37 points
4th John Randel 36 points
Congratulations to all the winners and especially to Raj seen holding the trophy aloft.
On 6th March we played a Texas Scramble. Fields are becoming bigger as the weather is supposed to improve. The winners were a team of Don McKenzie, Davood Fallahdar, Chris Cowan and Martin Flint. Their nett score was a phenomenal 54.
Finally, yesterday we reverted to the yellow ball format. 30 players competed and the result was as follows:
Winners: Tim Russell, David Moss and Trevor Hearle with a magnificent total of 125 points.
Runners up: Nick Pack, David Paterson, Peter Rogan and Denis Gould with a nett total of 119 points, adjusted as they were a team of four.
Next week the Seniors summer knockouts get underway. Despite the bad weather the Colum Sharkey trophy and the Seniors Winter foursomes are reaching a conclusion on time. I will report on the final results when the competitions are concluded.
The winter Eclectic concludes with the Grail at the end of the month. I expect a good turnout so it would be wise to book a slot now.
Our matches against other Clubs begin in April. Seniors can still join the squad and indicate their availability for matches. It is great fun meeting golfers from other clubs, both hosting them at Roehampton Club and playing on their courses too. Teams for the early season games are being picked but we can always try to fit newer players in later in the season.
Here’s hoping for an improvement in the weather.
