Senior Men’s Golf Chairman’s Report

Looking back at my recent contributions to the Recorder, I see that I have been regularly concerned about the weather. I have welcomed the onset of spring and summer even though from time to time the weather has been disappointing. Coming back from a week in Norfolk, I was warned that the rough had grown a great deal while I was away.

On Monday, we played in a match against Ealing and it was soon apparent that a ball which had settled down in the rough needed at least an eight iron to shift it any significant distance. Our opponents were extremely complementary about the condition of the course and it was a relief to find that when all the matches were in, Roehampton Club had won by three and a half matches to two and a half.

In my absence on Wednesday 10th May, the seniors played a match between teams divided by age. In the event the convenient division was between those over 75 and those under 75.

Initially, the top 5 scores from each team were totalled up and this ended with a tie on 169 points.  When the 6th best score was then taken from each team, the Under 75’s recorded a narrow victory with a total of 198 Points compared to the Over 75’s 197 Points!

Congratulations to the Under 75s. The 6 best scores that made up the total of 198 were from:
Ken Pratt – 38 points
Peter Bateman – 36 points
Nicholas Brown – 34 points
Tim Isaac – 32 points
David Moss – 29 points
Gilbert Ellacombe – 29 points

Well done on securing the win, albeit by a very narrow margin.

Spring Medal

Yesterday we played our spring medal. Not everyone enjoys medal play as opposed to Stableford competitions but generally the different method of scoring does not affect our handicaps adversely. Some 46 players took part which was a reasonable turnout.

It was a pleasure to play in the excellent conditions although some of us again found the rough extremely punishing. The greens were hard and dry, many approach shots not making pitch marks at all. Scoring was not easy and so all the greater credit to our winners. It was a close finish with three players carding a nett 70. The prize winners were:

Nett                                                   Score
1st Peter Bateman                         70 (countback)
2nd Mel Davies                               70 (countback)
3rd Faisal Rahmatallah                 70 (countback)
4th Simon Lucas                             71

Gross
1st Roy Martin                                78

Congratulations to all the winning players. I look forward to including a picture of Peter with his trophy in the next edition of the Recorder.

Seniors Invitation Day

Just four weeks to go till the Seniors Invitation Day on 14th June. Sign up has been a little slower than usual but I hope some more seniors will sign up to bring a guest and the show Roehampton off as a great place to play golf. It is a bargain at £90 for two. Those who cannot find a partner can sign up and play in Club pairs to enjoy a fun day.

I have also been asked to publicise the charity competition which has customarily been a salute to the Services. On 12th June there will be an event followed by lunch in support of the PTSD tri-service charity. This has always been an enjoyable event and offers an opportunity to play with members whom you might not otherwise meet.

Douglas Millar, Senior Golf Chairman