This Friday (28th July) we play for the Gordon Wood Trophy, a WHS-qualifying competition held just for members of the senior section.

If you are playing on Friday, inform the Pro’s shop before you start. Steve or Fizz will then put you on the competition system in order that you can enter your score at the end of your round, either on your phone (using the I.G. app) or on the computer in the snooker room.

If you are an early starter, and arrive before the Pro’s shop is open, append your name to the list that I will leave on the table outside the Pro’s shop.

As current holder of the trophy, I can report that it is a very large and unsightly rose bowl with a wire-mesh lid. Perhaps the idea is to obscure it with roses? At the time of writing the trophy is in my garage, where it is home to a huge arachnid that I have named ‘Gary the Garage Spider’. I guess he thinks that the wire mesh gives him a head start in building a fresh web every evening.

Good news from the interclub-friendly last Friday, as captain-of-the-day Mike Pigott reports below.

Interclub Friendly at Home versus Sale, 21st July

Match Reporter: Mike Pigott

With the forecast giving wind and rain we were very lucky to avoid most of the heavy rain which made its way to Hoylake and Old Trafford so the match went ahead in acceptable conditions.

Sale fielded a strong team with some low handicap players at the top of the order and higher handicaps down the order.
Lymm’s captain for the day Mike Pigott and partner Barry McGuigan lost the top match 3 and 2 sharing six birdies in a hard fought match and when the second game consisting of John Armstrong IV and Phil Perry also lost 4 and 2 things started to look very ominous despite the rallying calls given before tee off time.

The rest of the team answered the captain’s demands and with wins for Andy Timms and Duncan Clarke (3 and 2), Paul Lennie and Paul Collins (5 and 4), Ron Thornton and Peter Broady (4 and 3), Dave Craggs and Sammy Lee (3 and 2) and Colin Hughes and Ken Pearce (6 and 5) backed up by a half from Steve Gosling and Peter Wilson, the only ones to actually play the 18th competively.

The overall result was Lymm 5.5, Sale 2.5.

When Ken Pearce and Colin Hughes and their opponents finally returned to the clubhouse we all moved into the dining room and had a fabulous meal of steak pie, chips, veg and gravy followed by the hottest apple pie every produced.

The greens staff and catering staff were thanked by both captains and finally the teams were treated to an original joke not one from the 1900’s.

Happy Mondays – 24th July

Reporter: Peter Willson

A sort of Happy Mondays competition. Only 7 player’s turned out this morning, and so the decision was made to abort the planned competition and go for an individual Stableford score
The winner:  Dave Waggitt with 35 points gained through really solid play

Tee booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 27 July) 

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 11th August. The competition will be individual Stableford for a bottle of wine, due to our interclub match versus Ringway.

If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Last Friday was the penultimate round of the Summer League.

I have updated the Leader Boards, showing the top four of each division. However, conceivably a surprise winner for each winner division could come from further down the table. Therefore, as we approach round 10 of 10 of the Summer League, I have taken a screenshot of Peter Willson’s spreadsheet, showing the top third of the table. Note that the table is ordered by points, and contains players in both divisions.

Match Report for 14th July – Round 9 of Summer League

Date played: 14^th July 2023

Game Played: Round 9 – Summer League  

Number of cards submitted                 
Division 1 – 20 players
Division 2 – 11 players

2’s recorded
None

Division 1:                       
Winner: Steve Gosling (on CPO) – 35 points
2nd: Paul Collins – 35 points
3rd=: Paul Foster – 31 points

Division 2: 
Winner: Richard Yates (on CPO) – 30 points
2nd=: Jeff Chapman  – 30 points
2nd=: Sammy Lee – 30 points

Notes:

Played over 15 holes. Breezy, cloudy and dull with drizzle then light rain from 10^th hole onwards. Cool temperatures.

Happy Mondays – 17 July

Reporter: Peter Willson

In spite of towering black thunder clouds all around we managed to stay pretty dry with the exception of one brief shower. Pleasantly warm at 18 deg. C – moderate breeze

4 x 4 man teams took part in Team Stableford:

1st place – Pete Broady; Paddy Moran; Ron Thornton & John White – 116 points / 29 per player

2nd – Eric Cox, Charlie Hill, Dave Waggitt & Peter Willson – 111 points / 27.8 per player

3rd – John Booth, Phil Lomas, Ken Narraway & Ken Pearce – 104 points / 25.5 per player

4th – Colin Chisnall, Les Fecitt, Phil Perry & Alan Thomas – 101 points / 25.3 per player.

Tee booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 20 July) 

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 4th August. The competition will be our Memorial Day game.

The If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Although the summer league has been interrupted by the LGC events calendar, several members of our senior section have had successes in other competitions.

Congratulations to Peter White, who, last Saturday, won the Watkins Cup (4) with a net 63. I was honoured to mark his card, which included five consecutive pars on the first five holes: remarkable off a playing handicap of 21! With 4-over gross on the front nine, Peter kept his nerve and steadily negotiated the back nine to post 84 gross.

Congratulations also to Mike Pigott, who (with Jeff Acton) won the Senior Open 4BBB at Astbury Golf Club (near Congleton) in June with 45 points, each collecting a £100 voucher.

At the Senior Open at Padeswood and Buckley on Tuesday 4th July, the organiser John Hayes made sure that our seniors had a winner 😉 See John’s report below.

We also had successes in the Captain’s Charity Day, as reported here by Andy Timms, whose team beat about twenty other teams in the field:

Captain’s Charity Day

Reporter: Andy Timms

I am happy to report that a team of four of our seniors, namely Grahame Brickell, Andy Timms, Paddy Moran and Paul Lennie were victorious at the Captain’s Charity Day last Friday with a score of 95 points. Everyone contributed to some degree, with the highlight being Paul’s sand save birdie 4 for 4 points on 15. Victory was all the sweeter for Paul and Andy in particular who finished runners up last year with 92 pts in a team that also included Phil Young. Who should be runner up with 92 pts this year? Phil Young again, unlucky Mr. Vice Captain!

Senior Open at Padeswood and Buckley – 4th July

Reporter: John Hayes

Twenty one of our intrepid senior section plus the youthful Bob Mycock played in this competition last Tuesday.

The course was in magnificent condition which, allied to the good fine weather, made for a great day of golf. The greens were top class even if they were found to be extremely quick by most of us.

Besides the main competition run by P&B, we had our own internal competition based on the same scorecard. The best card on the day was scored by Colin Crail and Richard Yates with 37 points, handicaps based on 85% of the course handicap. In second place on 36 points was Grahame Brickell and young Bob Mycock and in third, Peter Willson and John White with 35 points. Congratulations to them all. The consensus view around the bar at the end was that we should enter this competition again next year.

Interclub Match, Away at Davyhulme

Match Reporter: Mike Bennett

The result of the above match was as follows:
Davyhulme 6 Lymm 2

Mike Bennett and Barry Smith halved
Paddy Moran and Mervyn Roberts lost one down
Mark Pickles and Phil Lomas lost three down
John Hayes and David Craggs lost three and one
Stewart Baird and Phil Ormesher halved
Phil Perry and Arthur Laird lost 4 and 2
Sammy Lee and Jeff Ashurst lost 4 and 3
Mark Marsland and Steve Gosling won 2 up.

The course was in good condition and the company was great. We had a very good meal. All of us got caught in the rain later on during the round, however it was a very enjoyable day apart from the result.

Tatton League – Away at Styal 11th July

Conditions were tough at Styal off the white tees, following the recent heavy rain. The weather was pleasant when we set off, but squally conditions came with the dark rain clouds about midday. The teams were Pickles and Timms, Broady and Meir, Cooper and Brickell, Pigott and Moran.

Lymm came equal third with 145 points: 34, 35, 36, and 40 points, Mike Pigott and Paddy Moran achieving an outstanding 40 points .

Lymm’s Richard Cooper collected a prize for ‘nearest the pin in 2’ on a par 4.

Our current overall standing is 4th out of 6. See the ‘Tatton League’ page.

Happy Mondays – 10 July

Reporter: Paul Foster

Four teams reported for action, with the now obligatory confusion of which format to play. Three teams played best 2 from 3, and one team played team Stableford! After much head scratching and rubbing of chins, best 2 from 3 won the day.

In 4th place were Steve ‘the actor’ Barlow, Dave ‘wiggle’ Waggitt and ‘Big’ Ken Pearce with a commendable 66 points.

In 3rd place were Eric Cox, Graham Utton and Peter Willson, with 68 points.
Runners up after a card play off we’re Ken Narroway, Paul Foster and Charlie Heath with 70pts

Winners on the day were Tommy Lawless, John Boyle and Les Fecitt also with 70pts.
HOWEVER……team Fecitt handed their signed card in showing 68pts, upon inspection of their card, it was noted team Fecitt had ‘done’ themselves out of 2 points on hole 6. As we are all jolly fair boys the card checker revised their card, which meant they pipped team Narroway. Les ‘the honest man’ Fecitt very generously split the winnings with team Narroway. So we all went home happy.

The Mitre Cup

As published last week, this annual competition between the ladies and the senior men will take place on Tuesday the 8th of August.

Mike Bennett has told the ladies that he will try to raise a team of 26 players. At the time of writing, I believe we are still short? We really would like to raise a full complement. If you are interested, please add your name to the list on the Seniors’ noticeboard.

Tee booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 13 July) 

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 28th July. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

28th July is our annual Gordon Wood Trophy.

The Gordon Wood Trophy is played over 18 holes, on the yellow tees. Inform the Pro’s shop that you are playing, and after round, enter it on the IG computer system. The competition is Stableford using WHS handicap, with no handicap reduction.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

My apologies for not putting the Round 8 report on the newsletter last week, which was due to a mix up with email attachments.

Round 8 was played on Friday 23 June, and the winners were John Hayes in Division 1 with 36 points, and John Boyle in Division 2, also with 36 points. It was a high scoring day, with no less than six Division 1 players on 32 points (for third place)!

Match Report for 23 June, Round 8 of Summer League

Date played: 23rd June 2023
Game played: Round 8 – Summer Session  
Number of cards submitted: 33 – Division 1, 21 players. Division 2, 18 players.
2’s recorded: 1

Division 1:                       
Winner: John Hayes – 36 points
2nd: David Meir  – 35 points
3rd=: David Waggitt – 32 points (on CPO)

Division 2: 
Winner: John Boyle – 36 points
2nd: Joe Priestner – 34 points
3rd: George Clarke – 33 points

Notes:
Course very dry and running – played over 15 holes. Cloudy and dull at first but heated up to 25 deg. C at finish.

Peter reports several incorrect handicaps again. Please check your senior handicap on this website, or on the seniors’ noticeboard.

The Mitre Cup

The annual competition between the ladies and the senior men will take place on Tuesday the 8th of August.

The first tee time is 11:04, and we have 13 tee times, therefore 26 players are required. However, the exact number of matches played will depend on the response from each team.

Hopefully both teams will get 26 players.

This is very popular competition that has been notably enjoyed by all the participants in recent years.

A list will go up on the notice board this Friday. Put your name on the list if you would like to be one of the 26 players.

Our Chairman Mike Bennett will be the seniors’ organiser for this competition. 

Happy Mondays

Reporter: Peter Willson

The format on Monday was ‘Shambles’. In this format the highest score and the lowest score of the group (of 3 or 4) are added for each hole.

Shambles is a new format for us and all the players I spoke to found it an entertaining game. It meant that all the players had to try and  ensure they came in with a score on every hole and avoid the dreaded Zero points for the team. Many thanks to Phil Perry for suggesting this game.

Three groups comprising 11 golfers set out in overcast and chilly conditions – the cloud increased and the wind strengthened and by the time the last group reached the 10th hole we were thoroughly soaked to the skin. 

Winners: Steve Gosling, Dave Waggitt and Phil Perry – 55 points

2nd: Charlie Heath, Charlie Hill, Alan Thomas and Colin Chisnall – 53 points 

3rd: Les Fecitt, John Boyle, John White and Peter Willson – 50 points 

I think we’re going to do it again in future weeks.

Happy Mondays Calendar

Peter Willson has asked me to remove the calendar from the Happy Mondays page. Going forward, Peter will inform all participants by email of the format to be played, including from time to time the new format of Shambles.

Tee booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 6 July) 

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 21st July. It will be a ‘bottle of wine’ competition, running alongside our friendly match against Sale. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Phil Ormersher’s advice on how not to clean your electric trolley!

Reporter: Phil Ormesher

After a rather muddy winter I decided to lighten the load on my Powakaddy by scraping the mud off and giving it a wash.  Using a soap and sponge I washed it down and then gently ran a hose over it to rinse it.  No Jetwash, just a hose.  Big mistake.

After washing it I put it back in the garage and went away to play golf in Portugal.

A week or so later I ventured onto Lymm GC with my nice clean trolley only to discover it had gone from whisper quiet to sounding more like a coffee grinder in full flow!

On Steve’s recommendation I took it into MBM Golf in Ashton-on-Mersey who informed me that the motor on my 3 year old trolley was shot.  Apparently they are ‘showerproof’ not waterproof.  Daft, I think, for such a thing as an electric golf trolley used in UK weather, but apparently true.

MBM replaced the motor, lightened my wallet by £120, and all is now quiet. So put up with that muddy trolley or be very careful if you wash it.  By the way, if you do need trolley repairs, I was impressed with MBM.

The Hinson Cup – Wednesday 12 July 2023

Just another reminder of the upcoming Hinson Cup: a club competition for all male seniors (55+) of LGC, which takes place a week today.

The competition is 18 holes off white tees, and is WHS qualifying. Book your own tee time, and inform Steve or Fizz in the Pro’s shop before you play your round that you want to be entered into the competition. Let’s hope that a member of our section lifts the cup!

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles