Newsletter – 26 February 2025

Featured

Winter League – Round 7 of 8

Strong winds with high-speed gusts, although only little of the anticipated rainy conditions. Thankfully, temperatures, in comparison to previous weeks, were almost tropical!

No one achieved the ‘keep a 6 off your card’ this week, but Tommy Lawless and Mark Pickles managed to limit the damage to just one 6 (and nothing worse). Well done guys, considering the conditions.

A field of 36 runners, 18 players from Division 1 and 18 players from Division 2.

Zero 2s recorded today, Steve Gosling is once again a happy chappie.

Last week I mentioned the return of the Friday Wine Club. When I collected the cards this week, four-and-a-half-hours after the last group teed off, they were still seen to be consuming copious amounts of red wine in the clubhouse, and their cards were no where to be seen!

Division 1 Results
Winner – John White with 27pts on a CPO
R/up – Trevor Williamson with 27pts
3rd – Arthur Nuttall with 26pts on a CPO

Division 2 Results
Winner – John Booth with 26pts on a CPO
R/up – Dave Craggs with 26pts on a CPO
3rd – Steve Bramall with 26pts

Paddy Moran enjoys a lead in the 1st division of 8 pts from Michael John, and Jeff Chapman tops the 2nd division also with has an 8pt lead over; Bob Ellison, Dave Craggs and Steve Bramall.

As last week, nine cards were marked incorrectly. Put down the gross score on each hole, of the persons card you are marking, under the ‘A’ column, add the stableford points scored under the ‘Points’ column, nothing more, nothing less, add your own score under the ‘Marker’s Score’ column, sign the card, and that’s it. Nothing else. No net scores, no scores in the ‘B’, ‘C’ or ‘D’ columns and no Stableford points anywhere else except the ‘Points’ column. Thank you.

Happy Mondays – 24 Feb

Reporter: Peter Willson

A fine day, slightly chilly at first but only light winds, however muddy underfoot after some fairly heavy rain overnight Sunday. It stayed dry and we even had a glimpse of the sun!

Game: Team Stableford

6 teams of 3 – 18 players  – played over 15 holes 

Winners:
Grahame Brickell, Peter Willson and Steve Chalcraft (a new recruit to the Seniors) – 32.7 points per player.

Second:
Steve Barlow, Paul Collins and John White – 31 ppp

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 27 Feb)

Course closed for maintenance from Monday March 17th until Wednesday 19th

No need for Happy Mondays tee-booking this coming Sunday, due to the course being closed on Monday 17th.

Nutty’s Notables

Thank you again to Arthur for his continuing contributions to the newsletter, as he works his way around the senior section to unveil the personal histories of our notable members, i.e. every one of us who is happy to reveal some personal history previous to joining the remarkable fraternity of LGC Seniors!

This week:

It’s a Kind of Bandit…” 

Reporter: Arthur Nuttall

Born in Solihull, Warwickshire, Steve Barlow moved to Bowdon at the age of 8, when his Dad moved jobs. Steve started playing golf at age of 10, mainly because one of his neighbours was the tour pro Dave Thomas (Wikipedia), who encouraged Steve to give it a go. 

Steve joined Mere GC, but when it burned down in 1970, he joined Ringway. He played there until his mid 30s, but then gave it a rest until into his mid 60s. He was more committed to tennis, playing for over 50 continuous years. He was a member of Hale Lawn Tennis Club, playing on their teams for several years and winning many club trophies.

Always passionate about music, Steve used to go to the Free Trade Hall and other Manchester venues at least three times a week in the 1970s, seeing such bands as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Faces, and The Rolling Stones etc. Believe it or not, they were £1.25 for the front row in those days. He has kept the tickets as proof! He saw the opening night of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust Tour” at the Hard Rock in November 1972, and Mott The Hoople in 1973, where the support band were an unknown group called Queen. His mates at the time said he looked like the lead singer, a guy called Freddie Mercury.

Steve played in bands in his teens and even got signed to a major record label, but, alas, never quite made it through to the big time. However, he worked for record and management companies throughout his career and met a lot of interesting characters, from Elton John to Jedward (remember them?) and numerous celebs in between.

In 1996, Steve was asked to start up a new Music College in Manchester, called Access to Music. They are a national music college and the largest provider of music education in England. They started with 36 students at The Bee Hive Mill in Ancoats and when he retired, they had 450 students, studying not only music, but also media and gaming. Steve passed his knowledge onto individuals who would become famous, including Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne and Rita Ora. He says that it was a privilege to teach, and to see students go on to make a success of their life.

When Steve eventually retired, he decided to take up golf again, joining Lymm GC in 2022. He joined our Senior Section, where he was given the nickname “Bandit Barlow” during his first year. He claims he still doesn’t know why! 

[ Editor’s Note: He knows why! 😉 ]

Nowadays, during time away from golf, Steve is a TV/Film extra, which he loves doing. He has worked on productions such as Coronation Street, big Netflix costume dramas, crime dramas such as Ridley, and Sexy Beast and comedies such as Brassic and The Power of Parker.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Newsletter – 19 February 2025

Featured

Winter League – Round 6 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

A bitterly raw winter’s day, with a light-to-medium arctic breeze off the ship canal to shiver me timbers. An assortment of silly hats on view across the course, not quite as silly as Les ‘silly hat’ Fecitt or MAGA Barlow, but still silly. Nobody told me I played 12 holes with my hat inside out ! I blame you, Eric Cox, but you did have your wrong glasses on.

Twelve holes in play again, although one group tried to sneak in scores for the 13th on their cards. I’ve spotted it you, three rascals. Please enter your scores on I.G. for 12 holes only.

Two players achieved the ‘keep a 6 off your card’. That was Paul Foster and Paddy Moran.

A field of 40 runners, 22 players from Division 1 and 18 players from Division 2.

Four 2s recorded today, all on different holes, Michael John on the 2nd, Art Laird on the 5th with a simply gorgeous chip in from off the green, and Russ Jones on the 9th.

And get this:
Bob Ellison engineered a quite incredible 2 on the 7th. How on earth??? Bob got 5 points for the hole.

Dandy to see the return of the Friday Wine Club (I must try and join you in the Sadlers), as Art Laird has rejoined the nest. Also good to see Joe Priestner and George Clarke both playing under par, and both having their handicap docked.

Division 1 Results
Winner – Paul Foster with 29pts
R/up – Paddy Moran with 28pts (Paddy, you are becoming boring now)
3rd – Richard Smyllie with 26pts on a CPO

Division 2 Results
Winner – Jeff Chapman with 31pts (a winter league high score)
R/up – Colin Hughes with 26pts on a CPO
3rd – Alan Thomas with 26pts on a CPO

Paddy Moran extends his lead in the 1st division from Grahame Brickell. Jeff Chapman who has a 10pt lead over Richard Yates, tops the 2nd division.

Two 1st division players put their wrong hcap down, and two 2nd division players put their wrong hcap down. Spooky…

Nine out of forty cards marked incorrectly…the players score should be entered under the ‘A’ column, and the stableford points entered under the ‘Points’ column, nothing else, besides your own score under the ‘Marker’s Score’ column, seems fairly simple to me!

Nice to see all scores were on Lymm Golf Club cards. 40 cards handed in, 36 entered into Ig.

Happy Mondays – 17 Feb

Reporter: Peter Willson

Another very cold day with a biting South Easterly but it was dry and the sun made a fleeting appearance 

Game: Team Stableford. 5 teams – 16 players.

Well it was that man again – Dave Craggs – with another stellar scoring round – albeit with slightly dodgy mathematics which were resolved in the clubhouse and the team still came out on top

Winners: Paul Collins, Eric Cox, Dave Craggs and Paul Foster – 25.3 points per player
Second: Kevin Bocquet, Pete Broady and Steve Rowley – 25 ppp

Kevin Bocquet – came out on top with an individual round score of 32 points. 

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 20 Feb)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 23 Feb

Nutty’s Notables

Arthur Nuttall suggests we have ‘player profiles’ as a regular feature in the newsletter. I think it’s an excellent idea. Last week Arthur provided a profile of Colin Lees. This week it’s John Hayes.

I don’t doubt that everyone in the senior section has a notable personal history that would be of interest to fellow members. I hope that Arthur continues to investigate! I would be particularly interested in Paul Collins, the reason being, I was playing in a senior interclub friendly home match against Sale GC last year, and one of the Sale pair was a retired prison officer. We were on the 14th tee, and he pointed to the 15th green, asking, “Is that Paul Collins?” I replied in the affirmative. He said, “I’ve not seen him for a while, but I’ve known him for years”. I thought I’d better not ask how!

Focus on John Hayes

Reporter: Arthur Nuttall

As some of you will already be aware, John is originally from Yorkshire, and as we know, Tykes can be pretty good at “blowing their own trumpet”. Well, John is a bit different – he actually plays the euphonium and is a member of the Lymm Concert Band.

Having started playing a flugelhorn at the age of 9, John had a 50-year gap before he eventually took up his musical hobby once again, switching to the euphonium. Lymm’s next concert will be at the Arley Hall Garden Festival at the end of June. The repertoire of their music is quite wide and includes film music, selections from current and traditional musicals, big band, military band and light classical.

Not content with his blowing activities, John is also a member of a Choral Society. In the mid-1980’s, he was “volunteered” to join a choir, on the grounds that the choir was desperate for male voices. Given that he could already read music, he was considered good enough to join without further ado. Much later, in 2011 when he moved to Lymm, he was invited to join Altrincham Choral Society, which, having upwards of 100 members, was a much larger choir than he had been used to singing with. The choir produces three major concerts each year, performing mainly classical music in the form of oratorios and requiems by the major composers. These are held in a variety of venues, including the Royal Northern College of Music Theatre in Manchester.

But that’s not all. After retiring in 1993, John took part in voluntary projects, including leading a team to carry out construction work in rural Tanzania for a small UK based charity. Prior to leaving for Tanzania there was a series of introductory weekends where the volunteers were given training in all aspects of the proposed trip. The purpose of the project was to help villagers to construct a Health Centre within the confines of the village. Very rudimentary in terms of construction, but of vital importance for the village. At the end of our tour of duty they had got the building up to roof level; the next group to follow were able to complete the building ready for use. 

As you can see from the photos below, John hasn’t changed much!

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Newsletter – 12 February 2025

Featured

Winter League – Round 5 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

Twelve holes at last! Not much to report as I wasn’t able to play.

Only one player who achieved the ‘keep a 6 off your card’: Ian Whitehead. Well done Ian.

A field of 39 runners, 15 players from Division 1 and 24 players from Division 2.

No 2s recorded today, Steve Gosling is most impressed with you all..

Division 1 Results
Winner – Russ Jones with 29pts
R/up – Ian Whitehead with 27pts
3rd – Paddy Moran with 25pts on a CPO

Division 2 Results
Winner – Steve Bramall with 28pts
R/up – Steve Bird with 26pts on a CPO
3rd – Richard Yates with 26pts

Paddy Moran & Trevor Williamson now leads the 1st division, and Jeff Chapman from Richard Yates leads the 2nd division.

Russ Jones had 3 birdies, and finished one over par gross.

Same 1st division player continues to put the wrong WHS club hcap down, and four 2nd division players who played off their wrong seniors hcap.

One card handed in marked on a Padeswood & Buckley Golf Card! How does that work???

39 cards handed in, only 35 entered into Ig.

Happy Mondays – 10 Feb

Reporter: Peter Willson

Happy Mondays – 10th February ‘25

A very, very cold day mainly dry but with a biting North Easterly wind. Decided to restrict to 13 holes as it was cold (did I say that?) and limited access for buggy’s 

Game: Team Stableford (still)

6 teams – 19 players . A close run affair with 2 teams vying for the prize until a check on current handicaps was made 

Winners: Dave Craggs (the birthday boy), Charlie Hill and Peter Willson – 27 points per player 
2nd: Steve Barlow, Mike Bennett, Colin Crail and Richard Yates – 26.8 ppp

Mr Craggs went to celebrate his Birthday with his winnings. It may stretch to a McD’s 

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 13 Feb)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 16th Feb

Andy Timms to host Quiz night – Thursday 6 March

One for your calendar:
Our very own Andy Timms, soon to be LGC Captain, will be quizmaster for the event on Thursday 6 March.

£2 per entry, to go to the clubhouse development fund.

Colin Lees – Tennis Supremo!

Reporter: Arthur Nuttall

Colin Lees must have reached a pretty high standard in competitive tennis circles in his younger days, as these photographs (discovered by chance by me in America) feature him in a Pro-Am in 2000, partnering none other than Roscoe Tanner (second left), Wimbledon finalist in 1979.

While Colin and Roscoe won the Pro-Am and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, Roscoe lost to Bjorn Borg in the final, then spent some time in jail for unrelated matters!

Colin with Roscoe Tanner

In my recent chat with Colin, he tells me he was also mens 1st Team captain at Lymm Tennis Club for several years, playing in Division 1 in two Leagues – until sciatica struck!

More recently, he’s had to park Friday golf for a bit to let 3 months antibiotics do their job on an infected bone. He’ll be back, I’m sure.

We wish him well and hope that he is able to get fully back on the golf course soon.

In the meantime, if you have a couple hours to spare when he pops into the club for a coffee, ask him about his Hi-Fi System and record collection! Fascinating!

Arthur Nuttall

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Newsletter – 5 February 2025

Featured

Winter League Round 4 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

A chilly winter’s day, no wind, with only the top 8 holes on offer, with 1 winter green on the 7th, that seems impossible to hole a putt of more than 12 inches!

With just 8 holes there were were 4 players who achieved the ‘keep a 6 off your card’. They were Dave Meir, Michael John, Tommy Lawless and Paddy Moran.

A field of 37 runners, 17 players from Division 1 and 20 players from Division 2.

Two 2s recorded today, Andy Timms and Trevor Williamson. As I stepped onto the 10th to play my first shot I watched with astonishment when Trevor sank his monster, across the slope left to right, and up hill, right into the middle of the cup on the 9th, a beauty!

See the Second Lord of the Treasury Steve Gosling for your balls when he’s finished with his merriment on the snow slopes…

Division 1 Results
Winner – Dave Meir with 30pts
R/up – Michael John with 27pts on a CPO
3rd – Steve Barlow with 27pts

Division 2 Results
Winner – Barrie Simpson with 29pts
R/up – Jeff Ashurst with 27pts
3rd – David Craggs with 26pts on a CPO

Steve ‘MAGA’ Barlow, proudly sporting his new hat on Friday, leads the 1st division, and Jeff Ashurst leads the 2nd division.

A few comments about our second round of the new year.
Just the one 1st division player who continues to put the wrong WHS club hcap down, (I’ll start naming names soon), and two 2nd division players couldn’t remember their hcap from last week.

One card not handed in, but scores entered in the Ig app… and one player, played the 18th according to his Ig input!

Happy Mondays – 3rd February

Reporter: Peter Willson

A slightly cloudy start but with sun breaking through at the end. Chilly 6 deg. C but a light breeze only. Played over the 13 holes open 

7 teams – 21 players 

Game: (good old) Team Stableford 

Winners:
Eric Cox, Steve Gosling and Charlie Hill – 25.7 points per player 

2nd: Kevin Bocquet, Dave Craggs and Ken Pearce – 24.3 ppp

The winter skiing break must have suited Steve G has he had the joint highest individual score on 29 points shared with Steve Rowley.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 6 Feb)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 9 Feb

Inter-club friendly matches for 2025

Grahame Brickell and Stephen Bird are busy organising this year’s inter-club matches, the first of which is on 2nd April.

Grahame and Steve will use the WhatsApp groups called ‘Senior Matches’ through the main golfing season to keep us all up-to-date on match details. If you want to be added to the group, or if you want to be removed from the group, message Grahame.

In selecting for the teams, Grahame and Steve will try to share the matches between everyone on the group. All members can expect to play an equal number of home games and away games.

All members must wear the navy blue LGC team shirt for the matches. If you have not got one, or would like have a fresh one, see Steve or Fizz in the Pro’s shop.

If you would like play in some of the friendly matches, but you are not yet on the WhatsApp group: Give Brickell a Tickle.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles