Bottle-of-wine Competition, Friday 25 July

Reporter: Paul Foster

A sticky hot day for the Châteaux de Willson challenge.

Some super scores on the day. The highlight in the 4-ball I played in was Richard Smyllie smashing his drive down the 14th, leaving a wedge to the green and then sinking the 5-footer for a birdie. A pleasure to watch, and then Richard nearly eagled the 15th with his third shot, a 10-yard chip-and-run.

Four players beat par out of the twenty three entries.

Five 2s were recorded, Paul Foster somehow managed three 2s, others by Dave Meir and Tony Dixon (pity there’s no balls to be won for 2s on the BOW weeks)

Results:

Winner: Alister Cook with 36pts
R/up: Paul Foster with 33pts on a CPO
Third: Ken Pierce with 33pts

Friday may have just been a BoW comp, but we all must treat the round as if it were a competition day. There were 23 cards handed in, 2 members handed cards in but didn’t pre-register the competition, and 1 member pre-registered the comp but didn’t hand his card in or enter his score into Ig.

Rules state: If a golfer pre-registers for a competition but does not submit their scores afterward, they may face a penalty score being applied to their handicap record. This is a common practice to ensure players are accountable for their rounds and to prevent manipulation of handicaps. 

Interclub friendly at home versus Sale GC, Friday 25 July

Reporter: Mark Pickles

Paddy Moran was Captain of the Day, by popular demand, not only for his sportsmanship and captaincy record but for his talent for telling jokes!

Lymm won 5 to 3.

Our winning pairs were:
Trevor Williamson and Art Laird
John Armstrong and Colin Hughes
Mike Bennett and Phil Lomas
Phil Ormisher and Andrew Cox
David Donnell-Jones and Jeff Chapman.

Speeches followed after an enjoyable lunch of chicken curry, and apple crumble with ice cream. Paddy immediately got laughs for his comments on David Donnell-Jones’ recent flop of a joke, and so Paddy put himself under pressure to make sure his own joke didn’t flop! I’m pleased to say that Paddy touched 8/10 on the laughometer, which is a good effort for a clean joke, with none of the smut of Bobby Mycock’s jokes!😉

Hawkstone Trophy 2025

Reporter: Les Williams

Our fourth year of playing for the coveted Hawkstone trophy at our two day jolly at Hawkstone park didn’t disappoint.

Sixteen players turned up for an early lunch with a glint in their eyes and thoughts of winning this year!

First tee at 12:30. Clear sky, and everyone chomping at the bit. The Old Course is an amazing course to play with all holes completely different and challenging.

Result for the day was, in second place, Bob Mycock and Dave Craggs with 44 points, just beaten by the winners Paul Collins and Mike Kendal also with 44 points and with a better back nine on the CPO.

A good crack was enjoyed by all prior to dinner, which as usual was delicious food and good quality wine, followed by watching England ladies progress to the final of the Euro Cup.

Next morning some bleary eyed players discussed how they would dismantle the Championship Course, and so they did with amazing scores from Paul Collins, Jeff Ashurst, John Hayes and Alan Thomas returning a score of 122. The format was best three scores from each four-man team.

A bottle of good red wine for the deserving winners.

A light lunch was enjoyed by all before returning home while looking forward to the challenge again next year.

Memorial Trophy Competition on Friday

We play for the Memorial Trophy on Friday. Please make sure that you enter for the competition on I.G. or on the LGC website the day before.

I got this photo in an email from a ‘Ronald Craggs’, telling us that the Memorial bench has been spruced up ready for the competition.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 31 July)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 3rd August

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Summer League Round 10 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

A bumper edition this week. Settle down on your favourite settee, grab a large glass of Pinot Noir and enjoy…

A fine warm day with cloudy intervals, and when the sun did shine it got jolly hot, out came the silly hats, and red went the milk bottle legs emanating from an assortment of Gunner ‘Lofty’ Sugden shorts. A great day for golf, judging by the results, and the smiling faces all around the course, also on the patio where Les Williams remained after his round for most of the day.

Fifteen players beat par on Friday, lots of hcaps to be docked by England Golf..!

Forty seven entry’s for the final round of the long Summer league, punters have been jockeying for position since last March, now it’s all over.

Twenty three players from division 1, and twenty four from division 2.

Just to irk our esteemed treasurer, four 2s were recorded. Martin Franks managed two 2s, on the 2nd and the 9th. Others by Paul Collins and a marvellous 2 for Rob Taylor, both on the 13th.

Top of the pile and the highest stableford score for the 1st division, and the lowest gross by anybody in the summer league was that man Martin Franks. With a quite an astonishing 38pts, finishing 1 under par gross after 15 holes. Congratulations for sure. Martin’s round consisted of 2 birdies, 12 pars and 1 bogey.

Just Martin Franks managed ‘keep a six off your card’, (not surprisingly) in the 1st division, but no one managed a ‘keep a seven off your card’ in the 2nd division.

Division 1 Results:

Winner – Martin Franks with 38pts
R/up – Barry McGuigan with 33pts on a CPO
3rd – Steve Gosling with 33pts

Division 2 Results
Winner – John ‘the singer’ Hayes with 33pts
R/up – Alan Copeland with 32pts on a CPO
3rd – Mike Kendall with 32pts

With Martin’s fantastic last round, the 1st division Summer League Trophy is shared between Paul Collins and Martin Franks.

No change from round 9 in division two, so Joe Priestner and Stuart Baird share the 2nd division Summer League Trophy. Hearty congratulations to all four players.

Interesting snippets of information from the Summer League:

In the 1st division the following players managed a ‘keep a six off your card’; Martin Franks (4 times!), Paul Collins, Ian Whitehead, Mike Pigott and Duncan Clarke,

In the 2nd division the following players managed a ‘keep a seven off your card’; Art Laird, Mike Bennett twice, Joe Priestner, Alan Copeland three times, Mervyn Roberts and Colin Hughes.

Just seven players competed in all 10 rounds, top score in the 1st division was Martin Franks with 38pts and top score in the 2nd division and summer league high was Barry Smith with a phenomenal 39pts.

There were 109 birdies, including twenty five 2s and 1 eagle scored over the ten rounds, with 479 rounds of golf played by 80 players.

All looking forward to the Autumn league???

[ Editor’s Note: See the Leader Boards page for the full list of results. ]

Happy Mondays Competition – 21 July

Match Reporter: Peter Willson

A dry yet warm and humid day with virtually zero wind.
Game: Team Stableford
13 players, 4 teams
Winners: again for 2nd week in a row – the guys out last came in to collect the spondoolics – Mike Bennett and Colin Crail – 58 points or 29 ppp
Second: 2 teams on 28.8 points per player.

Highest Individual scores: Alan Copeland and John Mather – 33 points each

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 24 July)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 27 July

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Gordon Wood Trophy – Friday 11 July

I do not seem to have received a match report for the Gordon Wood Trophy from Lord Lucan’s Foster-child. In fact I’ve not seen him for ages. Does anyone know where he is? No doubt Paul is enjoying life in some exotic locale, and will turn up at Lymm again one day??

However, the full results of the Gordon Wood Trophy are published on the main LGC website here: https://www.lymmgolfclub.co.uk/competition.php?compid=10811

Congratulations to the trophy winner Stuart Baird, with 40 points. And well done runner-up Ian Whitehead, with 39 points, posting an impressive gross score of 75.

I played first thing in the morning on Friday with Paul Collins, with whom I was scheduled to play in a four-man team at a Maxitours event at Lancaster Golf Club in the afternoon, with fellow Lymm members Steve Lamont and Peter Gold. A few days before, PC had proposed the mad idea – to which I agreed – of playing the Gordon Wood in the morning, and then driving straight to Lancaster, an idea that turned out to be even madder on the day, as temperatures reached about 31 deg C !

Even worse, as it turns out, we had decided beforehand to go in Paul’s car, which is a massive Audi EV (i.e. it is fuelled by milk-float technology). As Paul and I started to suffer ‘range anxiety’, he switched off the A/C. In hindsight, we should have gone in my 10-year-old Renault Megane diesel, as Paul and I did last month to a Maxitours event at Conway. My car averages 65 miles to the gallon (seriously), and does nearly 700 miles on a full tank, even with the A/C blasting out air as cold as a fridge! As for ‘Carbon footprint’ – for anyone who is into ‘Mad Ed’ Milliband’s UK-net-zero ideology – I think an economical diesel car wins hands down. Most of our electricity, be it generated (or imported), is still from carbon fuels, and the (diesel) energy used for mining for nickel, cobalt, lithium, graphite, tantalum… for manufacturing batteries is phenomenal. Milliband doesn’t care, because these ‘conflict minerals’ are mined by fossil-fuel-profligate Communist China in Africa and therefore don’t affect his UK ‘Net Zero’ claims… (Apologies for this rant to my good friend Paddy Moran, whom we all know for this right-to-Leftist bias.)

However, PC and I managed all 36 holes. In fact my Pedigree Chum played the best of all of us, including Steve and Peter who turned up at Lancaster at 13:00, fresh and ready-to-go an hour before tee-off. PC and I recovered from a full day’s playing golf in arduous heat after a couple of pints of cold lager and good meal in a local pub!

Happy Mondays game – Monday 14th July

Reporter: Peter Willson

A warm day but with a gentle breeze, temperatures thankfully much lower than last Friday and over the weekend just gone. Cloudy skies but some sunny spells
Game – Team Stableford.

5 teams – 17 players

As is often the case – whilst players were waiting expectantly on the terrace – the last group of “Tail End Charlies” came home to claim victory but only by the smallest of margins – 1 point.

Winners: Eric Cox, Ken Pearce and Ron Thornton – 89 points or 29.7 ppp
Second: Steve Barlow, Alan Copeland and Peter Willson – 88 points or 29.3 ppp

Highest Individual Score – Peter Willson – 38 points

Please note no game on Monday 4th August – as the course is closed for Summer Maintenance works.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 17 July)

Tee-booking tomorrow is for our Memorial Day. 15 holes, WHS 95% Stableford, yellow tees.

There will be a collection bucket on the bar in memory of those passed. Proceeds to our chosen Charity and to fund the bench/plaques. “Tots on the Bar” will be courtesy of our secretary Dave Craggs who will provide a bottle of whisky.

Prestatyn Senior’s Open 4BBB – Thursday 2 October

Following last week’s note about Prestatyn GC’s senior open on 2 October, it’s good to see that eight of us have booked the 10:30 and 10:40 slots. As you can see from this screenshot I’ve just taken, there are still slots available if you’re interested, from 10:00 to 10:50.

Book Early!

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Message from Keith Melia regarding the anticipated BBQ last Friday

Dear Members of the Seniors Section

We are aware that the members expecting a B-B-Q on Friday 27^th June were disappointed that this was not provided, and had not been communicated to you beforehand. We also received several comments regarding the quality of the food served, that it did not meet with expectations. We sincerely apologise that there was no communication regarding the B-B-Q and that the food served was not well received, we are therefore inviting all those who had paid for the B-B-Q to have a complimentary breakfast barm after they’ve played this Friday (either bacon, or sausage, or egg).

– regards Keith.

Gordon Wood Trophy this Friday (11 July)

Our annual Gordon Wood Trophy competition takes place on Friday. This is an 18-hole competition, off yellow tees, for members of the senior section only.

Please make sure that you enter the competition in ‘Upcoming Competitions’ on the main LGC website, or the IG app, before Friday, just as you do for the senior’s league competitions. (The Pro’s shop is not involved in this competition. There is no entry fee. The prize for the winner is funded by the Senior Section.)

Interclub friendly away at Davyhulme GC

Match Reporter: Trevor Williamson (CoD)

A good time was had by all who played in the Seniors’ match at Davyhulme Park Golf Club on Monday 7th July.

The weather was fine and warm, the course was in good condition, and everybody enjoyed the splendid carvery, followed by sticky-toffee pudding and custard in the clubhouse afterwards.

The website of the club, the 4th oldest in England, describes the course as ‘deceptive in its challenge’. Whilst three pairs, David Craggs/Trevor Williamson, Andrew Cox/Art Laird, and Ian Whitehead/Peter Willson rose to the challenge, home advantage prevailed in a 5 – 3 home win for Davyhulme.

Lymm players look forward to reversing this match score when Davyhulme visit Lymm in September. Lymm is certainly no less of a challenge, so it will be interesting to see which team comes out on top over the two matches.

Report for Fun Game played on Friday 4th July

Reporter: Peter Willson

Game played for “A Bottle of Wine” before the Captain’s Charity Day competition held 

Game: Individual Stableford – over 15 holes 

23 Entries  – Some players didn’t manage to complete the full 15 holes before the Charity Day shotgun start competition began – but their scores have been pro-rata’d to 15 holes.

Winner: Stuart Baird – 38 points 

Second: no less than 4 players on 34 points but the leader after card count-back was the ever-present Pete Broady. 

Bottle of Sainsbury’s best red plonk to Stuart.

Captain’s Charity Day

I do not have a report for the Captain’s Charity Day, and unfortunately I was unable to participate, being away on holiday. I suspect that Keith Melia will update LGC on the day’s events in his ‘Friday Message’.

However, I have received this photo of the team that came third. As you might guess, the team shirts were conceived by Bob Mycock, ever in touch with his feminine side. It looks to me like Bob got out his sewing machine to repurpose an old pair of curtains!

Watkins Cup Round 4

I do not usually report on the Saturday competitions, but of the 154 competitors last Saturday we had some senior-section notables.

Firstly, ‘Pedro’ Broady posted 85 gross: a great score off the white tees, and 5 shots under Peter’s white-tee handicap of 19 on the day (now down to 18). Peter’s score qualifies him for the Watkins Cup Final on Finals Day in September.

Paddy Moran played very well, and equalled his age, scoring 80 gross (2-under for the day). That’s a remarkable achievement off white tees. Almost exactly a year ago, Paddy beat his age off yellow tees with a gross 78 in the Gordon Wood Trophy, as I reported here.

Also remarkable was Mike Pigott’s card. Coming in at net level (78 net 71), Mike scored four consecutive birdies on holes 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 10 July)

Please note that although Mike Kendal tries to accommodate requests for preferred tee times, he obviously needs to make adjustments when we have an interclub home match on Fridays, including Friday 25 July, when we invite Sale GC.

Happy Mondays Tee-booking schedule for Sunday (13 July)

Prestatyn Seniors’ Open 4BBB – Thursday 2nd October

Prestatyn Golf Club is a great championship links that I’ve played many times. Its open competitions are a great way to play and are great value for money.

There is a seniors’ 4BBB open comp on Thursday 2nd October, costing £25 (£50 per pair).

Paul Collins and I have booked for 10:30. As you can see from this screenshot I’ve just taken from the BRS booking sheet, there are many free morning slots still available. It would be great to see some familiar faces there. Perhaps we could have our own internal competition if there are enough of us.

Here is a link to the Prestatyn opens on the BRS site. And here is a link to Prestatyn Golf Club.

I don’t doubt the free spaces will start to fill up in the coming weeks. And therefore, in the famous words of Fred Pontin (there is still a Pontins holiday camp at Prestatyn): “Book Early”. 👍

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

When is a barbeque not a barbeque? When it’s a boiled hot-dog sausage in a finger roll, apparently.

Apologies to all who were disappointed with our summer social event last Friday. I believe that our Treasurer Steve Gosling – who handed over Senior Section surplus funds to subsidise the event – is discussing the matter with the Chair of House.

The only redeeming point is that we’re ‘seniors’, and are therefore likely to forget what we ate for breakfast this morning, let alone what we had for lunch last Friday. In fact, I can’t remember anything about the BBQ at LGC last Friday… ???

My wife has just told me that, in fact, I wasn’t at LGC last Friday! We were driving down to a cottage on the Norfolk Coast, from where I’m writing this newsletter.

Summer League – Round 9 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

Cloudy intervals, with the sun peeping out occasionally, but all in all a reasonable day for golf.

Seven players beat par on Friday, just two from the 1st division.

Forty-one entry’s for the penultimate round of the Summer league, punters have been jockeying for position since last March, and now it’s all down to the last round…anybody sweating…???

Eighteen players from division 1, and twenty three from division 2.

Just one 2 recorded, well done Barry McGuigan on the 13th, a very tricky hole on Friday, with OOB looming just a yard from the green, and just a few yards from the hole..

Division 1 Results:
Winner – Richard Smyllie with 33pts
R/up – Paul Collins with 31pts
3rd – Grahame Brickell with 30pts

Division 2 Results:
Winner – Richard Yates with 33pts on a CPO
R/up – Stuart Baird with 33pts
3rd – Dave Craggs with 32pts

Still leader in division one is PC Collins, with a five point gap over Colin Royle, and six point lead over Paddy Moran.

Long time leader in division two Joe Priestner, has been caught by Stuart Baird, both on 162 points, and it’s now a 2 horse race. Alan Copeland is some 8 points back.

No one managed ‘keep a six off your card’, from the 1st division, and equally, no one managed a ‘keep a seven off your card’ from the 2nd division.

Remember that the last and final round, 10 of 10, of the summer league has had to be rescheduled to Friday 18th July, as noted in last week’s newsletter.

Happy Mondays report, Monday 30 June

Reporter: Peter Willson

A very hot day – little wind and when the sun came out later on… Wow!

Game – Team Stableford – 22 players in total in 6 teams 

Winners: Pete Broady, Tony Dixon and Les Fecitt – 94 points or 31.3 ppp

Second: Alan Copeland, Eric Cox, Ian Goodman and Charlie Hill – 118 points or 29.5 ppp

Best Individual scores – 35 points – shared between Pete Broady and Peter Willson  

Padeswood and Buckley Trip – Tuesday 1 July

Reporter: John Hayes

Today saw 24 intrepid recycled teenagers venture across the border to enjoy a day of golf at Padeswood and Buckley GC Senior Open.

After the great heat of the previous day the weather turned out to be cloudy and cool, in fact ideal for playing golf. As usual the greens were quite slick and the course in good condition for golf. Within our own “mini-competition” there was a close contest for the winning score. After cross-checking score cards, very willingly done by Paul Lennie with my grateful thanks, the winners turned out to be Sammy Lee and Grahame Brickell, with 39 points after a card play off on the back 9. They were closely followed by Paul Collins and Pete Broady also on 39 points and, in third place, Club Captain Andy and Dave Meir. Given that our regular handicaps were reduced to 85% for the day these were excellent scores. After a time spent in the clubhouse catching up on the gossip, we all wandered back to the Cheshire plains, possibly thinking about a very enjoyable day out and revisiting all those putts we shouldn’t have missed.

Photo courtesy of Dave Craggs showing the winning pair receiving their acclamation from the crowd.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow – Thursday 3 July

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 6 July

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles