Rules Quiz
In match play, a player who is waiting to play a bunker shot casually leans on their club in the bunker.
What is the ruling?
A – There is no penalty.
B – The player gets one penalty stroke.
C – The player loses the hole
Answer is at the end of this newsletter
STOP PRESS – Seniors’ Chairman
As this newsletter goes to press, I am delighted to announce that Arthur Nuttall has agreed to assume the role of Chairman for the remainder of the current year. Arthur brings seven years of past experience as a member of the seniors’ committee. A warm welcome back Arthur, I am sure your enthusiasm, common sense and good humour will once again be deployed to the advantage of all your fellow seniors at Lymm Golf Club.
Above: Our new chairman pictured here with Lindsay Fox receiving her leaving gift from the seniors in October of last year.
Interclub match – Lymm GC Seniors v Leigh GC Seniors
Reporter: Dave Craggs
Match report of our first home game of season against Leigh Golf Club played on Monday 13 April.
Ice on the windscreen with blue skies started the morning. Everyone arrived at 8.30 a.m. for their bacon barms which were well received together with an introduction to the teams. Four teams teeing off the first and four off the 16th worked well. The course was in excellent condition and some good and not so good golf followed in the sunshine.
After a serving of a mystery pie (when opened was a Josh special of balti chicken) the captain of the day speech followed. After the formal welcome I was saying what a great game we had with our playing partners Ron and…..erm….. erm. After a lengthy silence, Phil (their Captain) shouted “Phil”, by which time there was no need for my joke of the day, it produced a rousing laugh. A senior moment. A fitting follow-up of how brilliant my short game had been; especially off the tee! My tee shot off the 15th was meant to clear the ditch ahead but somehow struck the ladies tee knocking it a few yards and my ball flew backwards! We did recover but not enough to win our game.
Not the result Grahame, our matches organiser wanted, we lost 5 games to 3. Last year we lost away and won at home. Look forward to the away game on 15th September and hopefully a win.
Well done to our 3 winning teams:
Mark Lyons & Ian Smith – won 2 & 1 (Ian Smith scoring a 2 on the 17th to win the game)
Trevor Williamson & Alan “have I got a shot” Ranscombe – won 2 & 1
Phil Perry & Steve Bramall – won 2 & 1
Looking forward to our next game at home on 1st May against Helsby GC.
Lymm Seniors Winter League winners
Author: Dave Craggs
Congratulations to all the winners from this year’s Winter League:
DIVISION 1
| Winner | Steve Gosling | £50 |
| Runner-up | Grahame Brickell | £25 |
| Weekly winners (2 wins) | Dave Meir | £20 |
| Weekly winners (1 win) | Steve Gosling, Paul Foster, Alister Cook, Koos Alders, Grahame Brickell, Arthur Nuttall | £10 |
DIVISION 2
| Winner | Barry Smith | £50 |
| Runner-up | Mervyn Roberts | £25 |
| Weekly winners (1 win) | Jeff Ashurst, Alan Copeland, Barrie Simpson, Ken Pearce, Steve Bird, Richard Yates, Alan Ranscombe, Dave Craggs | £10 |
The above amounts should have been credited to your pro-shop accounts already, please contact Mervyn Roberts our treasurer if your well deserved winnings have not been received.
Payment of seniors’ subscriptions and competitions
Would all members of the seniors who have entered the singles knockout (Mike Smith Summer Singles Knockout Trophy) please note that your subscription for the current year must be paid before you play your first round in the competition. Failure to pay your subs may result in your disqualification from the competition.
Summer League – Round 2
Reporter: Paul Foster
The sun showed up like it had a seniors’ tee time booked, the breeze politely clocked in at ‘gentle encouragement’ and the striped fairways, well, let’s just say they looked forgiving. Welcome to today’s mid spring day round 2 golf report.
Conditions were, in technical terms, ‘absolutely glorious’. Birds chirped, blossoms starting to bloom, Edgar & Allan Crow looking for courtships, and somewhere in the distance a golfer loudly negotiated with a bunker.
However, putting remained….ambitious. Several balls approached the hole with confidence, had a good look, and decided they’d rather not commit. One putt broke so much it’s now being studied by scientists!
Our 4 ball invented a new language or a new dialect or we have all developed a speech impediment, I’m not sure. All 4 of us managed to hit the same clump of trees left of the 12th with our 2nd shots, one by one emitting garbled cries of arghhhh…. orrrnoooorr…. whaaaaaaa… eeeehhhhhnothere!
Forty two happy golfers stepped out onto the course, with scoring simply sublime, twenty two managed to equal or better their handicap. So, playing to 4 better than your handicap in the 2nd division, gave you no chance of stepping onto the podium.
As bags were packed and tales were exaggerated, one truth remained clear: on a magnificent mid-spring day like this, even the bad shots somehow felt like they didn’t matter.
Five 2s scored today, Dave Waggitt, Mark Pickles, Rob Taylor, Bob Ellison & Phil Lomas.
Results
Division 1
| Winner | Peter White | 34 points (CPO) |
| Runner up | Steve Barlow | 34 points |
| 3rd place | Koos Alders | 31 points (CPO) |
Division 2
| Winner | Steve Bird | 37 Points!!! |
| Runner up | Alan Thomas | 36 points |
| 3rd place | Art Laird | 35 points |
Seniors Calendar Monday 4 May – Correction
The Seniors’ calendar currently shows 4 May as a Happy Mondays day (apologies). The date is a bank holiday so there will be no Happy Mondays. The same applies on Monday 25 May but a reminder regarding this will be sent nearer the time.
Happy Mondays Report – 13 April
Reporter: Steve Bird
A lovely spring morning greeted 17 players which was an excellent turnout considering there was an Inter Club Match where 16 of our number were involved. Five teams took part, three of 4, one of 3 and one of 2. The course is drying out and some good scores were evident.
The winning duo were Richard Yates and Colin Crail who scored 36 and 28 respectively with an average of 32 points Needless to say, Richard top scored for the day.
Gallant runners up were Steve Barlow, Kevin Bocquet, Tony Dixon and John White with an average score of 28.5.
Please note that Monday 4 May is a Bank Holiday so there is no booking to be done this coming Sunday. Members can obviously book social rounds if they wish
Clarification of ‘Gimme’ rule – only applicable for Happy Mondays games
Author: Steve Bird
There have been numerous versions of what constitutes a ‘gimme’ for our Monday matches. Your committee debated this at length last Friday, for example how long IS a putter handle?
In the end it was decided that a ‘gimme’ would be allowed if the ball was 12 inches (30 cm) or less from the hole. This decision was taken to clarify the many versions that are being used and, in an effort, to speed up play. So now is the time to get out those old wooden rulers from you school days and put them in your golf bags (joke)
IMPORTANT – Resumption of Golf for handicap purposes – Impact on Seniors golf
Author: Steve Bird
A reminder that we return to WHS conditions (no mats) with effect from Wednesday 15 April (please see Keith Melia’s email to all club members dated 13 April for full details). As a result from round 3 of the Summer Session (17 April), you will need to have entered the relevant competition on IG (available up to 14 days before the competition).
On your scorecard you should enter your WHS index, your course handicap and your playing handicap (this information can be found under the ‘calculator’ section of your handicap record on IG.)
After you have played, you will need to enter your scores on IG. Your fully completed and signed card should then be placed in the scorecard box.
Tee booking schedule for tomorrow Thursday 16 April
Please note that as we are playing a seniors’ match against Helsby GC on the 1st of May the preferred playing times requested by seniors may not be available
Rules Quiz answer
Correct answer A. Explanation: See Rule 12.2b(2). There is no penalty for a player casually leaning on their club in a bunker providing it is not for the purpose of testing the condition of the sand
Newsletter editor: Ian Goodman
Lymm Golf Club Senior Section 