Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?
Those that call you Hobgoblin and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck:
Are not you he?

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1

The author of confusion rules in the LGC Senior Section in these longest days of the year. Peter Willson tells me that he had not reported the correct Division 2 scores last week for the Friday league, and so the Leader Board was incorrect. I think I have now corrected it, showing the top four places in each division.

Both leagues are fairly close run. Just below the top four places after 8 rounds are the following names:

Division 1: 5th, Martin Franks (153 points), 6th= John Hayes (150 points), 6th= Mike Bennett (150 points), 8th Phil Lomas (149 points).

Division 2: 5th= George Clark (149 points), 5th= Stuart Baird (149 points), 7th= Rob Taylor (143 points), 7th= Phil Blake (143 points).

With only two more league matches to go, I think all these players have a realistic chance to win their respective division of the league, by overtaking the top four in each division who are named on the Leader Boards (see here).

***

Note: I am awaiting the Match Report for Round 8 from Peter Willson. I will publish it in next week’s newsletter. I think Peter sent me the wrong attachment in error.

Alas, we now come to more midsummer madness:

Happy Mondays – 26th June 2023

Reporter: Peter Willson

Another “Senior’s Shambles”. It actually was but it was supposed to be a Yellow Ball competition and 3 of the 5 teams played that format. 

Unfortunately the other 2 teams were ruled out for playing a different game!

Results:
1st: Paul Collins, Graham Utton and Peter Willson – 38.3 points
2nd – John Boyle, Ron Thornton and Phil Lomas – 34.7 points
3rd – Richard Yates, Mike Bennett, Colin Crail and Ken Pearce – 30 points

Next week 3rd July – is down as the real Shambles format 

Rules: Use the best and worst individual Stableford score from your team add them together and that’s your team score. 

Consensus seems to be building that we only use “Team Stableford” as our game as we, as a group, seem to have problems in remembering which game we’re playing when the teams are sent out 2 weeks in advance.

The Hinson Cup – Wednesday 12 July 2023

The Hinson Cup is a club competition for all male seniors (55+) of LGC.

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!

Tee booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 29 June) 

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 14th July, Round 9 of 10 of the summer league. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Please note there is no senior league for June 30 and and July 7, due to other reserved activities at LGC. Book your own tee times if you fancy playing a friendly game on those dates. There are still slots available.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Match Report for 16th June – Round 7 of Summer League

Date played: 16th June 2023
Game played: Round 7 – Summer Session  
Number of cards submitted: 30 – Division 1, 20 players. Division 2, 10 players.
2’s recorded: 3

Division 1:                       
Winner: Peter White – 34 points (on CPO)
2nd= David Waggitt  – 34 points
Paul Collins – 34 points

Division 2:
Winner: Rob Taylor – 33 points
2nd: Alister Cook – 31 points
3rd: Ken Pearce – 29 points

Notes:
Course very dry and running – played over 15 holes. Sunshine cool breeze at first but heated up to 29 deg. C at finish

Handicaps – New handicaps this week ! 5 incorrectly entered on cards – but corrected. Please check your new handicaps

Scores entered – 6 cards with incorrect scores some due to old handicaps being used, and others due to poor maths.

Happy Mondays 19th June

It has been good to see Andy Howarth visit us from Malaga, and play as a guest in the Monday competition.

Thirteen intrepid golfers set out – although in true Seniors style there was a degree of confusion as to which game we were playing – it was that old favourite: Team Stableford

Results :
1st with 31 points – Phil Perry, Alan Thomas, John Booth and Dave Waggitt
2nd – 26 points – Pete Broady, Steve Barlow and Peter Willson
3rd – 25.3 points – Ken Narraway, Eric Cox and John Boyle
4th – 22.3 points – Mike Bennett, Bob Mycock and Andy Howarth

Tatton League – Away at Birchwood 15th June

Reporter: Bob Mycock

Lymm had a tough day at Birchwood for Round 3 of the Tatton League, with the four teams posting 35, 34, 34, and 32. This means we have slipped from our second place, but the next round is at Styal, where we did well last year.

At least Mark Pickles collected a bottle of wine for one of the spot prizes: nearest-the-pin-in-2 on the longest Par 4.

Senior Summer League on 7th July

There has been some confusion as to whether or not we can play the summer league on Friday 7th July, which is Captain’s Charity Day.

David Craggs has just informed me this morning (22 June) he will not be doing a draw for tomorrow. If would like to play on 7th July, please make your own booking. There will be no league game on the 7th.

My nephew breaking records at Lord’s

There is only one Middlesex CCC supporter I know of in the senior section (Andy Timms), but some of you know that I keenly follow the progress of Middlesex top-order batsman Max Holden, who is my nephew (sister’s son).

In the T20 Vitality Blast against Kent last week, Max scored 121 not out off 59 balls, despite not starting until half-way through the Power Play (batting at number 4). This is the highest ever individual T20 score at Lord’s (by any team), and the fast ever individual T20 century at Lord’s (by any team). It’s the second highest Middlesex-player T20 score on any ground. Here is a compilation of his boundaries on YouTube.

Max is an enthusiastic (left-handed golfer), and full member of a London golf club, but does not get much chance to play. I intend to play with him for the first time when this cricket season is over.

Middlesex comes to Old Trafford in early September to play Lancashire in the County Championship. I will certainly be going to watch!

Here is a portrait painting I did of Max (about 60cm x 40 cm) when he joined the Middlesex Academy 11 years ago, age 14.

I have stopped doing portraits now, and am working (from my studio near Altrincham) on a massive panoramic city scene of Manchester.

Send me your news!

If you have anything that you think might interest your friends in the senior section, please to send me material.

Tomorrow I am giving some training to Rob Taylor and Steve Gosling on how to create and publish this newsletter and manage the website. And so I look forward to having Rob and Steve as guest editors. I’m sure they will come up with some fresh ideas!

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

David Craggs, Captain of the Day at Hale last Wednesday, was hoping to build on Captain Paddy’s success of the week before.

It has been reported to me that whilst Dave Cragg’s joke was certainly the longest on record, and it elicited a loud response, most of the sound came from groans rather than laughs!

Here is Dave’s report:

Return Away Match at Hale, Wednesday 7th June

Captain’s Report: David Craggs

The only cloud appearing on the day was the result.

The weather was a touch nippy for the first few holes but soon warmed up with a cloudless blue sky. The course was in excellent condition and the greens watered by hand were very fast.  A few changes to the par 3’s  since last year challenged both teams.

As always the glorious 12^th hole (left) was the signature hole.

The game finished and we had a fine dining meal and an attempt at a joke by me which was probably rated the longest this season to date.

At home against Hale in May Lymm lost 4.5 :3.5 and we faired even worse playing away with Hale winning 6:2.

Our worthy two winning pairs were Paul Collins/ Mark Marsland and Paddy Moran/Duncan Clarke.

Must try and do better against our next opponents Davyhulme away game on Monday 10^th July.

Match Report for 9th June: Round 6 of the Summer League

Date played: 9th June 2023
Game played: Round 6 – Summer Session  
Number of cards submitted: 33 – Division 1, 19 players. Division 2, 18 players.
2’s recorded: 0

Division 1:                       
Winner: Paul Collins – 31 points
2nd: Paul Foster  – 30 points
3rd: David Waggitt – 30 points

Division 2:
Winner: George Clark – 36 points (on CPO of last six holes)
2nd: Eric Cox – 36 points
3rd: Alan Ranscombe – 32 points

Notes:
Course very dry and running – played over 15 holes. Sunshine cool breeze at first but hotted up to 24 deg C at finish. Handicaps – All correct this week !

Disruptions to the Seniors’ (Friday) Summer League in June and July

Reporter: David Craggs

It is noted on the booking sheet for 30/6/23 that Green Golf Events Tour starts from 8.32 am (31 tee times) so it has been decided that round 9 of the Summer 5 from 10 game cannot be played.  If anybody wants to play prior to 8.32 am you can book yourself in.

Friday 7/7/23 is Captains day so again no game can be played.

Friday 14/7/23 Rylands Golf day shot gun start at 10.56 am and course has  to be cleared by 12.45pm.  On this day  we can all play the round 9 of the Summer 5 from 10 game but if the last teams to tee off have to leave the course before finishing hole 15 their scores will be rounded up to 15 holes?

Friday 21/7/23 play round 10 of the summer 5 from 10.

Handicaps

Bob Mycock and Paddy Moran of the handicap subcommittee will be meeting this afternoon to review handicaps. Therefore, please check your latest handicap before you next play in a seniors’ event. I will update the handicaps page on this website as soon as I receive the new list from Bob.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

We live in strange times. Bob Mycock came to Lymm Golf Club on Monday specifically to practise!

Eric Harper’s Funeral

Eric Harper’s funeral will take place at 11:20 on Friday 16th June at Walton Lea Crematorium, Warrington.

Members of the senior section who knew Eric well will be attending the funeral.

Eric’s funeral coincides with our morning bookings for Round 7 of the summer league on Friday 16th June. However, the committee has decided that if anyone wants to attend Eric’s funeral, and yet wants to play in Round 7, they can play in the afternoon. Simply cross your name off the morning booking, and choose any time you want to play in the afternoon. The seniors’ competition box will remain on the table outside the pro’s shop until evening.

Match Report for 2 June: Round 5 of the Summer League

Date played: 2nd June 2023
Game played: Round 5 – Summer Session  
Number of cards submitted: 36 – Division, 23 players. Division 2, 13 players.
2’s recorded: Phil Blake; Mark Marsland; Mike Pigott x 2; Steve Barlow; Mark Pickles

Division 1:                       
Winner: Phil Lomas – 39 points
2nd: Mark Marsland  – 35 points
3rd: Mike Pigott – 33 points

Division 2:
Winner: Colin Chisnall – 35 points
2nd: Ken Pearce – 33 points
3rd: Phil Blake – 32 points

Notes:
Course dry and running – played over 15 holes. Sunshine cool breeze at first but warmer at finish 21 deg C.

Handicaps on cards all correct this week!

Handicaps

The handicap sub-committee will meet next week to review handicaps. I will update the Handicaps page of this website following the review.

There have recently been some complaints, comments and suggestions going around the senior section on the subject of handicaps.

The seniors’ handicapping is based on a system created by our secretary Rob Taylor in the early days of the senior section.

Although Bob Mycock now chairs the handicap sub-committee, Rob still takes an interest and advises. Following some recent contention, Rob has examined the cases, and assures us: “The system is sound and all decisions are definitely statistically based and can stand any scrutiny”.

Therefore, if you feel the handicapping systems is unfair, and is not promoting the interests and goals of the senior section, please approach Rob Taylor, who will gladly show you the spreadsheet that is being used, and why your senior handicap is what it is.

However, at the last committee meeting (last Friday), our chairman Mike Bennett said we will review the handicapping system at the end of this season, and we will try to ensure the membership is in general agreement.

The simplest-sounding solution is ‘WHS’, but, for whatever reason, many senior members have not maintained their WHS, and others self-identify with a curiously low-to-medium WHS handicap that does not correspond to the cards submitted in the winter and summer leagues over the past 12 months.

Tee Booking Schedule tomorrow (Thursday 8th June)

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 23rd June, Round 8 of 10 of the summer league. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Paddy Moran (CoD) more than delivered on his promises with a record-breaking honourable draw at home against High Legh last Friday:
7 wins for Lymm.

I was a proud member of the team, although Paddy gave me a mild bollocking for not being present at his pre-match speech to the team (I was on the practice ground, attempting to recover form with my irons!). I did however hear reports from fellow team members that Paddy’s early-morning speech was truly inspirational, and was somewhat akin to Shakespeare’s redaction of Henry V’s Saint-Crispin’s-day speech at Agincourt:

“Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words…

“And senior golfers of Lymm now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That played with us against High Legh upon Captain Patrick’s day.”

In all seriousness, it was a very enjoyable and very competitive day. John Armstrong did his best to match our handicaps with opposition handicaps as closely as possible. All but one of the matches were very close. And so perhaps it was indeed the influence and the competitive spirit of of our PE-teacher-in-residence that gave us the necessary edge. None of us wanted to report back to ‘Sir’ that we’d lost our match!

Here is Paddy’s report, including all the names of those who fought with us on that unforgettable day:

Interclub Match versus High Legh, Home at Lymm, 26 May 2023

Captain’s Report: Paddy Moran

The sun shone. The course was in great nick as Andrew our Chair of Green was playing the High Legh Course Manager and had no option but to pull out all the stops! Karen and her staff as usual provided an excellent meal. Visitors were very impressed both by the course and the catering. John Armstrong provided me with a fine body of men, and after a rousing pre-match speech – reminiscent of when I Captained Lymm Rugby Club – we set out to do battle.

A very impressive 7-1 Honourable Win (just a little dig at Bob) makes me the most successful CoD.

Mick Pigott / Paddy Moran won 2/1
Stuart Baird / Steve Barlow won 1up
Jeff Ashurst / Steve Gosling won 1up
Andy Timms / John Armstrong won 3/1
John Higgins / Richard Yates lost 3/2
Paul Lennie / Grahame Brickell won 5/1
Mark Pickles / Mervyn Roberts won 2up
Andrew Cox / Peter Willson won 3/2

Excellent, men. Well done!

My post-match joke was better than Bob’s of course. But an ex-friend of mine, Peter 2ll’s, intimated that Bob got a slightly louder response. I have booked Peter an appointment with Amplifon.

Watkins 2:
Well done Colin Hughes and Michael John!

The senior section’s bogey golfers are giving the younger guys a run for their money in the Saturday comps off the white tees.

Colin Hughes came in with the best net score of the day, winning the Watkins Round 2 competition (medal), with 91 net 67.

Michael John came fourth, putting him in the prize money for the third consecutive week, with 88 net 69.

And just as impressive on Saturday was Peter Broady, who came 10th. I know that Peter is not yet quite fighting fit from his recent knee op. It is great to see him beginning to return to where he was a year ago.

Individual Stableford, 26th May, alongside High Legh Match

Only a superb 37 points over 15 holes by David Meir (12) last Friday denied Peter Broady (15) a bottle of plonk in the Friday individual Stableford:

Cards submitted: 24.

Weather: Light breeze, some cloud but lots of sun late morning. Eventually 18 deg. C.

Winner: David Meir, 37 points
Second: Peter Broady, 33 points
Third: Paul Wright, 32 points

Bottle of wine goes to Dave.

Tee Booking Schedule tomorrow (Thursday 2nd June)

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 16th June, Round 7 of 10 of the summer league. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

The funeral of Eric Harper

I have just been informed that the funeral of Eric will take place on Friday 16th June. Details to follow next week.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Well done Michael John, on winning the Gents’ Spring Meeting on Saturday 20th May by a clear 3 shots!

Michael reports that his golf has come on “leaps and bounds” since he’s stopped “competing in the seniors”. The Spring Meeting was indeed a fruitful meeting of the recent logarithmic growth of Michael’s WHS handicap and a subsequent run of good form.

Michael’s first place follows on from Michael’s 3rd place in last week’s Saturday competition (the Watkins Cup round 1). He is the current leader of LGC’s Order of Merit.

And well done to Mike Pigott, who also had a good day on Saturday. Mike has usurped our own Steve Gosling from the top of the Hole-in-One list, a position that Steve had held since last August:

Mike’s Hole-in-One was a perfectly executed shot: one bounce and in:

Interclub Match versus Bramhall, Home at Lymm, 19 May 2023

Captain’s Report: Steve Gosling

The morning did not start well as we had rain for the first 7 holes before it brightened up and clothes dried off.

During those first few holes if you were in the rough ( as I frequently was) you got soaked from the long grass.

Results were an improvement on recent matches (Bob’s captaincy excluded) but we continued our run of honourable draws, i.e. we lost again

Steve Gosling / Mark Marsland – Loss
John White/ David Craggs – Loss
Bob Mycock / Pete Broady – Loss
Mark Pickles / Ken Narraway – Loss
Peter Willison / John Higgins – Win
Mike Pigott/ Grahame Brickell – Half
Paul Collins / John Haynes – Win
Barry Smith / Phil Lomas – Win

Learnings from the day……
Must play from the 10th tee , we appear to win matches from there
All jokes are old ones ….if you have been around as long as some of our members!

Comedy Rankings?

Steve Gosling’s joke – as Captain of the Day – met with a few laughs, a few groans, and a chorus of, “the old ones are the best, Steve!”

However, Steve is by no means the worst stand-up comedian in the senior section. Currently, that title goes to Mark Pickles, yours truly, whose joke at Northenden last year met with almost no laughs, although, to be fair, Dave Craggs’ phone went off just before I was about to deliver the punchline!

I admire anyone who knows he is not a natural-born comedian, but stands up and gives it a go in any case!

Today, by far the funniest after-match speaker in the senior section is Bob Mycock, or at least that’s what Bob Mycock tells me. (I wasn’t there for his last Captain-of-the-Day speech and ‘mermaid’ joke, but he assures me that it ‘brought the house down’.)

However, this coming Friday, at a home match against High Legh, our Captain of the Day will be Paddy Moran. I know Paddy very well, and although we’ve had a lot of good laughs over the last two years, I’ve never pictured him as a stand-up comedian. Nevertheless, Paddy tells me that he is “much funnier than Mycock, and without any of the smut”.

I’m looking forward to the match this Friday (I’m in the team), not least for Paddy’s speech. Did you know that Paddy’s son – who started out as a teacher of French and Spanish – changed career and is now a professional stand-up comedian?!!!

Individual Stableford, 19th May, alongside Bramhall Match

14 cards submitted. Light breeze, rain for the first 6 holes then cloudy but sunny spells. Temperature rose to 18 deg. C.

Winner: Andrew Cox – 30 points
Second: Rob Taylor- 29 points
=Third: Eric Cox and Joe Priestner – 28 points

Andrew receives a bottle of wine.

Interclub Match versus Ringway at Ringway – Wednesday 17th March

Captain’s Report: Trevor Williamson

A glorious day at Ringway today. We all agreed that the score didn’t matter – win, lose, or draw, the opportunity to play on such a good course, in great condition, on such a fine day, was all that mattered. Good job, because we lost 6 1/2  to 1 1/2!! 

Congratulations go to Peter Wilson/Richard Yates, David Meir/Steve Gosling, Andy Timms/John White, who managed to halve their matches.  The other pairings fared less well.  

Andrew Cox/Trevor Williamson, Steve Barlow/Jeff Ashurst, Mike Bennett/Grahame Brickell, Paul Lennie/Barry Smith, Sammy Lee/ Melvyn Roberts, all promise to do better next time, 

Home advantage, where local knowledge, especially on the greens, was the deciding factor.

We hope to demonstrate this in the return leg at Lymm, in June. Turning round a 5 match deficit will be a bit of a challenge, but like the miracle at Jericho, those involved today share a belief it is possible, if selected! 

Tee Booking Schedule tomorrow (Thursday 25th May)

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 9th June, Round 6 of 10 of the summer league. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Happy Mondays – 22 May

Reporter: Steve Gosling

An assortments of shorts and white legs arrived early on Monday, 6 teams went out for a Team Stableford in the sunshine.

Scooping the cash this week was Phil (four point) Perry and Steve Gosling
A respectable 30.5 average

Second place with an average of 28 were Bob Mycock, Charlie Heath and Phil Lomas

Third with 27.3 , Eric Cox, Pete Broady and Paul Foster

Consensus going forward was to use Senior Handicap and not WHS for the Monday comp, as it’s over 15 holes and WHS for many is outdated with very few 18 hole cards being submitted.

Eric Harper

I was informed today that Eric Harper passed away yesterday. This is indeed sad news for our senior section, and perhaps someone in our section who knew Eric well will send condolences on behalf of us all to his loved ones. I will report further next week, as appropriate.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Bob Mycock’s enormous promise of a victory was fulfilled last Friday, as was (according to Bob at least) his promise to deliver a side-splittingly funny captain’s speech.

Interclub Match v Helsby, Home at Lymm, 12 May 2023

Captain’s Report: Bob Mycock

An early start for the Seniors Team, and carrying the additional burden of seeking our First Win of the Season (Honourably) of course.

However, on the Captain-of-the-Day’s orders, a “Stuffing was required to restore our self esteem” and nothing less.

We were helped by Glorious Weather, and the inclusion of Keith Melia (Business Manager) making his debut, who prepared the course to our liking as a Master Stroke. He also Won his Game alongside Dave Meir 4&3 and was rewarded with an exquisite introduction at the start of the speeches. “I’ve never been Introduced like that before”, Keith said afterwards; of course he hasn’t, it was a first!

The Helsby Team turned up ready to engage us on the Golf Course, but found that on the day we were formidable opponents and they trailed in 4-ish hours later, crushed, in the nicest possible way. At last we are victorious finishing with a 6 -2 Honourable Win.

Bob Mycock/Mark Marsland – Win
Mike Pigott/Pete Broady – Half
Steve Gosling/Phil Lomas – Won
Colin Crail/John Higgins – Won
Paul Collins/John Armstrong – Won
John Hayes/Barry Smith – Lost
Dave Meir/Keith Melia – Won
Peter Willson/Rob Taylor – Half

Excellent contribution by all on the day, and who played in a friendly spirit with lots of banter.

An excellent meal of Gammon followed.

Conclusion to the day featured a (risqué) joke from the hosting Captain (Me) about mermaids’ mammaries, which brought the house down.

Hopefully someone explained the joke later to Rob Taylor, who left shaking his head disapprovingly. However I’ve been assured that my membership of the senior section is still valid…

Individual Stableford (Alongside Helsby Match)

Cards submitted: 23
Weather: Light breeze, cloudy but sunny spells. 16 deg. C.

Winner: Richard Yates – 34 points                                                     
Joint Second: Jeff Chapman, Eric Cox, Steve Barlow, Mervyn Roberts, Ken Pearce, Colin Chisnall – 29 points

A bottle of wine goes to the winner, Richard Yates.

Happy Mondays, 15th May

Here are the results of the Monday’s competition:

Game: Team Stableford

1^st – Michael John, Steve Barlow and Colin Chisnall – 28.7 points
Joint 2^nd – Steve Gosling, Paul Collins and Phil Perry – 27 points
Joint 2^nd – Pete Broady, Paul Foster and Grahame Brickell – 27 points
4^th – Dave Waggitt, Eric Cox and Alan Booth – 26 points
5^th – Charlie Hill and Phil Lomas – 25.5 points
6^th – Mike Bennett, Colin Crail and Richard Yates – 24.7 points

Tatton League – Hosted at Heyrose, 16 May

Format: 4BBB, 85% handicap.

As the previous round, hosted at Lymm, conditions were tough yesterday at Heyrose, hence it was a low-scoring day. All the recent rain meant there was little run on the ball, and the rough was penal. A fairly stiff breeze added to the difficultly level.

Only one of the four Lymm teams – Mike Pigott and Martin Franks – came in above level twos, with 38 points. Martin had a particularly good back 9, which included 3 birdies. He also won a bottle of wine for one of the ‘nearest the pin’ prizes (as did our own Sam Leach).

We came a disappointing third on the day, which means we have slipped from first to second overall. Next round is at Antrobus in mid June, where we hope we can recover our leading position.

Here is a photo of yesterday’s leader board:

Tee Booking Schedule tomorrow (Thursday 18th May)

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 2nd June, Round 5 of 10 of the summer league. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Well, our unbroken series of ‘honourable draws’ continues, with yet another loss against Hale last Friday. However, we very nearly achieved an actual draw! Captain of the Day Peter Willson tells me that Hale clinched the victory with a chip-in on the last hole, meaning we lost 3.5 to 4.5.

Could a victory be around the corner? Bob Mycock promises so. He will be Captain of the Day this Friday, in the match against Helsby. He has already written his victory speech, and a side-splitting joke.

Inter-club Match v Hale, Home at Lymm, Friday 5 May

Captain’s Report: Peter Willson

The day started a bit overcast but the sun broke through by 08.45 with light winds and a fairly dry course. However in my match by the 12th hole the heavens opened and the course became flooded in several places included the driveway and the 18th green. In line with our perverse weather by the time the 13th green was reached the dark clouds had rolled away and blue skies returned.

Hale were hampered a little by one of the players oversleeping and turning up about an hour late – but he made lunch.

The meal was a very good curry, chips and rice followed by that traditional Indian dessert – apple crumble and custard – thoroughly enjoyed by all I spoke to.

Despite hopes and desires the overall result was a loss for Lymm but the losing margin is reducing and surely we will work our way toward a first team victory for Lymm over the next weeks.

Result – Lymm 3.5 : Hale 4.5

Michael John / Phil Ormesher – Won 2 up
Barry Smith / Stuart Baird – Won 2 up
Peter Willson (CoD) / Paul Lennie – Lost 1 down 
Phil Perry / Alan Ranscombe – Lost 5&4
Colin Hughes / Art Laird – Lost 3&2 
Tommy Lawless / John White – Halved on the 18th (outrageous chip-in by Hale)
Phil Lomas / Dave Meir – Lost 4&3 
Trevor Williamson / Steve Barlow – Won 3&2

Individual Stableford (alongside Hale match)

Only 16 cards submitted. It seems that some walked in after the 9th, due to very heavy rain, which partly flooded course for a while.

Winner: John Armstrong – 35 points
2nd: Paul Foster – 31 points
3rd=: Joe Preistner, Mike Pigott and John Hayes – 30 points

Bottle of wine goes to John Armstrong.

Tee Booking Schedule tomorrow (Thursday 11th May)

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 26th May. Due to a home match against High Legh, there will be no league match, and therefore a prize of a bottle of wine. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Here is the team for the match against High Legh, between 08:32 and 09:12:

Paddy Moran
Jeff Ashurst
Colin Crail
Grahame Brickell
Stuart Baird
Paul Lennie
Mark Pickles
John Higgins
Andy Timms
Mervyn Roberts
Andrew Cox
Richard Yates
Steve Gosling
Dave Craggs
John Armstrong
Steve Barlow

Welcome to two more new members

Firstly, we welcome Keith Melia, our business manager, to the senior section. I’m sure that you all know Keith, and some of us have had the opportunity to play with him in the Saturday competitions, and look forward to his participation with our section.

Secondly, welcome to Mike Kendal.

I asked Mike if he would like to introduction himself, and he has kindly sent this photo and this short introduction:

“I’ve run a marketing agency for the past 30 years which, happily, I’ve had wrestled out of my grasp by an acquiring party which has given me the opportunity to retire. 
From Blackburn originally, I’ve lived around the Hale area for around 30 years having moved out to Agden, Lymm 4 years ago when I moved from Ringway GC to Lymm GC. Observing a handicap of 19.2, I’m looking forward to having a bit more time to spend on my game whilst having the chance to meet a few more members.”

Our best wishes for Eric Harper

I was informed today that Eric Harper is in hospital with a serious illness. I’m sure I speak for everyone in the senior section in conveying our best wishes and our hopes for a good outcome.

My wife has recently taken up golf. This involves her asking many questions about golf terms, rules and etiquette that most us take for granted. I have come to realise what a huge and strange glossary of terms we have!

All golfing terms have their own history of course. Just a few examples: ‘Fairway’ was a nautical term for a navigable channel. ‘Stymie’ is from the Dutch ‘stuit mij’ meaning ‘it stops me’. ‘Par’ was borrowed from the stock exchange, where a stock was considered above or below its normal or ‘par’ figure. ‘Stableford’ comes from Frank Stableford, who first used the scoring system he conceived at a competition at Wallesey Golf Club in 1932. ‘Bogey’ apparently dates to 1890 at Great Yarmouth, where a Major Charles Wellman exclaimed that someone was playing ‘like a bogeyman’… More recently, the term ‘Honourable Draw’ was invented by seniors at Lymm Golf Club as a euphemism for ‘we lost again’!

Our unbroken series of Honourable Draws has continued in the past week, with an Honourable Draw at home against Heyrose, and an Honourable Draw away at Sale. However, I think we are making some progress that gives us reason for hope!

Inter-club match versus Heyrose, home at Lymm – 28 May 2023

Captain’s Report: Grahame Brickell

Having just returned from 3 days golf in sunny Spain with 3 of our good golfers I was hopeful of a Captain’s performance, but unfortunately the chilly, dull, and dampish conditions on Friday morning didn’t feature in my plan and hence my partner Jeff Ashurst and I were 1 down after 1! Didn’t fair much better on the rest of the front 9 and after one of our opponents nailed a 15 footer on the 9^th for a 2, we walked to the 10^th 4 down! And it basically stayed that way coming to 15, and with my missed par putt so a half there ended the match!… sorry team.

Overall, it was a better team performance compared with the away matches played so far, but then we were at home! With some after match cries of ‘handicap fowls’ it ended being a win for the apparent Mexican’s from Heyrose by 4.5 to our 3.5

Grahame Brickell (CoD)/Jeff Ashurst Lost 4&3
Andrew Cox/Mike Bennett Halved
Alan Ranscombe/John White Lost 2 Down
Trevor Williams/Phil Ormesher Won 1 Up
Mark Pickles/Peter Willson Won 2&1
John Hayes/Rob Taylor Lost 2 Down
Colin Hughes/Art Laird Lost 5&4
Phil Perry/Ken Narraway Won 2 Up

The individual steak pies were greatly enjoyed by all!

Grahame Brickell

Interclub-match away at Sale – 2 May 2023

Captain’s Report: Mark Pickles

This was Lymm’s first ever inter-club senior friendly with Sale, and I think we all found it very enjoyable. Sale Golf Club made us feel very welcome, and I hope that my brief ‘thank you’ speech successfully conveyed our appreciation. (I decided it was better not to tell a joke this time, because no-one laughed at the joke I told when I was captain-for-the-day at Northenden last year!)

Sale’s captain of the day had decided to match the handicaps in all matches as closely as possible. I think that this worked really well, and everyone enjoyed the competitive spirit of the day. My match partnering Steve Barlow went down to the wire, with the last putt on the 18th. And Steve Gosling tells me that his match partnering John Armstrong was similar. Well done to Bob Mycock and John Hayes, and to Andrew Cox and Richard Yates on winning away from home on an unfamiliar course.

All the matches were fairly close, and they all went to at least the 16th hole. I think this was good, considering that some of the team had never played at Sale before yesterday.

Result: Lymm lost 6 to 2
Mark Pickles (CoD)/Steve Barlow Lost 1 Down
Bob Mycock/John Hayes Won 2&1
Grahame Brickell/Rob Taylor Lost 2 Down
Andrew Cox/Richard Yates Won 4&2
Paddy Moran/Mike Bennett Lost 3&1
Steve Gosling/John Armstrong Lost 1 Down
Paul Lennie/Jeff Ashurst Lost 2 Down
Pete Broady/Phil Lomas Lost 3&2

Individual Stableford, 28 May (alongside Heyrose match)

Cards submitted: 35
Weather: Chilly breeze, cloudy but sunny spells later in the morning – 11 deg. C.

Winner: Stuart Baird – 35 points                                                        

Second place: Paul Collins – 34 points                                                        

Third= place: Eric Cox and Pete Broady – 33 points  (CPO over last 6 holes)

Bottle of wine goes to the winner, Stuart.

Tee Booking Schedule tomorrow (Thursday 4th May)

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 19th May. Due to a home match against Bramhall, there will be no league match, and therefore a prize of a bottle of wine. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

If your name is not on the booking schedule, you are probably in the provision team list for the Bramhall match. Here is the provisional team (15 names so far):

S Gosling CoD
M Marsland
J Higgins
B Smith
J Hayes
P Broady
B Mycock
J White
P Collins
M Pickles
P Willson
D Craggs
M Piggott
P Lomas
G Brickell

The WhatsApp Group for Inter-club friendlies

John Armstrong reports that there is too much ‘chat’ activity in the group. Please keep your inputs to essential information for John to arrange the matches. This makes it easier – for those of us who need to ‘mute’ notifications – to search for the information we need when we need it.

You do not need to tell us all when you have paid your fees to Steve Gosling. Steve can see who has and has not paid into the bank account.

Steve reminds us to pay as soon as possible, and to please include your surname in the payment reference. (I think that money from some bank accounts automatically show the name of the payer to Steve, but other accounts do not.)

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Good evening, all.

The senior section activities have certainly started to ramp up since the main golfing season started earlier this month. If you’re playing in the seniors’ singles knockout, and you haven’t got a bye in the preliminary round, please try to organise your match as soon as possible, because the first round needs to be played before 9th June, which means you only have about 6 weeks to organise two matches.

Whilst is it great that we have two new clubs for the inter-friendly matches (Sale and Bramhall), it means John Armstrong is particularly busy organising the events, contacting our own members and communicating with the other golf clubs.

Our Treasurer Steve Gosling also has his work cut out, chasing up payments for home and away matches. Please pay your match fees as soon as you know you have been selected for a team.

To help communicate with our own members, John Armstrong has created a WhatApps Group:

WhatsApp Group: Lymm Seniors Matches

We appreciate that not everyone is familiar with WhatsApp, but if you have a ‘Smart’ phone, it is easy to download and use. Please do join the group. John has started to add names to the group to communicate with everyone who wants to play in the inter-friendlies.

I know that many of our senior section use WhatsApp, and would be willing to help novices to get started.

Here is a screenshot of Lymm Seniors Matches group from my own phone. Please not that you can ‘mute’ notifications (to stop your phone pinging incessantly), and just look at the group chat once a day, or more regularly if you’ve got a match coming up.

When you join the group, please only use it for relevant communications. If you want to send jokes that you have found on social media, please keep those to the ‘Sultans of Swing’ group, which, I have to admit, I permanently ‘muted’ long ago!

Match Report for 21 April: Round 4 of the Summer League

Reporter: Peter Willson

Date played: 21^st April 2023
Game played: Round 4 – Summer Session  
Number of cards submitted: 39 – Division 1 – 23 players and Division 2 – 16 players
2’s recorded: Dave Waggitt

Division 1:                       
Winner: Phil Perry – 34 points
2nd: Paul Collins – 32 points (CPO over last 6 holes from Mike Pigott)
3rd: Mike Pigott – 32 points

Division 2:
Winner: Colin Chisnall – 34 points
2nd: Joe Priestner – 33 points
3rd: Sammy Lee – 31 points (CPO over last 6 holes from Andrew Ransom)

Notes
Course drying out – played over 15 holes.
Cold wind – light showers around 12 noon
Handicaps – All correct this week!

Scandal Note!
Phil Perry had an interesting hole on the 12^th:
1^st shot in the pond,
4^th shot into the field OOB
7^th shot front edge of green at least 50 feet away
8^th shot into the hole for 1 point !

Moral: don’t give up or just get lucky!

Tee Booking Schedule tomorrow (Thursday 27th April)

This is the tee booking schedule for play on Friday 12th May. Due to a match against Helsby GC, there will be no league match, and therefore a prize of a bottle of wine. If your name is in the left column, please book for your group. 

Happy Mondays 24th April

Reporter: Peter Willson

16 reasonably Happy golfers set out from the 1st. At least it wasn’t raining and the ground is drying out, but it was nippy at first.

The greens are improving and getting measurably faster.
6 teams: 2 x 2 balls and 4 x 3 balls – played Team Stableford although there was some confusion over the format at first. A re-think needed I feel.

The winners – Steve Barlow, Steve Gosling and John White – 94 points or 31.3 per player
2nd – Mike Bennett and Richard Yates – 59 points or 29.5 per player
3rd – Pete Broady, Ken Narraway and Peter Willson – 81 points or 27.0 per player

Welcome new member !

A warm welcome to Steve Bramhall, who joined us this week. I asked Steve if he would like to introduce himself, and he has kindly provided the following:

“When I retired in 2017 from over 50 years of full-time work in the construction industry, I undertook to play more golf and to improve. After three more years of part-time work, I undertook to play more golf and to improve. In the process of moving to Grappenhall Heys, I have recently joined Lymm Golf Club and I intend to play more golf and to improve! We’ll see! Wendy, my wife of 46 years and our 3 children and 5 grandchildren, in Jersey, California and Thelwall Village, all tell me that they have heard this before!”

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles