Seniors’ Winter Rules

Course-protection measures have now been introduced at LGC. The seniors’ committee has decided that, in senior competitions, we use mats everywhere until course-protection measures are lifted next spring. Pick, clean, and replace your ball on your mat, within 6 inches, not nearer the whole.

If you are close to the green, and decide to putt the ball, there is no need to place it on your mat.

Election News

Apologies for the late publication of the formation of new committee, decided the week before last. There were some minor contentions, partly because we have increased the size of the committee from 9 to 10.

Congratulations to our new chairman, John Armstrong, who volunteered to take up the position, and was duly elected.

And welcome to two new members of the committee Stephen Bird and Mike Kendal. Stephen, a Brummie, fulfils our quota for ethnic diversity! Stephen will work with Grahame Brickell as Inter-clubs Competition Officer. Although John Armstrong did a magnificent job on his own in the inter-clubs’ role last year, we feel that the increased workload for inter-club organisation is such that it should be a shared responsibility going forward.

Mike Kendal takes over the Friday bookings from Grahame, with help from Stephen Bird to ensure continuity.

Chairman – John Armstrong
Treasurer & Membership – Steve Gosling
Secretary – Dave Craggs
Communications Officer – Mark Pickles
Monday Booking & Competitions Secretary – Peter Willson
Friday Booking & Away day Organiser – Mike Kendal & Stephen Bird
Handicap Secretary – Paul Foster
Inter clubs Competitions Officer – Grahame Brickell & Stephen Bird
Maintenance Managers – Dave Craggs & Grahame Brickell
Seniors Liaison Manager with Lymm GC – Andy Timms

Autumn League Round 5 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

A fine post-budget November day, with no wind, no rain, no blinding sun and no cold temperatures to chill the bones of our members. A good day for golf indeed.

A day where records have tumbled, a record number of players in the Autumn league, a record number of handicap changes (2 down and 22 up), a record Autumn league high score of 36pts (note with 2 blobs). But only 2 players beat their handicap.

47 players completed round 5, 28 players from Division 1, and 19 players from Division 2.

Two 2s recorded today, Tony Dixon on the 2nd and Dave Meir on the 5th. More balls from the treasurer Rachel Theeves Steve Gosling

An honourable mention for that fine upstanding man, Ron Thornton who unfortunately missed putts for 2s on 3 holes, including the 2nd where Ron nearly holed his tee shot…!!!

Division 1 Results
Winner – Tony Dixon with a record 36pts (21pts on the last 7 holes)

R/up – Richard Smyllie with 31pts

3rd – Peter Broady with 30pts (on a cpo)

Division 2 Results
Winner – Alan Copeland with 29pts
R/up – Dave Craggs with 28pts on a cpo
3rd – Steven Bramall with 26pts

At the half-way point in the league, jockeying for the positions is now starting to hot up. Exit polls in division 2 suggest Alan Copeland has wrapped up the league already (according to Donald Trump anyway).

Still leader in the 1st division is Martin Franks with 140 points, Dave Meir and now Richard Smyllie complete the top three.

Leader in the 2nd division is Alan Copeland, with 142 pts, followed by Steve Bramall and Dave Craggs.

Please note:

Members should continue entering the seniors comps on the club website, and inputting their scores into Ig.

Please check your handicap on this website here, as your WHS handicap could be different to your senior handicap.

The seniors handicap will apply to the Friday comps and the Happy Mondays until further notice.

The Doubles Knockout competition uses the WHS handicap NOT the senior handicap.

Happy Mondays Report, 4th November

Reporter: Peter Willson

Another grey, dank, day like so many over the past two weeks but reasonably mild. No rain recently – but the lower hole’s fairways are becoming decidedly spongelike.

Game: Team Stableford 
5 Teams – 19 players recorded.

For the first time in many weeks the result was a tie for the 1st two places – both teams scoring 26.5 points per player

Joint winners: 
2 C’s, a D and an H – Alan Copeland (so consistent), Dave Craggs, Tony Dixon and John Hayes
2 F’s, a P and a W – Les Fecitt, Paul Foster, Ken Pearce and Peter Willson  
Third: Steve Bramall, Colin Chisnall and Richard Smyllie – 24.7 points.

Seniors’ Turkey Trot, 29 November

Our annual ‘Turkey Trot’ will be on Friday 29th November. There will be cash prizes for winners of Division 1 and Division 2.

Seniors’ Christmas Lunch – Friday 13 December

One for your calendar. Details to follow!

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 7 November)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 10 November

Congratulations to the POTUS

My commiserations to the left-leaning members of the senior section, but as comms officer for LGC seniors, I felt obliged to send ‘the Donald’ our congratulations. He has, after all, done great things for British golf.

I sent Donald a link to the LGC website, and told him that he is welcome to join LGC seniors to play any time he visits England on a Friday or a ‘Happy Monday’. He asked, “what about security?”. And so I sent him a photo of Paul Collins. He replied:

“Great security, truly great. Great golf course. Fabulous. Really is. Lymm Golf Club is the best golf course in Cheshire. Not a lot of people know that, but it really is, seriously…”.

Being a bit of a history geek, I have noticed that most of the ‘swing states’ are in fact within the original 13 British colonies.

God bless America. God save the King.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Autumn League round 4 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

33 players completed round 4, 20 players from Division 1 & 13 players from Division 2.

Yet again carrying on the theme of ‘who can beat their handicap’, there was only only 1 player who had beaten their handicap prior to round 4.

All change, as 5 players played below their handicap in round 4, well played indeed. Only Phil Perry managed to record a 2, on the 9th. Balls to you Phil, see Steve Gosling.

Division 1 Results:
Winner – Mike Pigott with a fantastic 34pts on a cpo (level par gross)
R/up – Paddy Moran with 34 pts
3rd – Paul Collins with 33pts

Division 2 Results:
Winner – Alan Copeland with 33pts
R/up – Phil Lomas with 29 pts on a cpo
3rd – Steven Bramall with 29 pts

Still leader in the 1st division is Martin Franks with 115 points, Dave Meir and now Paddy Moran complete the top three.

Leader in the 2nd division is still Alan Copeland, with 100 pts, followed by Steve Bramall and Dave Craggs.

See the Leader Boards tab for full details.

Happy Mondays game on 28th October

Reporter: Peter Willson

A damp cloudy day but comparatively mild – dull and with the odd shower / drizzle but there were a few glimpses of the sun. The leaves are still falling but being collected very well by the green staff.

Game: Team Stableford 

4 Teams with 13 players 

Winners: Paul Collins, Alan Copeland and Steve Gosling – with the ludicrous score of 31.3 points per player – well done guys.
Second: Steve Barlow, Pete Broady and Dave Craggs – 27.3 ppp
Third: Colin Chisnall, Phil Lomas and Phil Perry – 23.7 ppp

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow – Thursday 31 October

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 3 November

Senior Section Handicap Rules

Reporter: Paul Foster

The following handicap rules will apply to the gents seniors section until WHS qualifying reopens next spring.

On a 15 hole basis:
Marked cards to be handed in following every Friday competition round, and for any 18 hole seniors section competition. First 15 holes only to count towards their seniors handicap.

After a score of 31pts or above: 0.5 of a stroke deducted from handicap for each point greater than 30pts.

After a score of 25 to 30pts: No handicap adjustment.

After a score of 20 to 24pts: A single addition of 0.5 of a stroke to be added to the handicap.

After a score under 20pts:

0.5 of a stroke added to the handicap for each point less than 20pts

Handicaps that include 0.5 are rounded up to the next whole number.

See the Handicaps tab for handicaps, updated weekly.

Autumn sunset on the 11th

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Autumn League round 3 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

Yet another fine and pleasant autumnal day. Little wind and pleasant temperatures greeted the players on the day of the ABM meeting and trophy presentation.

A session high of 43 players completed the 13 holes that were open to us after some horrendous rain in the last few days, 28 players from Division 1, and 15 players from Division 2.

Carrying on the theme of ‘who can beat their handicap’, to date after 3 rounds of the Autumn League, that’s 111 rounds between us, still only 1 player has beat his handicap…Dave Meir..

Four 2s were recorded today: all the P’s.. Paul Collins, Paul Foster, Peter White & Peter Willson.

After the round, there followed a witty speech detailing last years activities, and then the presentation of the previous years trophy winners by the outgoing chairman Mike Bennett, followed by a sumptuous steak pie and chips dinner, swilled down by wine supplied by Mike. Thanks Mike!

A few incorrect handicaps/markings/scores/totals had to be weeded out of the marked cards to balance with the Ig inputs.

The 13 hole scores have been rounded up to a 15 hole total for each player.

Division 1 Results:

Winner – Martin Franks with 30pts on a cpo
R/up – Mike Pigott with 30 pts
3rd – Dave Meir with 29pts

Division 2 Results:

Winner – Stuart Baird with 30pts
R/up – Peter Willson with 25 pts on a cpo
3rd – Alan Copeland with 25 pts

Still leader in the 1st division is Martin Franks with 88 points, Dave Meir and Richard Smyllie still complete the top three.

Leader in the 2nd division is now Alan Copeland, with 80 pts, closely followed by Steve Bramall and Dave Craggs.

Happy Mondays, 21st October

Reporter: Peter Willson

A dry day, if a little chilly to start with, it warmed up and the sun came out by the end of the round. The leaves are gathering following Storm Ashley over the weekend – but the big red sucker leaf gatherer has been wheeled out to rid us of the green/orange/russet/brown peril – great job by the green staff

Game: Team Stableford (again) held over the 13 holes open

5 Teams comprising 19 players 

Winners – Alan Copeland, Tony Dixon, Mark Pickles and Richard Smyllie – 23.75 points per player

Second: Colin Crail, Dave Waggitt, Les Williams and Richard Yates – 22.5 ppp on card play off over last 6 holes 

Third: Steve Barlow, Kevin Bocquet, Paul Collins and Peter Willson – 22.5 ppp

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 25 October)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 27 October

Prostate PSA blood testing day, Saturday 2 November

Phil Ormesher informs me that, to date, 84 members of Lymm Golf Club have signed up for this event since it was advertised a fortnight ago.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

The Annual Business Meeting and Presentation will commence at 13:30 on Friday. We anticipate sitting down for lunch at around 14:15. We have 60 members attending the lunch, and so come early for a ring-side table!

The outgoing chairman Mike Bennett will be putting a bottle of red and white wine on each table. Mike retires from his role LGC Senior’s Chairman after his three-year stint.

John Armstrong is also stepping down following his three-year stint. We thank both Mike and John for their invaluable contribution to the committee and the smooth running of the senior section.

Autumn League, Round 2 of 10

Match Reporter: Paul Foster

Another fine and pleasant Autumnal day. Very little wind, full sun to blind us (a great excuse) and preferred lies on fairways (to those that hit them), does life get any better? Pity I didn’t play!

So, 33 players completed the 15 holes, 17 from Division 1 & 16 from Division 2.

To date after 2 rounds of the Autumn League, only 1 player has beat his handicap: Dave Meir.

One 2 was recorded: Dave Meir, at the 13th.

Upon entering the clubhouse to collect the stragglers half completed cards, I noted once again the tennis wine group, led by that old boy Art Laird, (celebrating his lofty finishing position today) were half way down a bottle of red wine accompanying their teacakes and chips. There’s always an invitation from Alan Ranscombe, Art, Gordon and Colin Lees to join them in the evening at the Sadlers pub in Lymm, although we will not see Art Laird until the new year, as he will be going to sample the wine in Portugal! Members…please be aware they are ridiculously happy people!

Division 1 Results:
Winner – Dave Meir with 31pts
R/up – Mike Pigott with 30 pts
3rd – Martin Franks with 29pts

Division 2 Results
Winner – Alan Copeland with 29pts on a cpo
R/up – Dave Craggs with 29 pts on a cpo
3rd – Art Laird with 29 pts

Early leader in the 1st division is Martin Franks at 2 over par, with 58 points, Dave Meir and Richard Smyllie complete the top three.

Leader in the 2nd division is Steve Bramall with 55 pts, closely followed by Alan Copeland, Barrie Smith and Art Laird.

See the Leader Boards tab.

Happy Mondays game, 14 October

Match Reporter: Peter Willson

Result of Happy Mondays game played on 14th October

A dry, chilly day with no wind and light clouds, breaking into weak sunshine by the end. The leaves are coming more into play now following the cooler weather but the ground staff are doing a good job of blowing and collecting.

Ground continues to be soft and mud balls are common.

Game: Team Stableford – only 14 holes counted as rolling programme of course tining work under way 

6 Teams with 17 players 

Winners: John Booth, Les Fecitt and Steve Gosling – 76 points – 25.3 points per player

2nd: Alan Copeland and Phil Lomas – 25 points per player

3rd: Kevin Bocquet, Pete Broady and Eric Cox – 24.3 points per player. 

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 17 October)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 20 October

General reminder

If you are planning to play in any Friday competition, please enter the competition on the LGC website or the I.G. app. If you change your mind near the day, you can easily withdraw by going to ‘My Upcoming Competitions’ and pressing the ‘Withdraw’ button.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Annual Subscriptions now OVERDUE !

Reporter: Steve Gosling (Treasurer)

We have 30 people who are current members who have not paid the £25 annual subs yet.

If these are not paid by this Friday your name will no longer be included in the Friday tee times and other booking schedules, and so please pay by this Friday to retain your membership for the next 12 months.

The account for payment is:

Lymm Golf Over 60s
60-20-29
50244779
Ref: Surname

[ Editor’s Note:
I do not think that all members of the senior section read the newsletter, in which we have asked for payment of subs several times. Therefore, please spread the word to your regular playing partners, who might be unaware they are about to have their membership suspended, and will be unable to take part in senior section competitions and events. ]

Pick, clean and place on fairways

Until further notice, senior-section competitions are now preferred lie, but on fairways only.

Lunch at our Annual Business Meeting, Friday 18 October

Reporter: Steve Gosling (Treasurer)

We have a total of 53 people listed for the ABM lunch on Friday 18th October

The list will close this Friday (11 October) and so if you want to join, please add your name to the list by this pay the £10

We still have 10 people on the list who have not paid. Please pay immediately to the following account:

Lymm Golf Over 60s
60-20-29
50244779
Ref: Surname

Memorial Trophy, and Round 1 of 10 of the Autumn League, Friday 4 October

Reporter: Peter Willson

Last Friday’s round was a combined competition. The Memorial Trophy does not have divisions, whereas the League has divisions.

Memorial Trophy:

1st – Mervyn Roberts – 30 points
2nd – Martin Franks – 29 points
3rd – Steve Bramall – 28 points

Round 1 of Autumn League – Best 5 from 10 games

Division 1:
1st- Mervyn Roberts – 30 points
2nd – Martin Franks – 29 points
3rd – Arthur Nuttall – 27 points

Division 2
1st – Steve Bramall – 28 points (wins on CPO 13 points over last 6 holes)
2nd – Jeff Chapman – 28 points (11 points over last 6 holes)
3rd – Barry Smith – 26 points (CPO over last 6 holes)

Two’s scored: Jeff Chapman, Martin Franks and Andy Timms

Happy Mondays Comp on Monday 7 October

Reporter: Peter Willson

A dull start but the sun came out half way through the game and it turned quite warm in the sunshine

Game: Team Stableford 

16 players – played over 13 holes after uncertainty over number of holes open.  

Winners: John Booth, Alan Copeland, Tony Dixon and Steve Gosling – 24.8 points per player 

Second: Grahame Bricknell; Colin Crail and Richard Yates – 21.3 ppp

Third: Eric Cox, Les Fecitt and John White – 20.3 ppp

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 10 October)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 13 October

Llangollen Seniors Day out: Thurs 5th June 2025

Reporter: Grahame Brickell

This year 20 seniors enjoyed a ‘grand day out’ at the Vale of Llangollen Golf Club. Peter Broady and Ron Thornton won the first prize in the Llangollen Senior Open!

Apart from the main Llangollen Open competition, we run a little competition between the Lymm GC visitors.

The committee would like to make it a bigger day out next year. And so if you’d like to join us on 5th June please message me soon through IG and I’ll contact Llangollen as soon as possible to block-book the times. I hope to get times around 11am. Cost will be about £30 to £35. The competition format is 4BBB.

Prostate PSA blood testing day, Saturday 2 November

Reporter: Phil Ormersher

Please see the attached poster:

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

A reminder from our treasurer, Steve Gosling, that payments are due for both the annual subs (£25) and the ABM lunch (£10) on Friday 18th October.

Subs were due by 1st October, but so far only 41 people have paid out of a membership of around 95. If you do not intend to re-join the senior section for 2024/2025, please inform Steve Gosling.

There are 11 names on the ABM lunch list that still need to pay.

The account for payment is:

Lymm Golf Over 60s
60-20-29
50244779
Ref: Surname

(Please note that this is a different account number to that we use for for the inter-club matches.)

Lymm v Warrington, interclub-friendly

Reporter: Art Laird (CoD)

This was the final Interclub match of the season and we were blessed with dry and fine weather even although the higher holes were rather cool with a biting wind – it was just great to get down to the 11th and even better the 19th!

The course has just had three days of Autumn maintenance making the greens a challenge for most of us – having said that the course overall is very much improved in many ways, clearly some way to go but all credit to the new head greenkeeper Rob Cooper and his team

Peter and I had a tough challenge against the formidable Anthony COD and Andrew Warrington Vice Captain – in spite of the greens treatment Andrew only missed one put to my knowledge – even our banter could not put him off !! We were soundly beaten 4 and 3. Notwithstanding our loss the rest of the team came up trumps and we were only defeated by one game losing 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 – whatever an honourable draw – a very significant improvement over the away Warrington  match earlier in the season

The result: Lymm 3.5, Warrington 4.5

Peter Broady and Art Laird – lost 4 and 3
Mervyn Roberts and Alan Ranscombe (PMA) – Halved
Dave Craggs and Martin Lowe – won 5 and 4 ( Craggsy could do no wrong! )
Paddy Moran and John Armstrong – won 2 and 1
Grahame Brickell and Phil Perry – lost 3 and 1
Phil Lomas and Peter Wilson – won 3 and 2
Charlie Hill and Dave Meir – lost 5 and 3
Mike Pigott and Steve Gosling – lost 1 down

As usual the lunch provided by Karen and the team was 1st Class and enjoyed by all – the final glass of red slipped down with ease !!

Very many thanks to John for ALL the hard work organising the teams and securing the best ever Captains of the Day throughout the season and of course Steve for managing the ‘readies’ and keeping the ‘elderly’ in line – I for one am voting for John and Steve to remain in charge for at least another season !!

I also had the great pleasure in presenting Paddy Moran the ‘seniors 80th jumper’ – he will achieve that ripe age on October 04 – congratulations and well done !

Bottle-of-wine Competition, Friday 27 October

Reporter: Paul Foster

A chilly start for the Friday bottle of wine competition, however the day turned out to be a sunny day for the players with a late morning tee off.

The cold wind seemed to cause havoc with all 20 entrants, with no one beating their handicap.

I had the pleasure today of playing with new member Howard Jones (no not that one)…who possess a classic text book golf swing, one to look out for in future competitions…his playing handicap of 14 will surely come tumbling down.

So to the results…

In 3^rd place was Paul Foster with 26pts

R/Up was Alan Copeland with 27pts

Winner of the day and recipient of a fine bottle of Vintage Châteaux de Latchford was Richard Smyllie with 29pts.

That’s the last of the BOW competitions, as Fridays match against Warrington was the last of these friendlies. The Autumn leagues starts on the 4^th October.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 3 October)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 6th October

Reminders:

Trophies: If you are a trophy holder – listed in newsletter of 4 September 2024 – please ensure you return your trophy to a committee member by 4 October.

Memorial Day: This Friday, 4 October, Memorial Day. It is also round 1 of the Autumn League (best 5 from 10). Please ensure you enter the competition which is open on IG or home page of Lymm GC.

A donation bucket and tot of whiskey will be on the bar.

The memorial trophy is awarded to the player with the highest points (regardless of division) and will be presented at the ABM on 18 October.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Please note an error in last week’s newsletter for the bank account details for you to pay for the lunch at our annual meeting. The account No. is 50… not 59…

The cost is £10.00 and should be paid to:-

Lymm Golf Over 60s
60-20-29
50244779
Ref: ABM-surname

Please note that is not the same account that we use for the inter-club matches.

Seniors subs now due for 2024/25

Reporter: Steve Gosling

As October approaches our season draws to an end and a new one begins with the Autumn series, first match being on Friday 4th October.

This year in order to maintain, and in some cases enhance, the prizes on offer (we have 2 Divisions now) we have increased the annual subs to £25.

How this money will be spent can be seen in the Budget for 2024/25. I’m happy to send a PDF to anyone who would like to see it.

I’m sure you enjoy the friendly competition and social aspect of the Seniors section and our aim is to continue to build on that success during 2024/25.

So please ensure payment of the £25 is made soon to:

Lymm Golf Over 60s

60-20-29
50244779
Ref: (add your surname)

Autumn

With autumn setting in, and the Autumn League approaching, we will see some necessary changes to our Friday competitions, especially when the golf course is deemed no longer WHS-qualifying.

Paul Foster, the man in charge of senior handicaps, explains:

The Autumn League

Reporter: Paul Foster

At the start of the forthcoming Autumn League, we expect to continue to the WHS handicap system, but it is usual that part way through the Autumn League the course stops being playable for a WHS handicap. This is because mats are introduced, and/or winter tees or winter greens are in use.

When WHS handicapping no longer applies, the Senior Section will operate the manual handicap system we used last year. Based on the performance in the previous Friday sessions, a players handicap may be adjusted and a new handicap given for future week’s competitions. Such new handicaps will be available each week on our website: LGCSeniors.com.

This manual system will operate until the WHS system becomes operational again around April 2025, at which time all members will revert back to their WHS handicap.

A minimum of 7 Rounds should be played in the Autumn League. If 6 rounds or less are played, the League will be cancelled.

All Autumn league competitions are scored over 15 holes only. The designated course is the first 15 holes open on that day. (i.e. if hole 13 is closed but all others are open, the competition is played over 1-12, 14-16 for that day).

If less than 15 holes are open, the scores achieved on these days will be pro-rata’d up to 15 holes for the consistency of recording the players league positions in the League. Members may continue to play on to complete 18 holes, if they so wish – but only holes 1 to 15 will be counted, and members should not enter their score for these holes on their card, as to do so will conflict with the WHS evaluation of handicaps.

A sleeve of balls will be awarded to players who score a two on the designated course during the Autumn League. Apart from the overall league prizes and trophies, there will be a small weekly monetary prize (that goes onto your account in the Pro’s shop) for the winner of each division on the day.

We will continue to have 2 divisions, based on a halfway-split of handicaps. Here are division lists:

Interclub-friendly Lymm v Northenden, Friday 20 September

Match Reporter: Phil Ormesher (CoD)

It was an excellent day’s golf. Fine weather and, for me, the course looked and played probably the best it’s been all season.

Judging by the empty plates, lunch was enjoyed by all.

I played with Alan Burton against Martin and John (Northenden’s current president). It was an excellent match; good humoured and ‘nip and tuck’ all the way round until we finally succumbed on the 17th.

Of course, the match was an honourable draw, with the detailed results below:

Phil Ormesher/Alan Burton L 2-1
Mike Pigott/Pete Broady W 1UP
Jeff Chapman/Colin Hughes W 5-3
Ian Whitehead/Mike Bennett W 4-3
John White/Mervyn Roberts W 3-2
Paddy Moran/Andrew Cox W 1Up
Dave Donnell Jones/Alan Ranscombe L 3-1
John Armstrong/Grahame Brickell L 1 Down

So, overall, a 5 – 3 win for Lymm. Well done everybody.

One highlight of the match was Mike and Pete’s dogged determination to win. They were never ahead throughout the match but played the back nine in a gross 4 under par sealing the win 1 up.

However, the major highlight has to be Colin Hughes’s hole-in-one on the 17th. A most challenging hole at the best of times, so very well done Colin!

Bottle-of-wine Competition, Friday 20 September

Held alongside the Inter-club competition v Northenden taking place

Winner – Keith Melia – 35 points
2nd: Mark Pickles – 32 points 
3rd: Alan Copeland – 31 points 

Full results published here on the main LGC website.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 26 September)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule (for 8pm Sunday 29 September)

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Draw for the Andy Ward Winter Pairs Knockout

Reporter: Peter Willson

The draw for partners and the schedule of games has been made.

Thanks to Russ Jones and John McCue for calculating dates and entering the draw for this competition into the club website. Here is the draw, with all details of partners, rounds and expected play-by dates. If you are entered into the draw, you should see a link to the draw in your ‘Upcoming Competitions’ section on the website.

If any players now cannot make the draw please let me know and I can substitute another player before a 1st round match is played.

Good luck to all contestants.

Interclub friendly versus Leigh, home at Lymm, Friday 13 September

Reporter: Mike Bennett

There is an excellent relationship between our two clubs, and so everybody was looking forward to playing in this fixture.

The match was played in good weather. The course was in excellent condition, which was acknowledged by all Leigh playing members.

All enjoyed the meal and speeches after the match.

The result was: Lymm 5 Leigh 3

Mike Bennett and AndyTimms W 2up
Grahame Brickell and Dave Meir W 2up
Tommy Lawless and Jeff Chapman W 1 up
Russ Jones and Peter Willson W 2 up
Peter Broady and Phil Ormisher  L
John Hayes and Dave Craggs L 3&1
Martin Lowe and Steve Bird W 4 & 3
Ian Whitehead and Alan Ramscombe L 2 & 1

Caricature of Phil ‘Little Voice’ Lomas

Ian Lane at Leigh GC is a talented cartoonist, who remembered Phil Lomas becoming totally submerged in a pond when trying to save his runaway trolley. Ian sent this image to us. I’m not sure if it resembles Phil, but at least Ian remembered the big moustache!

Happy Monday’s Stableford competition – 16th September

Reporter: Peter Willson

A thoroughly damp, dank and misty start which was a little on the chilly side – just as we finished the sun came out, as promised, and the temperature rose with blue skies.

Low scoring all round this week – difficulties seem to have been experienced by many on the greens, with some tricky pin placements:

Game: Team Stableford

7 teams – 22 players 

Winners – Steve Barlow, Pete Broady and Ken Narraway – 23.7 points per player 

2nd: Dave Craggs, Tony Dixon, Charlie Hill and Ron Thornton – 22.5 ppp  

3rd: Mike Bennett, Colin Crail, Les Williams and Richard Yates – 21.8 ppp

Bottle of Wine competition – Friday 13th September

Reporter: Peter Willson

BoW competition held whilst Interclub match against Leigh at Lymm was held.

A dry, sunny day without wind, cool at first. But the rain this week has slowed things up with some mud being picked up on balls on the bottom holes.

Winner: John White – 30 points 

2nd: Colin Crail – 28 points – CPO over last 6 holes 

3rd Sammy Lee – 28 points 

Round 1 of Autumn session & Memorial Trophy game: Friday 4^th October

Reporter: Dave Craggs

This will be the first game of the Autumn session, best 5 from 10 scores,  so please ensure you enter the competition when it opens to be sure your score is recorded. As in last year’s Autumn League, we will have two divisions.

On the same day we will also be playing for the Memorial Trophy which will be awarded to the player with the most points on the day.  There will be shots on the bar after the game together with a donation bucket for donations to our charity Prostrate Cancer. Please ensure you bring some cash and, please, no washers or foreign currency!

 Presentation Lunch / Annual Business meeting: Friday 18^th October

Reporter: Dave Craggs

The presentation lunch this year will be held on Friday 18^th October.

The format will be the same as our previous presentation lunches. The business of the ABM will precede the presentation of our 2024 Trophies to those that triumphed during this season.

No long lists to plough through nor boring monologues – just the usual barrel of laughs and a fitting end to another fabulous season.

We aim to sit down to dinner at 14.00 hours – so please plan to be there before to allow time to enjoy a pre-lunch drink with your friends if you so wish.

A list is now upon the notice board in the locker room. Please get your names down as soon as possible so we can have a clear shot at reckoning the numbers for Karen and her team.

The cost is £10.00 and should be paid to:-

Lymm Golf Over 60s
60-20-29
50244779
Ref: ABM-surname

Please note: this is not the same bank account that we use for interclub competitions.

Tee-Booking Schedule for tomorrow: Thursday 19 September

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 22 September

Please be on time booking your slots. Mondays are becoming more at LGC, therefore please be on the pulse of 20:00.

If you’re unable to book in yourself at 20:00 please ask one of your team to do it for you

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

The Tatton Trophy is ours !

The headline this week has to be our winning the Tatton Trophy for the first time since the inception of the Tatton League in 2001, 23 years ago. Our team captain, Bob Mycock, chose to present the trophy, on behalf of the team, to Paddy Moran, citing Paddy as the elder of the team, who is nearing his 80th birthday.

It’s been a long wait.

The Tatton League is a league for senior (over 55) golfers of six golf clubs in and around the historic civil parish of Tatton.

Rob Taylor, my newsletter predecessor, often had to try to make light of our Tatton team regularly coming last. I’m delighted therefore to be able to report that we have dramatically turned things around! And long may it continue. Unusually, since Bob took the captaincy three years ago, Lymm has consistently played a team of low-handicap seniors with a desire to win. Indeed, in every round this year, our average handicap has been by far the lowest of all six clubs. The strategy has worked out. It was good to receive congratulations from the other teams yesterday, including that our efforts this year were “well deserved”.

Thank you to Mike Pigott, our Tatton League vice captain, who has written a 2024-roundup, that I have posted at the end of the newsletter.

Seniors’ Championship, Friday 6th September

Firstly, apologies if I get this report wrong. I have had numerous emails to wade through, due to what Peter Willson describes as ‘gremlins in the system’. Even Fizz, in the pro’s shop, was at odds to explain why last Friday’s comp did not finalise correctly. Peter is standing in for our ‘regular’ comps administrator Paul Foster, who is, yet again, somewhere abroad!

After much toing-and-froing, I can confirm that Mike Pigott is this year’s senior champion.

Apologies to Eric Cox, who was initially posted as the winner of the championship, but in fact came second.

Here is Peter Willson’s report:

Held on a fine dry, breezy day with the temperature rising to 26 deg. C at the finish.

21 players took part on the day – finishing just in time before the Junior’s Fundraising Shotgun Start competition was held at 13.00 hours.

A superb last 6 holes by Mike Pigott who was 2 under gross, including 3 birdies.

Some initial confusion on the published results after a glitch in uploading to the website but fully corrected on Sunday.

Winner: Mike Pigott – 32 points 

2nd: Eric Cox – 31 points

3rd: Alan Copeland – 30 points   

Congratulations to all who qualified and took part on the day. 

Abergele Seniors Open

Reporter: Peter Broady

On a cool overcast but dry day we all set out to play in their Seniors Open Competition.
The course was in great condition with fast undulating greens. Sometimes not easy to two putt!
We entered 4 teams of 4 balls, best 3 Stableford points to count for each team. We were hopeful to acquire as many points as possible before reaching the notoriously tough 17th and 18th holes.

Unfortunately Ron Thornton was unable to make it on the day. Ron was replaced with a Ghost player to even the teams up for our in-house comp, which we ran alongside the main competition.

The main Competition this year was won with 113points  team from Hawarden GC.
We all fell short of the target this year, but we all enjoyed the day, and are looking forward to next year.

 The winning team in our in-house Competition with 97 points:

 Steve Gosling
 Grahame Brickell
 Peter Willson
 Ghost player. (Pete Broady).

 If anybody would like to join us next September, I have pre booked 5 tee times from 10.50am onwards.  Dates to be confirmed by the Golf club

Interclub friendly, Northenden Away, Monday 9th September

Match Reporter: John Armstrong (CoD)

A day that threatened rain turned out to be OK. The course was in nice condition both fairways and greens. There were several bunkers rated GUR, this is because they have a rolling programme of bunker refurbishment.

There was a high standard of play where Lymm players scoring pars were undone by the opposition doing the same, but with shots awarded through higher hc’s. The honourable draw went to Northenden 6.5 to 1.5. With Bobby boy and Sammy Lee being our only winners. Grahame Brickell and John Woodward getting the half. Most matches were close, Lymm loosing mostly by three holes a match. A fine meal of fish Chips and peas, followed by sticky toffee pudding, went down a treat.

Happy Mondays, 9th September

Reporter: Peter Willson

A dry but breezy day – the promised rain stayed away and rather chilly at first 

Game: Team Stableford

5 teams – 17 players 

Winners: Pete Broady, Eric Cox and Ron Thornton – 28.7 points per player 

Second: Alan Copeland, Steve Gosling, Ray Rigby and Dave Waggitt – 27 ppp

Third: Mike Bennett, Colin Crail and Richard Yates – 26 ppp.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 12 September)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 15 September

[ Note: The game we had planned for Monday 23rd will not take place, due to the course being closed for Autumn maintenance. ]

Bottle-of-wine Comps

Reporter: Peter Willson

Friday 30th August 

Played whilst Interclub Match vs. Davyhulme being held: 

1st Place: Mike Kendal – 34 points
2nd Place: Dave Waggitt – 30 points
3rd Place: Michael John – 29 points 

Friday 6th September

Held whilst Seniors Championship took place – only 9 entrants / cards received because of Championship game and some members taking part in the Junior Fundraiser Shotgun start:

Winner: Martin Lowe – 27 points – CPO over last 6 holes
2nd: Alan Ranscombe – 27 points
3rd: Phil Lomas – 26 points

The Tatton League – 2024 Roundup

Reporter: Mike Pigott – Tatton Team Vice Captain

The six rounds of the Tatton League 2024 were held at – in chronological order – Antrobus, Birchwood, Styal, Heyrose, High Legh and Lymm. Four pairs from each club aggregated their better-ball Stableford scores, giving total points for 24 rounds of golf.

This season started in the wet month of April at Antrobus. With a team of Ian Whitehead and Phil Young, Mike Pigott and Dave Meir, Russ Sollitt and Rick Shaw, and Richard Cooper and Martin Franks, Lymm finished runners up with 139 points 5 points behind the home club winners Antrobus.

The second round was at Birchwood, where some alterations to the team were made due to availability and form, with Mike Pigott pairing up with Sam Leach, Rick Shaw with Pete Barrett, Martin Franks with Graham Brickell, and Mark Pickles with club captain Phil Young. Lymm again finished second on the day with 149 points, finishing behind Birchwood who took over the league lead, with Antrobus second and Lymm third.

The third venue was Styal Golf Club and a team of Mike Pigott and Paddy Moran, Mark Pickles and Ian Whitehead, Martin Franks and Richard Cooper and Rick Shaw and Russ Sollitt scoring 139 points and finished in third place, 9 points behind the aggregate leaders Birchwood and 3 points behind Antrobus.

The forth club to host was High Legh on a tough windy wet day in the middle of July. The team had a similar look to it with Mike Pigott and Dave Meir, Russ Sollitt and Rick Shaw, Ian Whitehead and Martin Franks and Mark Pickles with Lymm GC Vice Captain Andy Timms. All four of Lymm’s teams had fantastic scores away from home totalling 157 points finishing only one point behind hosts High Legh, picking up 13 points on Birchwood and 8 points on Antrobus. We were now the leading team.

The next leg of the league was at Heyrose with a very similar looking team of Mike Pigott and Richard Cooper, Martin Franks and Ian Whitehead, Russ Sollitt and Rick Shaw, and Mark Pickles and Andy Timms. It was a low-scoring day in difficult conditions, but Antrobus had an outlier pair scoring 44 points. We finished third behind Antrobus on the day, followed by the home team Heyrose. Birchwood finished last and blew themselves out of contention completely. This result left Antrobus first in the league, 5 points ahead of Lymm but with our home leg to complete the season in early September. High Legh were a further 5 points behind Lymm but it had a feel of a two horse race.

The final Tatton match took place at Lymm, yesterday, Tuesday 10th September on a blustery cloudy day with spells of heavy rain making conditions very difficult for scoring. However, all four pairs got down to the task in hand, posting 4 fantastic fourballs scores, totalling 167 points. Lymm won the day by 15 shots from Heyrose and picked up 24 points on Antrobus. This meant that Lymm won the Tatton League, for the first time in the club’s history by 19 points from Antrobus who had been holders for the previous two years.

Special mention has to go to Dave Meir and Martin Franks who had the best individual score on the day with a phenomenal 49 points.

The team’s thanks go to the Captain Bob Mycock who was there at each game lending his support and to all the players who played and made up a very tight-knit squad.

Here are yesterday’s team results, with the final scores for the year in the last column.

[ Editor’s Note:
I would personally like to offer a special ‘thank you’ to Bob, who not only served us well as team captain in the sporting sense, but in doing all the unseen admin in the background, making arrangements with five other golf clubs, and with the managers and caterers of LGC. This year we hosted the sixth of the six rounds, and we were therefore responsible for catering for the end-of-season meal and presentation.

Bob is not new to sports captaincy, having captained Rugby Union teams for the RAF and Joint Services, at the time when Rory Underwood (RAF navigator in strike command) made it into the England national team. ]

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Lots of news to get through this week, including no fewer than three inter-club friendly match reports.

We have a busy end-of-season. There will be two more inter-club matches to report next week, and the final round of the Tatton League, which will be played at Lymm next Tuesday (10th September). Most of Lymm’s selected team-of-eight are members of the senior section.

Also next week we will know this year’s senior champion (the winner of winners). Our championship is to be played this Friday (6 September). I can already report that Alan Thomas will not be this year’s champion. Unfortunately Alan has had to drop out due to a knee operation. We wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the golf course.

Inter-club friendly – Away at Helsby, Monday 26 August

Match Reporter: Alan Burton (CoD)

Lymm came out winners over Helsby in a tight affair. The result was 5-3 to Lymm.

We managed to dodge some surrounding bad weather, and found the course to be in excellent condition. All games were played in the true spirit of golf, and we were all made welcome, finally being sent home full after a fantastic chicken dinner!

Inter-club friendly – Home against Davyhulme, Friday 30 August

Match Reporter: David Cragss (CoD)

What a glorious Summer’s day to play our home game against Davyhulme!

To think the Friday before we had been targeted by Storm Lilian which caused havoc across the region and caused the cancellation of our Chairman’s Day and BBQ. Lilian is the twelfth named storm of the current 12-month cycle, which ends in September. It is the first time there have been that many named storms in a single cycle since the system was introduced by the Met Office in 2015.

The course was obviously quickly cleared and our visitors were very impressed by the standard of the course and greens. Welcome to our new Course Manager and assistant Course Manager who will no doubt make improvements where necessary.

Steve Gosling and I had a very close game playing against Davyhulme’s Seniors Captain Paul Barrett and Mike Pennington and we managed a win on the 18th to secure a halved game.

On the terrace at the end I was becoming anxious as we recorded a half followed by 3 losses and I thought our recent run of matches won was coming to an end. There then followed a flurry of 4 wins from Lymm resulting in a win by Lymm.

The meal of gammon, egg, pineapple, chips and peas followed by apple crumble and custard was a delight, and thanks to Karen and her team were noted.

No joke from me and not allowing Paddy or Bob to step up with a joke I handed over to Peter Monaghan, Davyhulme team organiser to respond with a good joke and to announce the honourable draw.

An excellent day organised as always by John Armstrong who will be missed when he steps down in October. Your Seniors Section Committee need two new members so don’t be shy and put your name on the board in the Clubhouse.

Result:

Dave Craggs & Steve Gosling, Halved
Pete Broady & Art Laird, Lost 3 & 2
Russ Jones & Jeff Chapman, Won 1 up
Mark Pickles & Martin Lowe, Won 1 up
David D Jones & Duncan Clarke, Won 2 & 1
Peter Willson & Paddy Moran, Lost 3 & 2
Bob Mycock & Barry Smith, Won 2 up
Alan Burton & Steve Bird, Lost 3 & 2

Team score Lymm 4 ½  Davyhulme 3 ½.

Inter-club friendly away at Bramhall Golf Club – Monday 2 September

Match Reporter: Duncan Clarke (CoD)

On a grey drizzly day, Lymm seniors’ run of good match results came crashing down at the Bramhall on Monday .

The course was magnificently set up and the course layout was beautiful. Fairways were lush and greens fast and true.

The day started well in that all Lymm members turned up on time and ready to go ( well not quite – Sammy give yourself a bit more time next time !!)

Lymm registered just two wins , and the losses were generally not close, except Ian Whitehead and Art Laird who struggled manfully until the final hole .

Notable achievement of the day went to John Armstrong, who closed out his match with Duncan Clarke with two back to back gross birdies .

Catering after the match was simple but of the highest quality, much appreciated by all.

Match scores as follows

Bob Mycock and Alan Burton –Lost 5 & 4
Peter Broady and Martin Lowe –Lost 2 &1
Duncan Clarke and John Armstrong – Won 4 &3
Steve Gosling and Paddy Moran –Lost 4 & 2
Ian Whitehead and Art laird – Lost 1 down
John White and Paul Collins -Lost 7 & 6
John Woodward and Mike Pigott –Won 4 & 4
Sammy Lees and Russ Jones – Lost 3 & 2

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 5 September)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 8th September

Peter Willson requests that you be quick-off-the-mark for tee booking at 20:00 on Sunday evenings. If you know you’re not going to be able to do the booking at 20:00, please ask another member of your team to do it for you.

Please return trophies in time to be presented on 4 October

Reporter: Dave Craggs

TROPHIES TO BE ENGRAVED CLEANED AND RETURNED TO COMMITTEE MEMBER BY 4th OCTOBER 2024

Autumn Session ( Oct / Dec 2022) – The Fred Johnson Rose Bowl . Winner Paul Foster

Winter Session ( Jan/Mar 2023) The Peter Glover Trophy – Winner (Div 1) Paddy Moran (Div 2) Phil Perry

Winter Knock out ( Oct 2022/ Mar 2023) The Andy Ward Pairs Trophy – Joint Winners – Mark Pickles / Barry Smith

Summer Session ( April 2023 / Sept 2023) The Broady Trophy – Winner (Div1) Paul Collins (Div 2) Ron Thornton

Gordon Wood Trophy – Winner – Mervyn Roberts

The Memorial Trophy – Winner Mervyn Roberts

Peter Herrity Trophy – Winner Mark Pickles

Summer Singles Knock out ( May 2023/ Aug 2023) The Mike Smith Trophy – Winner Stuart Baird

Amendments to the Rules and Strategy Document

Our secretary, Dave Craggs, has amended the Strategy, Rules and Guidelines document, mainly to reflect changes to the Autumn and Winter 5-from-10 playing rules that have been recently sanctioned by the committee.

Andy Ward Pairs Knockout (Autumn/Winter)

If you would like to be included in the pairs knockout (4BBB matchplay), make sure to include your name on the list on the Seniors’ noticeboard. Peter Willson will remove the list on Friday 13 September, following which he will draw the pairs.

Welcome to John Woodward

John recently joined our senior section. I played with John today for the first time in a very enjoyable friendly knock (there was no mid-week comp today due to the ladies’ charity day).

***

Hello all. I’ve been a member at Lymm since 2007. My eldest son Adam was a junior here, and my youngest son Jack is a member, now playing off around scratch.

I worked as a veterinary surgeon for 42 years, retiring in 2020. I’ve always enjoyed sports, and used to play squash and cricket. I’m now focussing on the golf!

Aside from golf, I train puppies to be guide dogs for the blind. It’s time-consuming, but very rewarding!

Barlow and the Bandits

Steve Barlow, who was in the group behind us today, sent me this photo for some reason! He mentioned something about ‘nice stripes’. Captions welcome. If any good ones are forthcoming, I’ll publish them next week!

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles