The Mitre Cup – Tuesday 12 August

Reporter: Andy Timms (Mr. Captain)

After a surprisingly damp start the sun came out and did its best to melt the gallant competitors in the annual Mitre Cup challenge between the seniors and the ladies. This year the hope was to stop the long run of defeats we had suffered at the hands of the ladies, and to that end some fine performances were recorded on our side, a notable 38 points on 15 holes from Peter Willson and Alan Ranscome, and 37 from Mark Pickles and Trev Williamson. (The Mitre Cup is a 15-hole comp.)

Sadly, the ladies greater consistency across the whole team proved to be the deciding factor, as they triumphed in the end by a score of 262 points to 257. Still, this represents a closer margin than in recent years, and so the prospects are looking good for next year!

When it came to the presentation, despite much searching, the trophy couldn’t be found! We had to make do with presenting the scoresheet to the winning captain, Catherine Catchpole.

A One-in-a-Million 80th Birthday!

What are the chances of getting a hole-in-one within a few days of your 80th birthday? Quite remote I would have thought, but Barry McGuigan’s recent achievement on the cusp of becoming an octogenarian was part of an even more unlikely round of golf.

Playing at Dunham Forest Golf Club, Barry partnered Mike Pigott in a 4BBB match against Andy Timms and Dave Roberts (now at Dunham, but a former committee member at Lymm).

Mike got a two on the first of the par 3s, and another two on the second of the par3s, and then Barry got his hole-in-one on the third of the par 3s (hole 13). This means that the pair did the first three short holes in a mere 5 shots! Surely some kind of record?

Mike tells me that Barry’s ace was his seventh hole-in-one, which, again, is remarkable achievement.

Apparently the 4BBB match was fiercely contested, but Barry and Mike took it from Andy and Dave on the last hole.

Barrie was presented with his Senior Section ‘jumper’ yesterday for his 80th birthday by our chairman John Armstrong.

Happy Mondays Report

Reporter: Steve Gosling

Five groups set off on a hot morning to enter battle for the gold coins.

Top scorer with 36 was Les Fecitt, followed by Ron Thornton with 35

The top team of the day featured comprised Les Fecitt, Steve Barlow, Ken Pearce and Steve Gosling with a score of 31

Runners up with 29.7 were Ron, Phil Lomas and Ken Narraway.

BoW Competition on Friday 8 August

I do not seem to have received a report for the BoW comp last Friday, but you can see the results on the main LGC website here.

Paul Foster won with 33 points over 15 holes, beating Pete Broady on CPO.

I have not yet received a report on the home match against Ringway GC on 8 August. If one is forthcoming, I will publish it in next week’s newsletter. Did we win?

Seniors Championship Game on Friday 5th September

Seniors who have won one or more of the Friday games in the from winter 2024 to summer 2025, or won the leagues, or won any of the senior competitions or knockouts, qualify for the Senior Section Championship on 5th September.

Here is a list compiled by Dave Craggs. If you are not on the list but think you should be, contact Dave and explain why you think you qualify.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 14 August)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 17 August

Memorial Trophy

£113.50 was collected for charity at the Memorial Trophy competition. Thank you to all who contributed. See last week’s newsletter for the results of the competition.

Peter Herrity Trophy on Friday 15 August

The Peter Herrity Trophy is also a charity event. The funds will be donated to our nominated charity.

Please make sure that you book online or on the I.G. app before Friday. £5 will be deducted from your clubhouse account. The competition is 18 holes off yellow tees.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Seniors Memorial Trophy

Reporter: Paul Foster

A right ‘Carry On’, Up, down, up down, up down, on, off, on, off, on, off… Umbrellas and water proofs! Little time to play any golf, more time just trying to escape from the rain, and dressing and undressing, and just when all the confounded weatherproofs were donned for the 5th time, out came the sun, and off came the waterproofs…repeat…repeat…repeat.

However, once again some super scores, with eight players breaking par from the forty six entries who played for the Memorial Trophy, invoking treasured memories of seniors who have sadly passed away. I for one paused at the memorial bench, just to reflect on the lives of seniors whose names are shown on the plaques, and a cheery tot of whisky afterwards on the patio in their memory.

We had in our 4-ball, a version of a Barbershop Quartet, all bellowing ‘FORE’ in varying octaves on the 6th, featuring a “ringing” quality achieved through precise tuning and blending of voices. To follow that, Eddie Floyd’s ‘Knock on Wood’ came wafting down the 10th fairway as all four of us managed to hit the same cluster of trees, and Steve ‘the actor’ Barlow, now has a new name…..Steve ‘Rommel’ Barlow after his escapades of visiting possibly every bunker on the front nine…!

Four 2s were recorded, Paul Collins, David Donnell-Jones, Dave Meir (as usual) and Mervyn Roberts.

All cards were marked correctly, except one, which didn’t have a name on it…mine!!

Results:
Winner – Dave Meir with and excellent 34pts on a CPO
R/up – David Craggs with 34pts
3rd – Peter Willson with 33 pts.

The Mitre Cup, to be played on Tuesday 12 August

Reporter: Andy Timms (Mr Captain)

The Mitre Cup, our annual challenge match against the ladies takes place next Tuesday, 12^th August. The match format is 4-ball-better-ball Stableford over 15 holes with the winning team being the one with the highest aggregate score. There are 8 pairs going out from each side with the first tee reserved from 11:03 am. The final pairings will be sorted out in the next day or so, but in the meantime I can confirm that the team will be:

Dave Craggs 
Andrew Cox  
Steve Gosling     
Colin Hughes      
Rob Taylor  
Andy Timms  
Phil Ormesher     
Alan Ranscombe    
Arthur Laird      
Ron Thornton      
Pete Broady 
Mark Pickles      
Sammy Lee   
Arthur Nuttall    
Jeff Ashurst      
Richard Yates     

With reserves:
Trev Williamson
Peter Willson
Alan Copeland

If your name is down as part of what will hopefully be a winning team this year, but you aren’t now able to play, then please let me know as soon as possible so that I can get one of the supersubs off the bench.

Happy Mondays Report for – Monday 28th July

Reporter: Peter Willson

A brief shower at 1st but then a dry, breezy but overall a fine day for golf.

Game: Team Stableford – 15 players, 5 teams 

Winners: Les Fecitt and Paul Foster – 59 points or 29.5 ppp narrowly beating in 

Second place: Phil Lomas and Alan Thomas – 58 points or 29 ppp

Highest Individual Scores – 33 points – Mike Bennett and Phil Lomas.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 7 August)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 10 August

Friday 8 August – BoW Competition

Please note that the ‘fun comp’ scheduled for this Friday will be individual Stableford Bottle of Wine competition. Register on the IG app of the LGC website in where it is listed in ‘Upcoming Competitions’ for 8 August.

Friday 15 August – Peter Herrity Trophy

A week on Friday we play for the Peter Herrity Trophy. This is an 18-hole Stableford off yellow tees. Please enter beforehand in ‘Upcoming Competitions’. The entry fee is £5, which the Senior Section donate to charity.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Bottle-of-wine Competition, Friday 25 July

Reporter: Paul Foster

A sticky hot day for the Châteaux de Willson challenge.

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

Four players beat par out of the twenty three entries.

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

Results:

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

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

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

Interclub friendly at home versus Sale GC, Friday 25 July

Reporter: Mark Pickles

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

Lymm won 5 to 3.

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

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

Hawkstone Trophy 2025

Reporter: Les Williams

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

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

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

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

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

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

A bottle of good red wine for the deserving winners.

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

Memorial Trophy Competition on Friday

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

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

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 31 July)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 3rd August

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Summer League Round 10 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Division 1 Results:

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

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

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

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

Interesting snippets of information from the Summer League:

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

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

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

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

All looking forward to the Autumn league???

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

Happy Mondays Competition – 21 July

Match Reporter: Peter Willson

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

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

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 24 July)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 27 July

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Gordon Wood Trophy – Friday 11 July

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Mondays game – Monday 14th July

Reporter: Peter Willson

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

5 teams – 17 players

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

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

Highest Individual Score – Peter Willson – 38 points

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

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 17 July)

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

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

Prestatyn Senior’s Open 4BBB – Thursday 2 October

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

Book Early!

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Message from Keith Melia regarding the anticipated BBQ last Friday

Dear Members of the Seniors Section

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

– regards Keith.

Gordon Wood Trophy this Friday (11 July)

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

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

Interclub friendly away at Davyhulme GC

Match Reporter: Trevor Williamson (CoD)

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

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

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

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

Report for Fun Game played on Friday 4th July

Reporter: Peter Willson

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

Game: Individual Stableford – over 15 holes 

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

Winner: Stuart Baird – 38 points 

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

Bottle of Sainsbury’s best red plonk to Stuart.

Captain’s Charity Day

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

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

Watkins Cup Round 4

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

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

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

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

Booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 10 July)

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

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

Prestatyn Seniors’ Open 4BBB – Thursday 2nd October

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

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

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

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

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

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

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

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

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

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

Summer League – Round 9 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Mondays report, Monday 30 June

Reporter: Peter Willson

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

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

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

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

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

Padeswood and Buckley Trip – Tuesday 1 July

Reporter: John Hayes

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

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

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

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow – Thursday 3 July

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 6 July

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Summer League Round 8 of 10

Reporter: Paul Foster

It ain’t half hot mum…!

Only 6 players beat par on Friday. Well, It was I believe like playing on the runway at terminal 2 at Manchester, all wearing Benny Hill shorts and silly hats, you know it makes sense to cover up… and slap on the sun cream…

44 hot and bothered entries for round eight of the Summer league, which is now starting to take its final shape. N,n,n,n,n 19 from players from division 1, and 25 from division 2.

No 2s recorded, Mr Gosling is well pleased again!

Division 1 Results:
Winner – Dave Meir with 33pts
R/up – Peter White with 30pts on a CPO
3rd – Paddy Moran (that man again) with 30pts

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

Still leader in division one is PC Collins, followed now by newcomer Colin Royle, and Paddy Moran. Clear leader in division two is still our favourite Joe Priestner, followed by Stuart Baird, then Barry Smith.

A great run of 9 consecutive pars from Mike Pigott. One ‘keep a six off your card’ from the 1st division: Martin Franks. No-one managed a ‘keep a seven off your card’ from the 2nd division.

Senior Friday competitions in Ig have been tweaked, such that, all rounds from now on, will not require an NS to be entered for the last 3 holes.

Happy Mondays – 23 June

Reporter Paul Foster

The Four Seasons…!

What a difference a day makes…Play started in the wind and rain, with players donning winter hats (Dave Waggitt’s luminescent hat taking the silly hat award) and coats, with umbrellas a plenty. Not a good day for scoring.

Six teams, consisting of 20 hardy souls, battled through to compete for the gold coins. A really tight battle ensued, with first to fourth places separated by an average of just 0.66 points per person.

Winner of the day were team Craggs, Foster and Narraway, beating by a solitary point that well know solicitor’s firm Copeland, Cox, Lomas & Lee.

Top dog was Steve Rowley with an excellent 34pts. Funnies: from 10 yards, Dave Craggs managed to hit flush, slap bang in the middle the 150yd marker post on the 14th, Dave’s ball rebounded no less than 60 yards back towards the tee he had just left…! Tony Dixon drove into the fairway bunker on the 8th, and played an excellent shot towards the green. His playing partners could not find the ball, until Tony checked the hole, and it was there! A great eagle 2!

By the size of the poop splashed all over Paul Foster’s bag, we have a Pterodactyl soaring above the trees above the 10th hole.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 26 June)

The tee-booking schedule tomorrow is for the Gordon Wood Trophy, an 18-hole competition for Senior Section members only.

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 29 June

Senior’s Calendar

Check the Seniors’ noticeboard for entry sheets for:

The Mitre Cup (Seniors v Ladies) on Tuesday 12 August.

Seniors v Juniors on Wednesday 20 August.

Dave Craggs has updated the Seniors’ Calendar. (See the ‘Senior Section Calendar’ tab.)

Please note that we have moved round 10 of the summer league to 18 July, because it conflicted with the Captain’s Charity Day on 4 July (with a shotgun start at 13:00. 4 July will be a fun comp for the seniors.

BBQ on Friday

If you are attending the Seniors’ BBQ on Friday, please make sure that you have money in your bar account beforehand. Karen will be taking £5 from all names on the list on Friday morning.

Annual Business Meeting – Election of Committee Members

Reporter: Dave Craggs

Whilst this may seem an early request we would like all members to give some thought to putting their names forward to join the Seniors Committee in October.

The end of our financial year sees a number of our 10 elected members completing their term in office.

We therefore have a seats to fill at this year’s Annual Business Meeting which is on the 17th of October (concurrent with the Presentation Lunch).

We need volunteers now please! A list asking for nominations will be pinned onto the Senior’s Notice Board in the Locker room.

If you would like to give something back to the Senior’s by joining the Committee, please: Add your name to the list, or speak to any member of the existing Committee, or e-mail/ phone the chairman, John Armstrong.

If more applications are received than seats available voting papers will be prepared, and a run off will be held at the ABM.

The closing date for applications is the 15th of October (2 days before the ABM)

Many thanks,
Dave Craggs, Secretary to the Gents Seniors committee.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Firstly, my apologies to Grahame Brickell and all who played at Lllangollen on Thursday 5 June for not including Grahame’s report in last week’s newsletter. Grahame had sent the report in good time, but I missed it off my list of items to include.

To my amazement, Grahame’s report is written in near-intelligible English! Here it is below, without any edits, just to prove that Grahame can communicate effectively in his second language (his first language being Brickellish: ?? && * HAGW pp, c b4 peops + mp 6t, 2 squids Brx ..).

Vale of Llangollen Golf Club – Seniors Open, 5 June

23 Lymm Seniors + 1 invited guest battled the rain & rush hour on the 56 & headed into mid wales last thursday. Low and behold as we passed the ‘Welcome to Wales’ sign the rain stopped, the clouds parted and blue sky was to be seen.. a good omen for the day ahead!
Ok there was a light shower as we downed bacon sarnies & coffee with the more adventurous among us going for a full Welsh fry up l!

So the sun shone, not like back at home & the course was in fine fettle and the majority of the pairs finished on or around par. Mr Treasurer, Steve Gosling, and his partner, the invited guest (Jeff Acton) managed to secure 3rd place prize in the overall comp with 41 points and hence also grabbed our own seniors pot of £15 each followed by Duncan C & our own Welsh man, Les Williams on 39 points raking in £9 each .

Some fine after the game nosh was enjoyed by the majority .. with also a good show of hands to return next year.. can we make it to 28 or even 32?
Drop me a text if u fancy it and i’ll add your name to the list for confirmation when date & times come out in November.. Grahame ..

[ Editor’s note. The Brickellish convention of a two-dot ellipsis rather than the three dots of English grammar is interesting. Perhaps it’s the energy-saving future! ]

Please support Mr Captain, Andy Timms, on Captain’s Charity Day, Friday 4 July

As you’ll know, one of the obligations of the LGC Captain is to raise money for his chosen charity. One of the most effective ways of doing this is the Captain’s Charity Day. In the four years that I’ve been at LGC I’ve participated in two Captain’s Charity Days, but unfortunately I will be travelling back from a week’s holiday on Friday 4 July, much as I would have liked to support my good friend Andy.

Although Andy rarely plays in the Friday competitions, I’m sure that most of you know him well. He is very involved with the Senior Section; he’s on the Seniors’ committee, and represents us to the main committee.

Please join a team, or raise your own team. The event is open to members and non-members. I don’t doubt there’ll be good prizes for the day! I played in a team raised by Grahame Brickell three years ago, and (if my memory serves me) we won second prize.

The cost is £180 per team. Shotgun start at 13:00, with team registration from 11:30, at which time the clubhouse will be open for hot drinks and breakfast orders.

• Format – Team of four, any combination of gents and ladies.
• 85% handicap allowance, best two scores to count on each hole.
• Prizes for nearest the pin on all par 3 holes and the longest drive.
• Beat-the-pro prize on the 13th hole
• Buffet and prize-giving presentation from 18:00
• Mr Captain’s chosen charity is Warrington Foodbank

You can register your team here, in ‘Upcoming Competitions’ on the main LGC website.

Interclub-friendly, Lymm v Northenden, Friday 13 June

Match Reporter: David Donnell-Jones (CoD)

On a dry and bright morning, the visiting Northenden team assembled early in the car park, ready for a competitive days golf. The fine weather set the tone for an enjoyable morning on the course.

After the match, both teams were treated to a delicious lunch provided by Karen, Josh and Lindsey.

A brief recap of the day’s proceedings followed, with the team Captain’s offering his reflections on the day’s events. In an effort to avoid overshadowing Craggzy’s joke from the previous week’s encounter at Hale, the Lymm Captain’s joke was met with a polite silence! 

The day concluded with the announcement of a convincing 6½ to 1½ victory to Lymm. A big thank you to Graham, as always, for assembling such a dynamic Lymm team.

Notable performances:
Andrew Cox & Jeff Chapman won 5 & 4
Trevor Williamson & Ian Goodman won 4 & 2

You have to laugh!

Reporter: Mark Pickles

I was there at the Hale match a few weeks ago, when Craggzy managed only 2-out-of-10 on the laughometer, but apparently David Donnell-Jones’ attempt last Friday at being Lymm’s stand-up comic supremo was even worse!

No fewer than three Senior-Section members – Alan Burton, Paddy Moran and Paul Collins – have approached me since last Friday to say that I need to mention David’s joke failure in the newsletter. Poor David. And to think that Alan Burton is one of David’s close friends!

I would have expected David to be a natural-born comedian. He is surely one of the most jovial characters in the senior section, the kind of person you would expect to be sacked from a funeral directors’ firm for laughing too much!

Paddy Moran on the other hand, who often looks deadly serious, and whom I could imagine driving a hearse, managed 9-out-10 on the laughometer for his Irish joke at Sale GC this year. It’s the way he tells ’em!

Pairs Betterball Competition held on Friday 13th June

Reporter: Peter Willson

A change of competition whilst the Interclub game vs. Northenden was being held 

A fine dry, but breezy day. Thirteen pairs of players took part. 

A close run affair with only 5 points separating the first 5 teams 

Winners: John Mather and Barrie Simpson – 40 points – please see Mr. Treasurer for your prize of a sleeve of balls 

Second: Dave Craggs and Peter White – 39 points 

Third: Alister Cook and Richard Yates – 38 points 

[ Editor’s Note: John Mather is not a member of the Senior Section. ]

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 19 June)

Happy Mondays Game

Match Reporter: Peter Willson

Another dry and part sun / part cloud day, pleasantly warm with a moderate breeze

Game: Team Stableford
18 players – in 6 groups

Winners: Dave Blackledge, Pete Broady and Dave Waggitt – 95 points or 31.7 ppp
Second: Mike Bennett and Richard Yates – 61 points or 30.5 ppp
Third: Steve Bird, Alan Copeland, Steve Gosling and Peter Willson – 115 points or 28.7 ppp

Highest Individual Score: Dave Waggitt – 36 points

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 22 June

Interclub Matches Update

Reporter: Grahame Brickell

We are now halfway through the season of friendly matches (10 played). We have won four of the five home matches, but we have lost all the away matches! We need to do better in the second half, starting at Daveyhulme, and then on to Leigh and Warrington.

Thankfully we have been blessed with mainly fine weather (apart from at Sale GC). Let’s hope it continues.

So far out of the 60 players ‘registered’ to participate, 46 have done so, with Messrs Gosling (played 8) Willson (7) Craggs & Roberts (6 each) topping the matches played leader board. We have some members who are not responding to the poll requests. If you are not interested in playing, message me and I will remove you from the WattsApp group.

Thank you to all those who have played so far and will hopefully continue.

Enjoy the summer. Keep swinging and if the sun’s out, cover up!

Brx.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Round 7 – Summer League – Friday 6th June

Reporter: Peter Willson

In the absence of our esteemed scorer and talented wordsmith, Paul Foster, who is out of the country (again), an abbreviated report of the Summer League Round 7 

Division 1

Winner: Tony Dixon- 33 points
2nd: Arthur Nuttall – 32 points CPO
3rd: Paddy Moran – 32 points 

Division 2

Winner: Sammy Lee – 31 points – on only his second turn out this session
2nd: Steve Bird – 28 points CPO
3rd: Phil Ormesher – 28 points 

2’s
Alan Copeland, Paddy Moran, and Colin Royle

Division league tables will be calculated and updated by Paul on his return next week.

Interclub friendly, away at Hale, Wednesday 4 June

Match Reporter: Dave Craggs (CoD)

Our return away match with Hale GC is always eagerly awaited not only for the golf but also the dining experience, and we were not disappointed.

Sorry to say the result of the match was not as satisfying. We started the day with a slight trauma as the first team had set off and we had a panic as one of the team (no name no shame) had not arrived. We phoned him, and apparently he was at work!

Thank you to Steve Gosling who rang around and found a replacement. Many thanks to Mark Pickles who lives fairly close to Hale, and fortunately made the tee within 10 minutes of the phone call!

Our home game with Lymm resulted in a win for Lymm 4-3 but on their course the result was reversed and Lymm lost 5-2.

Paddy Moran and Mervyn Roberts won convincingly 8 & 6 and the other winners were Steve Gosling and Peter Willson.

Weather was kind to us and overall a very enjoyable day.

[ Editor’s Note: Craggzy attempted a joke, but it only got 2/10 on the laughometer! ]

Happy Mondays Game

Reporter: Peter Willson

A cloudy and at times a chilly morning but it stayed dry 

Game: Team Stableford 

5 Teams – 15 players 

Winners: Steve Gosling and Alan Thomas – 58 points of 29 ppp 

Second: Pete Broady, Sammy Lee, John Mather and Steve Rowley – 28.7 ppp

Highest Individual score – Steve Gosling – 33 points 

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 11 June)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 15 June

Fun competition this Friday – 13 June

While a senior team plays an interclub friendly against Northenden on Friday, the rest of us will, for a change, play a pairs betterball (4BBB) competition with two sleeves of balls for the winning pair. Best Stableford score from the pair for each hole to be recorded on the card.

Seniors BBQ – Reminder

As noted in last week’s newsletter, we are having a BBQ and social gathering on Friday 27 June, after Round 9 of the summer league, starting at 12:00, at a subsidised cost of £5.00 per person. Dave has put list on the Seniors’ noticeboard. Please add your name as soon as possible if you intend to join us, to give us an idea of numbers to cater for.

Welcome Ian Goodman to the Senior Section

I met Ian for the first time at the away match at Hale last week. I was paired with him in fact, and enjoyed his company. I asked him if he could introduce himself to the Senior Section.

About me

I joined Lymm GC on the 1^st of April this year after playing Society golf on and off for quite a few years.  I made a great decision to join the Senior Section and have already made my mark playing for the team.  Played three, lost three.

I was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire from a line of Scotsmen (so being ‘careful with money’ is in my DNA).  Highlights of my school years were being the singer in a punk band and getting trapped underground for 24 hours in a flooding pothole in the Yorkshire Dales.

My late father played golf off 3 at Southerness (a tough links course in the Southwest of Scotland) but unfortunately his golfing ability didn’t make it into my DNA.  I was a member at Woodsome Hall Golf Club in Huddersfield from the age of nine but gave up when I went to Lancaster University and discovered other less wholesome diversions.  I graduated with a degree in politics and philosophy, but most importantly met my future wife (Dianne) whilst “studying”.  Dianne is a Warrington girl and spent most of her early life in the Ship Inn at Walton (because her mum and dad ran it, not because she had a drink problem).  We’ve been happily married for 42 years now and have a son, daughter and two grandchildren, both girls.  My daughter is following the family tradition and currently lives over a bar in Manchester which her fiancée owns.

After passing basic military training while in the Territorial Army my original plan was to go into the army as a young officer, but a change of heart meant I went into financial services instead.  I started with the Bradford & Bingley Building Society as a trainee and worked my way steadily up the ladder managing branches in Beverley, Hull, Warrington and Wigan.  My first area role was looking after the branch network across Merseyside and Northern Ireland when the troubles were still on (in both places!). I then moved around the banking sector, working for several major banks, ending my career in consultancy work for the Co-op bank.

My last (and most enjoyable) job before retiring earlier this year was as a supervisor at Citizens Advice in Warrington. 

I had an unexpected and inconvenient heart attack / double bypass a couple of years ago but I’m fighting fit again now and still on the long journey towards my first hole in one (a par on the 16th would do).

I’m looking forward to meeting even more of the colourful characters in the Seniors Section and, if they’ll keep letting me wear the shirt, maybe even winning a match for the team.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles