Lymm Golf Club Senior Section

Urgent: Time to Enter the Doubles Knockout!

As noted in last week’s newsletter, the entry sheet for the Andy Ward Trophy – the Autumn/Winter doubles knockout – is now on the Seniors’ noticeboard.

Peter Willson is concerned that, as yet, there are very few names on the list. In view of the fact that Peter will be making the draw on 12 September, please enter your name as soon as possible if you wish to compete.

Seniors’ Championship this Friday

If you’re competing in the Seniors’ Championship this Friday, 5 October, make sure that you have booked into the competition on IG.

Similarly, if you are playing in the BoW comp on Friday, book beforehand in IG.

Notice of our Annual Business Meeting

Our ABM will be on October 17. This year, there are a few of us who are coming to the end of our three-year stint on the committee, and therefore we are looking for new volunteers to replace us.

If you would like to be on the committee, please put your name on the list on the Seniors’ noticeboard, or speak to a member of the committee. Dave Craggs, our secretary, would be a good person to speak to, because he has a grip on all the business of the committee, including which committee roles are likely to become vacant.

Bottle-of-Wine Competition, Friday 29 September

Well done George Clark, who won the bottle of wine last Friday, in a field of 39 players. It’s nice to see George win. George has watched his good friend and regular playing partner Joe Priestner enjoying much of the glory this year!

You can see the full results on the main LGC website here.

Friendly Away Match at Bramhall Golf Club

John Armstrong reports that score at Bramhall on Monday was 5 – 3 to Bramhall. It was a very close match with no few than four of the matches halved!

John says the golf course was in excellent condition and the greens superb. A few squally showers did not prevent another great day of inter-club golf!

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 4 September)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 7 September

A helping hand

Four of us had a very enjoyable away day at Mere Golf Club on Monday!

After a great day’s golf, after chucking my golf bag on the back seat of my car, I noticed that Steve was preparing to get his new golf buggy into his car. I offered to help, and was astonished at the weight. Steve is a strong man, but his golf buggy is without doubt a two-man lift. Steve is on a waiting list to store the buggy at Lymm Golf Club, but in the meantime will need to transport the buggy home-and-back in his car.

I know that some of the buggies that our members use split in half, and are therefore obviously easier to lift, but please do offer an extra pair of hands to anyone needs to bring his buggy by car.

Newsletter Editor – Mark Pickles

Mike Smith Plate – Singles Knockout

Congratulations to Paddy Moran, on winning the final of the knockout against Jeff Ashurst last Friday. Well done also to Jeff, for making it through to the final after a long spring-summer campaign.

Andy Ward Trophy – Pairs Knockout

Peter Willson will soon start to prepare the draw for the autumn/winter season pairs knockout.

Peter has put an entry sheet on the Seniors’ noticeboard, and so please enter you name by September 12 if you would like to compete.

Each pairing will include a lower handicap player and a higher handicap player, determined at random using LGC’s IG software. The draw, and the date for completion of each round, will then appear on the LGC website.

Match at Home against Davyhulme Golf Club – Friday 22 August

Reporter: Trevor Williamson (CoD)

Lymm were victorious in the return match against Davyhulme Park Golf Club, coming out on top 5 – 3. Having lost  5 – 3 at Davyhulme means it was truly an honourable draw over the two matches.

Thankfuly it was a little cooler than of late, with only a few drops of rain threatening to spoil our day.

Some great winning scores were posted by:  
Willson & Goodman 7 & 5
Lomas & Simpson    6 & 5
Pigott & Thornton    5 & 3

Despite the score and in acknowledgment of the recent lack of rain, our visitors were complimentary about the general condition of the course and hospitality received. The delicious steak & ale pie and raspberry cheesecake went down well too!

Bottle of Wine Competition – Friday 22 August

Well done to the in-form Joe Priestner, who won the 15-hole BoW competition with 34 points.

Full results of the competition on the main website, here:
https://www.lymmgolfclub.co.uk/competition.php?compid=11590

Away match at Helsby Golf Club

Match Reporter: John Armstrong (CoD)

Glorious weather. There were a couple of brief squally showers, thankfully too brief to spoil the day. The golf course was in excellent condition, both the fairways and greens. 

The meal of sausages in a chilli sauce was very nice, and well served by polite staff.

The result was a reverse of the score at Lymm earlier in the season. This time the honourable draw was in favour of Helsby 5 matches to 3. The winning pairs were:

John Armstrong and Stuart Baird: Won 5 & 3
Mark Pickles and Mike Bennett: Won 1 up
Alan Burton and Phil Ormesher: Won 1 up

Happy Mondays Competition – 25 August

Reporter: Peter Willson

A sunny and warm Bank Holiday Monday morning with a welcome cooling breeze. 

14 players in 4 teams 

Winners: Steve Bird, Dave Craggs, Steve Rowley and Peter Willson – 128 points or 32 ppp

Second: Steve Barlow, Kevin Bocquet, Alan Copeland and Dave Waggitt – 118 points or 29.5 ppp

Highest Individual score – Steve Bird – 35 points.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 27 August)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 31 August

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

The Petter Herrity Memorial Trophy – Friday 15 August

Reporter: Paul Foster

A blistering summer’s day last Friday for this annual trophy competition.

Once again, a pause at the seniors memorial bench to remember Peter, a seniors member who has sadly passed. I never had the chance to meet Peter, but have heard many honourable reports about him.

Seven players beat par today, out of 42 entries. Once again, some of the fairways on the top 9 were bone hard, with the golf ball embarrassingly bouncing in all directions, and forty yard chip and runs ran out nearer 100 yards! I note Peter (Rommel) Barlow is now the proud owner of a shiny, spanking new Formula Ford buggy! A whole new world for Steve.

Some sensational scoring, with the ever popular Peter (2 LLs) Willson taking home the trophy with an incredible 46pts, losing 2.6 shots off his handicap.

Get this: Peter had a hot streak where he scored 38pts (14 under par) in 12 holes, and could even afford to blob the last and still win by 5 points.

Duncan Clarke shot a very impressive 78, and Ron Thornton burnt the course up scoring 41 with a blob.

Five 2s recorded, Franks, Hughes, Pickles, Pigott and Thomas.

Results:
Winner – Peter Willson with 46pts
R/up – Duncan Clarke with 41pts on a CPO
3rd – Ron Thornton with 41pts

Interclub friendly at Home against Ringway – Friday 8 August

Reporter: Russ Jones (CoD)

On a lovely summer morning Lymm GC were looking to avenge the 7-1 drubbing we took at Ringway earlier in the season.

CoD Russ Jones managed to get to the club early to inspire the team and ensure we were ready for revenge.

The course had recovered well after the Course Maintenance works the previous week and the greens were rolling well.

As CoD I played with their CoD with and Art Laird. We started well getting 3 up and never really looked back, winning 2-1.

This was matched by some really good wins by Lymm, and we came in winners 6 ½ to 1 1/2, overall a really satisfying win.

Into the clubhouse where we were treated to lovely Fish and Chips from the catering staff, that went down well with our visitors.

All-round good day. Great result, Good weather, Good Company. What more could you ask for?

Bottle of Wine Comp, Friday 8 August 2025

Reporter: Paul Foster

A pleasant late summer’s day for the latest episode of the Châteaux de Willson challenge.

Only three players beat par today out of twenty five entries, a rather poor show, considering some of the fairways on the top 9 resembled runways at Manchester Airport.

One 2 were recorded, Señor Waggitt on the 9th.

Results:
Winner – Paul Foster with 33pts on a CPO
R/up – Peter Broady with 33pts (the 14th did you Pete)
3rd – Michael John with 31pts

Spookily, the players on the podium were all off 14 handicap!

We have another Rommel ! Ken Pearce, visiting seven bunkers, one pond and umpteen trees!

I heard a rumour that the wine this week for the winner, is a bottle of 1945 Châteaux Pétrus!! Don’t mind if I do….

Interclub friendly away at Huyton and Prescot – Monday 18 August

Reporter: Steve Gosling (CoD))

An overcast day saw 16 intrepid adventurers take a trip down the M62 towards Liverpool.

A warm welcome and a bacon butty was on hand for our first trip to Huyton & Prescot Golf Club

A tricky course with plenty of blind tee shots and dog legs to catch the unknowing out!
Home advantage was definitely a thing.

Congratulations to Andrew Cox, John Armstrong , Peter Willson and Ron Thornton for getting the points in their matches and to Andy Timms and Colin Hughes for a draw.

A loss 5 1/2 to 2 1/2 but an enjoyable first outing to a new course and one we look forward to returning to next year with a bit more course knowledge banked!

[ Editors Note: Tommy Lawless, our Scouser-in-residence at LGC, tells me there is a tributary from the Mersey that runs past Huyton and Prescot. A dolphin made its way up there recently. Tommy says it was found on a pile of rocks with its fins and tail missing. 😂 ]

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 21 August)

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 24 August

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

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