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

The weather got the better of us last Friday, and the Chairman’s Day/BBQ had to be cancelled.

A few of us played on Friday morning, once the wind had subsided, and the green staff had cleared away the worst of the storm damage. I partnered Paul Collins in a very enjoyable match against Steve Barlow and Alan Copeland.

Unsurprisingly, ‘double hot dog and chips’ was on the ‘specials’ menu as we arrived in the clubhouse just in time for lunch. And very nice it was too.

The highlight of the morning for me was watching large groups of swallows and house martins hunting at high speed on the bottom half of the course, particularly around the 13th green and the 14th fairway. The cooler, heavier air and damper weather of recent days causes the swallows to hunt very near to the ground, almost around our feet, because the strata of flies and gnats are a lot lower than when thermals are lifting them. Enjoy the swallows and martins while you can. Within a week or two these remarkable birds will be making the miraculous 6000-mile journey to the southern half of Africa, covering about 200 miles per day. Those that survive will begin returning to breed in April next year, just in time to see Andy Timm’s Captain’s Drive In!

The Duel in the Gloom

The gloomy bank-holiday Monday saw the final of the senior section’s summer knockout. Steve Barlow and Keith Melia went head-to-head for the Mike Smith Plate.

I’ve spoken to both Steve and Keith, who reported that it was a great match, which went down to the final putt on the 18th green.

Congratulations to Keith, who won the day, and will also now qualify to play in the Seniors’ Championship next Friday (6th September).

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 29 August)

Happy Mondays Tee-booking schedule for Sunday 1 September

Away match at Helsby

I have yet to receive a report from the CoD for the away match at Helsby yesterday. If I receive one, I will publish it in next week’s newsletter.

Please remember, if you are nominated as CoD for a home or away match, to send me an email with your report, or message me on the I.G. app or the LGC website messaging system. My email address is in directory on the LGC website.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

The Peter Herrity Trophy

There were some excellent scores in this year’s Peter Herrity Trophy, and with a large field, a good sum of money raised for this year’s charity (to be decided by the committee).

The winner of the trophy was the on-form Tommy Lawless with 41 points.

In second, also with 41 points, was Peter White.

Peter just missed out on a card play off. Both Tommy and Peter had 22 points on the back nine, and so result was determined by the back six.

Paul Collins came third with 40 points.

Mike Bennett came forth with 39 points.

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

Chairman’s Day this Friday (23 August)

The Chairman’s Day competition will be for a bottle of wine. All competitors should enter the competition online by Thursday.

Go to ‘Upcoming Competitions’ on the LGC website or I.G. App, and scroll to Senior Section Chairman’s Day.

The BBQ will start at 12:00 and will continue to be served as players finish.

Would you like to join the Senior Section Committee?

If you would like to help out on the committee, please apply by putting your name on the list, with the name of a proposer, on the Seniors’ noticeboard. We now have almost a hundred members in the Senior Section, and with a full calendar of activities, there is a lot of organisation involved.

Committee members generally serve for three years. This year at least two members, including the Chairman, will stand down at the end of the summer season.

Please note that you cannot apply directly for a particular role on the committee. The first stage is to get on on the committee, and then all the roles are decided when the new committee is formed. Each member volunteers for a role. Usually, discussions at the inaugural meeting determine which role is best suited for each individual.

Happy Mondays, 18 August

Team Stableford:

Winners:
Pete Broady. Alan Copeland. Kevin Bocquet. 32.6. Points

Second. Tony Lambert. Phil Lomas. Dave Craggs. 29.33 Points.

Third. Mike Bennett. Richard Yates. Les Williams. Tony Dixon. 28.75 Points.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 22 August)

Happy Mondays Tee-booking Schedule for Sunday 25 August

This is the schedule for booking our game on Monday 9th September. However, the teams could be subject to change on the day due to players dropping out to play in an inter-club match at Northenden Golf Club.

Tatton League

Apologies for the late publication of this week’s newsletter, but I have only just returned from a Tatton League match at Heyrose.

Although the senior section is no longer involved in administration of the Tatton League, we do have members in the pool for Tatton League captain Bob Mycock and vice captain Mike Pigott to select from.

The Tatton League has six clubs in it: Lymm, Antrobus, Styal, Heyrose, Birchwood and High Legh. The scoring is the aggregate of 4BBB Stableford points over the season, with four pairs from each club playing in each match.

Today’s team of 8 at Heyrose included Andy Timms, Mark Pickles, Mike Pigott, and Ian Whitehead, all of whom played well in a challenging combination of blustery conditions and hard-bouncy greens.

After 5 matches to date, we are lying in second place, just 5 points behind the leaders Antrobus. However, we are now the only club not to have hosted the Tatton League. We will be hosting the final match on 10th September, when we hope that we can take advantage of the home fixture, and raise the trophy!

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Peter Herrity Trophy

We play for the Peter Herrity Trophy on Friday: 16 August. This is our annual charity competition.

To enter the competition, go the ‘Upcoming Competitions’ on the main Lymm Golf Club website. Scroll down to “Senior Section Peter Herrity Trophy” on 16 August, and enter the competition.

You must enter the competition online at least a day before you play. If you intend to play, and you have not already entered, do so now, to avoid the risk of forgetting. As in all LGC online competitions, you will not be able to enter on the day of play. Cards that have not been entered online will be disqualified from the competition, and will not qualify for handicap.

To remind you, the competition is 18 holes, off yellow tees. Entry fee, payable to Steve in the pro’s shop, is £5.

Enter your score on the I.G. app, and place your completed card into the competition box.

We are expecting Margaret Herrity to present the trophy to the winner, at lunchtime. Therefore, if you post a good score, and think you might be in contention for first place, please stay for the presentation.

2024 Seniors’ Championship, 6 September

We play our Seniors’ Championship on Friday 6 September. Listed below are all seniors who have qualified for this year’s competition. If you are unable to play, please inform Grahame Brickell, who will remove you from the tee-booking schedule.

1 Mike Bennett
2 Steve Bramall
3 Michael John
4 Keith Melia
5 Tommy Lawless
6 Les Williams
7 Pete Broady
8 Arthur Nuttall
9 Trevor Williamson
10 Dave Craggs
11 Peter White
12 Joe Priestner
13 Dave Meir
14 John Booth
15 Martin Franks
16 Eric Cox
17 John Armstrong
18 Mike Pigott
19 Paddy Moran
20 Ron Thornton
21 Grahame Brickell
22 Alan Copeland
23 John White
24 Colin Crail
25 Stuart Baird
26 Art Laird
27 Alan Thomas
28 ? (Mike Smith Trophy winner)
29 ? (Peter Herrity Trophy winner

Interclub friendly at home against Ringway GC

Match Report: David Donnell Jones (CoD)

On Friday, August 9^th, Lymm seniors played host to the visiting Ringway team in the latest round of the thrilling Matchplay series.

The morning was greeted with a cloudy, overcast sky, but this did little to diminish the buzz of excitement in the car park as players gathered their gear and exchanged friendly banter.

As the teams took to the course, the Ringway team was full of energy, eager to make their mark. However, as the clouds gave way to brights unshine, it became clear that the day was shifting in Lymm’s favour. One by one, the scores began to tip towards the home team. much to the growing concern of Ringway’s players.

Result:

Jeff Ashurst & David Donnell Jones, Won  1 up

Jeff Chapman & Russ Jones, Won  2 & 1

Phil Ormesher & Sammy Lee, Won 3 & 2

Alan Ranscombe & Arthur Laird, Won  7 & 6

Martin Lowe & Bob Mycock, Halved

Ian Whitehead & Dave Meir, Won  2 & 1

Barry Smith & Trevor Williamson, Won 1 up

Steve Bird & Barrie Simpson, Lost  3 & 2

Team score  Lymm  6 ½    Ringway  1 ½.

Among the day’s standout performances were Alan Ranscombe and Arthur Laird, a formidable 7 & 6 victory was the best of the day. Not to be outdone, Jeff Ashurst, produced a putting masterclass. Jeff’s steady hand and keen eye on the greens, delivered a great win in a very close match.

As the match concluded and the sun shone down on the patio, both teams gathered in the clubhouse to enjoy a well-deserved meal. The lively post- match conversations were filled with good – natured banter and detailed breakdowns of the day’s highlights.

All in all, it was a delightful day of golf. As the sun set on a beautiful day at Lymm Golf Club, both teams left with full bellies, satisfied smiles, and Ringway planning their revenge for the next encounter.

Bottle of Wine competition, alongside interclub match with Ringway

Reporter: Peter Willson

Dry breezy day and pleasantly warm

22 cards entered but only 19 players registered via IG site – if you don’t enter via IG you can’t win!

Winner: – Michael John – 35 points 

Second: – new member Howard Jones – 33 points

Third: – Joe Priestner – 32 points 

Happy Mondays competition – Monday 12th August 

Reporter: Peter Willson

A warm start turning into a hot day with a brief shower at first, but cloudy in the main and very humid at 29 deg. C

25 entrants

Game: Team Stableford 

We welcomed another new member to the section today – Tony Dixon – and he’s a winner on his 1st outing !!

Winners: Mike Bennett, Tony Dixon, Dave Waggitt, Les Williams – 30 points per player 

Second: Colin Chisnall, Alan Copeland, Alan Thomas – 29 ppp

Third: Andrew Cox, Dave Craggs, Bob Mycock, John White – 28.75 ppp

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 15 August)

Friday 30 August: Bottle of Wine competition, alongside our home match against Davyhulme.

Happy Monday’s tee-booking schedule:

Chairman’s Day, Friday 23rd August

If you are staying for food after the Chairman’s Competition (15 holes) a week on Friday, enter your name on the sheet on the seniors’ noticeboard, for catering purposes.

If you are entering the competition, you must pre-register in the normal way. Go to ‘Upcoming Competitions’ on I.G. App or LGC website, and select ‘Senior Section Chairman’s Day’ from the list.

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

Texas Scramble – Friday 2 August

Reporter: Paul Foster

A super summer’s day for the Texas Scramble fun day. A most enjoyable format which takes all the stress out of ‘not letting your team down’

Some great scores in from the 13 teams who participated, with 5 teams finishing under par gross. As usual lots of banter on the patio, especially when Ken Pearce announced his team had scored a net 38 for 15 holes…! After an inspection by Bob Mycock, that score was amended to 49, then when the suspicious card was even more carefully examined, the net score became 53…!

Good to see the half-way house in use, we should support the club and make full use of the facility provided. Paul Collins took full advantage of a voluptuous pork pie on offer, carefully packed into a heat retaining parcel complete with napkin. Paul made sure it was a low calorie pie before devouring it as we were passing ladies’ tee…!

Please check your handicaps before playing; there were a few incorrect ones entered on the score cards.

So to the results…

In 3^rd on a cpo was team Ellison, Chapman, Copeland & Pigott scoring a nett 49.

R/Up were team John, Nuttall, Chisnall & Thomas scoring 48.

Winner of the day on a cpo was team Broady (that man again) Hayes, Cox and Meir, scoring 48. Shooting birdies on 4, 10 and 15 and an eagle 2 on the 4^th !
Worthy winners indeed.

Happy Mondays – 5 August

Reporter: Peter Willson

A fine but cloudy day which brightened up towards the later stages and became warm at 20 deg.

Game:  Team Stableford

5 teams / 15 players 

Winners: Steve Barlow, Colin Chisnall, Alan Thomas and Tommy Lawless – 27.8 points per player 

Second: Mike Bennett and Les Williams – 27 points per player 

Please note: I have not created a Happy Monday booking schedule for this week because Monday 26 August is a bank holiday, and is not usually well supported. If you would like to play on Monday 26, book yourself in this coming Sunday evening.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow evening (Thursday 8 August)

Tomorrow we book the tees for Friday 23 August, which is Chairman’s Day and BBQ, organised by our outgoing chairman, Mike Bennett.

Peter Herrity Trophy

We play for the Peter Herrity Trophy next Friday: 16 August. This is our annual charity competition.

To remind you, the competition is 18 holes, off yellow tees. Entry fee, payable to Steve in the pro’s shop, is £5.

To enter the competition, go the ‘Upcoming Competitions’ on the main Lymm Golf Club website. Scroll down to “Senior Section Peter Herrity Trophy” on 16 August, and enter the competition.

You must enter the competition online at least a day before you play. If you intend to play, do it now, to avoid the risk of forgetting. As in all LGC online competition entries, you will not be able to enter on the day of play. Cards that have not been entered online will be disqualified, and will not qualify for handicap.

Welcome Russ Jones

Hello Seniors. I’d like to introduce myself to members of the senior section I haven’t met yet. I recently joined after passing my 61^st birthday. I’ve already have met some great guys and played in a couple of matches for the section.

I’ve been a member of Lymm GC since 2010 and have enjoyed most of my golf here in that time. I am married to Helen and have a daughter Hannah, both are not golfers, but interested in how I do.

I am a keen Liverpool fan, though don’t get to as many games as I used to, when I had a season ticket. I am an avid follower of Warrington Wolves, as a season ticket holder, and I’m a cyclist when I can fit it in with my golf.

I worked for Guinness as a Quality manager for 30 years and have the tattoos as a memory of some great times with the company.

I look forward to playing and meeting more members as the season progresses.

Thanks,
Russ

Mitre Cup

As usual, the senior section got thrashed by the ladies!

Newsletter Editor: Mark Pickles

This Friday (2nd August) we are having a ‘fun comp’. The format this year is Texas Scramble.

We are hoping to go out in teams of four.

Normal Texas Scramble rules apply. And note the following:

• 15-hole comp, stroke play.
• All four players must use at least three of their drives. Mark each individual’s drive on the scorecard.
• To calculate handicaps we will use the simpler method of 10% of the aggregate course handicaps:
  Add up your course handicaps, and divide by 10. Do not round up or down any figure after the decimal point.

If you need to go out in a team of three, use at least four drives each.

Lymm V Sale, interclub friendly, Friday 26 July

Reporter: Mike Bennett (CoD)

It was a very good day for Lymm, winning the match 6-2

Our guests from Sale not only enjoyed playing the course but also really appreciated the excellent lunch.

The results were as follows:

Mike Bennett & Mark Pickles: W 5&4
Ian Whitehead & Barry Smith: W 3&2
Trevor  Williamson & Mervyn Roberts: W 3&2
Paul Lennie & Sammy Lee: W 2&1
Andy Timms & Dave Meir: W 1up
Bob Mycock & Phil Perry: L 4&3
Russ Jones & Steve  Bird:  L. 2&1
Peter Willson & Barrie Simpson:   W 2&1

Hawkstone Park Away Day

Reporter: Mike Bennett

There were 16 players due to attend, but unfortunately Colin Crail went down with illness the night before and sadly missed the event.

Day 1
Playing Old Course 

All arrived safely and the sun was shining.

Playing for the Hawkstone trophy: a four-ball better ball pairs competition.

The results were:
1st Place with 38 points
Colin Chisnall and Mike Bennett

2nd Place also with 38 points 
Mike Kendall and Steve Gosling (ghost)

After the competition we enjoyed a few drinks before getting ready for dinner. Food excellent and the wine was flowing.

As is happens, the majority of the people in the dining room were from Lymm Golf Club as there were also 10 ladies from Lymm!

Surprisingly. most of the guys went to bed at a reasonable time in preparation for day two.

Day 2 (Best 3 scores counting) 
Playing Championship Course

When we tee’d off the weather was really good but after the front nine deteriorated to consistent rain.

The results were:

1st Place(with 108 points)
Alan Thomas , Jeff  Ashurst, Colin Chisnall, Mike Bennett

2nd Place (96 points)
Mike Kendal, Ken Pearce, John Hayes, Dave Craggs

After the competition Les Williams announced the results of the two days and presented the prizes.

Colin Chisnall and Mike Bennett won bottles of wine on both days so they decided to auction 2 bottles. This raised £35 courtesy of Jeff Ashurst, which will be donated to prostate cancer. 

A big thank you was extended to Les Williams by all the players for not only organising two superb days of golf but contributing significantly to the prize fund. When you think of what Les has gone through during the last six months it was a great effort on his part.

Everybody left the venue saying, “roll on next year”.

Bottle of Wine Comp, Friday 26 July (and problems signing in)

Reporter: Paul Foster

This comp ran alongside the home match against Sale.

In 3rd place was Eric Cox with 31pts, R/up was Brendan Laing with 32pts.
Winner of the day and the recipient of a specially selected bottle of wine from the brobdingnagian Gosling cellars was Peter Broady with an excellent 33pts.

Once again ‘dead eye’ Peter [ known to some of his friends as ‘Boring Broady’ ] hit every fairway off the tee.

Six members managed to sign in, and these names were shown on the results page on the club website. Pete Broady, amongst others, couldn’t sign in, hence Peter’s name wasn’t on the club website as the winner.

A bit of discombobulation occurred on the patio following the round where it was noted a number of players were able to sign in for the competition on the day, but others could not.

The club website incorrectly allowed a 3 hour time slot on the day to sign in, 11am till 2pm. Six members managed to sign in, and these names were shown on the results page on the club website.

Pete Broady, amongst others, couldn’t sign in, hence Peter’s name wasn’t on the club website as the winner.

This issue has now been resolved.

For all future Seniors Friday ‘Bottle of Wine’ competitions, members need to sign up in the usual way, up to 2 weeks in advance, and then drop your completed card into the box outside the pro shop.

Happy Mondays Game – 29th July 

Reporter: Peter Willson

A wonderfully dry, sunny day with some fluffy white clouds and a gentle breeze. Dry ground conditions and there is some run on the ball.

Game: Team Stableford 

The conditions certainly suited Mike Bennett who is continuing his recent run of great golf with 2 wins last week and being part of the winning team today – he scored a very impressive 41 points over the 15 holes played including 2 birdies – one for 5 points on the 7th 

Winners: Mike Bennett, Bob Mycock and Richard Yates – 28.7 points per player 

Joint Second: 
Tony Lambert, Phil Lomas and Steve Rowley /
Steve Bird, Phil Perry and Dave Waggitt

Both teams had 27.7 points per player

The Mitre Cup, Tuesday 6 August

Reporter: Mike Bennett

The Mitre Cup will be played next Tuesday

Here are the pairs, showing tee times, course handicap, and playing handicap:

11.06
Mike Bennett 24, 23,
Les Williams, 22, 21

11:15
Steve Gosling 17, 16 
Arthur Nuttall 20, 19                                    

11:24
Mark Pickles 8, 8
Peter Wilson, 23, 22

11.33
Ron Thornton  31, 30
Peter Broady 17, 17

11:42
Andy Timms  9, 9
Phil Perry 27, 25

11.51
John White  20, 19                                 
Rob Taylor 30, 28

12.00
Trevor Williamson 15, 14                            
Barry Smith 24, 23

12.09
Art Laird 25, 24                               
Phil Ormesher 25, 24

12.18
Keith Melia 23, 21                               
Jeff Ashurst 31, 30

12.27
Mike Pigott 4, 4                                     
Bob Ellison 22, 21

RESERVES :
Colin Hughes
Phil Lomas
Sammy Lee
Bob Mycock

Please note it is our intention to play the Competition over 15 holes. The format of the competition will be Four Ball Betterball, Stableford 95% of Course Handicap. Whilst your opponents are not yet established, this will be completed later today and will be put on the Senior Notice Board as from tomorrow. Please note that the Ladies have a Competition tomorrow, therefore you need to establish with your opponents their up to date Handicaps before commencing your Round. Should you wish to have a meal after the Competition, it is up to each player to organise this with Karen, prior to commencing your Round. If you could do this on the Monday, that would be even better.

IMPORTANT : Could all players selected, including Reserves, confirm their availability to Mike Bennett ASAP. 

email: bennett10@aol.com
mobile: 07866 603760

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 1 August) 

Tomorrow we will book tees for the Peter Herrity Trophy (our annual charity game). The trophy is played over 18 holes, yellow tees.

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 4 August

Obituary for George Winterburn

By Alan Thomas

I knew George on and off the golf course. We were part of a group of four couples who caravanned together often. George would keep us amused at our BBQ evenings, with tales of his travels and his job with Nuclear Fuels.

He was an avid reader, very knowledgeable, and eager to share his knowledge, not all of which greatly interested us! One example is a 30-minute explanation on the gauge of Spanish railway lines, which we never let him forget!

George’s interest in railways, and differences between national gauges, developed while employed at Sellafield, where he was tasked with supervising the movement of flasks (railway trucks) of nuclear waste around Europe.

As for golf: George was a member of LGC for about 40 years, and one of the original members of the senior section. He also enjoyed mixed competitions with his wife Christine. For three years, George helped me organise monthly social evenings at the golf club, which including booking artists, providing budgets, arranging meals and table planning.

George was an all-round good man, fairly quiet, but very knowledgeable, and who would help anyone out. It’s a cliché to say that he will be sadly missed, but for many of us at LGC and in Lymm in general, this rings very true with George Winterburn.

We send our heartfelt condolences to Christine, Rachel, Samantha and family.

George Winterburn’s funeral

The funeral will be held at Walton Lea Crematorium, Chester Road, Higher Walton. WA4 6TB. at 14:40 on Thursday 8th August.

The service will be followed by a reception for all family and friends, here at Lymm Golf Club.

We are light on news this week due to the fact that no senior events were held last Friday.

The Mike Smith Plate (singles knockout).

We have now reached the semi-final stage, with John Armstrong, Steve Barlow, Keith Melia and Peter Broady hoping to make it to the final:

Happy Mondays, 22 July

Game – Team Stableford 

6 teams – 17 players 

Dull, cloudy, soft wind and no rain – 20 deg. C

Winners: Alan Copeland, Steve Gosling and Phil Lomas – 29.3 points per player (ppp)

2nd: Steve Barlow, Eric Cox and Ron Thornton – 27.7 ppp

3rd: Les Fecitt, Ken Pearce and Peter Willson – 25.3 ppp 

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (25 July)

Please be ready to book at 8pm because 9th August will be a busy Friday morning, with a lot of competition for slots.

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule, for Sunday 28 July

Padeswood and Buckley Outing (4th July)

Reporter: John Hayes

[ Editor’s note: apologies for the late publication of John’s report. The original seemed to have got lost in the ether. ]

The club senior’s group arranged for 20 of us to enter the Senior Open at Padeswood and Buckley G C last Thursday. After the 45 minute drive from Lymm everyone arrived in good time to enjoy a bacon butty before the first tee time of 10 40 am. The course and surrounds were in great condition on the day, particularly the greens which were fast and true, causing one or two difficulties for the first few holes whilst adjustments to weight of putt were being made.

There was also an internal competition for our group, the winners and runners-up being awarded cash prizes for their efforts Eventually the winners in our group were our Senior’s Chairman Mike Bennet and Stuart Baird, with a better-ball score of 37 points, giving a narrow victory on count-back over second place score of 37 points by Ron Thornton and Dave Meir. In third place with 35 points were Dave Craggs and John Hayes. Well done, Mike and Stuart.

As to the main competition, Mike and Stuart’s excellent round meant that they finished in fourth place in the guest member section. The winners were on 40 points and the runners-up were both on 38 points. (In the home member section the winning score was 42 points).

The weather conditions were fine and free of rain but there was a fairly strong gusty wind and the temperature was a bit on the low side for the time of year.

One of our more modest members, Bob, was at pains to point out during the “apres-golf” socialising that there had been only one gross birdie made by our group, noting that it was made on the hardest hole on the course. He declined to say who had made this unique birdie but I have my suspicions.

[ Editor’s note: Did Bob claim that he hit his gap wedge 190 yards into the wind? ]

All in all it was a great day out with good golf in beautiful surroundings – we all look forward to repeating the experience next year.

Paddy beats his age !

Paddy Moran, age 79, scored 78 gross (40 points Stableford) in last week’s Gordon Wood Trophy.

We believe that Paddy is the first ever member of the senior section to beat his age in an official 18-hole competition. A rare feat indeed! Congratulations Paddy!

Gordon Wood Trophy – Friday 12 July

Reporter: Paul Foster

Forty four player took to the fairways, with some super scores. Five players scoring under par, three scoring a magnificent 40 pts.

In 3rd place was Paddy Moran with the low gross score of the day shooting 78.

In 2nd place was Trevor Williamson also with 40pts.

But top of the pile, and a richly deserved win was Alan Thomas,

again on 40pts, including a 2 at the 2nd, and a magnificent par at the 16th, (one of only 2 players to par the 16th).

Five players recorded 2s, these were; Paddy Moran, Mark Pickles, Alan Thomas, John White and Trevor Williamson..

There were five birdies recorded at the 11th even though it seems to get longer and narrower each time we play it.

A great day enjoyed by all, and many congratulations to Alan Thomas.

Lymm Golf Club Gents Hinson Cup – Wednesday 15 July

Reporter: Paul Foster

This was a club competition open to all club members over the age of 55, played off the white tees.

Senior section members had to be guided to the white tees, and introduced to the 16th tee..!

Sixty two player took part with four senior section members in the top ten. These were Michael John, Les Fecitt, Steve Barlow and winner of the Hinson Cup Martin Franks, who scored a splendid 40pts, shooting a gross 77 in the process.

Congratulations Martin…!!!

Happy Mondays – 5 July

Reporter: Peter Willson

A dry and partly sunny day with a light breeze and a tad warmer
6 teams took part – 20 players
Game – Team Stableford

Winners: Les Fecitt, Charlie Hill and Ron Thornton – 27 points per player
2nd: Alan Copeland, Ray Rigby, Peter Willson and Richard Yates – 26.75 points per player
3rd: Steve Bird, Eric Cox, Steve Gosling and Tommy Lawless – 24.75 points per player

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 18 July)

If you are named in the first column, please book tomorrow at 8pm for Friday 2nd August.

Note that 2 August will be our Fun Game. The format this year is Texas Scramble.

Happy Mondays tee booking:

Happy Mondays – 8 July

Reporter: Paul Foster

A super summer’s day for the Monday candidates.

Due to an away inter club friendly on the same day, just 4 teams ran for parliament.

Team stableford was the manifesto of the day, everyone played to the same rules with no spoilt ballots.

First past the post were; leader of the party Ray Rigby, ‘4 point’ Perry, ‘Muddy’ Lomas and Bocquet with an average score per person of 25.25pts. A landslide victory..!!

Runners up were; leader of the opposition ‘silly hat’ Fecitt, Rigby, Copeland, Booth and Waggitt with a score of 24.75pts per person.

In 3rd with a marginal seat were the coalition team of Chisnall, Thomas and Bramall

Alas, in 4th place (last….!) and this week’s monster raving looney party, were team ‘returning officer’ Foster, Rowley, and Tony Lambert (despite a super round from Tony) with a pathetic 21.66pts per person.

Anyone for a recount…????

Bottle of Wine Competition – Friday 5th July 

Held whilst Captain’s Charity Day competition being played: 

Winner: Alan Thomas – 31 points – on CPO 
2nd: Steve Gosling – 31 points
3rd: Tommy Lawless – 30 points CPO

Gordon Wood Trophy – Friday 12th July

We play for the Gordon Wood Trophy this Friday. This is an 18-hole annual competition, off yellow tees, for the senior section only. There is a monetary prize for the winner, and a trophy that will be presented at our annual business meeting at the end of the season.

Sign up for the competition in the Pro’s shop before you play. If you arrive before the Pro’s shop opens, write your name on a list that will be on the table, ready for Steve of Fizz to collect when they arrive.

Tee-booking schedule for tomorrow (Thursday 11 July)

Please try to ready to book at precisely 8pm, because Friday 26th will be a busy morning with potentially a lot of demand for free tee slots.

Happy Mondays tee-booking schedule for Sunday 14 July