|
After another "average"
summer we were fortunate with the weather on most of the outings, the
first of which took place at Crane Valley near Verwood on 1st May. The
recipient of the Titleist Pro V1 ball for the captain's drive -in was
Mike Purvis. Bob Bailey won the London Road Shield with a gross 75, and
Stefan Wells won the Chessington Cup with a net 71. The afternoon stableford
competition was won by Phil Hill with 36 pts.
The Club Championship was held on 21st May at our home course, Southampton
Municipal and it was certainly Phil Blakeman's day. He took the major
prize with a gross 154 (77,77), and also recorded the best net score of
134 to take the T.M. Baker Trophy.
There was more good weather for the next outing at Knighton Heath on June
11th, a course that 's been enjoyed in the past. The morning competition
saw the Topo Trophy being competed for and was won by Alan Bush with a
net 70. The Afternoon Decanter going to Bob Bailey with 38 pts.
The first 18 hole outing took place at Southwick Park G.C. near Portsmouth
on 16th July. Steve Richards carded a net 60 to win the Roger Martin Trophy.
Wickham Park was the venue for the second 18 hole outing on 7th August
playing for the Captain's Scramble Shield. The format was a team stableford
using the Dubai method of scoring. Don Davies, John Clift and Dave Long
triumphed with 84 pts. Mention must be made of Pete Williams who scored
an individual 46 pts and was badly let down by his partners.
The highlight of the year saw 27 members travel to Swansea for the Captain's
Prize and to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the club. The 3 day event
started on Sunday 16th August at Machynys Peninsular G.C. just south of
Llanelli - a flat course with plenty of water to test shot accuracy. A
fresh westerly breeze and occasional drizzle made for tricky conditions.
Stableford scores ranged from 22 to 38 points with Gordon Brading and
Phil Wyndham on 38 and Phil Blakeman on 36.
Accommodation was at The Dragon Hotel in the centre of Swansea where day
2 would involve making the journey towards the Gower to take on "The
Links in the Sky" that is Pennard G.C. The leaders from Machynys
would go out last so the captain retained his place at the head of the
field playing with Rob Telling and Rob Knowlton. The weather was fine
but, again, breezy - this challenging course was conquered by Phil Wyndham
with 43 pts. Cliff Garvey was second with 34 and Stefan Wells third with
32. Phil Wyndham was presented with the Captain's Prize after the evening
dinner back at The Dragon Hotel. This was followed by an open draw to
decide the order of play for day 3, the 75th Anniversary competition,
before everyone was let loose to sample the Swansea night life again.
The final day was played at a more traditional course, Ashburnham near
Burry Port. The day started well with some confusion over the start time
but the first group were ready and teed off at 9.35 a.m.
At the presentation, Chairman Cliff Garvey gave a short speech on the
history of O.S.G.C. Mike Purvis came in with 39 pts to claim the top prize
of an engraved glass tankard with Kevin Jones (35) and Keith Davies, your
captain for 2009 (33) each receiving an engraved whiskey tumbler. Thanks
to Norman Hardisty who was unable to attend but donated a dozen balls.
Over the 3 days 14 members won some sort of prize and a big thank you
to Kevin Jones for organizing the whole event - I'm sure everyone enjoyed
themselves!
The final outing of the year was the traditional Autumn Flag and Veteran's
Cup held at Bramshott Hill G.C. (Dibden) in mid October. The weather was
overcast but dry and six members managed to go beyond the 18th and down
the first fairway. Pete Williams took both trophies with a net 63 and
then used his remaining seven shots to place his flag in the first hole.
Steve Richards was 2nd just 1 metre away from the hole.
Finally the year has flown by and we can now look forward to O.S. golf
in 2010 and wish our next Captain all the best for a successful year.
|