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2016 again was an excellent year for the Ordnance Survey club. Most of the venues enjoyed good support as we played a mixture of courses some new whilst others have not been played recently. This year the club was led by the likeable, friendly and pleasant captain Robert (Bob) Bailey. Bob undoubtedly is the best player in the club. Our early season venue began in March with member visiting the par 3 course at Ampfield. This was a new venue and the outing was organised by Cliff Garvey and billed as a fun event as there was no cup up for grabs or Order of Merit Points. Cliff Garvey won the inaugural event with 35pts on countback from Pete Williams with Chris Dunn 3rd. At the beginning of April was the Captain's Scramble held again at Leckford. This is always a well-attended event with 36 taking part this year, both members and non-members. The winning quartet was Paul Taylor, Andy Evans, Mark Hunt and Duncan Munro with a net 61.2. Actually Andy, Mark and Duncan retained the trophy. The season started properly with the first outing held at a new venue of Newbury and Crookhorn. Newbury and Crookhorn Golf Club is a golf club located in Greenham, Berkshire. It is located about 2 miles from Newbury. It was established in 1873 and is ranked as the 6th best golf course in the county. The course was designed by J.H Turner and Howard Swan. In the morning the members played a bogey competition over 9 holes. Players in essence play match play against the course. The competition is played hole by hole. If a player makes a net birdie or better he wins that hole and marks it with a +. If a player makes a net bogey or worse he loses the hole and marks it down with a -. Using this format Trevor Coupland won with +2 with Paul Taylor second (+1) and Kris Drudge 3rd (0). Before the afternoon competitions got under way Captain Bailey drove in as is the custom and this time the ball was collected by Malcolm Fletcher. In the afternoon the members participated in the traditional competitions. The Chessington Cup was won by Chris Dunn with a net 70 with Don Hobbs second and Paul Taylor third. The London Road Shield was won by the captain, Bob Bailey with a Gross 78 with Paul Taylor and Chris Dunn on Gross 80. The next event on the calendar at the end of May was the club championship held at the Southampton city golf course. Again this was held over 18 holes. With Both Baileys in the field you would think it would be odds on the winner would be one of them. Alas the winner of the club championship was Geoff Dear with a Gross 79 with Darren Bailey second and Chris Dunn third. It was Geoff’s second club Championship win 10 years after his first in 2006. Geoff also won the TM Baker to complete the double on the day with a net 67 with Simon Bevan runner-up and Mark Hunt third. At the beginning of June the Survey visited a new venue again near Newbury called Donnington Valley. This was the first of the 18 hole outings for 2016 playing for the Topo Trophy. The parkland course is set in beautiful rolling countryside, and is a challenging 6353 yards, 18 hole, par 71 from the back tees. Although some of the holes are quite forgiving the closing four holes are regarded as one of the toughest finishes in the county, with water featuring prominently on 15th, 16th and 17th holes. This year there was a new name on the cup with Trevor Coupland scoring a superb 38pts to win the trophy with Simon Bevan second and Bob Bailey third. In July the OS travelled to Bramshaw Golf Club to play the forest course where the Roger Martin Memorial Trophy was on offer. Built in 1880, the forest Course is the oldest course in Hampshire with its open aspects and rolling heathland. The ever-changing scenery of humps, hollows and meandering streams test golfing skills and judgement within an idyllic setting. The last time the OS had visited Bramshaw was in 2006. If belonging to Bramshaw and playing regularly on the forest was and advantage this certainly helped the winner to lift the trophy. Don Davies scored a magnificent 41pts to win with another member Kevin Jones second with Paul Taylor third. The August outing and the highlight of the year as far as the captain is concerned is Captains Day held this year at Ogbourne Down Golf Club. Last visited in 2002 when Steve Richards was Captain, on offer on this outing was the Captains prize played for over 36 holes and the Stableford Decanter played for over 18 holes during the afternoon round. With rounds of 36pts and 39pts, Malcolm Fletcher brought home the Captains prize with Cliff Garvey second and Geoff Dear third. Malcolm also triumphed in the decanter with the 39pts in the afternoon round. Darren Bailey was second and Cliff Garvey third. The last event of the year is the Autumn Flag and for those over 55 the Veterans cup. This year we had a new venue for this competition which was Burley Golf Course. This year the winner went up the 20th hole with Don Hobbs finishing 2ft from the hole. Malcolm Fletcher came second finishing on the 19th Green with Dave Case 3rd. Don Hobbs also won the Veteran’s Cup with a net 65 with Malcolm Fletcher 2nd and Dave Case 3rd. It was the 2nd time Don has completed this double. One of the highlights of the day at Burley was an invasion of pigs across the golf course. The Match Play events ran throughout the year as usual. Don Hobbs retained the Bentley Cup by beating Kris Drudge on the 2nd hole sudden death at the Southampton city course. In the Bob Sevage trophy Don Hobbs and Chris Dunn retained the trophy beating Andy Evans and Paul Taylor 2 and 1 at Romsey Golf Club and in the Match Play Cup Kris Drudge beat Andy Evans 3 and 2 at the New Forest Golf Club. The social matches this year were organised by the vice-captain Trevor Coupland. The season opener against Qintiq in June went the way of the visitors.The OS team lost 1.5 to 2.5. I'm afraid the matches against Southampton Golf Club for the Survey Cup was cancelled as was the Bowdrey Cup against Southampton Golf Club and the MOGS. The match between the retired and the in-house went the way of the retired by 2-1 and the last social match between the Captain and Vice-Captain was won by the vice-captain team 2-1. In other social Match this year Cliff Garvey won the 10th Past Captains Cup at Leckford. Other winners to mention is 2016, Chris Dunn retained the order of Merit with a total of 876pts, 2nd was Kris Drudge with 608pts and Darren Bailey 3rd with 575pts and Malcolm Fletcher 4th with 550pts. Andy Evans retained the Chairman’s Cleek with 216pts for the best 3 scores from the 4 outings. Chris Dunn retained the 72 hole competition and Stefan Wells won the Eclectic for the second time. Chris Dunn won the Christmas competition and the Easter Competition. In 2016 records tumbled as usual. Chris Dunn won the Chessington Cup for a record 5 times and Bob Bailey triumphed in the London Road Shield for a record 13th time. In The Bob Sevage Trophy Hobbs and Dunn won the cup for a record 10th time and also won it three times in a row which is also a record. Chris Dunn also won the 72 hole Stroke Play Cup for record 6th time and retained the Order of Merit for a record 11th time. On a sad note it was announced this year that the 1966 captain Alan Oakenfull had passed away. Alan was very active and supportive member of the club in his younger days. His dry sense of humour will be sorely missed. Looking forward to 2017 our new Captain is Trevor Coupland. We hope you will join was us to give Trev our support and wish him a successful year as Captain.
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