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Fred Howe Winter Cup – a Stableford Competition – Final Round 23 July 2016

Chris getting it.
Gimme, gimme, gimme….
Chris wins again
The cat that got the cream.

What a day!  It was dark, it was cold and there were lines of showers streaming in from the south-west.  How many would show was the big question amongst the early risers?  Maybe there would be some easy points provided that we got our six for a quorum.  As it turned out, everybody who said they would be here last week turned up and, although he was having some doubts about whether to start or not, Trevor was here as well.  Trevor was out having some practice when he rushed in with the news that it was raining again which sent shivers down the spine both actually as well as metaphorically.  Lo and behold, when the first group repaired to the tee, there was nary a cloud to be seen though the wind was blowing and it was bitingly cold.  By the looks of it, the Pro-shop has been doing a roaring trade in winter gloves.  One member was moved to comment that it was a bit like playing in a cross between a washing machine and a tumble dryer though I think that a tumble dryer might have been a bit warmer than it was today.

So, the question now was, would Whitey be able to hang onto his lead or was there anybody in the pack who could run him down and, if so, how far would they have to run to do it.  As it turned out, it looks as if Fred is up there somewhere looking out for his kith and kin (or maybe he is just lurking somewhere around the 17th tee).  So, cold and wind and an unfortunate mishap on the way home from hospital during the week seems to have inspired Chrispy to put his new weaponry to the ultimate test and he came home with a very impressive 41 stableford points from a 72 off the stick for a grand total of 76 points for the event.  A fine round in anybody’s terms.  So, for the second year in a row, the name Priems will be going on the Fred Howe.  Unfortunately for Rob, he wasn’t able to summon up the scores necessary to make it back to back.

It would have to be said that Whitey made a fair fist of it overall but missed out on a share of the top spot by three shots.  Unfortunately, it seems to have taken him about 11 holes to really warm to the task and he was really blitzing it down the home straight with the whip fairly flailing but by that time the horse had bolted and Rod had to settle for second place with a still pretty respectable 73 points for the event.  Things were obviously a bit tense on the 14th after a ‘chunked’ chip led to what might be termed tree abuse but a second chip and a putt still handed him a par so obviously things were going all right.

Bill also seems to have taken a few holes to warm up and he wasn’t able to capitalise as much as he would have liked on the holes that he had strokes on and in the end a couple of gashes and a handful of singletons cost him dearly in the race to the line.  A nice round 70 points for the event was enough to garner third place in the field.  Matt was another one that was right up there with a good chance to take it all but things didn’t quite go to plan and Matt could only manage 30 points today but that was enough to get the points for 4th place, a position that he had to share with his partner in crime (fighting), SOS.  SOS was being spooked by shadows today which was something that wasn’t really expected early on.  While players and gear can be moved, the shade cast by trees is just a bit more problematic.

And, finally, there was Bob.  Nothing spectacular, but consistent across the two weeks and that was enough to slot him into 5th place and keep the points ticking over in both the main Championship and in the Seniors.  Whilst he is well up there in the main event, the new leader, Chrispy, has a fair margin over the main part of the field and a bit of a buffer ahead of Brendon who is desperately trying to think of ways to farm out the children over the next month or so when baby-sitting duties seem to have priority.

The ProPin today was on the 12th and quite a few people made it to the green but who were not able to get their name on the card until Rob managed to get it to 2.79m.  Harry would have liked to make the competition the nearest pitch mark to the pin as his would have been hard to beat.  Unfortunately the run went beyond the qualifying distance.  Rob did manage to make the birdie and that was one of 11 that were carded today.  As a result, there were only a few movements on the Eclectic Table other than those due to handicap changes but Bill, JohnQ, Paul and Whitey were on the list of improvers.

The BallPin was supposed to be on the 15th.  The markers had been given to Trev as a man with a trustworthy look about him.  Obviously, nobody in the group made it onto the green there and so the marker was ‘forgotten’ and had to be ensconced on the 18th as a last resort.  In the end, the ball went to CraigC who still needed a couple of putts to get it into the hole.  Perhaps this is part of his campaign to get his handicap let out since he was heard dropping hints about the handicapper taking pity on him after the round.  Afraid there’s no more to be had, Craig.

Chris and Rob were playing together (again) and Rob lined up on the 14th and landed his drive amongst the next group gathered on the 15th tee.  Pin high again but just a smidgen off line after last week’s effort.  Chris, who is noted for his ‘power fade’ managed to hook his severely to who knows where but obviously well out of bounds.  Chris played his provisional and then as they walked down the track, what should be lying at the bottom of the hill but Chris’ distinctive pink ball.  Whether it hit a house or a tree is unclear but Chris reckons that he should have known better than to doubt that when he and trees are involved, something good usually results.

On the 13th, Blighty was on the slope at the back of the green for two.  The lad was on fire, having come in with a very impressive 39 points on the day.  His chip down to the green, not easy off the slope, managed to hit the GUR marker dead centre and the ball dropped dead in the sand.  Still, it could have been worse, it might have missed and run off the other side of the green given the location and that green.

Brendon was out and about with the kids for some sauce art at the bar-be-cue and a bit of putting with the brand new kids set of clubs.  Brendon seemed to be making a reasonable fist of putting with a half metre long putter.  Maybe we’ll see him out on the course with it in the near future.  Not sure what it is with the Club membership at the moment but the vast majority seem to be in the process of moving house, if not for themselves, at least for somebody else.  Blighty and JohnQ were the ones dashing off today for a session of lifting and lugging.

The Birthday Birdie is going to be exhausted this week as he will have to wing his way all the way to Yankee-land if he is going to wish Oliver well for his up-coming special day.

Results for Saturday, 23 July 2016
1st Chris Priems(35, 41, 76) 2nd Rodney White(39, 34, 73) 3rd Bill Eastoe(38, 32, 70) 4th Stephen O’Sullivan(35, 33, 68) 4th Matt Hunt(38, 30, 68) 5th Bob McDonald(34, 32, 66)

Seniors Results: 1st Bill Eastoe (32,38,70) 2nd Bob McDonald (32,34,66) 3rd Andrew Blight (39,25,64)

Nearest the Pin Results: ProPin 12th Robert Priems BallPin 18th Craig Cameron