A collection of match reports during the 2015 season.
WW2015 - Season Review
With 30 full members 2015 was always going to be our biggest challenge to date, but even I was surprised at the enthusiasm and sheer numbers of the members playing this year. The 2015 Wanderers season started way back in late March at South Shields golf club, a match dominated by the weather which turned out to set the standard for the season. Over the last seven months we have had horizontal hailstones at Shields and monsoon conditions at Throston, from gale force winds at Ripon to a calm and sunny day at Stocksfield, it feels like we have had the lot. Whatever the weather the turnout this year has been amazing so here's the first of Gunny's “Statto” bits for the 2015 season-
2015 saw the highest number of active members, 30 have played 2 or more rounds, the previous highest was 25 in 2008.
This season also saw our highest attendance, with an average of 22 players per round.
The average points score per player, per round was 31.2 points
And the average winning score was 41.3 points.
Our popular Team Challenge day changed venue this season, in the past we have used Castle Eden and Wearside for this event, this year we chose our second home Houghton. As it turned out it was an inspired choice, with warm sunny weather and an excellent turn out the day was a great success. On the day the Chairman's team (led by Jim Rooks in Chairman Paul Marshall's absence) won a very tight battle by 9 1/2 points to 8 1/2 points against the Champions team led by Dave Sanders. Click HERE for a full report.
Another of our regular events the Weekend Away trip followed quickly on the heels of the Team Challenge day. Following on the success of last year we picked North Yorkshire again for the venue and once again it was enjoyed by all involved. The winner and recipient of "The Claw" for this year was Eddie Harrison who won by a considerable margin of 10 points. A big thank you must go to Dennis Williams for booking the courses and accommodation and also to John Ford for ensuring we were suitably fed and watered. Click HERE for a full report.
Now for the main, season long, competitions (the Nearest the Pin, Longest Drive, Two's Pot and of course the Main Championship) with the increase in membership the competition was greater than ever. An indication of this is that over the sixteen rounds we had twelve different round winners and no one player has won more than two rounds.
The Nearest the Pin competition was pretty much a one horse race this year, won by Jim Rooks with 5 wins. Jim had the category sealed up with with 3 rounds still to play. The Longest Drive category however went all the way to the final match of the season. John Ford and Paul Baker went into the match with 3 round win's each, Rico Liverani & John Pringle were both still in the hunt with 2 round wins and could have forced a play-off. As it was Paul Baker won on the final day giving him 4 round wins and the Longest Drive category win.
As for the Two's Pot, well you may have noticed we Wanderers are not really renowned for our accuracy and this season was to be no different. Here's the last of Gunny's Statto bit's for this year-
We played a total of 63 par 3 holes and all the massed rank's of Wanderers could manage was a measly 20 "two's" between us all season!
The lack of accuracy did play into Jim Rooks hands, making him approximately £140 better off by way of winning Tim's Two's Pot.
Our annual knockout competition the Tim Aberdeen Memorial Shield produced some epic battles along the way. The final this year was played at Houghton between between Eddie Harrison and Russell Byrne with Russell coming out on top sealing a 2&1 win over Eddie. This competition takes a lot of administration and organising and I, on behalf of all who took part, would like to thank John Ford for his persistence and patience. Click HERE for a full report.
Now for the big one, the Main Championship and the race for the Claret Jug. As has become traditional this year the Championship went all the way to the wire with three players still in with a shout going into the final round, Derek Griffiths, Dave Sanders & Frank Birch. On Finals day only one of the three increased their total, Derek Griffiths increased by 5 points but it wasn't quite enough. In third place overall was the defending Champion Dave Sanders with 352 points. Thanks to those 5 points Derek Griffiths overtook Dave taking second place with a total of 354 points. Last but certainly not least the winner and our new Champion Golfer for 2015 is Frank Birch with a total of 357 points.
On behalf of the whole Society I would like to congratulate our new Champion Frank and all our winners. I would also take this opportunity to thank our Corporate Sponsors Fred Stoddart Ltd, DCS Payroll and DESCO for their support throughout the season, without their financial assistance we would not have been able to deliver the programme we did at the same cost to you all. For further information on our Corporate Sponsors click HERE.
Finally thanks to all our members who have supported the Society this year and made the 2015 season our best yet. Let's hope for more of the same in 2016.
WW2015 - Tim Aberdeen Memorial Shield
My first round against Peter Anderson was by far the easiest…….I had a bye, so that was painless! But then the difficulty started on the first tee of the Priestman course at Slaley as I started the second round against Paul Rawlinson. Luckily, the weather was nice and the conversation was flowing so we had a good start to the day….until I hooked two balls off the 1st tee. Before I knew it I was about 5 down at the turn and thinking I'm off home for an early pint! Luckily, I pulled Paul back in and managed to pinch the round on the 17th hole finishing 2&1.
The third round draw was kind as I had home advantage once again, this time against Gordon Grant. Again we had a good day for it. The course was quiet so we were both in good spirits. The first tee was a lot more generous this time and I got off to a good start. I got a good lead up before the turn, but Gordon came back strong (as I knew he would) and clutched a few holes back. Thankfully, I managed to stop the rot and close out on the 16th hole finishing 3&2.
For round 4 I was drawn away to Frank Birch. I asked Frank if he wanted to play it out at Prudhoe when the society were playing but he wanted home advantage, and quite rightly so. We decided to play the following day at Houghton, which I am very pleased he did because I was terrible at Prudhoe! We picked a dry day at Houghton and nipped out right before a society, so we had a fairly quiet course ahead. It was a good game, good craic and it was a lot closer then the score line reflected. Thankfully I putted really well and ultimately sealed it on the 15th with a good putt if I remember rightly, finishing 4&3.
The final was against Eddie Harrison and we decided to play Houghton. It was forecast for heavy rain but we chanced it anyway and got lucky….for a while. I was surprised it was Eddie, I thought it may have been Andy Trewick but somehow he overcame an operation from a few weeks earlier. Needless to say it didn't affect him any! Bombing drive after drive he didn't miss many fairways. It's tough to follow that on the tee nearly every hole. But I stuck with him and got it to dormi. Then the heavy rain came…. and Eddie was relentless, holing puts and hitting fairways, winning 4 Holes in a row but I finally crossed the line on the 17th, winning 2&1.
I had a great time in the competition and needless to say I had great company who brought the best out of me throughout. I wasn't lucky enough to meet Tim Aberdeen, but everyone speaks so highly of him. It's great that this competition is named after him and I'm proud to have won it.
Russell Byrne, 2015 Aberdeen Shield Champion.
WW15/16 - DESCO Wearside Finals Day, Sunday 11/10/15
As is traditional Wearside Golf Club hosted our annual season ending celebration and as usual we were not disappointed. As requested we all gathered in the clubhouse early ..... Even Rico!! ready to do battle for the final time this season. Following a very nice bacon butty (and 3 cups of coffee to wake me up) we headed out onto the course in our fourball groups. I must be honest and say I have seen Wearside in better condition (also in FAR worse condition too). The greens don't seem to have recovered as well as usual following their earlier hollow tining and/or scarification, having visible "tram lines" in quite a few places. Of course at this time of year there is always a lot of dew on the grass on a morning, this meant there was very little run on the fairways and the ball tended to stop a lot quicker. On the whole everyone seemed positive about the day in general.
Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place (on countback) was - Paul Marshall with 37 points.
In second place was - Gordon Grant also with 37 points.
And the winner of the sixteenth and final round of the 2015 season with 39 points was Rico Liverani.
In this report I will deal with the results of round 16 only, I will cover the result of the main Championship and the individual category winners in the season review. On the day the Nearest the Pin category was won by Frank Birch with 4.8m, his second category win in a row. The Longest Drive category was won by Paul Baker with his fourth round win of the season. Fittingly, given our overall level of accuracy there was only 1 "Two" carded at Wearside, this time by Dennis Williams. Please see the season review below for further details.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
Well that's another season over, our next Society gathering will be our annual Xmas dinner and pre-season meeting in early 2016, I hope to see you all there ready to do battle for the Claret Jug once again.
WW15/15 - Stocksfield, Sunday 27/9/15
Well you wait all season for a fair weather match and then two come at once. I have a suggestion for next year, maybe we should start the Wanderers season in September! Stocksfield has been a Wanderers regular since we first started and in the past the course has suffered from ground water saturation. This year I hoped it would be better given the recent good weather, though it was improved it still wasn't perfect. The front nine holes, being tight and tree lined are among the toughest we have faced this season, that combined with the damp ground and heavy dew made the opening nine a very tough test. The back nine holes are a lot more forgiving with a more open layout and wider fairways, though it still has it's fair share of hazards with trees, bunkers and gradient changes it's certainly not easy.
Historically this is never a high scoring round and this visit was no exception. Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place was - Ian Gunn with 35 points.
In second place was - Russell Byrne (on count back) with 37 points.
And the winner of the fifteenth round also with 37 points was Frank Birch.
This result has put Frank Birch back at the top of the league with 357 points. Dave Sanders has slipped back to second position, 5 points behind Frank. Derek Griffiths remains in third place on 349 points. With one round left it's still all to play for, we will soon find out who will be crowned Champion and lift the Claret Jug for 2015.
Now for the Nearest the Pin, the category has already been decided, Jim Rooks is the champion with 5 round wins but there was still the honour of winning on the day. As we sat outside in the sunshine waiting for everyone to return we thought Jim had won yet another round (having put his tee shot to just 1.1m from the hole). Then the news came in that Frank had managed to put his tee shot just 1m from the hole so Frank took the win. Just to round off a clean sweep on the day Frank also won the Longest Drive category, I bet he wished we played here every match! The category is still jointly led by Paul Baker and John Ford with three round wins each. There were 2 "Two's" carded at Stocksfield, one by ....... you've guessed it, Frank and the other by Jim. This means we finally have an oughtright leader in the race to Tim's Big Money Pot as Jim now has 3 Two's.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
The sixteenth and final meeting of the 2015 season, our annual Finals day celebration will be at our home course, Wearside in two weeks time. I will be sending out full details, including a starting sheet after the cut off date next Saturday, hope to see you all there.
WW15/14 - Prudhoe, Sunday 6/9/15
At last, after fourteen rounds of the 2015 season Prudhoe provided us with perfect weather conditions, sunny, mild and calm with just a light breeze to cope with. This is in contrast to last year when we needed two attempts to play here, both marred by poor weather conditions. Prudhoe isn't the longest course we will play but what it lacks in length it makes up for in variety with some very nice and some very testing holes. As is usual at this time of the year the greens had recently been hollow tined and top dressed though they were still quite fast and reasonably true (in my opinion that is).
This is another course of two halves, the front nine is relatively easy and the back nine is far tougher, that was reflected in the scoring with most players making the bulk of their score going out. Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place (on count back) was - Dave Fletcher with 36 points.
In second place (also on count back) was - Steve Grant with 38 points.
And the winner of the Thirteenth round also with 38 points, taking his second round win of the season was Paul Baker.
With just two rounds left and even though he hasn't played the last two matches Dave Sanders still stays at the top of the table with 352 points. Frank Birch has moved back into second place closing the gap to only 2 points. Derek Griffiths, who also missed Prudhoe slips back to third place on 349 points, one point behind Frank. This season is still too close to call as 6 players are still in with a chance of lifting the Claret Jug with two rounds still to play.
The Longest Drive category was won by Paul Baker, his third round win this season meaning we have a tie once again as both Paul and John Ford have three round wins. Now for the Nearest the Pin category, as last weekends match at Garesfield was cocked-up somewhat it was decided we would discount the Garesfield round and have two holes at Prudhoe. The winner of the first hole was Andy Trewick with 11.6m and the winner of the second hole was Gordon Grant with 3.25m. Those results mean we have our first category winner of the 2015 season, Jim Rooks has won the category with 5 round wins and 2 games to play, congratulations Jim. There were no "Two's" carded at Prudhoe so there is still a 4 way tie between Derek, Jim, Dave Sanders & Andy all with 2 "two's" each in the race to Tim's Big Money Pot.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
The meeting is the penultimate match of the 2015 season, our next gathering will be at Stocksfield in three weeks time. Hope to see you all there.
WW15/13 - Garesfield, Sunday 30/8/15
Garesfield is a scenic parkland course perched on top of a hill providing stunning views down the Tyne valley and across the region as far as Blyth in the north east. This is our third visit to this course and even though I have never played it well I always look forward to coming here to play. The conditions on the day were close to perfect for the 18 players (17 members and one guest player) as we gathered in the clubhouse with warm, calm and above all DRY weather. The course was generally in very good condition. The first time we visited Garesfield a few years ago the greens were in very poor condition. The then greenkeeper had applied fertilizer to the greens but forgot to water it in causing patches of bare dead grass on most of the greens. Since then there has been a vast improvement giving us fast and true greens that were very difficult to read in some cases.
Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place was - Rico Liverani with 37 points.
In second place was - Dave Fletcher with 39 points.
And the winner of the Thirteenth round taking his first Society round win was Mike Murray with an excellent 43 points.
Even though he didn't play Garesfield Dave Sanders stays at the top of the table with 352 points. Derek Griffiths has moved up into second place only 3 points behind Dave with a total of 349 and Frank Birch slips back to third place also with 349 (tie decided by the number of round's played). This is beginning to look like on of the closest seasons ever with 6 players in with a chance of lifting the Claret Jug with three rounds still to play.
The Longest Drive category was won by John Ford, his third round win this season giving him the overall lead finally breaking the deadlock in the category. The Nearest the Pin category caused some controversy as the players in the first group out forgot to leave the tape measure and result sheet at the designated hole. It was decided we would therefore use the 18th hole for the competition but this was not communicated down the line to all players. After a lively discussion it was decided we would discount this round and have two holes at the next round (Prudhoe). Jim Rooks still leads this category with 5 round wins though there are still 4 holes to count time is running out to catch him. There was 1 "Two" carded at Garesfield by Rico Liverani, there is still a 4 way tie between Derek, Jim, Dave Sanders & Andy all with 2 "two's" each in the race to Tim's Big Money Pot.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
There are now only three rounds remaining of the 2015 season, our next gathering will be at Prudhoe next weekend, please remember this round is a week earlier than first published. Let's hope we don't have a repeat of the monsoon conditions and lightning that caused the postponement of our first visit here last year. Hope to see you all there.
WW15/12 - Tyneside, Sunday 16/8/15
Tyneside is the oldest inland course in the North East and as such is a true mature parkland course with tree lined fairways and some very scenic holes. Usually we play Tyneside either early or late in the season and as such we have never seen the course in perfect condition so I had high hopes for this visit. Sadly the course was let down by two things, firstly the greens which had recently been hollow tined making putting a bit of a lottery. Secondly, and this was my observation having spent some time in them, the bunkers were very poor with a dusting of compacted sand covering the clay base. There were also quite a few bunkers with water in them, though this may be understandable given the heavy rain on Friday. At least the weather played ball for the most part with warm, sunny and calm conditions for most of the round.
I was expecting 17 players but 18 players turned up as one member was signed up both to play AND be unable to attend. As it turned out this wasn't a problem as this event wasn't over subscribed and the extra player made the numbers even. To prevent this happening again I have disabled the ability to say you are "Unable to Attend" on the Society Golfing website, If you can't play please just drop me am Email to let me know.
Generally the scoring was excellent so the condition of the greens and bunkers didn't cause too many problems. Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place was - Paul Marshall with 40 points.
In second place was - Paul Baker with 41 points.
And the winner of the Twelfth round with 42 points was defending Champion Dave Sanders, his second round win of the season.
This result puts Dave Sanders back at the top of the table again with 352 points. Frank Birch has moved up into second place, 6 points behind Dave with a total of 346 points. The previous leader Derek Griffiths slips back to third place a further 3 points adrift with 343. All in all the race for this years Champion still appears to be going all the way to the wire.
The Longest Drive category produced an amazing result. It wasn't the fact that Dave Fletcher won it but it was the way he won it. He drove 377 yards to the back of the 18th green! I was in his group, along with John Ford and we all knew he had well and truly spanked it as well as getting a massive bounce however we couldn't find Dave's ball (or mine for that matter). It was only once we all reached the green we noticed a ball right at the back about 1 foot from running off, Dave checked it and it was his ball, an absolute monster drive. Commiserations go to Dave Coates who thought he had won. The category is still lead by Paul Baker, John Ford, Rico Liverani and John Pringle all having 2 wins each.
The Nearest the Pin category was won by the runaway category leader Jim Rooks who took his fifth win this season with 1.14m, with four rounds left time is running out to catch him. There were 3 "Two's" carded at Tyneside, one each by Dave Fletcher, Jim Rooks & Andy Trewick. There is now a 4 way tie between Derek, Jim Dave Sanders & Andy all with 2 "two's" each in the race to Tim's Big Money Pot.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
With four rounds remaining we are rapidly heading towards the climax of the 2015 season and our next gathering will be at Garesfield in two weeks time, I hope to see you all there.
WW15/11 - City of Newcastle, Saturday 1/8/15
I first visited City of Newcastle Golf Club as a guest of the WSP Golf Society way back in the late 90's and I remember being impressed at how quiet and tranquil the course was considering it's location. Almost 20 years later and it still amazes me that a patch of land set in the suburbs of the second largest city in the North East can be home to such a place. The only thing that has changed other than the trees being taller (or me getting smaller!) was the hum of the traffic flow on the western bypass and the increased number of jets taking off or landing at Newcastle Airport. Before the game we were told to keep an eye out for the deer that have made the course their home, true to form I missed them but quite a few of our players spotted them while out on the course. Thankfully for the deer we have no dentists in our ranks, though, given our accuracy record, they may have been in more danger hiding in the woods than standing in the middle of the fairways!
We had an excellent turn out of 20 players on the day and the general consensus on the course was very positive, with comments made about the greens in particular. It would appear the course was enjoyed by most as only 2 out of the 20 members carded scores below 30 points, a total that has been known to win rounds before now. It wasn't as though Newcastle was an exceptionally easy course either, with long tight tree lined fairways and plenty of bunkers waiting to grab your balls (oo-err missus!). One thing of note was the strange stroke indices i.e. a 147 yard, straight par 3 with the stroke index of 9 then another par 3 of 191 yards over a blind crest with an index of 12! very strange.
Right, now for the scoring, following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place on countback was - Paul Rawlinson with 38 points.
In second place, once again on countback was - Ian Gunn with 41 points.
And the winner of the eleventh round also with 41 points was Derek Griffiths.
This result means we have yet another change at the top of the leader board with Derek Griffiths back at the top of the table again with 343 points. Paul Rawlinson has moved up into second place 2 points behind Derek with a total of 341 points. Frank Birch is now in third place a further 1 point adrift with 340. All in all the race for this years Champion appears to be going all the way to the wire.
The Longest Drive category was won by the previous round's winner Paul Baker, his second category win this season putting him into a four way tie for the lead with John Ford, Rico Liverani and John Pringle, having 2 wins each. The Nearest the Pin category was won by Dave "Bubba" Watts who made his win "easy as Pi" with 3.14m, his first category win this season. The Nearest the Pin Category is still lead by Jim Rooks with 4 round wins. There was 1 "Two" carded at Newcastle by Paul Rawlinson, there is still a tie between Derek and Dave Sanders with 2 "two's" each in the race to Tim's Big Money Pot.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
Our next gathering will be at an old Wanderers favourite Tyneside, I hope to see you all there in a couple of weeks.
WW15/10 - Matfen Hall, Saturday 18/7/15
Matfen Hall is a stalwart on the Wanderers calendar but due to a number of issues it saw our lowest turnout so far this season as only 16 members made the trip north over Hadrian's Wall. The Matfen Hall golf complex comprises of three nine hole courses, this season we played "Standing Stone" (the back nine of the original layout, considered by most to be the toughest) and "Dewlaw" (the newest nine holes, more open but still a good test).
In the past we have played Matfen in almost every weather condition you can imagine, misty drizzle, gale force winds, thunderstorms, monsoon like rain and sometimes even dry, warm & sunny weather, everything except snow! This year it was gusty wind with the odd light shower, all in all not too bad a day given they were forecasting gales and heavy showers. The course itself was in very good condition as we have come to expect of this highly regarded club. The outstanding shot of the day that I saw was Dave Watts chipping in on the Par 4 12th hole from about 140 yards. At the time I thought it was for a two, it was only when we met up in the clubhouse I was informed it was actually for a four as he was 3 off the tee! Hard lines Dave, it was still a cracking way to get a par mate.
Following the match when I started checking the cards it quickly became obvious that I had marked the wrong handicaps on a few players score cards. I had used the Society Golfing handicaps for some players and for some reason it hadn't logged their handicap changes for previous games. I have since checked and changed the handicaps of those affected (Paul Baker, Dave Coates, Craig English, Rico Liverani, Paul Marshall, Tom McDonald, & Mark Wilson). I have already appologised to the two parties mainly affected by my mistake (Gordon & Paul B. see below) and offered my resignation as Secretary but for some strange reason no one will take the job on!
Now for the scores on the day, following the post match card scrutiny mentioned above the revised top three were confirmed as-
In third place was - Craig English with 32 points.
In second place was - Gordon Grant with 34 points.
And the winner of the tenth round with 35 points was Paul Baker.
This result means we have yet another change at the top of the leader board with Dave Sanders back at the top of the table again with 326 points. Derek Griffiths has moved up to second place 4 points behind with a total of 322 points, while John Ford is in third place a further 1 points adrift with 321.
It was a day for the defending Champions, not only did Dave Sanders return to the top of the pile but the Longest Drive category was won by last years winner Paul Baker, his first category win this season. The Nearest the Pin was also won by the last years winner, Ian Gunn with 2.57m, his first category win this season. The Nearest the Pin Category is still lead by Jim Rooks with 4 round wins. There is still a three way tie for the lead of the Longest Drive category with John Ford, Rico Liverani and John Pringle all having 2 wins each. There were no "Two's" carded at Matfen, there is still a tie between Derek and Dave Sanders with 2 "two's" each in the race to Tim's Big Money Pot.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
Our next gathering will be at City of Newcastle Golf Club. As this will be the eleventh round of the 2015 Championship those who have been ever present this season will start to drop your lowest scores so from now on I will mark your score card with your target score. LET'S HOPE I CAN GET THAT BIT RIGHT!! I hope to see you all at Newcastle in a couple of weeks.
WW15/9 - Hartlepool, Saturday 4/7/15
As you know I couldn't make it to Hartlepool as I was in intensive care with "Man-Flu" so I asked John Ford to provide a match summary -
19 members made the not very long journey to Hartlepool for what was our society's second visit to this links course, but it was my first visit as I hadn't been able to play it last year. 19 is our lowest turnout so far this year, and those that couldn't make it, in my opinion, missed a treat. The weather, when we were due to tee-off was fantastic, sunny, warm and not much wind, which was rather a nice surprise.
The course itself is only a par 70, with only 2 par 5's. However, there are a number of the par 4's that are quite long, which always makes a course difficult. There were also a couple of ‘blind' holes, that made it very interesting for anyone who hadn't played there before. It was in great condition, the tee boxes were good and the greens were perfect.
Thanks for that John, reading the report makes me even more annoyed that I had to miss this game than before, lets hope we play it again next year.
As for the scores on the day, following the post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place (after countback) was - John Ford with 36 points.
In second place was - Mark Wilson with 38 points
And the winner of the ninth round with 41 points was Frank Birch
The Hartlepool result means we have yet another change at the top of the leader board with John Ford topping the table for the first time this season with 299 points. Dave Sanders drops to second, 1 point behind with a total of 298 points. Derek Griffiths stays in third place a further 2 points adrift with 296.
The Longest Drive category was won by Rico Liverani. There is now a three way tie for the lead of the Longest Drive category is now jointly lead by John Ford, Rico Liverani and John Pringle with 2 wins each. The Nearest the Pin was won by John Ford with 1.81m. The Nearest the Pin Category is still lead by Jim Rooks with 4 round wins . There was 1 "Two" carded by John Ford, there is still a tie between Derek and Dave Sanders with 2 "two's" each in the race to Tim's Big Money Pot.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
Our next gathering will be the tenth round of the 2015 Championship at Matfen Hall, the only ever present course on the Wanderers calendar (Excluding our home course of Wearside). Let's hope the weather is kind to us and we don't have a repeat of the thunderstorm we encountered a few years ago, see you all there.
WW2015 - Borders Championship, Sat & Sun 20-21/6/15
Following the success of last year's trip we traveled south to Yorkshire once again for this years Weekend Away trip to do battle for the Borders Championship. The courses chosen by Dennis for this years trip were Romanby on the Saturday and Ripon City on the Sunday with an overnight stay in Wetherby again. We had a very healthy 26 members and one guest player attending this year as this event goes from strength to strength. Friday had been very pleasant, sunny, warm and above all dry. As Saturday dawned the weather took it's usual turn for the worse, with rain predicted for the morning but clearing up in the afternoon. The weather forecasters weren't wrong as it started to rain while driving down the A19 and continued through till mid afternoon.
I used to be based in Northallerton so I knew where Romanby was but had never played there before, I was in for a pleasant surprise as this is a very nice parkland course. It was easy going in a buggy but there appears to be quite a few long walks from green to tee, still at least it was reasonably flat. The greens, though perfectly manicured, were a little slow, that may be down to the persistent drizzly rain and the fairways were well maintained and generously wide. All in all it was a good course for our Society. True to form, as we gathered back at the clubhouse the sun came out, just in time for the wedding party, who were sharing the venue for the day, to go outside for the obligatory photo shoots. I hope the photographer had a wide angle lens, for those who witnessed it that's all I need to say!
Following the golf we split into two groups, with Dave Coates, Mark Wilson, Martin "Boz" Wilson and Saturdays winner John Pringle stopping in Ripon and the rest of us stopping in Wetherby as last year. Somehow John Ford & I, who left the course almost last and were passed by Steve "One Jag" Grant and Dave "The Mod" Fletcher on the A1M but STILL managed to get to the hotel before them and a quite a few others. One of the advantages of a bit of local knowledge and not relying on Sat Nav!
After a quick wash and brush up we gathered in the hotel bar for an aperitif we were quietly discussing the day's golf and wondering how Frank was going to beat last year's display of sartorial elegance when all of a sudden Banana Man appeared. I didn't think it possible but Dave Watts had actually managed to out-Frank Frank in the shirt stakes! I just wish his shirt had a volume control. By this time most of us were ravenous, thankfully John Ford had had the foresight to organise our evening meal at the Swan & Talbot again, a very nice pub with great food and drink on offer. Fed and watered, a few went off to sample some of the local watering holes while others took a leisurely walk back to the hotel for a night cap and some well earned kip.
Sunday morning dawned much brighter than Saturday and we took the short drive from Wetherby to Ripon City Golf Club where we all tucked into a hearty full English breakfast, excellent value at only £3.00 extra. Following feeding time at the zoo our other group appeared at the club after their evening spent in Ripon. The weather may have been brighter but it was also a lot breezier as well so Sunday would be a totally different test to Saturday.
At 5780 yards Ripon may not be the longest course on our calendar and it starts with an innocuous little 121 yard par 3 giving no idea of things to come. One of our band certainly liked this hole more than others as Derek scored a "Two" there. Once we crossed the road the real test started with the front nine holes comprising mainly of short but very tight tree lined par 4's giving very little room for error as I and a few others quickly found out. That said, some of the holes were quite scenic with drives across gullies and elevated tees. The back nine holes were more open and certainly a lot more forgiving but still provided some interesting and tough holes, especially the 14th, a 150 yard par 3 across a lake right outside the clubhouse.
Once the golf was over we gathered outside the club house for the usual group photographs and to announce the various category winners and the new Borders Champion. To finish the day and the 2015 Borders Championship weekend we all enjoyed a much needed and very nice roast beef Sunday roast and made our way home. At this point I would like to say a big thank you to Dennis for contacting and booking the courses and hotel and to John Ford for arranging the evening meal, Sunday's breakfast and for helping me with the book keeping.
Last but not least the results, usually the Borders Championship event is a very tight run thing, but occasionally we have a run-away winner as it was this year so here are the top four-
In fourth place with 69 points (32+37) was John Ford.
In third place with 71 points (34+37) was Alan Welch.
In second place also with 71 points but the higher single score (39+32) was Tom McDonald.
And the winner and 2015 Borders Champion with 81 points (39+42) was Eddie Harrison.
Congratulations to all the above, to see your individual scores please click HERE to download the Excell file, thanks to everyone who turned out and made this the best attended Weekend Away trip yet, lets hope for more of the same in 2016.
WW15/8 - Ripon, Sunday 21/6/15
Following a very pleasant evening in Wetherby (for most of us, some stopped in Ripon centre), we gathered for the second and final round of year's Borders Championship Weekend Away trip at Ripon City Golf Club. This club is situated on the north west outskirts of the historic City of Ripon. As he did last year John Ford arranged for us to have a full English breakfast at the club and we weren't disappointed it was the perfect start to the day. The weather had improved overnight but yesterdays rain as replaced by a strong breeze verging on wind. Ripon is a course of two halves, the front nine being very tight and hilly, whereas the back nine is more open and was certainly flatter. As on Saturday the course was in excellent condition with fast but true greens and punishing rough waiting to cause problems if you strayed off the fairway.
Now for the scores on the day, following the post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place (on countback) was - Rico Liverani with 37 points
In second place was - Andy Trewick with 39 points
And the winner of the eighth round with 42 points was Eddie Harrison
This weekends results mean we have yet another change at the top of the leader board with Dave Sanders retaking the lead in the Championship with a total of 267 points. John Ford is 4 points behind biting Dave's ankles with 263 points and Derek has dropped down to third place, 3 points behind John on 260 points. Believe it or not we have now passed the half way point in the 2015 Season, time flies and all that !!
The Ripon Longest Drive category was won by Dave "Bubba" Watts, who also won The Nearest the Pin with 2.90m then celebrated his "double" with two laps of honour at the closing ceremony. The Longest Drive category is now jointly lead by John Ford and John Pringle with 2 wins each. The Nearest the Pin Category is still lead by Jim Rooks with 4 round wins . There was 1 "Two" carded by Derek Griffiths on the very first hole of the day, sadly he informed me it all wentdown hill from there. At least with 2 Two's Derek now joins Dave Sanders in the lead of the race to Tim's Big Money Pot.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
Our next gathering will be at Hartlepool Golf Club for our second visit to this highly rated links course. This match is on the anniversary of the day we said goodbye to our Colonial Cousins, American Independence Day, Saturday 4th July, see you all there & hope y'all have a nice day!
WW15/7 - Romanby, Saturday 20/6/15
This year's Weekend Away trip started at Romanby Golf Club on the outskirts of Northallerton. As has become the norm this season the weather could have been better with heavy drizzle descending as we gathered for a much needed bacon sandwich in the clubhouse. The course itself is a very nice parkland course with many varied holes. Following the game the general consensuswas very positive, with many of our players saying they would like to return here again some time in the future. There were three highlights of note to the day, firstly Paul Marshall's birdie two on the 156 yard, par 3 11th hole across water, I am still not sure if goose 5hit is a moveable obstruction! Secondly John Pringle's brilliant round, a 6 under par gross 78, more on that below. And finally the unbelievable strength of modern clothing materials and how they manage not to rip apart at the seams under massive strain (everyone who was there will know what I mean!!).
The Borders Championship itself is covered on its own web page HERE, but here are the scores for the day. Following the post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
There was an un-resolvable tie for third and second places (they both had the same scores on the back nine, six, three and final holes) - Eddie Harrison and Tom McDonald both with 39 points.
And as mentioned above the winner of the seventh round with an excellent 47 points, taking his first Society round win was John Pringle.
The Romanby Longest Drive Winner was John Pringle
The Nearest the Pin Winner was Eddie Harrison with 4.56m
There were 2 "Two's" carded, one by Paul Marshall and one by Jim Rooks.
WW15/6 - Houghton-le-Spring, Friday 12/6/15
Houghton is our second home and this season we chose it to host not only round 6 of the 2015 Championship but also our annual Team Challenge event. For the first time this season we played a course in excellent condition and with perfect weather conditions. I don't think I am the only one who was secretly thanking Tim for his help with this, cheers Big Fella! Our annual Team Challenge event attracted a very healthy 21 members along with three guest players, Colin Costello, Tony Buckley and an old friend to our society Chris Smith. The run up to this event was a little frenetic to say the least with me only finalising the playing order and groupings at 11pm the night before.
There is a separate page on this website HERE dedicated to the Team Challenge event so I will only deal with Championship Round 6 here. In the past Houghton has been a bit of a "Specialists" course with 4 out of the 5 previous winners being Houghton members (though technically Derek wasn't a member when he won way back in 2008). This time Houghton was "destroyed" by one player, see below for details.
Now for the scores, following the post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place was - Derek Griffiths with 40 Points (Dave Sanders also scored 40 but lost out on a back nine countback).
In second place was - Dave Watts with 42 points (one of our guest players Chris Smith also scored 42 points but isn't Championship registered).
And the winner of the sixth round who ripped the course apart with an excellent 46 points was Mark Gibbons.
Today's results mean we have yet another change at the top of the leader board with Derek taking the lead in the Championship with a total of 210 points. Defending Champion Dave Sanders moves into second place with 206 points and Jim Rooks jumps up into third place with 199 points. So as we approach the half way point in the 2015 Season it's still all to play for.
The Longest Drive category went to John Pringle on his first outing with us this season. The Longest Drive category is still lead by John Ford with 2 wins. The Nearest the Pin Category was once again won by Jim Rooks with 3.34m, his fourth win in six matches, it's beginning to look like a one horse race already. There was 3 "Two's" carded, 1 by Mike Murray and 2 by Dave Sanders who takes the lead in the race to Tim's Big Money Pot.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
The next time we meet is another of our annual events, our Weekend Away trip to compete for the Borders Championship. This is our oldest competition and for this season we are going the short trip down to North Yorkshire again, playing at Romanby & Ripon Golf Clubs. Entry to this event is now closed as we have reached the maximum number. See you all there.
WW15 - Team Challenge Day, Houghton-le-Spring, Friday 12/6/15
The Wearside Wanderers Team Challenge event is our homage to the Ryder Cup with a pairs match on the morning followed by a singles game that also counts as a round towards our main Championship. It was first ran way back in 2008 fort the first few years we used Castle Eden Golf Club as the location then to reduce costs we used Wearside, this year we decided to use the Wanderers second home, Houghton-le-Spring, as it turned out we picked the perfect day and location.
At one point we had 28 players signed up but due to work and other commitments the number reduced to 24 (21 Society members and 3 guests) which was the ideal amount with 2 x 12 man teams. Once the teams were announced we went out on the course to play the morning 12 hole "pairs" matches. Some games were a lot closer than others and after the morning the overall score was 3 1/2 points to the Chairmans team and 2 1/2 points to the Captains team. Even after only 6 out of the 18 points on offer had been decided it was obvious that the whole event was going to be a very close thing.
Following a light lunch we headed back out for the 18 hole "head to head" singles matches. In the short period between the morning session and the afternoon the course conditions had changed significantly especially the greens, being much slower. This caused some players a few problems with putting (I must have left 5 or 6 putts slightly short).
Once the afternoon games were completed we gathered in the clubhouse for a hearty evening meal of home made steak pie, chips & peas which certainly hit the spot after the day's exertions. Once the meal was over all that was left was for me to reveal the results of the afternoon games. The afternoon session results had swung both ways with the overall result in the balance right up to the final group. In the end the afternoon session was tied with 6 wins each, meaning the overall winner with 9 1/2 points was the Chairmans team led on the day by Jim Rooks, Congratulations to them and commiserations go to the Captains team led by Dave Sanders who finished 1 point behind with 8 1/2 points.
I hope everyone enjoyed the day and a big thank you to our 3 guest players, Colin Costello, Tony Buckley and Chris Smith who helped make this our best and closest Team Challenge day to date.
WW15/5 - Blyth, Sunday 31/5/15
This was our second visit to this pleasant parkland course. When you walk around this course you would never believe just over 100 years ago this was the site of a colliery and brick works. The course itself was generally in very good condition, the greens were especially worth a mention as the best we have played on so far this season, let's see how good the Houghton greens are in a couple of weeks. The only down side were the fairways, being a little threadbare in places, though still playable you did get the occasional tight lie (o-er Madam!). Sadly once again the weather didn't play ball, with a strong breeze and occasional squally showers making this a "waterproofs on ...... waterproofs off" type of day and this was reflected in the scores.
Our last meeting at Sharpley Springs was a bit of a record breaker, being one of the highest scoring rounds in our history (with 21 of the 24 members scoring 31+ points). Blyth was at the opposite end of the spectrum. Though not our lowest ever scoring round (as I remember that "honour" goes to Richmond way back in 2012) the scoring wasn't exactly prolific. Of the 21 Members at Blyth only 6 managed to break the 30 point barrier. This was due to a combination of the poor weather conditions and Blyth being a much tighter course than we have been used to so far this season.
Right now down to business, following the post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place was - Andy Trewick with 32 Points.
In second place for the second match running was - Frank Birch with 37 points.
And the winner of the fifth round was Paul Rawlinson with 38 Points.
Today's results mean we have yet another change at the top of the leader board with today's runner-up Frank taking the lead in the Championship with a total of 173 points. Derek Griffiths stays in second place with 170 points and the previous leader Dennis drops to third place with 167 points.
The Longest Drive category went to Rico with the assistance of his caddy June for the final time (so expect the old Rico back the next time he plays, complete with the odd expletive and club throw!). The Longest Drive category is still lead by John Ford with 2 wins. The Nearest the Pin Category was won once again by Jim Rooks with 3.73m, this is his THIRD win in 5 games, howay Jim give the rest of us a chance mate! There was 1 "Two" carded by Andy Trewick. Well done to all who braved the testing conditions at Blyth, surely we must be due some decent weather soon.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
The next time we meet is at the Wanderers second home Houghton-le-Spring Golf Club for our annual Team Challenge day on Friday 12th June. For those who haven't played this event before the basic synopsis is-
08:00 - Meet at Houghton clubhouse for tea/coffee & biscuits.
08:40 - 12 hole pairs matches begin (2man teams, combined Stableford scores, both to count).
12:00 (approx) - Light Lunch (soup & sandwiches).
13:30 - Afternoon singles matches (Head to Head, using Stableford scoring).
18:30 (approx) - Post match meal and trophy presentation.
So that's 30 holes of golf, coffee & biscuits, a light lunch and an evening meal all for only £29.00 (£11.00 for Houghton members). To date we have 24 members and 2 guests, there is room available for another 2 players if anyone not already signed up wants to play.
WW15/4 - Sharpley Springs, Sunday 17/5/15
Sharpley has become a regular fixture on the Wanderers calendar mainly due to it's location and reasonable cost but it has to be said we have seen it in much better condition in the past. I think one of the problems is their "we never close" policy meaning the course gets hammered over the winter months when others close due to the poor weather conditions. Sadly this policy has turned what were some of the best greens in the area into a shadow of their former selves. At least the weather wasn't as bad as it might have been, though it was cool and breezy it could have been a lot worse. On the day we welcomed a guest player, Dennis Williams son Ryan turned out for his first game with us and he must have been a good influence on his dad (see below).
We also saw the final few Aberdeen Shield first round matches completed, Paul Baker beat Mark Gibbons 3&1. The other match was a proper ding dong affair between Andy Trewick and Ian Gunn with Andy coming out on top after a final sudden death play off hole, at least I went out to an Andy Trewick birdie. The draw for the next round is on the Tim Aberdeen Shield page, just click on the link on the left to visit.
Here's a few statistics about this round you may find interesting-
25 players (24 members and 1 guest, 25 members started the match but unfortunately Tom had to withdraw after 9 holes) this is our highest ever turn out for a single round (excluding Finals day).
21 out of the 24 members scored above 31 points.
8 members had their handicap cut (scored 37+ points).
Only 1 member increased their handicap (2 were on the maximum handicap).
Right, now down to the nitty-gritty, following the post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-
In third place was - Paul Rawlinson with 40 Points.
In second place was - Frank Birch with 41 points.
And the winner of the fourth round, taking his second round win this season was Dennis Williams with 43 points.
Today's results mean we have a change at the top of the leader board with today's winner Dennis taking the lead in the Championship with a total of 147 points. Derek Griffiths has dropped one place to second with 143 points and Dave Coates takes the final podium place with 140 points.
The Longest Drive category went to my old Portugal partner Ed "the duck" Harrison, the category is still lead by John Ford with 2 wins. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Dave Coates with 4m (EXACTLY! as I was informed), Jim still leads the category with two round wins. There were 2 "Twos" carded, one by our Championship leader Dennis and one by Dave Coates.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
I hope you all enjoyed the day, let's hope the weather improves the next time we meet at Blyth Golf Club in just under two weeks time on Sunday 31st May. The first tee time is at the slightly later time of 12:30 so please try to be there by 12:00 for the draw, I think you all know the consequences by now. I hope to see you all there.
WW15/3 - Whitburn, Monday 4/5/15
This is the first official Wanderers visit to this coastal semi links course though many of us have played here in the past. For the first time this season we had a very pleasant afternoon for our game, with warm sunshine, a little bit of a breeze and above all NO RAIN! The course was in very good condition with the greens worth a mention, the club Professional did say they had softened up after the heavy rain the previous day. The layout of the course makes the most of the space available though this means there are a few holes that slow play down due to the layout. There was one thing of note, Rico's new caddy June must have had a good influence on him as not only did he score an excellent 39 points but I heard no reports of any club throwing and there was a distinct lack of obscenities!
Following the post match card scrutiny the top three were -
In third place on countback was - Alan Welch with 38 Points.
In second place was - Rico Liverani with 39 points.
And the winner of the third round, taking his first Society win was Dave Coates with 43 points.
Derek Griffiths has kept the lead in the Championship with a total of 111 points, today'swinner Dave Coates and Dennis Williams are in joint second place with 104 points and one round win each.
The Longest Drive category went to Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan! Welch, the category is still lead by John Ford with 2 wins. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Jim Rooks with 3.12m, his second category win putting him in the lead. There was one "Two" carded by our Championship leader Derek Griffiths.
The full results are available on the Match Results and Tables section on the Competition page, just follow the link HERE or on the left.
I hope you all enjoyed the day, let's hope the weather plays ball the next time we meet at Sharpley Springs in just under two weeks time on Sunday 17th May. Please remember the first tee time is 11:30 and not 12:00 as originally published, please try to be there by 11:00 for the draw, I think you all know the consequences by now. I hope to see you all there.