WW2016 - Season Report

Over the last seven months we have played a wide variety of courses all over the North East and beyond. This season, in an attempt to find courses new to the Society we have expanded our range beyond the 20 miles / 30 minutes from Sunderland "border" and judging from the player numbers this decision went down well with the membership. We started the season way back in March at a Society regular, South Shields. As usual the weather played a part in the proceedings with high winds and squally heavy showers, this was to set the pattern for the early part of our season. The second round was to have been at Saltburn but that was also affected by the weather so we hastily rearranged the match to Cleveland Links just down the road. Unfortunately one of our members didn't get the message and turned up at Saltburn like Billy Nomates wondering where everyone was, sorry Mr Watts!

The first of this season's Society "Majors" our annual homage to the Ryder Cup the Team Challenge Day took place at our second home, Houghton in June. This season we added a twist to the usual "Captain vs Chairman" team format by making it a "Juniors vs Seniors" match (over 50's vs under 50's, with a little leeway to balance the team numbers). After a very tight battle the winners on the day were the Seniors team led by John Ford with a score of 8-7.

Team Challenge Day was closely followed by our second Major, the Weekend Away trip to fight for the Borders Championship and the honour of looking after The Claw for the year. Once again the weather caused us problems. This year we decided to journey over to Lancashire and South Cumbria for our trip, playing at Kirby Lonsdale and Grange-over-Sands but the day before the trip we got news that Grange was flooded and only 9 holes were open. Following a few phone calls we managed to get booked into Bentham Golf Club, a decision that turned out to be a good one! The winner of the Borders Championship was Andy Trewick, the start of what would turn into a trend this season.

As we approached the climax of the season we were due to play Beamish on the August Bank Holiday Sunday but once again the weather intervened with heavy overnight rain making the course unplayable. Luckily the following day was Bank Holiday Monday and we managed to rearrange the match for then. This change played into the hands of a couple of Members including Dave Watts who originally couldn't make the Sunday game. Thankfully for him this time he got the message and after telling his wife he was "just popping out to get some milk and a paper" managed to play the match.

This season we tweaked the rules of our third Major the Tim Aberdeen Shield knockout competition by encouraging matches to be played at designated rounds of the Championship. This change appears to have gone down well as the majority of matches were played and we had very few byes this year. The final of this seasons Aberdeen Shield was between Jim Rooks and Dave Coates and was played at Tyneside with Dave coming out the winner to become the third recipient of the Aberdeen Shield.

The rules of the Two's Pot competition were also tweaked slightly this season. Instead of the whole prize fund going to one winner we now divide it equally between all those who managed to score a two. Sadly this rule change didn't improve our accuracy as we still only managed a measly 14 two's between us for the whole season! The Two's Pot itself had already been won by Rico Liverani, with three Two's (two at the same course), just as well really as true to form there were none carded at Wearside.

As usual the Longest Drive & Nearest the Pin categories were very tight run affairs as both competitions went down to the wire, only being decided on Finals Day. The Longest Drive category needed a play off hole to break the stalemate with Andy Trewick and Paul Baker tied on 3 wins each, Andy outdrove Paul on the tie break 17th hole at Finals day to take the category Championship win. Paul got his revenge by winning the final Nearest the Pin of the season, taking the Category Championship from Andy by a distance of 44cm (they both tied with 2 wins each but Paul had the closer distance of 2.4m to Andy's 2.88m).

As for the main event, the Society Championship, came down to a three way battle between Dave Coates, Ian Gunn and long time leader Andy Trewick. After 17 rounds across the North East & Cumbria nine points covered the top three players going into Finals Day at Wearside. Ian was the first of the three into the clubhouse and though he improved his total by four points it wasn't enough so it was all down to the final two, Dave and Andy. As the final group came in it was clear that the long time Championship leader Andy Trewick had won the Championship by four points on 312, with Ian in second on 308 and Dave in third with 301.

On behalf of the whole Society I would like to congratulate our new Champion Andy and all our other category 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 programwe did at the same cost to you all. For further information on our Corporate Sponsors click HERE.

Finally I know there have been many changes this year (handicap system, rule and competition changes) so thanks to all our members who have supported the Society this year and made the 2016 season great. Let's hope for more of the same in 2017.

WW16/17 - DESCO Wearside Finals Day, Sunday 9/10/16

Well here we are once again at our home course Wearside for our annual Finals Day bash. In this report I will deal with the results of round 17 only, I will cover the result of the main Championship and the individual category winners in the season review. As I said in my last report the previous three courses we played were all very similar in style (Beamish, Washington and Tyneside), well add another one to that list, Wearside. Like Tyneside before it Wearside is one of the oldest courses in the North East and as such is a tough test of anyone's game. As has happened regularly this season the weather played a part, but thankfully not too much, being mostly calm and sunny with a couple of heavy showers. The course itself was in excellent condition with beautiful fairways and fast greens once the morning dew burnt off, all in all it was an excellent finale to our golf season.

At this point I need to announce a bereavement in my golf club family, my trusty £5 bargain bin chipper has finally bit the dust. That club has got me out of many a tight squeeze and will be sorely missed, at least it died doing what it did best, being hit left handed from under a tree! RIP old friend.

Now for the results of round 17, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as 26.

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
561	22	25.50	26

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place (on countback) was former Champion Paul Baker with 30 points.

In second place came another former Champion Jim Rooks with 32 points.

And the winner of the seventeenth and final round of the 2016 Championship, taking his first round win this year was yet another former Champion Dave Sanders with a score of 33 points.

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category on the day went to Andy Trewick. Paul Baker won the Nearest the Pin Category with a distance of 2.4m. There were no Two's carded at Wearside.

WW2016 - Aberdeen Shield Report , provided by Dave Coates

Upon seeing the draw for the first round of Tim Aberdeen memorial trophy I saw I was drawn against the lesser spotted Clive Whaley. Other than getting a bye this is the best draw you can get!! Sure enough Clive was unable to turn up to any other than the first match and I was placed into the hat for the second round draw. In this I was handed a game against defending champion Russell Byrne. Russell is only just spotted slightly more often than Clive and the one match we both turned up at was the Team Challenge day at Houghton. When the draw for the competition had been done it put Russell and I in different group pairings so we agreed that whoever made the highest score would progress. In the Team Challenge match I came off well beaten by an inspired Steve Grant but thankfully I outscored Russell 32-27 and progressed to the third round.

As fate would have it the third round draw paired me against Steve and a chance for revenge. I'd never played at Castle Eden before and always wanted to, so as this game was on a Saturday I gave up my usual game of cricket for golf instead. Walking round the course we could often hear shouts of “howzat” from the nearby Castle Eden cricket ground reminding me of what I was missing! Steve and I fought out a close game which saw me standing on the 18th tee with a two point lead. It took me four shots to get onto the green whilst Steve had a tricky downhill putt to take the game into a potential play off. He struck his putt well and I had a view which saw his putt right on line. Unluckily for Steve his putt gathered pace down the hill and hit the hole but stayed out and I gladly made my putt to squeeze to a 26-25 victory.

Next up was the highly anticipated semi final clash between the second and third placed players in the overall Championship standings, Ian Gunn and myself. We played at Beamish on Bank Holiday Monday after torrential rain had postponed our round from the Sunday. Ian got off to a great start hitting fairway after fairway and holing some good putts seeing him hold a six point advantage after nine holes. Now if ever there was a game of two halves this was it and Ian's game deserted him on the back nine and I slowly clawed back the deficit and had a one point lead on the 18th tee. Thankfully I managed a par and completed a comeback of Lazarus proportions to win by 26-23.

The final was played at Tyneside golf club and my opponent was Jim Rooks. Our rivalry goes back to our schoolboy football days as I was an ex Thornhill boy and Jim an ex Bede lad. On the day I holed some decent sized putts on the front nine and by halfway had opened up a four point cushion on Jim who, whilst playing his usual good game, was finding the handicap difference of 17 shots hard to overcome. Jim closed the gap getting a birdie on the 10th while I three putted from shortish distance. We matched scores over next three holes but my handicap saw me stretch the lead. Jim failed to score on the 14th and after throwing his club away after a poor drive on 15 I knew I had him ruffled. I closed the round in decent style and upon reaching the end the result was 37-27 in favour of the Thornhill boy!!

This was my first ever major golf success and am pleased it was such an important trophy in the Society ranking. Thanks to all my playing partners for the good company throughout the season, I thoroughly enjoyed it. And thanks to John Ford for organising and running this years Tim Aberdeen Memorial Shield competition.

Dave Coates

WW16/16 - Tyneside, Sunday 25/9/16

Tyneside is a regular on the Wanderers calendar we have only missed it out once since our first Society visit in 2007 and judging by yesterdays turn out it won't be our last. As we gathered in the clubhouse there appeared to be quite a few bleary eyes on display. It was only on further questioning we found out that quite a few of our little band had been out celebrating Karin & Steve Grant's Silver Wedding Anniversary. From what I heard the bar tender for the evening was Catherine Harrison who was very generous with the measurements when pouring gin & tonic's leading to a few sorry sights in the clubhouse. Apparently the party didn't break up till gone 5 in the morning, with that in mind I am amazed we only had one "wuss" who cried off (sorry Paul R.). At least the weather cleared out some of the cobwebs, being mild and breezy but apart from a short shower at the start it remained dry.

The last three courses we have played have all been very similar in style (Beamish, Washington and Tyneside) being mature parkland courses but unlike the first two Tyneside is a little more open and forgiving. That's not to say it's easy, far from it, if you stray wide or end up in the rough you are punished as many of us found to our cost! Even though the greens had been hollow tined earlier in the month they had recovered well and ran relatively fast but true. All in all the course was in excellent condition and the overnight rain made the greens receptive to flighted approach shots.

Tyneside also saw the final of this seasons Tim Aberdeen Shield knockout competition, Jim Rooks took on Dave Coates with Dave coming out victorious over Jim by 37 to 27. Congratulations go to Dave and commiserations to Jim. Click HERE for full details of all the results and ties.

Now for the results of round 16, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as 27.

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
627	23	27.26	27

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place was Ian Gunn with 34 points.

In second place came the new Tim Aberdeen Shield winner Dave Coates with 37 points.

And the winner of the sixteenth and penultimate round of the 2016 Championship, taking his first round win this year was our glorious leader, Chairman Paul Marshall with an excellent score of 38 points (confirmed when the cards were checked).

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category went to Championship leader Andy Trewick with a massive drive just short of the greenside bunker on the 18th. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Rico Liverani with 1.6m, his first category win this season. There were 2 Two's carded at Tyneside, both by Rico Liverani meaning with 3 Two's each Rico and long time leader Jim Rooks will be joint winners of this season's Two's Bowl.

WW16/15 - George Washington, Sunday 11/9/16

We have played Washington as a society on a few occasions before but this is the first time the course has been dry, that was the good bit. The not so good bit was the fact that the greens had been hollow tined in the week leading up to our visit but judging by the majority of the scores it didn't cause too much concern. The weather on the day was as close to perfect as we have seen this season, warm, calm and above all dry. We even had a flypast by the Red Arrows in honour of our visit (well I am claiming it was for us but I think it may have been for the competitors in the Great North Run down the road).

As at Beamish the round before Washington is a mature parkland course with quite tight and tree lined fairways making accuracy an advantage. As mentioned above the hollow tined greens made putting more difficult but on the whole the course was in the best condition I have seen over the years.

The second Tim Aberdeen Shield semi-final was played at Washington, Jim Rooks came out victorious over Paul Baker by 29 to 26. So we now have our two finalists Jim Rooks will face Dave Coates in the final at Tyneside in two weeks time (TBC). Click HERE for full details of all the results and ties.

Now for the results of round 15, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as 31.

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
556	18	30.89	31

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place was Derek Griffiths with 36 points.

In second place came Ian Gunn with 37 points.

And the winner of the fifteenth round of the 2016 Championship, taking his second round win this year was defending Champion Frank Birch with an excellent score of 42 points.

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category went to John Ford, his first category win this season. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Championship leader Andy Trewick with 2.88m, his second category win this season. This also gave Andy the category lead by virtue of having the closest distance. Surprise surprise, once again there were no Two's carded!

WW16/14 - Beamish, Sunday 28/8/16

After a year away we made a welcome return to this scenic parkland course set in the Co. Durham countryside. As seems to have become the norm this season the weather had a hand in the proceedings after heavy overnight rain the course was unplayable on the Sunday morning. So following a few phone calls and some texts and Emails we re-arranged the round for the following day, Bank Holiday Monday. Following on from the post match musical theme all I can say is "what a difference a day makes", the sun was shining and the course had dried out except for the odd wet patch (and I don't mean the man made one's in the trees). All in all it was a great day for a round of golf.

Obviously with the last minute date change we lost a few players but we also gained a couple as well so a total of 12 members headed out onto the course. Beamish is quite tight and tree lined playing into the hands of those players who can keep the ball straight. As at Eaglescliffe a couple of weeks ago the scoring was relatively low and compacted with just ten points covering the field of twelve players.

Beamish also saw the first Tim Aberdeen Shield semi-final, Dave Coates played myself (Ian G). I had a great front nine scoring 18 points (including one "blobbed" hole) but Dave turned the match around with a great back nine holes when I self imploded (as usual). So we now have to wait for the outcome of the second semi-final between Jim Rooks and Paul Baker to see who faces Dave Coates in the final. Click HERE for full details of all the results and ties.

Now for the results of round 14, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as 26.

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
315	12	26.25	26

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place was Paul Marshall with 29 points.

In second place (on countback) was defending Champion Frank Birch with 30 points.

And the winner of the fourteenth round of the 2016 Championship, his second round win this year, was Bryan Mountford, also with 30 points (but with a better back nine hole score).

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category went to Championship leader Andy Trewick (once again "Bubba" Watts outdrove everyone but couldn't keep it on the fairway). The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Dave Coates with 9.5m, his second category win this season. Surprise surprise, there were no Two's carded.

WW16/13 - Eaglescliffe, Sunday 14/8/16

After last weekends exploits at a "breezy" Saltburn it came as a very welcome surprise that our trip to Eaglescliffe was greeted with warm, dry and calm conditions. The welcome notice on the door was a very nice touch by the club as we entered the club house and made our group feel very welcome indeed. Eaglescliffe was our final new course this season and listening to the comments after the match it would appear we saved the best till last (certainly when it came to the five new "local" courses). It was difficult to pick a single highlight hole as there were quite a few. But I think the most outstanding hole was the stroke index one, 14th hole, with it's daunting tee position next to the river Tees and narrow, tree lined drive. The only slight negative comments were about the long(ish) walks between some holes but even that didn't detract from the overall positive comments.

As for the golf, as this course was new to everyone there was no local knowledge so the scoring was relatively low with only eight points covering the field of fourteen players. I am sure the scores will be higher if we return for another visit in the future.

Now for the results of round 13, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as 29.

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
402	14	28.71	29

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place was Mark Wilson with 32 points.

In second place (on countback) was Dave Fletcher with 33 points.

And the winner of the thirteenth round of the 2016 Championship was defending Champion Frank Birch, also with 33 points (but with a better back nine hole score).

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category went to "Big Al" Welsh, surprisingly his first category win this season. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Dave Fletcher with 12.04m (a more usual distance following last week's glitch when Steve Grant won with a totally unacceptable 0.8m!). Surprise surprise, there were no Two's carded.

WW16/12 - Saltburn, Sunday 7/8/16

At last, after three attempts to play this match we finally got to sample the challenge of Saltburn golf course and I for one think it was well worth the wait. Due to a number of factors this round will sadly go down as one of the poorer turn outs this season but most who did make the journey south seemed to enjoy the course. The windy conditions made for a difficult round for some of us but at least the match remained dry. Saltburn is a parkland / heathland course perched in the hillside overlooking the town and providing some great views out to sea. The course itself has some very testing holes with quite a few blind drives to hidden greens making approach shot's tricky to say the least, especially in the wind. We also welcomed two guest players, David Langston and Chris Hewson, Chris has played with us earlier in the season at Houghton.

When it came to the golf itself, given the conditions we were never going to break any scoring records. The layout of the course caused quite a few problems, especially on the first six holes and final three holes (the original course I would imagine). There were a lot of blind drives making local knowledge very useful. Also the ridges and contours on the fairways made shot planning difficult. One thing that was noted was the excellent condition of the greens.

As all the Tim Aberdeen Shield 1/4 finals have been played ahead of schedule the draw was made for the semi-finals after the game at Saltburn. Dave Coates will play Ian Gunn and Jim Rooks will play Paul Baker. Click HERE for full details of all the results and ties.

Now for the results of round 12, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as 27 (Please note - the two guest players were not included in this calculation).

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
318	12	26.50	27

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place (on countback) was Bryan Mountford with 29 points.

In second place (also on countback) was Ian Gunn with 32 points.

And the winner of the twelfth round of the 2016 Championship, taking his second round win this season with 32 points was Dave Coates.

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category went to Ian Gunn, it would appear the windy conditions made it difficult to keep a ball on the fairway. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Steve Grant with 0.8m, the "nearest" we have had this season so far. Steve also converted his excellent tee shot into a "Two", his first of the season.

WW16/11 - Castle Eden, Saturday 30/8/16

This is our first visit to Castle Eden since 2012, it used to be the venue for our Team Challenge day but the all day ticket got too expensive and they priced themselves out. Castle Eden is a very scenic mature parkland course just a few hundred yards off the busy A19 but the only thing to remind you of it's location is the hum of the traffic on the first few holes, other than that you could be anywhere in the countryside. There was more of a racket coming from the course's "noisy neighbours" on the cricket pitch beside the back nine holes but the regular shouts of "Howzat" didn't distract us too much. The weather on the day was as close to perfect as we have had this season, mild, calm and above all dry and the course was in excellent condition.

As for the golf itself, I was in the third group out with defending Champion Frank Birch, Paul Rawlinson and "Big Al" Welsh, and all was going swimmingly until the 8th hole where Frank and Paul's internal "sat nav" went a little off course and they ended up on the wrong green (the 6th). As always a little local knowledge goes a long way as Alan & I managed to find the right green. The rest of our party seemed to enjoy the course as I heard no negative comments after the match.

There was one Tim Aberdeen Shield 1/4 final match left to play, Steve Grant versus Dave Coates with Dave coming out on top so we now have our four semi-finalists. Click HERE for full details of all the results and ties.

Now for the results of round 11, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as 29.

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
460	16	28.75	29

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place came Championship leader Andy Trewick with 35 points.

In second place was Mike Murray with 36 points.

And the winner of the eleventh round of the 2016 Championship, taking his first Society round win with 37 points was Mark Wilson.

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category went to Alan Welsh though Dave Bubba Watts did outdrive him but it was deemed off the fairway, sorry Dave. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Paul Rawlinson with 3.3m. There was one "Two" carded on the day by Dave Watts.

WW16/10 - Matfen Hall, Saturday 16/7/16

Matfen along with our home course of Wearside is the only ever present course on the Wanderers calendar. In previous years we have seen just about every kind of weather possible except snow (though I do remember there being some hail one year) so Saturday's warm, dry but breezy conditions were about as good as we have had. The course (tee boxes, fairways and greens) was in great condition as usual, BUT and it's a big but, if you strayed off the fairway and had the misfortune to land in the recently cut rough you might as well say goodbye to your ball as you had little chance of finding it again. If you were lucky enough to locate it the cut hay was all but impossible to play out of.

Now for the golf, in the past Matfen has been a one of our higher scoring rounds so I was expecting good things here. It may have been the course conditions or it may be an indication that our new handicap system is beginning to bite as none of us got anywhere near 40 points, the usual benchmark for a good round.

Matfen Hall was a designated Tim Aberdeen Shield round and three of the 1/4 final matches were played there. Click HERE for full details of all the results and ties.

Now for the results of round 10, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as --.

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
458	18	25.44	25

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place (on countback) came Gordon Grant with 31 points.

In second place was Dave "Bubba" Watts with 32 points.

And the winner of the ninth round of the 2016 Championship with 34 points was Steve Grant, his second round win this season.

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category went to Bryan Mountford, his first category win. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by Paul Rawlinson with 3.2m. There was one "Two" carded on the day by Jim Rooks.

A special mention must go to Jim Rooks who scored 27 points off a handicap of 3 (carding a gross 84 & nett 81). This has helped Jim close the gap at the top of the table to just 4 points behind our Championship leader Andy Trewick. The downside for Jim is that by scoring 27 he loses another stroke meaning he will be playing off TWO for the next round, a new Society record. Could we have our first "scratch" golfer soon? only time will tell.

WW16/9 - Garesfield, Saturday 2/7/16

Garesfield has quickly become a regular fixture on the Wanderers calendar, in past years we have been fortunate with the weather but all good things must come to an end as they say! The forecast for the day wasn't great and even as we gathered in the club house the omen's were not good with squally showers and dark clouds gathering on the horizon. As has happened at other venue's before, the course had taken another Society booking and changed our tee time without telling me. I have checked the original bookings list from Paula at DESCO and we were due to tee off at 12:00 as I published. Unfortunately Garesfield do not send any booking forms or paperwork so I have nothing in writing to confirm this or I would send a complaint letter to the Club Secretary.

Now for the golf itself, given the conditions it was fair to assume this round was never going to break any scoring records. The course was very wet in places and when it started to rain heavily it looked as though the match may have to be abandoned as the greens were starting to flood and became almost unplayable. Thankfully the showers, though heavy, were fast moving and towards the end of the round the sun got out making it a quite pleasant, if windy and cool afternoon.

The draw for the 1/4 finals of the Tim Aberdeen Shield will take place this week and I will publish the pairings later this week. The matches are to be played at or after the Matfen Hall round in a couple of weeks. Click HERE for full details of all the results and ties.

Now for the results of round 9, the Course Scratch Score (CSS) for this round was calculated as 24.

Total Score	Players	Average score	CSS
416	17	24.47	24

 

Following the usual post match card scrutiny the top three were confirmed as-

In third place (on countback) came Gordon Grant with 28 points.

In second place was Mike Murray also with 28 points (but a better back nine hole score). Not bad considering his trolley self destructed on the first tee! (see below).

And the winner of the ninth round of the 2016 Championship with 29 points an excellent score given the conditions was Andy Trewick. This is his second round win this season and consolidates his lead in the race to the Claret Jug.

It was a bad day for PowaKaddy golf trolleys, not only did Mike's trolley break as he left the first tee but Bernie's gave up the ghost half way down the 16th fairway meaning he could not complete the round. In the interests of fairness considering he had played more than 3/4 of the round I have included Bernie's score for the round and classified him as a finisher.

To see how the result affects your individual handicap visit your personal stats page HERE.

The Longest Drive category went to Paul Baker, his third category win giving him the outright lead in this competition. The Nearest the Pin Category was won by the round winner Andy Trewick with 3.19m. There were no "Two's" carded on the day.

WW2016 - Borders Championship, Sat & Sun 18-19/6/16

For this season's Borders Championship we decided to venture south west to the South Lakes. The courses chosen by John Ford for this years trip were Kirby Lonsdale on the Saturday and Grange Over Sands on the Sunday with an overnight stay in the historic city of Lancaster. 19 members attended this year's event to fight for the honour of being the custodian of "The Claw" for this season.

As has become the norm with this competition over the years the weather played it's part. At 16:30 on the Friday afternoon John had a call off the Professional at Grange Over Sands to let him know the course was partially flooded, only nine holes were open and he suggested we should phone the following morning to get an update. Well Saturday dawned fair and the weather forecast looked OK so we set out on the trip across the Pennines still not knowing whether we would be playing on Sunday or not. At about 9am we called the Pro at Grange Over Sands, the course was still flooded and he didn't expect things to improve much overnight but he did suggest another course. Following a couple more phone calls we averted a minor catastrophe and we were booked in at Bentham Golf Club on Sunday morning .... Phew!

Kirby Lonsdale

As we gathered in Kirby Lonsdale club house after an early start quite a few of us decided to top up our energy levels by partaking in a "healthy" breakfast. When we checked the menu there was a surprise for one of our group as the Full Monty breakfast here was named the "Mark Wilson" I'm not sure if Mark has been here before, but if so he certainly left his "mark" on the place. Once we were all fed and watered we set out onto the course, our Society were following the Lady Captain's group and being in the first group I had vision's of us being held up by the women. I should have known better, they were off into the distance after the third hole and we never caught up again until the 19th hole! As I expected the course was very scenic and in very good condition though the rough and semi-rough was brutal at times.

Following the golf we had the usual post match winners announcements then we left to travel to The Toll House Hotel in Lancaster, our base for the weekend. After a quick wash and brush up we gathered in the hotel bar for an slurp before feeding time. At this point we split up, some of the lads went out for a few bevies and a Ruby Murray whereas the rest had a meal in the hotel then went out for a walk to watch Portugal only manage a 0-0 draw and Ronaldo miss a penalty much to the consternation of the only Portugal supporter in the pub who was sitting at the table in front of me ..... Oh dear, How sad, Never mind Senhor Ronaldo. Following the footy some of us returned to the hotel for a nightcap (or two) where we talked and put the world to rights before some well earned kip.

Sunday morning dawned cloudy and overcast but very warm and muggy, following a very nice breakfast we took the short journey to Bentham Golf Club, a few miles east of Kirby Lonsdale.

Bentham

At 5772 yards Bentham isn't the longest course on the Wanderers calendar but it certainly felt like it, with some steep climbs and some very long walks between holes you can add at least another 500 yards to the total. From the outset you could tell this was going to be a tough test of golf, as at Kirby Lonsdale the day before the rough was brutal (I know, if you don't go in you don't have a problem) and the greens were excellent. The course layout has been changed recently, with some tee's and holes being swapped round. Obviously Garmin and the other Sat-Nav companies have not been out to reset their GPS mapping as those of us who rely on those devices found to our cost (I remember looking at my device only to see I was playing an 870 yard Par 3 hole!). The weather forecast was for rain to sweep across from early afternoon and true to the forecasters word it did at about 3pm, luckily we had all got most of the way round before the rain started in ernest.

Once the golf was over most of the group gathered in the clubhouse to dry off (on the outside) and re-hydrate (on the inside) and to announce the various category winners and the new Borders Champion. At this point I would like to thank John Ford for contacting and booking the courses (including re-arranging Sunday game) and hotel plus the evening meal. I am sure you will all appreciate the amount of effort that goes into organising and running this trip.

Last but certainly not least, the results. With only two rounds counting usually the Borders Championship event has been a very tight run thing, but occasionally we have a run-away winner as it was this year so here are the top three -

In third place with 61 points (28+33) was Mike Murray.

In second place with 63 points (40+23) was Jim Rooks.

The winner and 2016 Borders Champion with a total of 69 points (40+29) was Andy Trewick, his first Society "Major" win.

Congratulations to all the above, to see your individual scores please click HERE to download the Excel file, thanks to everyone who turned out and once again made this a great trip, lets hope for more of the same in 2017.