W.W.G.S.
Season Report
2024 Season Report
For the 2024 season the Wanderers had 25 full members, some played more games than others with one member being unable to play all season due to an injury (Craig) though we did average around 15 members playing per round. We usually gain a few and lose a few over the closed season but this year we kept last season's membership, even adding one new member (Ian Lawson, who had played a few times as a guest). All members both old and new appear to have enjoyed the season's events. As usual it wouldn't have been a Wanderers season if the weather hadn't played a part somewhere through the year but thankfully we had nothing like the disruption we saw in 2023 as only one match had to be rearranged due to a waterlogged course (Teesside).
Courses -
After twenty four seasons as a Society it is becoming increasingly difficult to find new venues in the local area to visit, that said we still managed to add one new course to our list (Thirsk & Northallerton, part of our Weekend Away Borders trip, see below).
Handicaps and scoring -
Our handicap system we based on the WHS system that we adopted a few seasons ago was tweaked over the winter and appears to be working OK though there are still some things that require some attention for the 2025 season.
Competition results
Two's Pot competition -
This year all we could muster was a paltry 13 two's between the 25 of us! A case of must try harder next year. All those who did card a two won a share of the pot which this year was £8.00 each two carded and the winner of the Twos Pot for 2024 was Andy Dodd who had 3 two's this year.
Longest Drive & Nearest the Pin categories -
This season the Longest Drive category was won by Andy Trewick with three round wins. Dave Watts and Gary West were the runners up with two wins each. The Nearest the Pin competition was won this season by Dave Sanders who won three rounds, his nearest challenger was Rico Liverani with two wins.
Birdie Bowl competition -
For 2024 we decided to alter the format of the Birdie Bowl. Instead of only counting nett birdies we used Stableford gross birdies, meaning more players had a chance to win this category. Out of a total of 682 nett birdies the winner and recipient of the Birdie Bowl for 2024 was Rico Liverani with a total of 65 gross birdies.
Three Rivers Challenge -
A couple of years ago, during the COVID 19 pandemic in order to produce a winner for the Borders Championship we resurrected a competition format that had been used a few years ago, the Three Rivers Challenge. The winner of this category was the player with the highest combined Stableford points total for the “River” rounds i.e. Wearside, Tyneside and Teesside. With a combined score of 105 points the winner and Three Rivers champion for 2024 was Steve Grant.
Borders Championship -
For the first of this season's Society Majors, the Borders Championship, this year we decided to head south to sample the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside, basing our visit in Northallerton, a town I know well having been based there for work for many years. The courses we played were Thirsk & Northallerton plus we revisited Romanby, a course we first played a good few years ago. Both were in excellent condition and were a very tough test of anyone's game. The first match on the Saturday was at Thirsk & Northallerton and was won by Dave Sanders with 33 points. The Sunday match was won by John Ford with 34 points. The overall winner and Borders Champion for 2024 was John Ford with a total of 64 points.
Tim Aberdeen Shield -
In another attempt to ensure all matches would be played promptly once again we changed the format for our second Major, the Tim Aberdeen Shield. This time for the initial knockout round the top 16 players from last season's Championship were entered into the first round ties. On completion of the first round the competition continued on a knockout basis till there were only two left. After a hard fought battle at Dunstanbrough Castle between our two finalists Steve Grant & Rico Liverani Steve came out the winner and new Tim Aberdeen Memorial Shield Champion.
Main Championship -
In recent years there have been as many as seven players going into Finals day with a chance of lifting the Claret Jug but this season it was a clear two horse race. One player went into the match with a thirteen point lead and only one realistic opponent. As with the Aberdeen Shield final it was a battle between Rico and Steve, with Rico holding the upper hand going into the final round. After a hard fought match Steve managed to overturn the thirteen point deficit and by the end of the round he eventually won by just two points giving him a total of 352 points giving him the Claret Jug to join his Aberdeen Shield and Three Rivers Challenge wins earlier in the year. Runner up Rico finished just behind with 350 points. In third place (after a “rounds won” countback) was Alan Welsh on 331 points with Andy Dodd in fourth.
OK folk's that's it for yet another year, on behalf of the whole Society I would like to congratulate our new double Champion Steve and all our other category winners. I would also take this opportunity to thank the two Paul's (Marshall & Baker) of DESCO Ltd for their support and sponsorship of our match at Wearside this year, without their intervention there would not have been a round at Wearside this year.
Finally, a very big thank you to all our members and guest players who have supported the Society this year and let's hope for more of the same when we meet up again in early 2025 to start all over again.
Ian Gunn, Wearside Wanderers Competition Secretary.