Racenight

July Weekday Stableford

This month's Weekday Stableford was played on Thu 22nd/Fri 23rd June. Twenty-nine players (21 men and 8 ladies) competed for the prizes and, as usual, the scoring was very competitive.
The winner this month was Ian Panting with a very impressive 41 points. Runner-up was decided on count-back with Wayne Arnold just edging out Matthew Baillie after both scored 39 points. One point further back, count-back was also required to decide fourth place. Roger Tillett just pipped Nick Mitchell and Ron Arnold.
Full result - click here.

Deanwood Park GC vs NRGC

Date: Sunday 1st August 2010
Venue: Deanwood Park GC

Team Sheet.
12:30 - J Graham (16) & C Adlem (8)
12:38 - R Whiting (17) & B Stevenson (19)
12:46 - J Butcher (16) & T Grove (8)
12:52 - D Butler (12) & M Richardson (14)
13:00 - Andrew Buchannan (13) & R Bowers (15)
13:08 - S Whiting (12) & S Deacon (27)
13:16 - K Richardson (14) & L Cratchley (22)
13:22 - S Chamberlain (20) & S Purvis (26)

Please arrive at Deanwood Park from 11:30 onwards.
Cost £10 per player
Two course meal to be served after play.
Team members to wear Club shirts.
Smart-casual dress to be worn around the Clubhouse.

John Graham.

Theale GC vs NRGC

A fine day at Theale Golf Club saw NRGC attempt to win the Theale Challenge Trophy for the first time. The score was tied at 3 - 3 from the first leg, so in fact we had a good chance.
The day started with a missing player thus leaving Roy Whiting to attempt to win on his own, and quite a few changes to the starting pairs as well as the drafting in of the first reserve Bob Stevenson. Halves were won by Dean Butler and his partner Dave Warwick as well as Jon Miller and his partner Andrew Buchanan, unfortunately we went on to lose all the remaining matches, thus losing 5 - 1, an overall defeat of 8- 4 on aggregate.
I would like to thank all the players for turning up and playing and I hope you all enjoyed the day if not the result. Interestingly the Theale captain told me they selected their team from the 12 best performing players from the medals played at Theale since April. The trophy will again be up for grabs over two legs next season, I hope we will fair better then and once again thanks to all my players for the support and the mickey taking about new hair cut.

John Graham.

Hoskie in Senior Open Championship

John Hoskison fired a superb 3 under par (70) to finish tied 2nd at the rain delayed qualifier at Downfield Golf Club in Scotland this week to qualify for the Senior Open Championship later on this week at Carnoustie. (Downfield qualifying results - click here)

This is one of the biggest events in Senior Golf worldwide with $2million in prize money on offer. The field this week is positively a who's-who of golf with the likes of Watson, Charles, Stadler, Lehman, Langer, Frost, Grady, Calcavecchia, Torrance, Pavin, Woosnam, Roberts, Mize, etc. Everywhere you look there are world class players in this field.

John tees it up in the first round on Thursday at 08:30 with Americans Jay Don Blake and Mike Reid.

We all wish John the very best of luck in this prestigious tournament.
(Senior Open Championship Leaderboard - click here)

Seniors Open

The annual Seniors Open was played today at NRGC. Although there were some showers, the weather and conditions overall were good. This was a smaller field than we have had in the past for this competition which may be a reflection of the current economic climate(?), but the competition was enjoyed by both home and visiting players alike. Thirty players (including 9 visitors from other clubs) competed for the prizes today which were given to the top five pairs in this four-ball Stableford.
The winners with 42 points were Chris Moore and Keith Chantrey (Donnington Valley). Runners-up just one point behind were Paul Tebbutt and Steve Thompson. Third place went to Barry Heath and Al Drennan on 40 points. Fourth place (39 pts) was secured by Rob Seaton and Malcolm Hooker (Sherbourne). Judy Willson and Tess Chantrey (Donnington Valley) were fifth, one point further back. Nearest the pin prizes went to Brian Grace and Chris Moore with Tom Wallin and Judy Willson grabbing the longest drive prizes.
Many thanks to Brian Faithfull and his team for organising this event and to the clubhouse for a super two-course meal following the event.
Full result - click here.

July Medal

Thirty-two men and thirteen ladies played in the July medal on Saturday. With the summer weather continuing, the scores were yet again very competitive and many players earned handicap reductions for their efforts.

Division 1
For the second month running Ian Martinez (4hcp) won the top division with a splendid 1 under gross and nett 66. Nick Powell (11hcp) clinched runners-up spot with a nett 70. Just behind Nick there were four players tied on nett 73. Guy Farrier just pipped the other 3 on countback.
Full result - click here.

Division 2
This division was extremely competitive with the top eight players all receiving a cut in their handicap. The winner by one shot was David Warwick (hcp15) with a nett 64. Runner-up was decided on countback with Geoff Denner (hcp19) just beating Roger Tillett (hcp13) after both carded nett 65.
Full result - click here.

Division 3
Mike Lucey (hcp25) was the winner in this division after scoring a nett 67 and receives a two-shot reduction on his handicap for his efforts. Mark France (hcp23) was the runner-up with a nett 69. Pete Turner grabbed third spot on countback from Aubrey Phillips after both scored nett 72.
Full result - click here.

Ladies
Plenty of ladies competing for this months medal with more fantastic scores on offer. The best of the day was Sarah Purvis (hcp29) who carded a superb nett 62. Runner-up was Elaine Brichard (hcp29) who just pipped Cilla Osgood (hcp25) on countback after both players scored nett 66.
Full result - click here.

Lizzie - County Champion

Following her record scores (72 & 68) to win the NRGC Ladies Club Championship last month, Lizzie Swallow continued her excellent form to win the Berkshire Junior Girls Championship with a level par round at Winter Hill Golf Club last Sunday. Lizzie defeated last year's champion (Emily Savage) by a whopping 7 shots to clinch victory.
Newbury Racecourse is well represented in the roll of honour for this championship with previous winners Emily Heath and Francesca Robertson also learning their trade at our club.
Well done Lizzie - keep up the good work.
For more details - see http://www.bclga.co.uk/juniors/champs.html

Bearwood vs NRGC

Following up from our 5 - 3 home defeat to our new friends from Bearwood Golf Club, NRGC went in search of a win on our first ever visit to Bearwood.
The format played was a mixed match using the 3/4 handicap system and I cannot report a victory as we were soundly thrashed 7 - 1, with only Sam Whiting and myself able to claim a victory.
The weather was great with a cooling breeze helping all the players, and the food was excellent again and the company good.All players seemed to enjoy the day and we will continue to play against our new friends again next season with the result hopefully coming out in our favour.
Thanks to Maria Tillett for collecting the money and to all the members from both clubs for taking part in the match.
The match sheets for the Theale Away (Mens) and the Away match at Deanwood (Mixed) matches will appear on the notice board in the next day or so.

John Graham.

Ladies Open

The 2010 Ladies Open got off to a rather damp start today but the initial wet weather did not dampen the enthusiasm of the 33 ladies, representing 11 different golf clubs who took part.
The Individual Prize went to Tess Chantry of Donnington Valley with a brilliant 41 points. The runner-up was Janice Paulin with 39 points, beating Lorraine Storey on count back.
The runner up team was Sandy Deacon, Janice Paulin and Sandy Moss (Bishopswood) with a score of 82 points, but the runaway winners with 88 points were Lorraine Storey, Liz Evans and Jan Hinks. The prize for longest drive went to Sandy Moss and nearest the pin was won by Caroline Lee-Smith (Blue Mountain).
The day was rounded off nicely with an excellent meal provided by Fiona and her staff, thanks to them, especially for the hot apple tart with caramel ice cream. Enjoyed by everyone! Thanks to Allison Holmes and Marian Taylor who came in to help me on the day. Also thanks to Judy Willson who sold the raffle tickets raising £84 for the Captains' Charities. And I must not forget Derek Perrin who put out the NP and LD pins for me. Thanks to all of you, your support helped make the day a great one. Full result - click here.
Elaine