Stoke by Nayland
SENIORS
June 2025
From your Captain:
Fellow Seniors,
Firstly, many congratulations to Kevin Walsh, who was recently revealed as the Senior Vice Captain for 2026. The tradition for announcing the new Vice Captain at the VC tour venue continued and I would like to wish Kevin every success, I’m sure he will do a super Job. This year’s tour at Greetham Valley was a huge success, so many thanks to 2025 VC Graham Cork for his superb event organisation.
The board put a lot of energy into arranging functions throughout the year and it would be great to see these well supported. On June 21st, to kick off golf week, we have a great covers band, The Beavers, who will be performing throughout the evening. They will provide the entertainment for the Summer Party, complete with BBQ. There should be plenty of promotional information around the club and you will have all received an email about this. There are a few seniors going, so if you are interested in joining, what should be a fun evening, please let Harry know and he will book you tickets. You can also contact me and I will give you more information on the event and how to book.
We have had a couple of new members to the section in May and I would like to welcome you to the seniors. I hope you enjoy your golfing with us.
My plans for the Senior Captain’s Charity day are starting to take shape. I’ve had a few offers of hole sponsorship, for which I am extremely grateful, but there is always room for more. I will have a number of fourball vouchers to auction for a wide range of clubs, and I’d love to see some other donations for the auction. If anyone is able to assist with auction lots, or knows local businesses who would be happy to sponsor a hole, or make a donation, it would be greatly appreciated.
The recent rain has left the course looking much greener, so it should be in great condition for our Senior Club Championship next week. I wish good fortunes to everyone who is taking part.
Kevin Price
Senior Captain
Disclaimer: The following is a light-hearted review of the previous month’s events. No offence is intended, I hope none is taken!
Full (formal) information can always be found on the senior’s website www.stokeseniors.com
All club information can be found at www.sbngolfmembers.co.uk
Another busy month, with the fine weather continuing, although recent days have seen signs of change. While your humble correspondent was getting a soaking at Haverhill on Tuesday, the familiar cry of “we need the rain” did not fall on sympathetic ears.
As is normally the case in May, there has been some varied golfing activity. We kicked off with the Hi-Lo Greensomes (actually in April but taking place after last month’s newsletter). Congratulations to Bill Wardle and Andy Wood, who edged out Lionel Hatch and Trevor Waterhouse, who were, no doubt, desperately unlucky. A few days later, Ian Bickers triumphed in the Senior Past Captains meeting, edging out Sir Bob on countback, form which, you would assume, would put him in great shape for a prizewinning performance on the VC Tour at Greetham Valley. And so it proved, Ian running out a comfortable winner of the much coveted parrot, who goes under the name of Daphne. At the other end of the table, Lionel Hatch took home the trophy, or rather would have done had the 2024 winner (I’ll spare his blushes by not naming him) remembered to bring it with him.
Returning to Stoke, well done to the monthly Stableford winners, Martin Brown and Adrian Beckinsale, with Martin edging the Captain’s Prize on countback. And speaking of the captain, congratulations to Kevin Price, who continued the trend started by previous captain John Parkinson in 2024 by winning the Veterans’ Cup. So, no pressure on the current VC then!
The fine performances in April’s Swindles continued into May, with Malcolm Norton’s scissors again being called into frequent action, not least on himself, with a score of 40 on 2nd May – and still not enough to win – Trevor Waterhouse taking the honours. Adrian Beckinsale, hot on the heels of his Monthly Stableford success, notched up an impressive 41 a few days later, while Mal Jones, setting new trends in footwear fashion, was victorious with a “mere” 37 on 9th May.
On the Interclub front, results have been mixed. We started with a 7-1 defeat at Gosfield but the team took the positives from this – it was an improvement from the previous match, and ran out winners in the next two, against Brett Vale and Hintlesham, before suffering a narrow defeat (5-3) at Haverhill. The month’s matches conclude at Braintree, which will be reported on in the next newsletter.
June is the month for the Club Championship but on a lighter note, 23rd June sees the Greenkeepers’ Revenge. If you have not played this, it is great fun – the greens featuring some rather unusual challenges, to say the least.
Many Happy Returns to all members who have their birthdays in June.
As always, if anyone wishes to share any “amusing” stories with me for the next newsletter, this can be done anonymously, or otherwise, by emailing grahamcork@outlook.com . Reports of outrageous fortune – good or bad – are particularly welcome!