Stoke by Nayland

                                                                                     SENIORS

December 2023

From your Captain:

The past month has been a difficult month weather wise; rain, rain and more rain has left the course in a sad state. To add to the challenges for the green staff we are now getting much colder weather and jack frost is doing his best to make golf even trickier! The forecast doesn't look great but SbN Seniors I know are made of stern stuff and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the course and in the sports bar.

Thanks to Kevin Price for running the book on my Drive In drive distance, the less said about that the better …. But I must give a big thank you from me to all the Senior Section members who took part in the book and help raise £325 for my chosen charity Parkinson UK, a very good start.

     Quote for the month

     ‘Golf is a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness.’ - William Wordsworth

John Parkinson - Senior’s Captain

Disclaimer: This 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

Well, we came to the end of the tenure of Commando Norton, who, it has to be said, enjoyed a very successful 12 months. He now joins the ranks of nobodies.

His successor, the very accomplished John ‘Parquet’ Parkinson, took to the fairways for his drive-in on November 6th. The smart money was on a fairway crushing drive of 220-240 yards, however, the sense of occasion got the better of him and he scuffed it (by Parquet standards) left. Not quite far enough left to be deemed as in the trees, but at 173 yards, was still somewhat short of the lofty expectations. The sweep winner, with a guess of 172 yards, was our very own Coventry lad, John Williams, who very kindly (with no strong arm tactics involved) donated his winnings back to the Captain’s charity, Parkinson’s Disease.

The divisions 1 & 2 victors on the day, both amassing 37 points were Trevor ‘7 iron’ Waterhouse and, with kind permission from Grace Brothers, our new member, Mr Humphreys.

A few days later, Trevor decided to put his winnings towards 2 new tyres, which were victims of the A134 pristine surface. It really wasn’t to be Trevor’s day, as Kelloggs will testify!

Our next competitive journey out was the Hi-Lo competition. A somewhat reduced number of entrants, partly due to some mysterious withdrawals, enjoyed a fine morning. The eventual winners, by a clear margin, were our club rapper and producer Jay-Z and Brian (my name is not spelt like the county) Willsher who mustered some 40 points after a fine exhibition of chipping and putting. Runners up, and representing the Home Nations, Messrs Lumsden and Davies with 37 points. Sneaking into 3rd place, with 35 points was our newest member Richard (now a senior) Allen and myself. Unfortunately, Richard was unaware of my weakness with 3 foot putts.

The match v The Lady Vets became a victim of the wet weather. With heavy rain overnight and steady rain forecast throughout the morning, the decision was made to cancel the day’s proceedings. Hopefully, it will be arranged for a more clement occasion next year.

Finally, the December stableford, played in November, took place. The biggest question on the day was, “will it be qualifying or not?” Waking up to a somewhat expected heavy frost, but bright sunlight, we were told it was indeed qualifying. A recording of the VAR panel’s decision making process will be released in the coming weeks! There were frequent cries of “did anyone see that?” and “keep your eyes on this.” Those lucky enough to spot their towering drives on the second had little chance of finding their own balls in the leaves, unless you happened to walk on it. Good job that rule was changed!

As the temperature increased, the course became a little more playable, for some. The majority of scores were, not unexpectedly on the low side, however there were one or two exceptions. Congratulations must go to Division 1 winner, Andy Cracknell (surely not a senior?), who held off Steve Tree to win on countback with 37 points. In Division 2, Alan Austin top of the pack, edging out David Humphreys on countback, both with 33 points.

We were due to play one rescheduled InterClub match this Month away to Newton Green. Sadly, this was cancelled because of the heavy rain and will not be rearranged.

In other news, it was great to see Paul Sheffield back out playing after his hip operation, and particularly pleasing to see Allen Smith back out on the fairways after a lengthy absence. Whether we say the same about Lionel next year remains to be seen! (only Joking!) Norman Davidson was inaugurated as Mens Captain, and if you ask him nicely, he’ll talk you through his drive-in. Congratulations to Pete Garnett who was appointed as Club President, it’s good to see the Seniors well represented on the board.

Sadly, we lost Les Parnell who passed away earlier in November. I’m sure many of the seniors will have fond memories of him.

Finally, Many Happy Returns to all members who have their birthdays in December and a very Merry Christmas to one and all.

Details of December’s schedule and all fixtures in 2024 can be found on the website.

If anyone wishes to share any “amusing” stories with me for the next newsletter, this can be done anonymously, or otherwise, by emailing kevinprice@btinternet.com