Stoke by Nayland Seniors
Monthly newsletter November
Welcome to my first newsletter. Firstly I have to congratulate Malcolm for an excellent year as Captain and Senior Swindle organizer, on behalf of the senior section we thank you. I would also like to thank my VC Kevin Price who pulls together the past months events leaving myself to just add a cover note to this newsletter.
Under the new structure I have a team of helpers who enable the senior section to continue to operate like a well oiled machine they are. Competitions; Allen Smith, Inter Club matches; Pete Hele Kevin Price and Malcolm Norton Finance; Adrian Cherry Communication; Kevin Price Website; Peter Jay. Thank you for your support gents
As we move into the winter season the course conditions are only going to get worse. I would like to remind members to replace divots, repair pitch marks, rake bunkers (when they are in play) and keep trolleys to the rough and paths. They are our courses and following these guidelines will help keep them in as good condition as possible, that can only benefit us all, also a little positive word to the green keepers when relevant can go a long way.
Congratulations to all the winners at Monday's annual meeting.
Remember to visit our excellent web site for everything you need to know and more about the SbN Seniors Section, stokeseniors.com
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible bright and early for my Drive In and the Monthly Stableford on November 6.
Quote for the month: Success depends almost entirely on how effectively you learn to manage the game's two ultimate adversaries: the course and yourself. Jack Nicklaus
John Parkinson
SbN Seniors Captain 2024
Wednesday Swindles
Friday 6th October – Constable
1st Graham Vandervord 40 points 4 shot cut
2nd Mike Clare / Roger Davies / Dominic Watts / Del McWilliams 38 pts 2 shot cut
3rd Shikhar Chatrath 37 pts 1 shot cut
Friday 13th October – Gainsborough
1st Mick Henry 39 points 3 shot cut
2nd Malcolm Norton / Peter Jay 37 pts 2 shot cut
3rd John Williams 36 pts 1 shot cut
Wednesday 18th October – Constable
1st Ian McKay/ Brian Butcher / Shikhar Chatrath 38 points 3 Shot cuts
2nd Barry Hitchcock 37 pts 2 shot cut
3rd Trevor Waterhouse / Graham Cork 36 pts 1 shot cuts
Friday 27th October – Gainsborough
1st Pete Hele 39 points
2nd Richard Middleton 38 pts
3rd Graham Cork 35 pts
Final Swindle standings 2023
Mick Henry - Swindler of the Year
1st Mick Henry 238 points
2nd Mike Clare 236 pts
3rd Brian Butcher 235 pts
4th Pete Hele 233 pts
5th David Seymour 232 pts
5th Lionel Hatch 232 pts
7th Brain Willsher 231 pts
7th Kevin Walsh 231 pts
9th Kevin Price 230 pts
10th Peter Jay 227 pts
Many thanks to Malcolm Norton for again masterminding the 2023 Swindles and the Tee Booking Team – your efforts are very much appreciated.
Swindles in November
The weekly swindle will restart in the New Year.
Inter Club Matches
Inter Club Match v The Essex - Gainsborough - 11th October
SbN 5 The Essex 3
GROUP 1 – Malcolm Norton & John Parkinson
Great pairing. 2 under on front 9 with lots of birdies. Back nine we didn’t try so hard but still coasted to a good win 6 + 5.
GROUP 2 – David Drew & Peter Jay
An exceptionally close and friendly match. All square after 15. David’s tee shot on the 16th high, wide and handsome. Penalty taken but then 2 spectacular shots to the green to win the hole and go one up. Four great tee shots on the 17th but a birdie putt by David sealed the match 2 + 1. Great company.
GROUP 3 – Graham Cork & Ian McKay
We got off to a quick start, Graham using his shots on the first two and a birdie for Mr Mckay on the third. The Essex players pulled it back to 1 up at the turn. 3 birdies on the back nine just got us into the win zone 3 + 2.
GROUP 4 – Brian Roloff & Dave Seymour
“We was outplayed”, 5 down at the turn. Then back to one down at the 16th, but lost at the 17th. Great game.
GROUP 5 – Dick Lumsden & Andy Higginson
Started well enough with Andy birdying the first. Twice on the front 9 we went 2 up, but lost the next 2. All square at the turn, but then the wheels came off. Not helped by the 24 handicapper on the Essex Team playing like a demon with 2 birdies and a handful of pars. Lost 3 + 2.
GROUP 6 – Colin Pottle & Trevor Waterhouse
2 down on the first?then all square. 2 up on 9. Brilliant game good company. Won 3 + 2.
GROUP 7 – Paul Sheffield & John Williams
We were 3 down after 9 with the opposition playing very steadily. By the 17th we were all square. However the guy playing off 21 sank a 40 footer for a birdie & parred the last with a shot.
Finished 2 down, played in good spirit.
Group 8 – Bob Filer & Phil Hickley
With a better ball score of 44 pts, the Stoke pair performed well and managed to keep ahead throughout the match. Very enjoyable game played in the right spirit, only four holes halved in the 16 holes played. Won 4 + 2
Many thanks indeed to David Drew who reported on today’s match.
Upcoming match-November
2nd Nov v Newton Green (away)
(Our IPC will come out of retirement for 1 day only, in an attempt to secure a positive result for the season. Currently W12, L12, H 1)
Stop Press: This match has been cancelled altogether, due to the incoming storm.
Captain’s Charity 2024
Our Captain had the pleasure of presenting a cheque to Alison Butler, the representative from his chosen charity, The East Anglian Children’s Hospice. The magnificent sum raised was £10,141.00
Alison was delighted by the amount raised and said what a generous group of people we all are.
Malcolm would like to thank you all for the kind support and generosity over this past year.
October Competition results
St Andrews Greensomes - Gainsborough - 4th October
A slightly disappointing turnout of 40 members took part in today’s annual running of the St Andrews Greensomes competition on the Gainsborough course. Recent rain resulted in the rough being particularly tricky – better not to be in there in the first place. The wind also made some holes a little trickier.
It was a close run thing at the top of the leader board with nearly half the field playing to handicap, but Kevin Walsh and Peter Jay edged out on countback the pairing of Tony Denmead and Richard Middleton, both teams scoring 41 points.
Successful pair, Peter Jay and Kevin Walsh, with Seniors Captain, Malcolm Norton
Leaders ………….
1st Kevin Walsh & Peter Jay 41 points on c/b
2nd Tony Denmead & Richard Middleton 41 pts
3rd Tony Carman & Mike Stairmand 40 pts on c/b
4th Colin Dallas & Tony Emms 40 pts
Monthly Stableford & Millennium Trophy - Gainsborough - 9th October
52 players in today’s Monthly Stableford and the annual Millennium Trophy, competed for by the Stableford winners over the past 12 months.
The competition played on the Gainsborough course on an extremely warm and sunny October day.
Congratulations must go to Peter Hele, 39 points in Division 1, and Mick Henry, also with 39 points in Division 2.
Congratulations also to Alan Finlayson, the victor in this year’s Millennium Trophy
Leading scorers …….
Division 1
1st Peter Hele 39 points
2nd Alan Finlayson 38 pts on c/b
3rd Tony Denmead 38 pts
Division 2
1st Mick Henry 39 points
2nd Del McWilliams 38 pts
3rd Richard Middleton 35 pts on c/b
4th Lionel Hatch 35 pts
SbN Seniors Guest Day - Gainsborough - 16th October
An excellent day with 22 members entertaining their guests to competition on the Gainsborough course, followed by a very good lunch in the Gallery Bar.
The better ball competition was as competitive as could be expected, although Gainsborough was not at its very best with extensive work to the greens, however, everyone appreciated that the work had to be done if we are to enjoy the benefits in the next few weeks and months.
Congratulations to Mike Clare and his guest, Eamon Lynch who returned a score of 43 points.
Leading scores ………
1st Mike Clare & Eamon Lynch 43 points
2nd Tony Reeves & David Boyden 42 pts on c/b
3rd. Mark Clark & Nigel Chapman 42 pts on c/b
Nearest the pin winners …….
3rd Phil Hickley
7th Mark Clark
9th David Boyden
11th Trevor Samways (great to see you back again Trevor)
17th Graham Cork (in 2)
18th Barry Jones
Finally well done and many thanks to both John Williams & Alan Line for all of the arrangements to ensure what everyone agreed was a great day and are already looking forward to a repeat competition in 2024.
Bogey Competition - Gainsborough - 25th October
We believe that this may be the first time the section have played this format as an open competition. 42 Seniors played on a Gainsborough course which has benefitted from more than its fair share of rain in the past 6 days. On the whole the course has stood up well but a few fairways and greens were not at their usual sparkly best – the recent Dollar Spot disease continues to have severe effects on putting.
The competition involves members playing against the course, winning, halving or losing each hole.
Scoring was clearly tough with only 3 players beating the course.
Congratulations must go to John Parkinson and Paul Sandfield in Division 1 who halved the course overall, and to Peter Jay, who finished 4 up, Mick Henry 3 up, and Bob Filer, 1 up, all in Division 2
Leaders ……….
Division 1
John Parkinson All square
Paul Sandfield All square
Roger Davies 1 down
David Giles 2 down
Peter Hele 2 down
Division 2
Peter Jay 4 up
Mick Henry 3 up
Bob Filer 1 up
Mike Clare 1 down
3 Captains Competition - Gainsborough - 30th October
After the persistent rain of the past week, the Captain made his final decision of his year by calling all bunkers GUR. This competition was played without the knowledge of who was playing for which team, however, all was revealed once all of the cards had been collected and scores collated with members of the IPC Pete Robin’s team all receiving their golf ball prizes in celebration of their success.
The leading scores on the day:
Ist Sir Bob Filer 40 pts (Countback)
2nd Eric Fisher 40 points
3rd Toby Butcher 37 points
Immediately following the results of the competition, the AGM was held with presentations from Adrian Bullock, the outgoing Captain, Malcolm Norton and the new Captain for 2024, John Parkinson.
Awards were presented to all the winners of major trophies in 2023.
John Parkinson announced his very worthy, chosen charity of the year, Parkinsons Disease.
Happy Birthdays in November to the following Seniors Members (apologies if I have omitted anyone) –
Steve Ling, Rob Swan, Allen Brown, Mal Jones, Richard Middleton, John Venner, Tony Carman, Bill Dastur, Derek Boyt, Niall Caven and Dave Seymour.
Many Happy Returns to You All.
UPCOMING EVENTS - November
6th Nov Senior Captains Drive In & Monthly Stableford – Gainsborough
15th Nov Hi – Lo Pairs
27th Nov Lady Vets & Seniors Christmas Mixed – Gainsborough
29th Nov Monthly Stableford – Constable