Stoke by Nayland

SENIORS NEWSLETTER

November 2025

Fellow Seniors,

Welcome to my first newsletter as captain. Before going any further, I would like to thank Kevin Price for a magnificent year as captain. He has set the bar high and I hope I can do as good a job as he has done.

I write this as Drive In Day is almost upon us. The sensible thing would no doubt be to spend some time at the range, attempting to hone those skills. I fear, however, that this is not what will happen.

As I mentioned at the annual meeting, I am pleased to announce that my charity for the year is Bowel Cancer UK. As many of you know, I was diagnosed with this a year ago and, touch wood, surgery has been successful. It remains the fourth most common cancer in the country, and I know of others in the club who have been affected by it, directly and indirectly. With early diagnosis, it is curable, and I hope that we can raise some much needed funds so that ourselves and loved ones can be spared its agonies.

Last month, Kevin mentioned that there was one interclub match still to play, which resulted in a win against The Essex. This meant that our final record was W14 L11 D4 (with one match cancelled). Bearing in mind that after nine matches our record was W1 D3 L5, that represents an impressive turnround in form. Well played everyone who has participated and I look forward to a great 2026, which will feature some new opponents.

October has been a busy month for the seniors, with several season-long competitions reaching their conclusion. The first congratulations go to Stuart Lawson, who, to use racing parlance, launched a very late run to pip Kevin Price by a shorthead, A stunning 39 in very windy conditions saw him win on countback, and he secured the Millennium Trophy to boot.

Next came the Swindle Trophy. There were four swindles during the month, and Peter Jay did himself no favours by winning the penultimate event with 39 points, the resultant 4 point cut for the final roundleaving him Everest rather than Scafell Pike to climb. And so it proved, with Dick Lumsden prevailing with 231 points, 2 ahead of Peter with 229, just ahead of Ian Bickers on 228. Well played Dick, and alsothe individual winners during the month, Colin Gorham (37points), Peter Jay, Lionel Hatch and Simon Merriam (each scoring 39). Before moving on from the swindle, a word of appreciation for Malcolm Norton and his tireless team of tee bookers. Without your efforts, the swindle wouldn’t happen. Many thanks, gentlemen.

Finally, we come to the Three Captains competition. I am sorry to report that the incoming captain did not have one his finest rounds, and unfortunately many of his team chose to follow his example, thus securing a solid bronze medal position. Congratulations to Kevin Price’s team, who won with a very creditable 314 points in tricky conditions.

It just remains for me to hope that we all have an enjoyable year ahead. In the meantime, fingers crossed for tomorrow!

All the best,

Graham Cork
Seniors Captain