From our Captain

Time goes by so quickly and I can’t believe  we are already entering the final 30 days of my year as seniors captain. I thank you all for allowing me the opportunity of achieving this honour and I wish good luck in this role to our next captain Malcolm Norton.

The month of September saw us playing 1 Inter Club game against Newton Green (away) which we narrowly lost by the margin of 4.5 to 3.5. 

We have 2  games left to play against Braintree ( home on Monday 3 Oct ) and ( away on Wednesday 19thOctober.)   are all that remain for this year. Our results at present are Played 22,  Won 12, Lost 10.  So with a final push of effort in the remaining games we will have a higher win ratio  than defeats which is always a good achievement. Thanks to all who have played in Inter club games this year.

Last 2 Capt/Pro matches were played in September firstly against Ian Bickers & Martin Brown with today’s Pro Karl as my partner. A competitive game ensued that went to the 18th hole and ended in a half.

Harry was my partner in the final game against Mark Clark and Ian McKay which produced another evenly matched game that was halved on the 18th hole. I thank all who played in the Capt / Pro matches this year, I enjoyed the company of all challengers and appreciated their generous contributions made to my charity. I also thank Karl and his team of Taylor & Harry for their effort in making these games very much worthwhile for all.

Well done to Dick Lumsden and Pete Hele for inflicting the heaviest defeat to  Capt / Pro team 7 & 6

Competitions in September was the monthly stableford and   Senior Vets Cup congratulations   to 

Div 1 Winner Ian Gault with 44 points   

Div 2  Winner Alan Austin      whose score also wins Alan the Senior Vets cup.     

30th September saw the return from a 3 year absence of the seniors Invitation  Day. The start was delayed for 2 hours because of fog. We then had a window of approx. 4.5 hours before the rain was due. Everyone got round in the dry and enjoyed a meal after in the Gallery Lounge. Congratulations to winners - Graham Vandervord and his guest Geoff Pratt  with a total of 48 points        

Pete Robins

New Members

A warm welcome to Simon Tye.

Wednesday Swindles

Here’s a Round Up of the results over the last month,– the latest first – well done to all the Winners, and those placed. As always, a vote of thanks to Malcolm for organising the events, and his team of bookers, who make themselves available in the early hours to secure tee times for us all. 

As we are drawing close to the end of the competitive period, October will see the crowning of the ‘Swindler of the year.’ The victor being the player with the best 6 scores over the year. Current standings, with 1 swindle remaining to play being:

Mick Henry​​                240

Pete Hele​​                  232

Richard Middleton​     230

Adrian Beckinsale​     229

Alan Finlayson​​          228

Wednesday 28th September

Winners today were 

1st place Tony Denmead with 40 points 

2nd Tony Emms with 39 points 

3rd Martin Brown,  Pete Garnett and Paul Sheffield all with 36 points. 

Wednesday 21st September 

1st with 47 points was Mike Stairmand 

2nd with 41 points was Dr Gove

3rd with 39 points was Norman Davidson 

Wednesday 14th September

1st Niall Caven 38 points 

2nd Shikhar Chatrah and Lionel Hatch with 37 points 

3rd Dick Lumsden and Adrian Beckingsale with 35 points 

Wednesday 7th September

1st - Brian Willsher & Kevin Walsh            43 points

2nd - Trevor Waterhouse                          40 pts

3rd - Tony Denmead / Phil Hickley / Lionel Hatch / Paul Sheffield / Iain Gault 38 pts

Inter Club Matches

With the season rapidly drawing to a close and the selection already made for October 3rd match home to Braintree, there is just one match left to come on October 19th, away to Braintree. So still time to get your name down!

Inter Club Match v Newton Green - Away - 8th September

Convened at Newton fairly early & commenced with a 2 tee start, which the later starters considered a great idea.

We managed to not only miss the early morning rain, but also the early afternoon downpour which resulted in a number of damp looking golfers scurrying for cover.

Match was lost 4.5 to 3.5, however, as pointed out by Captain Pete, the aggregate was a win for SBN due to a 6-2 home win.

SBN nearest the pin winner – Steve Mitchell.

Enjoyable day had by all (as usual), with some very close matches, a number of which went down the last.

Match 1: Pete Robins & Ian McKay

Result: 2 down

A closely fought match which went down to the last 2 putts, which unfortunately for SBN went the wrong way.

The Captain started well, hitting the road on the first & securing a half. He kindly left it to Ian to keep securing halves until SBN went 1 down, when the Captain sprang to life parring stroke index 2. 

There was never more than 1 hole in it until the last.

Match 2: Colin Dallas & Roger Davies

Result: 1 down

Roger & Colin managed to keep on the tail of Newton throughout, even though a birdie wasn’t good enough to even secure a half. SBN never managed to get back level, mainly due to Colin’s poor putting said his partner, but took it to the last hole before eventually losing 1 down. Regardless of the result, a good day had by all, in good company.

Roger is now seeking a good dentist after much teeth grinding, whilst Colin returns to losing ways.

Match 3: Alan White & Dick Lumsden

Result: 1 down

After losing the first, it took the Stoke boys a few holes to get into it & at the turn SBN were 2 down. A nearest the pin & birdie on the 11th for Newton put them in control. However, never say die Dick, won 12, Alan produced a string of halves & Dick won the 17th to take them down the last 1 down. However, it was not to be, as Newton’s Nigel secured a half with a 12 foot putt.

Match 4: Bob Filer & Graham Vandervord

Result: win, 6 & 5

Tough start for SBN due to losing holes 1 & 3. However a run of pars helped push SBN in front. A lead that was transformed into total domination with 3 birdies & the crowning glory of Bob’s (did you know I’m 80) eagle on the 15th.

Match 5: Malcolm Norton & Norman Davidson

Result: 4 down

After a slow start, Malcolm & Norman managed to get a couple of holes back, followed by a number of holes being halves. Then local knowledge kicked-in with SBN losing their edge & eventually lost 4 down to a couple of very nice gents. Malcolm seemed a little upset when asked for a summary. Not sure what Norman did (or didn’t do) to illicit this state of mind.

Match 6: Steve Mitchell & Robin Nicholson

Result: all square

Steve & Robin greatly enjoyed a tight game that never had more than a 1 hole advantage & eventually finished all square.

Match 7: Andy Higginson & Tony Carman

Result: 2 up

Tony & Andy enjoyed a very tight match against Paul & David played in a very good spirit. After 4 holes SBN were 3 down with some great play by Tony pulling them back to level. SBN fell behind again, finding themselves 1 down with 3 holes remaining. However, birdies on 16 & 17, despite opponents have strokes resulted in the tables being turned. Winning the last was the icing on the cake.

Match 8: Barry Hitchcock & Steve Stacey

Result: win (I can’t recall actual score)

For some reason, Barry & Steve wish to be known as the “Dovetailers” – must be something to do with bird watching. Seems that they had little fun as no trees & only very occasional visits to the sand were encountered. Course considered in good nick & opposition were excellent – top draw Scott! Opponent we presume. 

Many thanks to Colin Dallas who cheerfully undertook the responsibility of reporting on today’s match against our nearest neighbours.

Upcoming inter-club matches in October

3rd October​Home v Braintree​Constable

19th October​Away v Braintree

Seniors Club Competition results

Monthly Stableford / Seniors Cup - Constable - 12th September

56 entrants in todays Monthly Stableford and the annual competition for the Senior Veterans Cup, open to members over the age of 70.

The competition was played on the Constable course, which was in excellent condition, with extremely pleasant weather and often clear blue skies.

Many congratulations to Iain Gault on winning Division 1 and to Alan Austin on leading the way in Division 2 - Alan also was successful in winning the Senior Veterans Cup, to be presented at the Annual General Meeting, also todays Nearest the Pin comp - knocking the Captain’s name off the board !

Leading positions ………..

Division 1

1st          Iain Gault                44 points

2nd         Phil Ledger             41 pts

3rd          Barry Hitchcock      40 pts

4th          Toby Butcher           38 pts on c/b

5th          Reg Reid                 38 pts 

6th          Colin Pottle              38 pts

Division 2

1st          Alan Austin               45 points

2nd        Gordon Bryan            44 pts

3rd         Niall Caven                42 pts

4th         Lionel Hatch               41 pts

5th         Ray Ludlam                40 pts on c/b

6th         Robin Owen               40 pts

7th         Pete Robins               40 pts

Captain Pro Matches

Captain Pro v Ian Bickers & Martin Brown

Match Halved

On a warm early September morning Martin Brown /Ian Bickers were the latest challengers in the 2022 Captain /Pro challenge on the Constable. Today’s Pro was Karl.

The first three holes were halved and then the challengers went one down on the 4th and then two down on the 6th. Fortunately the challengers won the 8th and 9th to bring the match all square with Karl hitting a country mile.

The back 9 started brightly for the challengers but this was nullified by the 14th. The Captain/Karl team the won the 15th and 16th courtesy of some poor putting. However on the 17th Martin was the only player to hit the fairway with the others in the trees on the left. Karl nearly made a magnificent recovery but Martin hit a superb shot into the green to hole out for a four to win the hole.

It came down to the 18th. Martin drove into the water But IB1 managed a reasonable shot to the left of the green (2 shots on the hole !!) . Karl was also left with on the right and had a difficult chip which ran to front of the green with the Captain thinning his to the back. IB1 made a poor chip but managed to win the hole with a four net three.

Altogether an enjoyable morning with a fair result.

The Captain was again very grateful for the generous donations to his charity.

Captain and Harry Hibbert v Mark Clark and Ian McKay Constable Course.

Result: All square

It was an overcast start, with little wind and everyone was looking forward to a friendly game. Harry started by heading for the 17th fairway and then hitting a strong approach shot and got the first birdie. He followed this with an approach shot to 3 feet on the second, 2 up after two holes!

The third hole saw a change when Mark rolled in a birdie (net eagle) on the third, which was short- lived, when Harry nearly holed his approach shot for a ‘kick-in’ birdie.

The 5th hole is when things got more sensible when Ian and the Captain halved the hole with net birdies and this lead to an even run, with the Captain and Pro leading the match two up at the turn.
Ian birdied the 11th and following some net birdies, we went to the 13th hole all square. Harry got a birdie and Ian followed him, when the Captain decided to get a 2 for a net 1 on the 13th and go one up. Mark levelled the game with a birdie on 15, after driving down to the bottom of the slope.

Harry managed another birdie on the 17th to go one up and made Ian hole a 6 footer for a net birdie on the last to half the match.

Ian and Mark estimated that they would have got at least 45 points in a betterball and Harry was 5 under par. If the four players were in a team event it was estimated that using the best two scores from four would have managed 93 points.

All agreed that they had a good time and very happy with the game. 

After retiring to the clubhouse for suitable refreshment the Captain thanked both challengers for their generous contribution to his charity.

Roy Tricker Trophy 

The Roy Tricker Trophy is awarded to the player with the best 6 from a possible 12 scores registered during the golfing year. 

With 11 of our monthly Stablefords now complete, the leaderboard for the Roy Tricker Trophy could not be much closer.

In the September Stableford, current leader Alan Finlayson made up 2 points and improved his score for the six best rounds to 234. But Bill Wardle improved his score by 8 points, putting him joint top with Alan.

Reg Reid improved his score, but drops to third place, while Gordon Bryan’s 44 points in September saw him jump up to fourth. 

The October Stableford is the final event of the year and all of the leading contestants need a good score to stay in contention.  For those that like a gamble….Alan needs to improve on a 32, Bill needs to improve on a 34 and Reg needs to improve on a 35.  The smart money therefore goes on high scoring Gordon Bryan who only needs to improve on a 32 - and another 40+ point tally would be at least an 8 point swing and maybe enough for him to claim top spot?

The top 10 so far are:

1. Alan Finlayson​​              234

2. Bill Wardle​​                     234

3. Reg Reid​​                       231

4. Gordon Bryan ​​               229

5. Peter Garnett​​                 227

6. Kevin Price​​                    225

7. Roger Davies​​                223

8. Phil Ledger​​                    218

9. Steve Tree​                     ​216

10. Adrian Cherry​​              215

Invitation Day - 30th September

Disappointing support for today’s Invitation Day with only 19 members and their guests supporting what, in previous years, has been a popular and successful day. A great deal of coffee and bacon rolls were consumed before the early morning fog lifted sufficiently for everyone to be allowed onto the Gainsborough course for the traditional shotgun start.

The 2 hour delay enabled a great deal of catching up - great to welcome back Trevor Samways again to SbN.

Some outstanding betterball scores were returned later in the day, none better that Vanders and his guest Geoff Pratt with a great 48 points edging out a Tony Carman and Trevor Samways by a single point.

Many thanks to Allen Smith, ably assisted by Malcolm Norton and Kevin Price who between them made all of the arrangements for the day. Well done - your efforts were very much appreciated by all.

Results …………………

1st         Graham Vandervord and Geoff Pratt                   ​48 pts

2nd        Tony Carman and Trevor Samways                 ​47pts

3rd         John Parkinson and Kevin Wibberley              ​43 pts CB
4th         Richard Saunders and Steve Grey                 ​​43 pts CB

5th         Mike Moore and Noel Cummins                     ​40 pts

6th         David Seymour and Doug Barrett                   ​40 pts

7th         Roger Davies and Richard Watson                ​​ 38 pts

8th         Lionel Hatch and Richard Plummer                 ​38 pts

9th         John Williams                                          ​​37 pts

10th        Peter Jay and Graham Button                       ​​37 pts

11th        Malcolm Norton and Mark Clark                    ​37 pts

12th        Tony Reeves and David Boyden                    ​​ 37 pts

13th        Allen Smith and Mike Smith                          ​​36 pts

14th        John Jardine and Maurice Atkins                    ​36 pts

15th        Collin Broadhurst and Tim Gleed                   ​ 36 pts

16th        Terry Mitchell and Colin Sprigs                       ​35 pts

17th        Dick Lumsden and Mike Peachey                    ​35 pts

18th        Kevin Price and Dave Handley                       ​​33 pts

19th        Pete Robins and John Gibbs                          ​​26 pts

Best Front 9        Lionel Hatch and Richard Plummer 23 pts
Best back 9         Mike Moore and Noel Cummins 22 pts

NTP 3rd             Kevin Wibberley

NTP 7th             Tony Reeves

NTP 9th             Collin Broadhurst

NTP 11th            Colin Spriggs

NTP 18th            Richard Plummer

NTP with second shot 17th      Tony Carman

Happy Birthdays in October to the following Seniors Members(apologies if I have omitted anyone)–

Doug Chapman, Bob Filer, Robin Owen, John Simpson, Malcolm Spurgeon, Geoff Ellender, Robin Nicholson, Brian Hemmings, Michael Isom, Martin Brown, Brian Butcher, David Watson, Tony Denmead, Colin Dallas, Brian Roloff, John Gough, Simon Oliphant and Andy Cracknell.

Many Happy Returns to You All

UPCOMING EVENTS  -  October

5th October​             St Andrews Greensomes​​​        Gainsborough

7th October​             Swindle​​​​​                                   Constable

7th October​             Seniors Past Captains Match​​​  Felixstowe GC

11th October​           Monthly Stableford/Millenium Trophy​     Gainsborough

12th October​           Swindle​​​​​                                   Gainsborough

19th October​           Swindle​​​​​                                   Constable

26th October ​          4Ball Better Ball Stableford​​​     Constable

31st October​           3 Captains’ Match & AGM​​​        Gainsborough

The October monthly Stableford each year also doubles up as the contest to win the Millennium Trophy – where the “best of the best” go head to head to win.

Those contesting the Millennium Trophy are the winners of each of the previous 11 Stablefords in Divisions 1 and 2 – or, if someone has already qualified, the runners-up in those months.

So, as a competition within a competition, those contesting it on October 11 will be:

• John Smith

• Kevin Price

• Tony Denmead

• Alan Finlayson

• Allen Smith

• John Russell

• Reg Reid

• Steve Ling

• Steve Tree

• Ian Archer

• Graham Vandervord

• Paul Sheffield

• Ian McKay

• Bill Wardle

• Colin Dallas

• Richard Middleton

• Roger Davies

• Robin Nicholson

• Phil Ledger

• Richard Saunders

• Iain Gault

• Alan Austin

Regardless of which Division they play in, whoever has the most points from this list (including countback if necessary) will win the trophy.