Yearly Archives: 2020

After walking the course on Tuesday to assess the amount of water on the course the Captain decided to cancel Wednesday’s Monthly Medal. Many fairways are inundated with water and some were close to being unplayable.
As an option a composite of the four holes least effected by the recent rain was organised and played twice with golfers finishing on the old 10th to make nine holes.
Five golfers took advantage of the challenge and enjoyed calm winter weather. Five of the nine holes were par 3s, some handy scores were recorded with only one stroke separating the top three golfers.
Results
1st;Elaine Scanlon – 44/16/28    c/b
2nd; Beryl Cole – 42/14/28
3rd; Lorraine Robb – 50/21/29

With another 10mm of rain overnight, a wet course was markedly wetter.  Both dams were full to overflowing and there was casual water on almost every fairway.  The long hitters had a considerable advantage  as almost every shot landed and stopped within a metre, good distance in the air was vital.  Despite the challenging course conditions the weather was far more benign.  The sky was generally clear, the sun shone through and the northerly wind rarely effected shots.  The John Laing Shield Quarter Finals were generally tight affairs, especially over the front nine,  one match came down to the final hole.  The 4BBB Par competition was also close with many players having to chip close or sink lengthy putts to square a hole.  On a cool, sunny day the results were;

4BBB Par; Matt Hoyt (25)/Chris Burkett (25) – +3 from Andrew Clement (9)/Mitch Atlas (9) – Sq

Quarter Finals of the John Laing Shield;

1. Andrew Laing (0)  D  8. Chris vanDerVliet (7) – 4/3

3  Ryan Davies (18)  D 6. Mal Mottram (0) – 1up

2. Anthony Lakey (1)  D  7. Steve Wilkins (0) – 3/1

4. Rob Rea (17)  Vs 5. Daniel Wright (0) – To Be Played

The Semi-finals of the John Laing Shield will be;

Andrew Laing (0) Vs Ryan Davies (7)

Anthony Lakey (?) Vs

With further rain effecting the course conditions were very heavy for those playing in the Royal Women’s Hospital Four Ball.  Casual water was a problem across many fairways but the greens were in tip top condition. The heavy conditions made scoring difficult.
Results
RWH 4BBB
1st; Beryl Cole (27) Darlene Baker (21)    35 pts
2nd; Jenny Hartley (23) Elaine Scanlon(32) 30pts
3rd;  Lorraine Robb (42) Wendy Gosden(28) 29 pts

Stableford Results
1st; Dean Jones (4)    37 pts
2nd; John Freestone (21) 25 pts

Another excellent field teed up in the qualifying round of the John Laing Shield.  With no rain for almost a fortnight the casual water had virtually disappeared but the fairways were still soft, again no run once a ball landed. While parts of the course were warmish and well protected the cold, flukey, gusting wind, which moved between the NE, N and NW, added more difficulty and made for a very challenging round; it was difficult to play to handicap.  In the end it was a day for conservative golf, lay up and pitch or chip it close to the pin for a simple par or bogey.  Those who, somewhat courageously, took on the conditions rarely came out in front. On a cold, windy afternoon the results were;

Winner; Andrew Laing (19) – 38 pts from Ryan Davies (25) – 35pts, Anthony Lakey (20) – 35 pts, Chris Burkett (25) – 35 pts & Rob Rea (19) – 33 pts

The quarter Finals of the John Laing Shield will be;

1. Andrew Laing (0)  Vs  8. Chris vanDerVliet (7)

3  Ryan Davies (18)  Vs  6. Mal Mottram (0)

2. Anthony Lakey (1)  Vs  7. Steve Wilkins (0)

4. Rob Rea (17)  Vs 5. Daniel Wright (0)

Winter golf is always a challenge but a sunny, windless day makes it much more pleasant. Ten players took advantage of the better conditions and, although there were pockets of casual water and heavy conditions across the course, all players enjoyed the chance to play on our very well prepared golf course.

Daily comp results

Stroke Event
1st.        Jenny Hartley          102/23/79
2nd.       Darlene Baker         102/21/81
3rd.        Wendy Gosden       114/28/86

Stableford Event
1st.         Dean Jones              (4)     30 points
2nd.       John Freestone        (19)   25      c/b
3rd.        Hugh Williams          (20)   25

Least Putts
Jenny Hartley

Another still, sunny day on a cold, wet course.  Players again had to take the challenge of the cold air, soft fairways and casual water, “relief through the general area” was again invoked..  The Ambrose format, teams of three, calls for each player to have at least four drives and with the women’s layout considerably shorter than the men’s, mixed teams had quite an advantage.  All teams hit-off from the 1st at 10 minute intervals and pretty soon it was obvious that a team had to be quite a few under the card to have any hope of winning the day; some excellent golf was played.   On a cool, sunny winter’s day the results were;

Winners; Darlene & Roger Baker/Scott Williams/Ryan Davies – 69/11.1/57.9 from Jim Patton/Michael & Robert Bretherton/B Drummond –  77/15.6/61.4

After the wettest autumn in over 30 years the course was very damp with casual water on many fairways and plenty of  boggy, low spots; there was no run.  RGC secretary, Elaine Scanlon, continued her sterling work sending groups off from the “Green Shed” and later providing refreshments around the course.   Despite the challenge of the day another excellent field teed up on a still, sunny afternoon.  As the afternoon wore on the sun disappeared and the temperature dropped steeply.  The cold air and soft fairways made it difficult to card a good score, and only two players were able to better their handicaps.  The day’s winner put his first ball out of bounds so his final score, under very challenging conditions, was a top performance.  For most players a result close to  handicap was a good performance.  One of the wonderful things about golf is that everyone is included and this field ranged in age from 13 to 85, plenty of youthful exuberance and a few wise old heads.  On a cool, clear afternoon the results were;

Winner; Mick Squire (3) – 38pts from Rob Rea (20) – 37pts & Mal Mottram (8) – 35pts

It was a hardy group who headed out on a very chilly morning, happy to be out of isolation, happy to be catching up with fellow golfers and happy just to be playing golf.  Apart from large areas of casual water in low lying parts our Romsey Golf Course is in very good condition.   The fairways have a great cover of grass and the rough has been tamed well.  The greens, although winter slow, are in great condition and running true.

Darlene Baker (21) was the clear daily competition winner with 33 stableford points from Jennifer Hartley (23) 27 points.

On a cold and windy afternoon it was good to see a strong field tee up for the May Medal and The Medal of Medalists.  All fairways were very heavy and many had casual water which pulled shots up even quicker than the soft fairways.  Carts were asked to stay off the fairways to reduce damage or even bogging.  The wind, mostly from the Nth was strong all day and only the big hitters were able to get close to their normal length off the tee.  However as groups headed for the final few holes the wind really blew up moving balls on the greens and just about every high approach shot had to be spot on or risk being pushed well wide go the the green.  On a cold blustery day the results were;

Winner 2019/20 Medal of Medalists and June Medal; Toby Clement – 97/24/73 from Daniel Wright – 79/3/76 & Les Gaunt – 84/7/77

Least Putts; Les Gaunt – 27

2019/20 RGC Medal of Medalists & May Medalist, Toby Clement

A good field of 12 including social, nine holers and competition players braved the cold conditions to participate in the Daily Comp and Women’s May Monthly Medal. The temperature did not get much over 12°  and casual water was still an obstacle on some fairways so the golfing was tough.

Results
Daily Comp Winner
1st.       Dean Jones                   79/4/75
2nd.     Darlene Baker               99/21/78
3rd.      C/b  Jenny Hartley       101/23/78

May Monthly Medal
1st.       Darlene Baker              99/21/78
2nd.     C/b.  Jenny Hartley     101/23/78
3rd.      Lorraine Robb.              Nett 88

Least Putts; Jenny Hartley.      32