Club Report 1

18-May-2008 : Club Report 1

Gentlemen: Ramsey v Newark.

Saturday 10th May saw Newark GC travel to Ramsey GC, Cambs, intending to retain the Newark-Ramsey Cup. This is an annual fixture with ten pairs competing in a matchplay format. Set in rural Cambridgeshire, Ramsey GC, which also incorporates a bowling club, is a  course, measuring 6097 yards with a par of 71. With the weather being hot, sunny and windless, some good scores were produced in this keenly contested fixture. The match was played in a commendable spirit of good will and sporting friendship by all of the participants. At the end of play Newark took seven to the three of Ramsey and the cup remained in the Newark GC trophy cabinet.

Gentlemen: Sean O'Grady Trophy.

The latest competition at Newark GC upon Sunday 11th May saw a large field of 115 competitors play for the Sean O'Grady Trophy. This is a medal for gentlemen, scored through 18 holes and played off a maximum handicap of 21.The winner was Kenneth Wood with a score of 67, while Mark E Jeffrey (68), James Andrade (68) and Peter H Smith (68) followed in the top four prize positions and seperated by count-back..

The top 8 net scores in the Sean O'Grady Trophy qualify for the Howitt Cup, which is a knockout matchplay competition. This is the clubs second oldest trophy, presented in 1906. Qualifying for the Howitt Cup in places five to eight of the Sean O'Grady were John K Blagg (68), Colin Boulter (70), Roger Nicholson (70) and Charles Paley (70).

Hole 4 proved the hardest at an average of 1.76 shots over par, yielding no birdies and only 14 pars. In degree of difficulty hole 16 followed at an average of 1.73 shots over par yielding 1 birdie and a miserly 6 pars. Holes 18 and 17, on the run in to the clubhouse gave up the lowest averages over par at 0.68 and 0.74 of a shot respectively. Just over half the field recorded pars at 18, which also saw the second lowest number of bogeys.

Gentlemen: Invitation Day 1.

Newark Golf Club hosted its first Gentlemen's Invitation Day of 2008 upon Sunday 18th of May. Two competitions were held upon the day with a shotgun start at 8.30 am and 2 pm. The competitions took the form of an 18 hole, pairs' better-ball stableford, played off a maximum handicap of 21. Both competitions had a full field of 42 pairs commencing contemporaneously at various points upon the course. The entry fee included an informal buffet meal, taken after the event. This style of invitation day was introduced experimentally last year, in an innovative departure from the previous type of competition, which had start times throughout the day. The introduction of the new format, as expected, was exceptionally popular and proved to be resoundingly successful. Entries for this years' competition, organised by Ken Forbes, were enthusiastically snapped up, well in advance of the event.

The Captain of Newark GC, Mr Malcolm Smith, awarded the prizes at a presentation held immediately after each competition. He was especially pleased to meet Tom (TJ) Fitzsimmons who finished fourth in the afternoon competition withJohn Blagg. TJ was a member of the club for almost a decade. He now resides in Tucson, Arizona and is a regular visitor to the club.

Results for the morning competition were as follows:

Nett Scores;

1 - T Willson / P Hyrak 45 pts;

2 - A Buckley / C Cooper 44 pts;

3 - M Allen / R Stretch 43pts cb;

4 - D Major / M Belshaw 43 pts cb;

Best Gross G Priestley / P Hopkinson.

Nearest the Pin: Hole 2 - J Allen; Hole 5 - K Toon; Hole 15 - S Russell; Hole 17 - R Stretch. Longest Drive -  R Jones

Results for the afternoon competition were as follows:

Nett Scores:

1 - A Ashley / K Banton 45 pts

2 - M Bates / M Broughton 44pts cb

3 - J Revill / T Dixon 44pts

4 - J Blagg / TJ Fitzsimmons 42pts cb

Best Gross  M Wood / E Wheelwright

Nearest the Pin: Hole 2 -  D Henstock; Hole 5 - H Wood; Hole 15 - T Disley; Hole 17 - R Coupland;  Longest Drive - J Marum

Prizes for the nearest the pin and long drive competitions, were kindly sponsored by John Cooke, of JC Surfacing and Wayne Joslin, of JB Motors.

Invitation Day 2 for Gentlemen is to be held upon Saturday 30th of August in exactly the same format.

Ladies: LGU Medal and Medal Finals.

Medal Finals were held upon Tuesday 6th May with 57 competitors. Winner of Division 1 with the lowest gross score (82) of the whole competition was Mrs Brenda Bradbury (nett 70). Winner of the medal for Division 2 was Mrs Edith Pacey (nett 74). While Mrs Ellen Jackson (nett 77), won the Division 3 medal.

The Ladies found holes 6 and 1 to be particularly exacting, whilst hole 12 gave up the highest number of pars.

Ladies: Open Day 2008.

Two hundred ladies enjoyed playing in the Ladies Open at Newark Golf Club upon Tuesday, May 13th 2008. Coming from a total of 38 different clubs they played an AM AM in teams of four.

The winners from Lincoln (Torksey) Golf Club scored 87 stableford points. They were Mrs P Pearson, Mrs M King, Mrs J Mason and Mrs W Carman.

Juniors: May Medal.

The first Junior Medal of the 2008 season was held upon Saturday 17th May:

First - Ben Sheard (nett 64); Second - Adam Woolley (nett 70) with the lowest gross of 82; Third - Tom Briggs-Price (nett 72).

Ivor Samways