Club Report 8

15-Jun-2009 : Club Report 8

Gentlemen: Captains Exchange Day.

Club Captain, Barre Ramsbottom was delighted to arrange the exchange with Louth Golf Club, Lincolnshire for this occasion. Situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty bordering Hubbard's Hills, Louth Golf Club offers a challenging 6,430 yard, parkland course. A dry day with little wind provided beneficial weather conditions to post a good score. However this was tempered by the undulating, hillside terrain and side sloping fairways.

Picture right: Tom Ablewhite.

The morning event was a team stableford competition played through nine holes. It was won by Ramsbottom, John Cooke jun, and Keith Whitfield, the team totalling 36 points.

The afternoon format was an individual stableford played through eighteen holes. The winner with 38 points was junior member, Tom Ablewhite. He is in his second full golfing year, all of which has been based at Newark. This is his third individual success including a win in the 2008 Newark Junior Open [nett 58] and the 2008 Captains Day junior prize [35 pts]. Ablewhite scored four gross birdies at holes 1, 4, 9 and 16. Hole One [par four at 348 yds] was achieved via fairway wood, sand-wedge and a putt. Hole Four [par five at 474 yds] was a driver, six iron and two putts. At the ninth [par three at 216 yds] a good chip dropped in from twenty feet. While at the sixteenth hole [par four at 304 yds] a lob wedge left a three foot tap in.

It was not always easy golfing for points. Upon the fifth hole, after a couple of duffed chip shots, Ablewhite three putted from two feet for a triple bogey seven. This was the hole that he birdied in the morning competition with a drive onto the well guarded green following up with two putter shots, for a birdie three. A quadruple bogey of eight was recorded upon thirteen. This followed a lengthy journey to the green via a drive into the trees and a visit to the fourteenth tee box.

After the birdie fillip at sixteen the short run into the clubhouse garnered points. There was a scramble at seventeen, following a tee shot which landed off the back of the green. He fluffed the chip, leaving 15 feet to the hole. The putt resulted in the ball gyrating through a full 360 degrees along the edge of the hole before slipping downward for a par. The eighteenth hole also yielded a par following an unconverted birdie attempt from three feet. Ablewhite said that he found the golf-course challenging due to the hilly terrain but was pleased to have had such a great day.

Andy Greenberry took second place with 36 points. Countback was needed to separate Paul Matthews into third and Clyde Scothern into fourth place, both scoring 35 points. Tim Cooke had the lowest gross score which produced 35 points. Nearest the pin at the par three ninth [The Sycamore at 216 yds] was John Cooke jun. He put the ball over the sycamore tree and to five inches, [upside] of the hole. Nearest the pin at fifteen [Bunkers Retreat at 143 yds] was John Cooke sen. Cooke sent a low, power fading tee shot underneath the left overhanging boughs of a blocking tree and beyond the grasp of a left greenside bunker. The ball ran onto the green curving towards the target, but lost momentum and finished its journey short of the hole. One team managed three on the green at seventeen [The Saucer at 176 yds]. It was Pete Smith, Dave Hood and Tim Cooke.

Gentlemen: Nottinghamshire Presidents Competition.

Twenty teams took the field to compete in the President's Am-Am four-ball betterball Stableford tournament over the County course at Chilwell Manor, and raised almost £2,000 for County funds. The Newark Captain's team of Barry Ramsbottom, Colin Horner, Alan Garrow and Pat Burke took the honours with a total of 85 points, just one point ahead of Beeston Fields GC with Chilwell GC third, with 82 points.

Seniors: Betterball Stableford Open.

Resuts [points] are as follows: 1- Ron Torn and Dick Ingram [Gainsborough] 45 count-back; 2- Lewis White and Reg Dove [Newark] 45 cb; 3- Howard Andrew and Rod Andrew [Doncaster and Totley] 44 cb; 4- Geoff peach and Dave Revill [Coxmoor] 44 cb; 5- Eric Carding and Jim Carter [Cosby] 44 cb. Best gross score was Rod Thorpe and Richard Naylor [Sherwood Forest]. Nearest the pins; 2nd - T Ward; 5th - M Beadfoot; 15th - M Harvey; 17th T Edwards. Nearest the pin wth second shot at 18th - J Kennedy.

Seniors: Summer Meeting.

A stableford competition with the results as follows: 1- Patrick Mountfield 39 points; 2- James Burrows 38 pts; 3- John R Hallam 37 pts

Ivor Samways.