Cirencester golf captain blessed with fine weather (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Cirencester golf captain blessed with fine weather

THE weather was kind to club captain Gordon Robbins, past captains and their guests at Cirencester Golf Club on May 23 for the Past Captains; Invitation Day.

While it was mainly cloudy with a little wind, thankfully the forecasted rain did not arrive.

Head greenkeeper David Bougen and his team had prepared the course in excellent condition, enabling some excellent scores to be returned.

Just prior to the event, the team of Robert Evans was a player short.

Luckily for them, Colin Simmonds more than filled gap and he also had a superb round.

And so Robert's team of Nick Brown, John Binder and Colin won this bowmaker stableford with a score of 87 points.

Closely following in second place were the team of club president Desmond Jones, Brian Jones, Martin Taylor and Neil Knightle with 87.

Third was the team of this year's vice-captain John Par-sons, Charles Reed, Jim Turner and Doug Macfarlane with a score of 85.

There was disappointment for the team of Peter Stone, last year's winners, who failed to retain the trophy.

They played well but seemed unable to generate the spark needed for a good score and just missed out on the prizes.

Other prizewinners included: Longest drive, Angus Gray; nearest the pin on the 18th, Roger Penfold; putting competition; David Warden.

At the dinner in the evening, club captain Gordon Robbins thanked club manager Angus Gray, who is leaving the club for seven years of excellent service.

After presenting him with a water colour of the clubhouse, Gordon announced that Angus has been made an honorary life member of the club.

On Bank Holiday Monday, May 26, 34 teams played in a Texas Scramble Holiday competition.

In ideal weather for golf and a course in excellent condition, some outstanding scores were achieved.

Winners with an exceptional score of net 54.6 were Alex Hobson, Andy Mutlow, Francis Sheppard and Adam Collins.

Close behind in second place were the team of Will Fuller, Trevor Hing, Darren Robinson and Duncan Barnes with a net score of 55.3.

Half a shot back with a score of net 55.8 were Tom Stone, Ian Penfold, Ian Mercer and Dan John in third while fourth spot was occupied by Mark Priest, Alan Lewis, Brian Hobbs and Sandra Hobbs with a net 57.3.

On Saturday, May 24, Cirencester B team entertained their counterparts from Marlborough in a friendly.

Players enjoyed a Cirencester course in excellent condition with the greens especially playing to their highest standard.

The weather on the day was typical for late May, sunshine and heavy showers, but all participants greatly enjoyed the match.

The result in the end was a 4-2 win for Cirencester who look forward to the return match at Marlborough next season.

Results (Cirencester names first): Barry Downer, Brian Pfleger beat Barrie Reardon-Smith, Hugh Crossan 3 and 1; Ian Allan, Graham Morley lost to Irwin Brohier, Colin Johnson 1 down; John Ritchie, Brian Hobbs beat Iain Cowan, Syd Whant 1 up; Steve Harris, Bob Hayward beat Glyn Yelland, Graham Sampson 2 and 1; Bob Mills, Alan Smith halved with John Sprules, Mike Cowtree; Darren Seabrook, Dave Wicks halved with Dave Perry and Andy Crozier.

The month of May proved a busy time for the Ladies' Section with competitions, knockouts and matches with the difficulty of some extreme weather.

Winner of the Grannies' Cup stableford, played on an extremely blustery May 8, was Norma Franklin with 40pts. Lynne Ritchie (37pts) was runner-up.

A club stableford for non-grannies , held in conjunction, was won by Jenny Iles 41pts.

Runner-up was Lee Collins (39pts) and four women reduced their handicaps.

On the May 12, the Alliance A team achieved a good win over Cotswold Hills II in a home match.

They won eight matches, lost one and halved another to claim 15pts to three.

The qualifying round for the Bailey Cup knockout produced some excellent scores.

Lowest eight to qualify, the highest score was nett 72 and two unlucky players were counted out on the last nine holes.

Qualifiers were H Morley, A Henshaw, E Brereton, L Collins, S Hadley, R Lockley, L Ritchie and S Marsh.

The May Medal was played in perfect conditions. Silver winner was A Henshaw 81-13 nett 68 and the runner-up J Broderick 86-76-70 on back nine from S Hadley.

Bronze Division winner was S Marsh 93-22-72 and r/up P Taylor 96-23-73. Two other competitions were run in conjunction - the LGU Health Perception qualifier won by S Hadley nett 70 and the Vets Millennium by M Davey 74 nett.

It was back to high wind and intermittent storms for the B team's home match versus Minchinhampton Old. A hard fought contest resulted in a draw with nine points each.

The Bronze Cup (21-40) on a grey, heavy day produced Ginny Harvey with the lowest score 111-38 nett 73.

She was closely followed by Sheila Marsh 95-21-74 (CSS 73). The silver (scr-20), played at the same time, was won by Margaret Davey 91-20-71 (CSS 71).