Martin Millichip (5)

Rotherham Write Up

For once, we had the full field i expected, with 35 players taking part from the 36 that signed up (i was expecting one not to bother appearing).

So with the sun shining and the wind blowing a bit, it was off down the first fairway, with Martin’s group going out first, with the contenders for the final top spots in the winter league going out in reverse order, with the expected top 4 in the very last group.

The fairways were in good condition, although the greens were not up to what i was hoping, but as good as recent venues.

The first award of the day was on the 150 yard par 3, which was slightly uphill to a green defended with bunkers front left and right. The winner of the hole was Darren Loftus.

The second award of the day was on the 8th hole, which was a blind tee shot, with trees left and right. Some good early tee shots set the target, but it was left to Pat Bourke in the 3rd group from the end to win the prize. I only hope he shared it Dan Atkins, after locking his car keys in the boot of his car, which required the RAC to come and rescue the golf equipment from it. As many mentioned, if it had happened at the challenge match against Halewood, I’m sure they would have got it opened in a few seconds......

Third prize of the day went to Darren Millichip on the 165yard par 3 14th, after a stunning tee shot to within about 6 feet of the pin. A great shot in the windy conditions, as the pin was near the bunkers on the right of the green.

Going in the second to last group,  i tried to catch up with the other groups to see how you were all getting on and it was becoming obvious a large score was going to be a rarity on the day. It was also fun watching the last group playing behind us, who all seemed to be getting the jitters, which was affecting their game. It was also funny to see, that you had to have a putt of a couple of inches before someone gave you it!

Returning to the clubhouse for sandwiches and a drink, as expected only 4 people got 36 points or more.

In 4th place came Mike Hood, who scored 34 points, but only 18 points on the back 9. 3rd place went to Roger Bennett, who also had 34 points, but scored 20 points on the back 9. Roger was pipped by Rich Garner, who also got 34 points, but 21 points on the back 9. A close thing for second place then!

The overall winner, with an excellent 36 points, was Richard Cockerham. A very good score on a windy day!

The team event was the most net birdies in a group, to save time in the clubhouse, which seemed a popular game. The winners of this, with 20 net birdies between them, were Neil Beech, Paul Fowkes, Richard Cockerham and Bob Haynes.

The overall leaderboard for the winter league needed some working out, as it was getting close at the top, so it was over to the chuckle brothers for the draw of the matchplay comp. They have obviously put a lot of effort into the organising of this after last year, as we were presented with printed out sheets of who was in which draw (North and South), followed, by a little bag with numbered balls in it. All it needed was John Spencer in a dress and we would have been doing the FA Cup draw. Well organised Neil Beech and Stuart Laws, i cannot wait for the speech at the last event, as you have set yourself a high level to match.

So, with the final leader board sorted out, it was down to announce the top 8 in reverse order.

In 8th place was Chris Brannon, 7th place was Al Bostock, 6th place went to Martin Millichip, 5th place went to Mike Hood with a good late charge. 4th place went to Andy Adams, who slipped from the 3rd place he had been holding for a while. Coming up on the outside rail to pip him to 3rd place was Eddie Pape. The top two struggled on the day and remained in the same places. So well done to James Illsley for 2nd and an excellent achievement to Steve Martin to holding on and winning the Winter League 2009/10. The final scores and leader board will be posted later this week when i get the information.

The last award of the day also went to Eddie Pape, for an excellent 16 putts on the putting green, to win the charity putting comp.

During the awards, we also raised enough money to kit both Darren Millichip and Malcolm Fell out in some very patriotic trousers that they will be wearing on the North vs South match. They will be topping up the charity kitty by wearing them, and boosting it even more but getting some birdies and pars on the day.

Overall, i would like to thank you all for taking part in the Winter League and look forward to seeing you all in the Summer League, which will start in May. We are a very successful group and have set out a format that others are now following. We would not be where we are, without your continued support. I think its benefiting most of your games, as i played with Rich a couple of months ago and he was struggling a bit, so it was great to see him post 34 points yesterday and walk off with second place.

Allan

Event 4 Willow Valley

As i write this on Sunday morning, i'm sure glad we played Saturday, as i woke up to an inch or so of snow outside in Rotherham!

In total 37 players turned up for the event, with many new players coming along for the first time to see what we are all about. From the feedback i received in the club house, i think we will be seeing a lot more of them at future events as they all seemed to enjoy the day, which was good value for a game of golf on a Saturday.

Willow valley set up

Having now booked and organised many events for CGL, i can honestly say, we received the best welcome from any venue we have played to date. During the weeks leading up to the event, the club have remained in contact, with no pressure on pinning us down to exact numbers, which is a welcome relief. On arriving Saturday morning, all staff were keen to assist us with anything that we needed, from the large TV in the reception having our name on it, to the changing rooms with fresh towels, the pro and his assistants helping me out with the best holes for the individual prizes to be contested on, and not forgetting the catering staff, who dealt with the coffee and bacon rolls with ease as players arrived. The club house was large, so fitting us all in was not a problem. Compared to our last venue, it was if we were on a different planet!

The Course

I know it was a bit boggy and i know it was a bit frosty to begin with, but we are playing in February. That aside, i thought it was a very very good course, so much better than Pine Valley, but that was expected, with the difference in cost. There were many signature holes in  my eyes, with the water coming into play on many holes. It called for a good tee shot and some difficult choices as to if you laid up or went for certain greens. Some of the par 5's called for a tee shot of only 200 yards, as there was too much danger waiting for anyone going for a big tee shot. It was refreshing to have holes like that, where the emphasis was on ball placement, rather than smashing it as far down the fairway as you could possibly hit it. I walked away from the course with many holes imprinted in my mind, from the 2nd, which needed a faded drive then a shot into the green over the water: the par 5 3rd, which was a true three shots to get to the green due to the hole design: The tricky shot par 3 6th: the 10th, even though i took a 4 wood off the tee and still managed to go in the water!: the 12th, which required you to lay up shot of the first lot of water on the left, but left you about 180 yards into the green with more water to go over: the 14th, withthe island green, a truly stunning hole. And not forgetting the 18th, a shortish par 4, but a true challenge with water left and in front of the green. A great finishing hole, like the 18th at Springwater.

The golf

I went for a yellow ballgame for the team event, knowing there was plenty of water around the course, i did not expect to get many back, and the groups did not disappointme! I realised not many were going to get it all the way round, after recovering 2 or 3 from water features as we went round! In the end, i think the first yellow ball was lost on the 2ndhole, Group 6 got it as far as the 17th hole, but only the last group managing to get it all the way round the course. We might have only scored something like 24 points with it, but it was good enough on the day. So the winning group consisted of Eddie Pape, Jason Prevost and myself, well done fellow team members.

The first group went out as a three ball, after Chris Woodward failed to turn up, with the rest going in 4 balls, expect the last two groups who went out in three balls.

The first prize of the day was on the short par 3 6th hole, which was playing around 140 yards, with water in front and the green being faily narrow and higher than the tee, thus needing a good tee shot to get to it. Carl Meehan set the target with 14.4m, which was beaten by James Illsley getting 3.14m. But james was narrowly pipped by Rory Flemming, with a winning distance of 3.04m. Well done Rory, must have looked good from the tee.

Second prize of the day was for the longest drive on the 9th, a good hole to hold it on, as there was water around the 220 mark, so you had the choice of laying up short of it to keep you card going, or taking the water on for the longest drive comp. Chris Brannon in the first group out set the marker, which was beaten by Mark Robbins in group 4, but the eventual winner was Richard Cockerham in group 7. Good shot Richard, if Stuart Laws was playing, you might have been accepted into the big hitters club, but he was not, so sadly neither are you!

Third prize of the day was on the par 3 16th hole, which was downhill from the tee andaround 140 yards. Colin Stewart set the target from the first group, but then was over taken by Malcolm Fell from group 5 (what happened groups 2 to 4?), This was then beaten by Robin Vidler with 14' 9" from group 6, but the eventual winner was Richard Cockerham from group 7 with a winning distance of 13' 10".

I have had a quick look through the cards and will confirm when Martin passes on the final scores, but the 14th seemed to have taken its toll on many players (there were a lot of balls on the ice in front of the green when we got to the hole), with i think only Steve Martin getting a gross par on the hole, and myself and a couple of others with gross 5's. Playing off a handicap of 23, you must have had a big grin of your face walking to the 15th tee Steve.

So to the top three positions. As expected, no one got 36 points or more, which just goes to show how hard the course was. So the eventual winner was James Illsley, with 34 points, scoring 20 points on the back 9, knocking Steve Martin into second place, who also scored 34 points, but only 18 points on the back 9(including 4 points on the tricky 14th, but blobs on the 10th and 11th). In third place was Eddie Pape, with 33 points. Having been round the course with Eddie, who is not the biggest hitter off the tee, but is very consistent with direction, it was nice to see him get all the way round the 18 holes, as we usually lose you somewhere on the course Eddie.

I think i should take the blame to James winning, as i paired him with the current leader board leader before we set off (Andy Adams), to make sure Andy got pegged back a bit. So well done James, you managed to keep Andy back to 22 points on the day, but it did not mean you had to score 20 points on the back 9 (with a blob) and win the chuffing match as well!

A mention should also go out to Mick Hopkins for carding 32 points for i think 4th place and the ever present bridesmaid Neil Beech, for carding 30 points for i think 5th place. Just remember Neil, Tim was the bridesmaid for the last winter league and look what happened for the summer league!

Everyone's card will be post on Monday, when Martin gives me the spreadsheet with all the scores etc on. I would also like to thank Martin for coming along (even though his clubs are still in Portugal) and doing the scoring for us all, as it saves a lot of time with me being in the last group at the events.

I look forward to seeing you all at the next event at Bondhay, which is nearly full up, with the course booked for 44 players. I will try and see if we can get another tee time added.

Finally, as far as i am concerned, i think we should go back to Willow Valley in the summer league, as they looked after us exceedingly well, the course is a great leveller and with the trees in leaf, the course will look stunning. Let me know if you are in agreement and i will see if we can get a decent price for a return visit.

Event 2 College Pines

In the end, we had 29 players taking part, with the usual annoying drop out close to the day.

The weather was ok from what i remember from the day, as it was three weeks ago now!

The first group went out as a 5 ball, as the club mucked us around with tee times, which i was not happy about, which means it will be the last time i book the place for a league match, as they do not give a monkeys, as long as they fill the course to the maximum!

Anyway......

First prize of the day was the putting comp for the charity, which i think needed a put off, with Mike Hood winning the trophy, well done Mike, i see it helped out for the overall game.

Onto the course and the first prize hole was the Par 3 5th hole, which seemed to be playing a lot longer than it was recording on the GPS units. I might have this the wrong way round, but i think the winner was Paul Hughes, with 40 foot to the pin not being bettered by anyone.

Next prize was the nearest the pin on the par 3 11th, with a few more people getting to the green in one shot than the previous hole. The winner was Mark Spick, wit 9.2m, well done Mark.

The longest drive was held on the par 5 16th hole, which is a hole with more danger the further you go down it. This usually evens up the winner, as the longest drive is usually in the trees or in the rough on the right. The winner was Mark Robbins, with a drive of around 2456 yards.

All the groups just got round before it got to dark, although others behind us walked in from many holes, as they new they had no chance of getting round in time. Goes back to my fill the course up gripe above!

So with James and Chris sorting the cards out for me, we got down to the best scores of the day.

First of all, well done to Me, James Illsley and Paul Elliot for playing to our handicaps and scoring 36 points.

We then get to the bandits for the day.......

1st Place went to Steve Slack, playing off 16 and scoring 42 points

2nd Place went to Paul Fowkes playing off 6 and scoring an excellent 39 points, coming second on a count back over the last 5 holes

3rd Place went to Mike Hood playing off 21 and also scoring 39 points, but only scoring 10 points for the last 5 holes, compared to Paul's 12 points

4th Place went to Andy Adams, who also scored 39 points, but bottled it on the back 9 and only scored 16 points for it, compared to 18 points for Paul and Mike.

The only other two scores better than par, were Chris Brannon and Mike Hopkins, who both scored an excellent 38 points, with 19 scored on each half.

So thanks to all those that turned up, hope to see you at the weekend if i get back from Scotland in time.

Event 1 Mapperley - Results

WL 2009 Event 1 Mapperley Write up.

Although the course was booked for 40 including food, we had 33 playing on the day, which was still a good turn out for a day when the weather forecast was not too good.  Even with all the recent rain, the course was still in excellent condition, with the greens some of the best we have played on, still fast and true, a credit to the golf club. Although we played off winter tees for most of the holes, these were still a lot better than the usual winter tees we see.

 I had never played the course before and although very hilly, i found it a great challenge, with many excellent holes to tackle, although i'm not in favour of sloping fairways when the ball is either above or below your feet on a lot of the holes. (thats my excuse and i'm sticking to it!).

Putting Challenge

We started the day with the charity putting challenge, which i understand went down well, with a fair bit of banter taking place around the putting green. I managed to go OOB twice on the putting green and i think a few others probably did the same. The 4th hole must be one of the hardest putting holes we will face! The credit for that goes down to James, who even though he was not playing on the day, came along to help out and laid the course out for us to play.

The worst score on the day was Richard Cockerham with 23 putts for the 9 holes, with the best and the winner, being Neil Beech, with an excellent17 putts. Well done Neil, about time you won  something!

Working on 2 putts per hole being par, the following were the only players apart from Neil to go round in par or better, with them all taking 18 putts, Roger Bennett, Andy Adams, Chris Brannon and Steve Martin.

 Top Scores on the day

When i get the final results from Martin i will post them, but i think only three people broke par today, so it was fitting they all ended up winning something.

1st Place went to Martin Millichip playing off 7 (but soon to be lowered!), with an excellent 41 points, which was made up of 3 birdies (1st, 5th & 11th), 11 pars, 3 bogies and 1 double bogey (16th hole). Well played Martin who was playing his home course for the second time in the weekend!

2nd Place went to Steve Martin playing off 24 with 39 points, which included 5 gross pars (5th, 9th, 11th, 13th & 16th)

3rd Place went to Andy Adams playing off 20 with 37 points, which included a gross birdie on the 17th (tell me more Andy, as it was a hard hole) and 3 gross pars.

I think 4th place went to Chris Brannon playing off 14 with 35 points, which included 8 gross pars and 2 no returns (3rd and 10th holes). If only Chris...........

Individual prizes on the day

Longest Drive winner was Carl Meehan, with an excellent drive on the 6th Hole

Nearest the Pin on the 8th Hole was won by Mark Spick, getting to within 1.7 metres of the hole (Mark i have your trophy here and will pass on at the next event you play in)

Nearest the Pin on the 17th Hole was won by Kev Swain, getting to within 2m of the hole, on a very difficult long par 3. Probably the shot of the day i would imagine

Groups

We had to shuffle a few people around due to the no shows, so thanks for those that did not mind being moved around at short notice, with the last two groups going out as 3 balls. This mean't for the team comp, that every 3rd hole they could count their best score twice on the Waltz event, to even things out a bit.

The winning group, with 84 points was Paul Fowkes, Darren Millichip, Eddie Pape and Chris Brannon. (I have your medal Eddie and will pass on at the next event you play in).

The next best score was 82 points by group 5, with group 1 coming third with 81 points.

I was in the last group who managed to throw it away on the last hole, by only score 3 points on it! for a final total of 80. Although i must have come close to some of the cars in the car park with my wayward drive!

Overall

I would like to say thank you to all the new faces that played today, hope you had a good time (even though the weather was a bit pish at times), met some new players for furture games and i hope to see you in the future. Hopefully the banter did not put you off, although the only banter i know about was between John in my group and Malcolm in the group in front. It seems football gets everywhere these days!

If anyone would like to add their own view and comments, then please do so by adding a comment and i will amend this write up.

We should have the full scores posted later today, which will kick off the Winter League leader board. I will also publish here and Martin will do so on the Golfshake society page the full brake down of each players scores, so you can add them to your handicap tracking on Golfshake etc.