Tango kitty competition results via Mike Healey October 31st 2019

Today's competition was played along the lines of a waltz (1, 2, 3 to score) except a fourth score was required so we called it a "Tango." 36 Seniors took part so numbers were perfect but weather not so. We had a little flurry midway through the round, which had not been forecast. To no avail - the stalwarts continued and the following teams took the prizes:

First:            Alan Bottomley, Keith Jones, Peter Thomas, Keith Hawthorn            83 points

Second:       Russ Adamson, Mick Carnell, Colin Brown, Malcolm Williams          82 points

Third:           Peter Taylor, Colin Evans, Harold Hughes, Ernie Williams                 80 points

Captains Newsletter October 2019

Clays Golf Club

Captain’s Newsletter : October 2019

Dear Member of Clays Golf Club

Firstly, I would like to bring everyone up to date regarding our recent Charity Day. 116 players took part in the competition and enjoyed an excellent carvery meal from Hayley afterwards. Apart from the people who played on the day, a number of members who weren’t able to take part made a donation towards the funds and some of our members sponsored either holes or the individual prizes. I and Malcolm Williams, member at Clays and Chair of the Wrexham Prostate Cancer Support Group, are delighted to report that a total of £3759 has been raised, with more donations promised. Malcolm and I would like to thank sincerely everyone for their fantastic generosity; we very much appreciate the support that we have received from members, families and friends leading up to the day. I will give details of the prizewinners later in the newsletter.

I mentioned in my previous newsletter that we will be holding Presentation Day on Saturday, 9^th November. This will be a shotgun start team competition in the morning and all members are invited to take part but, particularly, our Honours Board Finalists. Following completion of the round we will announce the results for the morning’s competition and immediately go on to present the Honours Board trophies. Our Club President, Gareth Roberts, is currently organising the updating of the new Honours Boards ready for the big day. I very much hope that you’ll take part in the golf and stay to congratulate this season’s champions. The sign-up sheet for taking part is in Reception.

It has been a very difficult time recently for our greenkeeping staff with such heavy rainfall over the past few weeks and this has put back some of the course maintenance and development work that they had planned. Please give the staff priority whilst they carry out this essential work over the coming weeks and months. With current ground conditions, it is inevitable that large divots will be taken when playing a shot, deep pitch marks will be made as the ball hits the green and the sand in bunkers will become compacted. Please give some thought to supporting the greenkeeping staff and taking your fellow players into account by filling any divots as best you can, repairing any pitch marks on the greens and raking bunkers.

Some R&A posters will be appearing on various noticeboards soon with suggestions regarding Ready Golf and the pace of play. Please have a look at these and consider if there are any ways in which you can adopt any of the suggested points.

Finally, having held a very successful charity day, we would now like to turn our attention to raising funds for the club. The Club Council have discussed a number of ways in which we would like the club to develop and further enhance members’ enjoyment of their golf on the course. These include contributing towards the purchase of an air compressor, hopefully for installation sometime in the new year, and the possibility of a halfway house in the future. We have some social events in the next couple of months and we would aim to raise some funds for the club during those two evenings. There are a number of posters around the club with details of these and it would be great if we could sell sufficient tickets for them to go ahead after the disappointment of having to cancel the Cheese and Wine evening.

Thanks again for your ongoing support.

Have a good month’s golf.

Nigel Davies                                                                                       nigeldavies78@gmail.com

Club Captain                                                                                      

Club News :

I am delighted to pass on the news from Josh, our General Manager, that we now have 302 full members. Clays’ next goal is to push on now and reach 350 by the end of the membership renewal period in 2020.

Congratulations to the Clays Ping Mixed Team for coming 3^rd in the Ping Wales Knockout Competition at Cotterill Park, Cardiff.

Congratulations to the Clays Ladies Team who won the Border Cup Challenge, a competition between Mile End GC, Henlle GC and Clays.

Congratulations to Chris Jones, our Immediate Past Captain, and to Russ Adamson for being outright winners of the recent Seniors Open held at Oswestry GC with a fantastic betterball score of 45 points in difficult conditions.

The Seniors played their last match against Mold GC away winning 5½  to 4½ . The Seniors have had a successful year in their Inter-Club matches, playing 11 matches, winning 7 and losing 4.

On Saturday, 23^rd November there will be a Curry and Quiz Night costing £8pp. Tickets can be obtained from Hayley.

The club weekend Winter Turkey Trot competitions have begun and will continue on either a Saturday or a Sunday through the next couple of months, with a turkey, whisky and wine available to win each time!

These will culminate in the final Turkey Trot and Presentation to be held on Saturday, 21^st December. Further details can be found in Reception. Please support as many of these fun competitions as you can.

The 'Clays Golf Christmas Draw' is now underway in Reception at £2 a square or 3 for £5. First prize is a 7 day Clays Golf membership and other prizes include a large turkey, a bottle of scotch, wine and chocolates.

There will be a Clays Christmas Open taking place on Saturday, 28^th December. This will be a Texas Scramble competition for teams of 3 or 4 players and teams can be mixed with Men, Ladies or Juniors off Yellow/Red Tees. Entry fee is just £6 for Members and £10 for Visitors. Prizes include meals out, rounds of golf at other courses and golf products from Ben at Fairway Golf. This is another event in which we are hoping to raise funds for the new air compressor that I mentioned earlier and your support would be very much appreciated.

Some members have mentioned to me that the bell by the 18th tee doesn't seem to be used very much these days, perhaps because of its location, and we have suggested having it moved to between the 18th green and 1st tee, in other words pretty much along the path that most people use to walk off the course. Josh has confirmed that this work is to be included in the greenkeeping team’s winter projects.

Just a reminder that we now have new scorecards and the stroke indices on some of the holes have changed which could well affect the number of shots available on these holes.

Club Results :

Congratulations to those members listed below on their recent golfing success.

Seniors October Medal :

Division 1 :

1^st           Tony Harcombe                   2^nd       Dave Palferman                  

Division 2 :

1^st            Steve Monk                         2^nd       Ken Tieszen  

Thursday 5^th September : Seniors 9 Hole Competition:

1^st            Irwin Elkin                          2^nd       Roy Jordan      

Club October Medal :

Division  1 :

1^st        Iwan Bonds                 2^nd       Richard Collier           

Division 2 :

1^st        Gareth Roberts            2^nd      Paul Stevenson

Past Captains & Officers Honours Board competition 2019 :

1^st        Dave Palferman          2^nd       Bob Brown

  

Charity Day :

Team Prizes :

1^st        Phil Jones        Ant McAllister            Matthew Nicholas       Kevin Todd                     79pts

2^nd       Paul Stevenson           Dave Riley      Graham Davidson-Clarke       Shaun Powell      78pts

3^rd        Tony Jackson              Graham Bryne            Dave Reece     J. Atherton                      72pts

Individual Prizes :

            Nearest the Pin                        Maureen Elkin

            Straightest Drive                     Robin Holden

            Longest Drive                         Shaun Powell

            Nearest the Pin in 2                 David Boove

  

Dates for Your Diary :

2^nd November                    Club Monthly Medal

7^th November                    Seniors Stableford Medal

9^th November               Presentation Day

12^th November                  Seniors Ken Lawrence Memorial

                                                Club Council meeting

16^th November                  Turkey Trot : South African Pairs

19^th November                  Seniors Winter League 1

23^rd November                  Turkey Trot : Pairs Greensomes

                                                Curry & Quiz

24^th November                  Christmas Mixed competition

26^th November                  Seniors Winter League 2

30^th November                  Turkey Trot : Individual Stableford

1^st December                      Ladies 9-Hole comp & Christmas Party

3^rd December                     Seniors AGM

5^th December                     Seniors Stableford Medal

6^th December               Clays Christmas Party!  

7^th December                     Quarterly & Monthly Medalsholly

10^th December                   Club Council Meeting

14^th December                   Turkey Trot : 2 Ball Texas Scramble

17^th December                   Seniors 9-Hole comp & Christmas Party

21^st December                   Turkey Trot Finale :  Six  Six  Six

Individual stableford October 29th 2019

After a very frosty night the course held up well although cold out of the sun! There were hole closures on the 16/17th and the first hole shortened to 150 yards as a par 3 with a temporary green on the 11th. Buggies were allowed.

Results of the 2's competition run by Peter Bowen as follows:-
Colin Brown and Peter Fraser on the 1st
Dave Palferman on the 1st and the 5th

The full results from Mike Healey are below

41 seniors stepped out for an individual Stableford  - results

First                        Damian Atkin                                    37 points

Second                    Dave Jones                                       33 points

Third                        Dilly Jones                                        32 points

Fourth                      Dave Palferman                                 31 points

Fifth                         Alan Barnsdale                                  30 points (count back)

Sixth                        Nigel Harris                                       30 points (count back)

Seventh                    Stewart Poole                                    29 points (count back)




Some photos on the day below. The first 2 photos show 2 Badger toilets in the copse to the left of the 14th tee.

Strings competition October 24th 2019

Results kindly supplied by Mike Healey

Strings - a game for the strategists and thinkers. Forty players today were told to use any number of shots from their shot allowance on any hole, providing that they did not claim more than their total handicap allowance. A further complication arose with holes 16 and 17 being closed, so total handicaps were further reduced. A quick perusal through the cards showed that members had coped with the format (although it is not everybody's cup of tea) and that most members scored reasonably well. There were some close scores at the top and throughout the 40 cards (Range 35 points - 22 points). The jury is out about including it next year!

First:            Stewart Poole                                    35 points

Second:        Nigel Davies                                      34 points (count back)

Third:            Mike Drake                                       34 points (count back)

Fourth:          Mike Hollings                                    33 points (count back)

Fifth:            John Kelty                                         33 points (count back)

Sixth:           Don Wraight                                      32 points (count back)

Seventh:       Tony Jackson:                                   32 points (count back)

Kitty competition October 24th 2019

The winners of the 2's sweep were:

Graham Bryne (5th hole); Richard Key (5th hole); and Barry Dare (1st hole, playing as a par 3).

Full results will follow soon

Winners of Oswestry Open October 9th 2019

Russ Adamson and Chris Jones won the Oswestry Senior Open 9th October with 45 pts.

Congratulations to both.

Waltz competition October 22nd 2019

Results below via Mike Healey

Cloudy overhead, very spongy underfoot. Conditions are still damp to achieve good scores but 44 seniors did their best with today's waltz.

First:                Barry Evans, Ralph Howard, Dave Palferman, Tony Jackson            71 points

Second:            Colin Brown, Ken Tieszen, John Kelty, Maelor Davies                     69 points

Third:                Bob Brown, Alan Bottomley, Mike Kalka, Malcolm Williams            68 points

We did not hold a twos competition but Tom McGrady scored a noteworthy 2 on the 5th and 12th.

The club emailed out the following course conditions for today

The course is open subject to the following conditions:

- Holes 16 & 17 are CLOSED today.
- Hole 1 is playing on as a par 3 from approx 150 yards.
- Hole 11 is playing on a temporary green.
- Unfortunately, club buggies and single ride on buggies are not permitted.

Stableford October 17th 2019

Results courtesy of Mike Healey

Beautiful day weather-wise for golf and the fairways are drying out a little but because ground staff haven't been able to get out (weather), time was spent looking for golf balls in the long rough. Despite that, 36 seniors  fought it out with some good individual stableford scoring in preparation for the forthcoming Ken Lawrence Trophy and November stableford - Medal. The twist in the tale came when their scores were added to an unknown player (pairs decided in a table beforehand at complete random):

First            Nigel Harris and Ken Tieszen            71 points (count back)

Second        Don Wraight and Mike Drake            71 points (count back)

Third            Nigel Davies and Colin Brown            65 points

Fourth          Irwin Elkin and Alan Barnsdale          63 points

Twos were scored by Mike Drake (1st hole played as par 3), Stuart Poole (1st), Don Wraight (2nd) and Alan Bottomley (5th)

Texas Shamble October 15th 2019

Thank you to Mike Healey for the following report

Texas Shamble - a new format for the boys and some were sceptical but it proved to be a popular format which will undoubtedly be repeated in the future. Everybody drives (3 from each player) and then team players play their own ball out from the best drive. Scoring is Stableford and best two scores count. We had to run a 3 ball comp and a 4 ball comp because of numbers. The weather held but conditions were damp underfoot and preferred lies were in operation. Not only did members have to cope with conditions and format but the new stroke indices came into play with brand new cards. All in all a thinking man's day for the 33 members who took part.

3 Ball Comp

First    -    Mike Turner, Richard Keys, Dave F Jones                                  64 points(After Count Back)

Second -  Colin Brown, Barry Dare, Ian Ketland                                          64 points(After Count Back)

4 Ball Comp

First    -    Don Wraight,Harold Hughes, Mick Carnell, Tom McGrady            76 points

Second -   Dave Palferman, Alan Pocklington, Mike Griffiths, Peter Fraser    75 points

Seniors Inter club matches 2019 courtesy of Malcolm Williams

Inter Club Matches 2019:-

Played 12 - Home and Away v Mold, Holywell, Old Padeswood, Aldersey Green, Hawarden, Henlle.

Won - 7; Lost - 4;  (away match v Holywell was Am/Am.)

Points for:- 58;   Points against:- 40.

43 Senior members supported us during the course of the season - Many thanks!  ( Mike Hollings and Mike Drake played in all 12 matches!)

Champions League:- Winner:-  Mike Hollings-52pts;    Runner-up:-  Don Wraight ( Seniors' Captain) - 49pts;    3rd:-  Mike Drake - 46pts.

Bonus Ball October 10th 2019

Today's report kindly supplied by Don Wraight

31 Seniors competed today. No buggies were allowed

1.  Don Wraight, Stewart Poole, Keith Jones and Mick Carnell   137 points
2. Chris Jacques, Colin Brown, Barry Dare and Ron Roberts   126 points

Kitty competition Pairs Betterball October 8th 2019

For the last few weeks buggies have not been allowed. Hole 16/17 are closed. Results of today's kitty competition from Steve Monk are as follows

In a change from the planned competition, 32 players (16 pairs) arrived for a Pairs Betterball.

After a brief shower the weather was pleasant. After so much recent rain the fairways were very soft and wet, and holes 16 and 17 had to be closed. However, the greens are still in very good playing order.

Results were:

1st - Richard Key and Peter Thomas with 38 stableford points from 16 holes.

2nd - Mick Carnell and Dave Palferman with 35 points.

3rd - Tom McGrady and Colin Brown with 34 points.

4th - Tony Jackson and Steve Monk with 33 points (on countback from 1 other pair).

Seniors medal Stableford and 9 hole stableford qualifier October 3rd 2019

Results as follows

9 hole stableford qualifier

1. Irwin Elkin 1 points
2. Roy Jordan 7 points

Division one

1. Tony Harcombe 33 points
2. Dave Palferman  32 points
3. Alan Bottomley 32 points
4. Alan Barnsdale 32 points
5. Johnathan Falcus 31 points
6. Andy Mitchell 30 points
7. Ron Roberts 28 points
8. Keith Jones 28 points
9. Reg Peacock 27 points
10. Nigel Davies/club captain 27 points

Division two

1. Steve Monk 32 points
2. Ken Tieszen 31 points
3. Maelor Davies 30 points
4. Mike Drake 30 points
5. John Kelty 28 points
6. Robert Jarvis 28 points
7. Barry Dare 28 points
8. Harold Hughes 26 points
9. Damian Atkin 26 points
10. Peter Taylor  24 points

Kitty competition October 1st 2019

Thank you to Andrew Mitchell for the following results

Only 10 turned up today so we played nine holes on this side of the road. We managed to get in before it rained except for the last group.

1^st     Bob Jarvis          18 points

2^nd Alan Barnsdale    15 points (Countback)

3^rd Alan Bottomely    15 points

Seniors events October 2019 via Mike Healey

SENIORS COMPETITIONS –  OCTOBER 2019
DATE	KITTY COMPS – in BLUE OTHER COMPS – in BLACK	COMMENTS
Tuesday Oct 1st	MULTIPLIER	2 best scores multiplied together
Thursday 0ct  3rd	OCT. MEDAL (Stableford, Men Yellow Tees; Ladies Red) plus 9-HOLE COMP.	Book in advance on Seniors Notice Board. See Don for late entries
Tuesday Oct 8th	BEST TWO SCORES T0 COUNT (3/4)
Thursday Oct 10th	BONUS BALL	Best score doubled front 9, worst score doubled back 9
Tuesday Oct 15th	“TEXAS SHAMBLE!”
Thursday Oct 17th	PAIRS BETTERBALL
Tuesday Oct 22nd	WALTZ
Thursday Oct 24th	LAS VEGAS
Tuesday Oct 29th	INDIVIDUAL STABLEFORD
Thursday Oct 31st	“TANGO”
Tuesday Nov 5th	KEN LAWRENCE MEMORIAL TROPHY (POPPY DAY)	Book in advance on Seniors Notice Board. See Don for late entries
Thursday Nov 7th	NOV. MEDAL (Stableford, Men Yellow Tees; Ladies Red) plus 9-HOLE COMP.	Book in advance on Seniors Notice Board. See Don for late entries