Yellow Ball competition September 28th 2023. Report from Mike Healey

Where was Agnes? She simply did not appear, leaving us a pleasant morning for our Yellow Ball competition. 28 members signing in gave us 7 x fourballs and was perfect for our 4,5,4,5 format. Having avoided both wind and rain, our next problem was leaves. I am assured that the groundstaff have already had blowers out, including this morning but there was necessity for ball hunting on numerous occasions.We will have to deal with this over the forthcoming weeks and make the most of the autumn weather. The October calendar will be released this weekend with one change already. Next Tuesday (3rd Oct) will be a Pairs Betterball instead of Pairs - Both to Count. Back to today - the score varied due to certain groups losing their Yellow Ball and the cognescenti all know what that means. We did not hold a ballsweep and there were two prizes in total: Yellow Ball Result: First: Richard Collier, Steve Monk, Ian Ketland and Alan Barnsdale - 164 points Second: Stuart Miles, Barry Evans, Bill Kelleher and Alan Bottomley - 157 points Jon Falcus, Mike Drake, Damian Atkin and Don Wraight came a close third with 155 points.

Captains Newsletter September 2023

Captain's Newsletter: September 2023 Competitions September has begun with the conclusion of this seasons honours board competitions on finals weekend. A big thanks to all those who entered the various competitions. Congratulations to all those who progressed to the finals especially the winners. There was some very good golf played with a number of matches decided on the 18th. The Team Handicap Championship Finals were held on September 3rd at Celtic Manor. Both Clays Golf Teams qualified for this Final, so the Denbighshire Golfing union was represented entirely by Clays Golf. This is a terrific achievement and shows the quality of players that we have at Clays. Both Clays teams put in a good solid performance. Clays 2 with Kevin Wyn Jones, Andrew Cairns, Ernie Williams and Chris McAteer finished in 5th place. Clays 1 with Iqbal Shergill, Paul Hardy, Matthew Tennant and Richard Collier finished in 11th position. This was an all Wales Competition with 20 team entries these are both very good results. The winners were Celtic Manor, with the runners up being their neighbours from St Pierre. Many thanks to all our players for representing both Clays and the DGU. The DGU Autumn Meeting at Llangollen was also very well represented ,with15 teams from Clays. Well done to Clays for taking 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th places with some fantastic scores A.M. Joans & M.D. Jones with 48points. A Barnsdale & E Williams with 46 points J.Houston & P Stevenson 43 points, N.Davies & K.Parry also 43points FINALS Weekend 2023 Results Seniors Pairs Knockout Alan Barnsdale and Mike Healey beat Neville Bassett and David Fergus Clays Challenge Cup Aaron Jones beat Richard Collier Scratch Cup Iwan Bonds beat Kevin Scaife JCB Shield Kieron Parry beat Phil Barry Jones Seniors Matchplay Championship Neville Bassett beat Michael McHugh Abershield Trophy Richard Evans beat Mike Healey Ladies Betterball Jayne Gibson & Angela Thomas- Williams beat Christine Evans & Shan Stapley Mixed Foursomes Graham Davidson- Clarke & Jane Mary Evans beat Jayne Gibson and Mike D Jones Flick Cup Phil Barry Jones & Anthony McAllister beat Alan Barnsdale & Mike Healey Aber Rose Bowl Jane Mary Evans beat Jayne Gibson Gem Trophy Still to be played My thanks go to all the contestants, even those who got knocked out in the first round, for the good spirit in which all the matches were played. Thanks also to the organisers who turned out on the day to welcome the contestants. Coming up: Sun.Oct.8th. Clays v Abergele DGU match Sat. Oct 14th Presentation day (Texas Scramble) Shotgun start. Ladies Captain, s Repor August was yet again a very busy month in the golfing calendar in the Ladies Section. Aside of our usual Medal and Stableford competitions we had our Captains Charity Day and Presidents Day and I am pleased to report that an increasing number of ladies from the Section were able to participate. During the month The Welsh Dragons Brooch a sponsored competition by Wales Golf was won by Jane Evans and as per tradition the brooch will be presented to her at The Ladies Christmas Party. At our exchange Day at Denbigh on Tuesday 29th August, 11 ladies enjoyed the opportunity to play this well maintained and picturesque course and once again we received a warm welcome and great hospitality from the Denbigh ladies. At their return visit the following day 31 ladies attended Clays Golf Club. They were very complimentary about the course and are really looking forward to a return visit next year. Following their round they were able to enjoy a 2 course meal in the Clubhouse. Most of the Finals Honours Board competitions were played around the weekend of September 2nd/3 rd congratulations to all winners, Angela Thomas Williams and Jayne Gibson in The Ladies Betterball, Jane Evans and Graham Davidson Clarke on their success in the Mixed Foursomes and Jane Evans in the Aber Rose Bowl. I would like to congratulate all those golfers who played in the Finals and applaud their achievement in reaching this stage of the Competitions. During September we have our final Honours Board Competition The Allington Hughes Salver which hopefully will be concluded this week. An annual Tri match between Mile End and Llanymynech to be played on October 6th at Llanymynech is our final competition of the season and we are fielding a full team to hopefully retain the trophy. I am delighted to report that Jane Evans and Beverley Hood have reached the last sixteen in Daily Mail Competition and are due to play the final rounds at St Pierre Golf and Country Club in Chepstow from Sunday 8th October through to Tuesday 10th October. On behalf of us all we wish you both the best of luck. Also in the Purves Cup Jane and I have reached the finals which is scheduled this weekend at Abergele. The raising and levelling of a number of the ladies tees by Mark and his team is scheduled to start at the end of September. Several tees have been initially identified at Hole 4, Hole 10, Hole 15 and possibly Hole 7. The remaining tees will be addressed next year, Hole 9 and Hole 17. Still to come in the Golfing Calendar is the Texas scramble planned for Presentation Day. We hope that as many of you as possible will support the competition and share in the celebrations as the Trophies are presented to our winners of 2023. Hopefully there is still plenty of golf to be played, the course is in amazing condition and we thank Mark and his team of Greenkeepers for all their hard work, Sue Falcus (Lady Captain) And finally from me… The season is not quite over, there are still a few events scheduled for October. Good luck to Patrick and The DGU team for their match Clays V Abergele on 8th of Oct. Presentation day on Saturday14th. please would all finalists do their best to attend the presentation which will take place at approximately 2pm.please can as many members as possible to come along to congratulate the finalists. Can I also ask if you are a trophy winner and you are unable to attend the presentation would you please let myself or one of the committee members know. Last but not least apologies for failing to mention in my last newsletter the winner of County Captains day Senior Stableford Champion Tom Pierce with 41 points Well done Tom. Enjoy your golf everyone Kind Regards, Michael McHugh (Club Captain) Return to News Page

Not quite the Ryder Cup. September 26th 2023. Report via Mike Healey

Seniors - Keeping fingers crossed over the weekend seemed to do the trick with the weather gods. The showers did not show and breezy warm conditions were the order of the day. Our "Not Quite the Ryder Cup" event has once again been held at the end of the golf competition season with resounding success. Ernie Williams (Wales) and Chris Jacques (RotW) were this year's team captains and did a splendid job leading from the front at the first tee, for their respective teams. Dave Palferman selected the RotW team but unfortunately had to step down and Chris stepped up. Pairs selection was drawn up by the captains but even better, the selection was not revealed until just before the individual matches started. Don Wraight's special "Ryder Cup" trophy was once again on show both for the photograph prior to the matches and the presentation at the end.

48 team members were selected but unfortunately 2 members were unable to play on the day. We had a contingency plan and a singles match kept the matches going and supplemented consequent results. My thanks go to Ray Griffiths and Chris Blazdell for playing without partners. On the steps of the clubhouse, both teams were resplendent in their reds and blues and a special prize was (only) considered for Dave Nicholson's blue check trousers! All arrived on time for the team photograph and pairs announcements. The banter was free flowing and there was enthusiastic, somewhat nervous chatter before the first ball was struck, however, there was also a serious side and a Cup to win. The competition was intense throughout the 12 matches, with stories being swapped across the fairways and then the results started to come in. The team captains oversaw the pairs results back in the clubhouse and Senior Captain, Chris Jacques gathered the troops together for the overall presentation. There are too many individual winners to name, but the best organiser in the world could not have predicted the final result. As last year - the captains tried to find a balance in their selection, in order to influence the final scores. It was an identical result to 2022 - Wales (5 matches won), two matches halved and RotW (5 matches won). It couldn't have ended any better. There were minor prizes purchased for the winning side and because of the result, it was agreed that these would be presented to every winning pair. Everybody said that the event created a buzz and when asked if the event should appear again in 2024, there was a unanimous seal of approval. I would like to thank all who helped with the event and a big thank you to everyone who participated on both sides. Roll on "Not Quite the Ryder Cup 2024". I will put out feelers for staging it in Rome!

Seniors September medal results plus other news from Mike Healey.

September Medal Division One: 1st - Keith Hawthorn (72)(c/b) 2nd - Richard Collier (72)(c/b) 3rd - Damian Atkin (72)(c/b) Division Two: 1st - Eric Thwaites (67) 2nd - Stan Roberts (69) 3rd - Mick Carnell (72) Division Three: 1st - Alan Pocklington (71) 2nd - Peter M Jones (78)(c/b) 3rd - Tom Pierce (78)(c/b) Not Quite the Ryder Cup I am keeping everything crossed for a decent weather report next Tuesday and reminding all of format. There is an attached sheet with 48 names on it. That is your commitment to playing but if for any reason you cannot play, you must ring me on 07716 527332 asap, so that we can adjust the team pairings. Please turn up in red if you are playing for Wales and blue for ROTW. The format is Pairs Betterball and to maintain speed, please pick up if the hole is conceded. Because of the numbers, I have requested and received the first tee from 8.30 onwards. The intention is to get a group photograph as early as possible (8.20ish?), keeping selected pairings quiet until you are sent out. The Captains have been instructed to have their first two pairings ready, as we need 6 groups in total to go off the 1st tee. A further four pairings will follow up to the 1st tee and there will be 3 groups going off both 16th and 14th tees. We would like as many players as possible to remain afterwards for the presentations (don't forget food list). Back in the clubhouse please record your match result and remember £1.00 each (towards the prizes). The presentations and Trophy will take place when we are all in. I will see you all on Tuesday morning bright and early and hope that I don't have any communications over the weekend?!! I would like to thank in advance, Ernie Williams, Dave Palferman and Chris Jacques for their help with this event.

3 Clubs and a putter September 19th 2023. Report via Mike Healey

Seniors - Once again, the horrendous BBC weather forecast turned out to be no more than a damp squib. Cool at 9.00am but by 11.00am warm, admittedly windy conditions led to short sleeves coming on show. There was some rain over the last three holes but it did not disrupt the golf. Three Clubs and a Putter was the chosen format and although not everybody's cup of tea, the seniors who arrived thoroughly enjoyed the competition. Format or weather - who knows? Only 10 stalwarts threw their tally into the bag and 5 x twoballs hit the fairways. Three prizes were on offer and they went to: Three Clubs and a Putter: First: Chris Roseblade - 39 points Second: Alan Barnsdale - 38 points Third: Tom McGrady - 35 points Reminder - there are currently 44 names on the "Not Quite the Ryder Cup" sign-up sheet for Tuesday 26th September. This will be taken down when I have finished my medal round this Thursday 21st. If you wish to play and you are teeing off later than me, you need to sign up before you go out for your medal. Also - if for any reason you need to cry off (having already signed up) you must let me know asap (07716 527332) so that gaps can be filled. I am keeping up a dialogue with both captains, who are selecting their teams over the weekend and we will advise everybody of their respective tees for next Tuesday. I have managed to reserve two extra early tees to accommodate numbers, so if everybody could arrive before 8.30am with golf bags ready, it would be good to photograph the respective teams in red (Wales) and blue (RotW) before we kick off. Good luck in the medal Thursday and see you all for "Not Quite the Ryder Cup."

Individual Stableford September 14th 2023. Report via Mike Healey

Seniors - a rain-free morning of golf, turning warm towards the end of the round. Peter kindly set up a qualifying round of Individual Stableford and although not particularly high-scoring, there was a necessity for countback on the return of cards. There was a carry over in the ballsweep due to nobody scoring 2's two weeks ago and Alan Bottomley, scoring the only 2 all morning on the fifth, walked away with all proceeds. He was also unlucky with countback in the Stableford. 24 seniors entered the kitty competition with five prizes to be distributed at the end. Individual Stableford: First: Damian Atkin - 35 points Second: Richard Collier - 34 points Third: Alan Barnsdale - 33 points (c/b) Fourth: Dave Nicholson - 33 points (c/b) Fifth: Stuart Miles - 33 points (c/b) Alan Bottomley also carded 33 points but recorded the lowest back 9. Can I remind you about the Medal next Thursday (21st) and that day will also be the last day for your sign up to "Not Quite the Ryder Cup" (Tuesday 26th). Teams have to be organised and in place

3 Ball results and other news from Mike Healey September 12th 2023

Seniors - some notes to begin this missive: Firstly, for those of you that haven't already looked, Don has released the tee times for next week's medal (Thursday 21st) and they are now available for viewing on ig. Secondly, this Thursday is marked as an Individual Stableford kitty competition and Peter has also set it up as a qualifier. Before handing cards to me for prizes, please enter all scores into ig (if you are unable to do this - please ask reception to enter scores for you before returning cards.) Thirdly, you may remember that Neville Bassett and Dave Fergus won our Welsh Greensomes qualifier back in June. Last week they travelled down to Carmarthen Golf Club, where they were able to have a practice round before playing in the Welsh Senior Final. I am pleased to report that they represented Clays GC very well, gaining eighth position overall. Well done to both of them! Today - Tom Pierce took responsibility for the Clays senior team going to Harwarden GC for our return fixture with their seniors. Before play started, there was a problem on the A483, with some late arrivals for the match. Some team members had to be swapped around in order to meet tee times but all matches got away on time. Weatherwise, it was never a great start to the day for any golf and there was a fair amount of rain at Harwarden but the rain eventually lifted. For the final fixture of the season, it was a very close run affair with a number of matches being decided on the eighteenth green. What might have been an equitable draw finished with Harwarden seniors taking the honours 5 games to 3. There were some 2's but not recorded by any of our senior members from Clays. Tom reported that the food was excellent once again and that the opposition was as convivial as ever - all in all a good fixture to maintain. Meanwhile, back on home turf, fifteen further stalwarts braved the weather gods and threw their tallies into the morning draw. Given numbers at Harwarden, this kitty competition was always going to be decided on numbers arriving, so 5 x threeballs set off with the best two scores to count. Damp, blustery conditions, after heavy overnight rain did not lend themselves initially to great scoring. The weather lifted after 10 o'clock, however and shirt sleeves even started to appear across the course. Ultimately, the scores were relatively close with two prizes on offer: Threeball - 2 to Count: First: Les Williams, Brian Beaton and Chris Roseblade - 81 points. Second: Andy Mitchell, Dave Nicholson and Tom Blackshaw - 76 points

Multiplier September 7th 2023. Report from Mike Healey

Seniors - Hayley will be away next week on holiday and she is leaving the regular food sign up sheets for both Tuesday and Thursday, next to the tally numbers. This will definitely be of benefit to the temporary staff making our lunches, so please sign up if you want food. Multiplier Report - numbers were lower today, probably because of the heat on Tuesday. Those that did turn out were well prepared with hats and water. 25 seniors threw their tallies into the bag, which required separate competitions of both threeball and fourball teams. We experienced a little light rain early doors but the heat and humidity came through eventually, leaving perspiring bodies in the clubhouse at the end. The scoring was good on both sides of our competition - a Multiplier. We ran a ballsweep and Paul Wallace-Jones shot a 2 on the 2nd hole with one of his team partners, Eric Thwaites, getting the next 2 on the 5th hole. This undoubtedly helped them with the team competition. Well done to both and they shared the spoils. After the comparisons of putting through sand, which remains temporarily on the greens, that only left the announcement of two results: Threeball Multiplier: First: Tony Jackson, Mick Carnell and Mike Healey - 110 points Fourball Multiplier: First: Bob Brown, Chris Blazdell, Paul Wallace-Jones and Eric Thwaites - 115 points

Waltz results etc September 5th 2023 from Mike Healey

Seniors - what a scorcher! A full week of sunshine this week is payback for the period of summer rain we experienced earlier in the holidays, however, there are inherent dangers along with these current temperatures. All seniors have now been advised regarding hydration and we need to be on constant alert for not only ourselves, but fellow members on the course also. Hot, sticky conditions made for mostly, pleasurable golf with some excellent scores being returned. We always knew about ground maintenance week, with a lot of sand on the greens but putting became almost impossible. Still, a ballsweep was organised and there were no fewer than 3 x 2's - Tony Jackson on the 5th and Nigel Davies shooting both of the others on the 5th and 12th. Well done to them for sharing the spoils. 36 seniors entered the tally draw and 9 x fourballs played a Waltz. There were three prizes in total - Waltz Result: First: Stuart Leyland, Mike Drake, Brian Beaton and Mick McHugh - 88 points Second: Dave A Jones, Alan Barnsdale, Graham Wright and Russ Adamson - 81 points Third: Don Wraight, Mick Carnell, Steve Monk and Tony Harcombe - 78 points The August calendar has just ended and with nearly all of the board competitions completed, we can relax a little and hope the autumn/winter rain does not arrive too soon. This is advance notice of our “Not Quite the Ryder Cup” event (sign-up on noticeboard). This has been ear-marked for Tuesday 26th September and it will be a great way to effectively close the competitive season. Whether you entered last year or not, it could not have finished on a better note with all wins/losses being equal. An equitable draw with winning pairs on both sides being rewarded with the spoils. How does it work? - On the day we are setting up a national challenge between Wales and the Rest of the World (sign-up sheet for both sides.) Should we fail to match numbers then a couple of seniors may be asked to swap teams. The Welsh team will be asked to wear red and ROTW – blue. The team Captains this year have been identified as Ernie Williams (Wales) and Dave Palferman (ROTW). They are both tasked with organising their chosen pairs for a one-day match-play competition. The scores will be collated and the winning team announced. There will be a Trophy and an inexpensive prize for each member of the winning side. Naturally the prizes attract a small fee, so entry for this event will be a mere £1.00 each. The event proved popular in 2022 and it may be considered as a regular fixture for our calendar in the future. Mike H

Texas scramble August 31st 2023. Report via Mike Healey

Seniors - a late report from yesterday. I received visitors in the afternoon who left late hence report today. Before the report, you should have received the September calendar, which showed a change for the medal (Thursday 21st). That still stands but I inadvertently reversed it for an Individual Stableford, which would not work in maintenance week. The calendar will now read Thursday 7th - Multiplier and Thursday 14th - Individual Stableford. I hope you are able to re-arrange those dates. Yesterday's Report - Texas Scramble There was another awkward number of players yesterday (37) so the members were split into two competitions of three- and fourballs. Intermittent rain was the forecast for the day but it did not materialise until later on around midday and only the tailenders got a little damp. Some good scores came from both sides of the competition and there were three prizes in total. Threeball Texas Scramble First: Stewart Pool, Mike Griffiths and Nigel Davies - 67.8 Fourball Texas Scramble First: Colin Brown, Tom McGrady, Mike Parks and Mick Carndell - 61.8 Second: Jonathan Falcus, Damian Atkin, Eric Thwaites andSean McCarthry - 62.8