HELSBY SENIORS OPEN RESULT VIA MIKE HEALEY

Seniors – busy week. I am starting this report with a big thank you to Brian Beaton for organising our day out to Helsby Golf Club today for their Senior Open. No fewer than 20 of our section made the journey over there, enjoyed bacon baps and coffee on arrival and made our way to the first tee for the serious end of our golfing day. The members there were very well organised and would have to be with every tee booked between 8.00am and 4.00pm – a lot of fourballs. The course was in superb condition, although greens were not as fast as Clays it has to be said. The weather was particularly pleasing, we all managed reasonable times for completion and retired back to the clubhouse for more food and liquid refreshment. On enquiry, there was a card from another club, returned with 48 points as we were leaving but the full results will be reported when Brian receives them. Meanwhile we conducted our own kitty comp as per usual and there were three prizes up for grabs: Helsby GC Senior Open Results: First: Dave Palferman and Richard Collier - 45 points Second: Brian Beaton and David A Jones - 44 points (c/b) Third: Alan Barnsdale and Mike Healey - 44 points (c/b) Before finishing – the countback requires an explanation! Brian stood on the 18th tee and hit an absolutely superb drive to within five feet of the flag. He then proceeded to down a magnificent putt, which not only earned him a (twos) prize in the Ball Sweep, but gained both him and Dave a four pointer, which pushed their card on countback in front of Alan and Mike. A fantastic match within a match. Well done them and an enjoyable day had by all

TEXAS SCRAMBLE JUNE 27TH 2024. REPORT VIA STUART MILES

Good afternoon Seniors. Well another pleasant day for golf, long may it continue. Thank you to my partners this morning Mike and Ken for an enjoyable game. Texas scramble was the order of the day, with 38 seniors putting their tallies up, resulting in 2 competitions of 6 x 3 balls and 5 x 4 balls. Results. 3 balls. 1st Chris Jacques, Brian Beaton and Alan Bottomley. 64.2. 2nd Alan Barnsdale, Graham Wright and Alan Pocklington. 67.4. 4 balls. 1st Andrew Mitchell, Paul Cheetham, Mike Griffiths and Bob Jarvis. 58. 2nd Fred Court, Tom Blackshaw, Dave (mole) Jones and Stewart Poole. 62. Just a couple of points. I apologize that I made a mistake with the date for Richard Keys charity afternoon. The date is Friday the 5th July. Finally Mike and I have quite a bit of prize money accumulated from previous kitty comps. Could the prize winners listed below catch up with me the next time we are at the club to claim their money, thank you. Andy Mitchell £4.00. Chris Jacques. £4.00. Alan Bottomley £4.00. Graham Wright £2.00. Reg Peacock £5.00. Mike Turner £2.00. Thank you and catch up next Tuesday for a pairs betterball

MATCH VS ALDERESY GREEN JUNE 25TH 2024

Good Afternoon Seniors - What a great day weatherwise for golf. Like most golf clubs in the country, Aldersey Green have had the exact same problems as Clays regarding weather and cutting. Also like Clays they claim to be behind in their maintenance schedule but they too have turned it round and both fairways and greens are very much up to standard. We thanked the greenkeepers on show and made it known to our playing partners in the matches. As always, the banter was good and social side as important as the result, however, the Clays team did prevail with a 6.5 to 1.5 win. All 32 players sat down to fish and chips followed by apple pie and the compliments flowed. No less than three players scored twos in the Ball Sweep: Chris Richards (Aldersey) on the 11th, Malcolm Williams (Clays) on the 11th and Derek Jones (Aldersey) on the16th. All were presented with half a dozen balls each. It was great to see the entire team in red team colours, with Don receiving a thank you for his efforts and all departed at the end with everybody looking forward to the return match on 8th August at Clays. Reminder from Malcolm: There is a sign up sheet on the noticeboard for our home game against Northop on Thursday 13th July. We are still short of players so if interested - do sign up as soon as possible. Thank you in anticipation

CAPTAINS NEWS LETTER JUNE 2024

Captain's Newsletter : June 2024 With the weather finally turning around this year the course is looking fantastic which is credit to mark and his team for all there hard work. I would like to thank everyone who played in myself and Shan’s drive in at the beginning of the month and a special thanks to those tho baked cakes and provided refreshments. Captains day is just around the corner now and as with the drive in the half way house will be with refreshments for a charity donation, we will also have nearest the pin on the 12th for men and 5th for women. I will also be hosting a ‘beat the captain competition on the 5th where you will be able to win 10% off vouchers for the shop. Competitions Its has been a busy month for competitions with the honours board competitions well and truly underway. Well done to Michael McHugh for winning the captains drive in, Gaz Davis for winning the Tom and Kathleen trophy, Andy Mathews for winning the Tommy Davies cup. I would also like to congratulate Jane Evans and the Ping mixed doubles team for progressing into the next round of that. Lady’s report The Captains’ Drive In, postponed from April was held on June 1st, when the weather was kind, and all holes of the course were looking good. After a nerve-wracking wait and a superb drive from Captain Patrick, it was my turn and thankfully the ball went down the middle. After that we enjoyed the game and especially enjoyed the opening of the new halfway house and the selection of homemade cakes donated by Pauline and Angela. Eight ladies played, although there were more well-wishers for the drive off. Angela Thomas Williams won with Jane Evans as runner up. The first pairs WG qualifier, Australian Spoons had three official entries, but some ladies also played the same format.Julie Hanmer Price and Shan Stapley were the winning pair with 36 pts and will go through to the Welsh final in Holyhead in September. Just when we thought summer had arrived, another storm took its place and May’s Stableford qualifier was cancelled. However, the following week we held the qualifier for the R & A Coronation foursomes, the pairing of Julie and Shan won with 29 pts and are going to the next heat in Hazel Grove in August. On June 5th the sun was shining, and 13 players took part in the Stableford competition, which was won by Hazel Bell 30pts and runner up Lady Vice with 29 pts. Our first home match of the season took place on June 7th, weather was good, and the visitors were very complimentary on the condition of the course. All matches were very close,and we halved the match overall with 2 ½ points. Clays team were, Angela Thomas Williams, Bev Hood, Sue Falcus, Christine Evans and Shan Stapley. The following week the same team were in action again against Mold at Mold. Again,very close matches played in beautiful weather but sadly this time we lost 4 and 1. The Ping mixed team of Jane Evans, Bev Hood, Richard Collier, Christine Evans and Jack Whitehouse had a very close match against Porthmadog 2 at St Melyd. At the culmination of all matches, it was all square, this meant the winning team would be decided on a sudden death basis! Jane and Graham took on the challenge and won the match on the 20th hole. Clays will go on to play St Melyd at Mold next month. On June 12th the ladies held their first Honours Board comp of the season, the Powells Jewellers trophy. Eleven players took part, one pair on the alternate day. Winning the trophy was Jane Evans 72 nett, Angela Thomas Williams 75 nett. One of our social golfers, Jean Key is holding a 13-hole Stableford competition on 5th July between 3.30 and 5.30 in aid of Nightingale house, £5 entry and lots of super prizes along with home made goodies in the halfway house. Tee time booking open now on IG. Shan Stapley, Lady Captain Lastly We are still looking for a Safeguarding /Welfare Officer. This is an important position so if any members are interested, or if you know of anyone who would be interested in this role please get in touch with myself or any member of the council. Please be aware as it’s getting very busy out on the course over the next few months, please avoid slow play. Kind regards Patrick McHugh

MEMORIAL TROPHY JUNE 19TH 2024.VIA STUART MILES

Seniors. what a turn out, 47 members put their tally's up for what is one of our most important days of the year. Bonus being the excellent weather that we were blessed with. A few thanks first, Don for his hard work in posting pictures on each tee of our late friends, for me personally it brought back memories of all the people whose pictures were on the tees, thank you Don. Thank you to our captain for his well chosen words and pause for thoughts for those who are no longer with us. Thank you to Paul Wallace-Jones for organising the 2's and congratulations to John Kelty who had the only 2 of the day on the 12th and finally to Fred who helped me with the draw this morning. Results. 1st Malcolm Hughes 39 points. 2nd Eric Thwaites 37 points. 3rd Keith Hawthorn 36 points c/b. 4th Mike Carnell 36 points c/b. 5th Reg Peacock 36 c/b. 6th Les Williams 35 points. 7th Dave "Mole" Jones 35 points c/b. Mike Healey 35 points c/b. Congratulations to Malcolm who is the winner of the Memorial Trophy with a superb score and playing of 8 today. A couple of housekeeping notes. Firstly, Don has asked me to tell anyone who has ordered the polo shirts and not collected them today they are in reception ready for collection. Thanks again to Don for organising these; they are superb and well worth the money. Secondly, one of our members and past captain Richard Keys, who passed away is to be remembered in a charity golf match on Friday the 15th July. The event has been organised by his widow Jean Key and starts at 3.30. Money raised will be donated to Nightingale House. Thirdly; We have an exchange day with Mile End golf club on the 25th July. Those wishing to take up this offer will you, please sign the sheet which will be on the notice. Fourthly we have an away game on Tuesday the 25th June at Aldersey, best of luck to the team, to those not participating we will have a normal kitty comp. Finally we send best wishes for a speedy recovery and recuperation to Peter Bowen and Mike Hollings. Regards. Stuart.

PAIRS BETTERBALL JUNE 18TH 2024. REPORT FROM MIKE HEALEY

Seniors - we're coming out of the woodwork! No fewer than 21 seniors went to Vicars Cross GC for their senior Open this morning and a further 27 members turned out for the tally draw on home turf. Today's competition was Pairs Betterball and Mike Griffiths drew the lucky number for two bites of the cherry with different partners. The weather was cooler than yesterday but benign throughout and pleasant to play in. Most cards returned were around the average par scores with countback required just below the top scorers. Read on for the four winning teams: Pairs Betterball Results: First: Ken Burgoyne and Peter Lord - 43 points Second: Chris Blazdell and Ian Ketland - 39 points Third: Wyn Jenkins and Tom Blackshaw - 38 points Fourth: Tony Harcombe and Alan Pocklinghton - 37 points (c/b) Tom McGrady and Ken Tieszen (also on 37 points) missed out on countback and last prize. Notices: 1 - There will be a later report from Vicars Cross and a note about handicaps. 2 - On Thursday we are playing in the Memorial Trophy. It is a roll up and tally draw/kitty comp. as usual but it is also set up as a qualifier on ig. Please enter your scores into the system before handing your cards in. 3 - Advance notice - On Thursday 25th July there is going to be an exchange day with Mile End. Your golf will be free when you arrive but we need to commit to a £15.00 two-course meal afterwards and approximately 30 of the opposition will be arriving here for the same deal. The sign up will be posted this Thursday on the noticeboard.

VICARS CROSS OPEN RESULTS FROM BRIAN BEATON

First a big thank you to Stewart Poole, Andy MacDougall and Peter Taylor who filled in for members who were unable to play today. For most of the 20 Clays seniors this was a first time at Vicars Cross. We were faced with quite a difficult course, in excellent condition although the greens were a bit slower than Clays. There were many big ditches, some blind shots and they certainly made some decisions vey interesting. Overall, the scoring was pretty good with the lowest pair on 33 points. Results in the kitty prizes. 1st Mike Drake and Steve Monk 42 points 2nd Richard Collier and Dave Palferman 41 points 3rd Brian Beaton and Dave A. Jones 38 points There were some high scores on the leaderboard when we left with still a number of players waiting to start their rounds. The organisers said that they will e mail me with results and I will forward any prize winner information if we have anyone included. The course was well rated by everyone and I have had lots of requests to book again next year. Next up is Helsby on Wednesday 26th June. I also have a vacancy for Aldersey Green on Wednesday 7th August. If anyone is able to play please let me know Regards Brian

DEVON TRIP NEWS 2024. REPORT FROM STUART MILES

Good afternoon Seniors. Just a quick report on this year's Devon trip. 15 guys went on the trip and although much colder than last year, teeing off in 10 degrees was more like a November day than June, extra layers were the order of the day, although shorts were sported by many, tough guys. The weather for the first 3 days did brighten up eventually. We completed the 4 days of competition on Thursday, although in strong winds but rain for only 3 holes before the promised storm hit the area, fortunately all were in before the gales and heavy rain arrived. I, as always, enjoyed the week and the company and have booked us in for next year already. Details of next year are noted below. Results. Ramnee Trophy; Best accumulative stableford points over the 4 competition days. 1st Dave Nicholson 142 points. 2nd Alan Pocklington 138 points. 3rd Tony Vesty 135 points. Forrest Chaless. Lowest net strokes on any of the 4 competition days. Winner. Nev Bassett net 71. 28 My Ar**e Trophy. For the most 4 pointers or better over the 4 competition days. Alan Pocklington with 13. Congratulations to all the winners and a reminder the trophies will be presented at this year's Christmas Dinner. With regard to next year's trip I can confirm that it has been officially booked for Sunday the 15th June to Friday 20th June 2025. The cost is £418.76p per person based on 2 sharing a twin room plus £10.00 kitty money. This includes golf on the Sunday on the par 3 18 hole course, 4 rounds of golf Monday to Friday on the 4 different 18 hole courses for the main trophies and a further 18 holes on Friday for a social game for those who wish. The price includes 5 nights full board. The only things to pay for are the buggies, probably £16.00 per person next year and your beer / wine. The price includes a 20% discount (15% for repeat booking and 5% for a group of 12 or more. Sadly I only have 13 people who have indicated they wish to attend next year (all who went this year with a couple of exceptions) and have received no replies to my emails from a few weeks ago from other people. I accept that there are a lot of the guys who used to be regulars who have got to an age where they say they don't wish to go anymore and that is understandable, but there are a lot of younger seniors and I ask you to consider what I regard as a very enjoyable and reasonably priced golf week. I have provisionally booked for 20 next year. So long as we have a minimum of 12 to get the group discount I will organise next year's trip, but will consider what we do in future years. This year's trip included 5 guests and only 10 clays seniors. Although we have always welcomed guests if there is space, and some of the guests have been going for a number of years and have helped fill the spaces when people have dropped out, or numbers have been low it is primarily a Clays Seniors event and I would like the vast majority to be Clays Seniors. I shall be grateful to those wishing to go, to send me a deposit of £100.00 via bank transfer to A/C Name Mr. Stuart H. Miles. Number 45019260, Sort Code 30-99-95. I shall be grateful for payment by Friday 12th July as we have to pay the deposit within one month to get the full 15% repeat discount. Cheques can be sent to me at Brambles Cottage, Pen-Y-Lan, Nr Ruabon. Wrexham LL13. 6HW. I hope to hear from you. Any problems / queries / questions please email me or text / phone me on 07747041200.

LATEST CLAYS SENIORS RESULTS JUNE 13TH 2024 FROM MIKE HEALEY

Seniors - Perfect numbers today for our Individual Stableford, 24 in total entered the tally draw. Andy in reception managed to turn our kitty comp into a qualifier, which we have all agreed is the way forward (at least 3 times a month). The weather remained warm throughout and although greying over and odd spots, the rain held off until after we had finished the round. The course was in good condition and the greens getting ever faster, leaving some with problems over their putting. I believe there were a couple of twos here and there but alas we did not run a ballsweep today. Still we prevailed and the results are as follows: Individual Stableford Results: First: Reg Peacock - 37 points Second: Chris Blazdell - 36 points Third: Richard Collier - 35 points Fourth: John Falcus: - 33 points (c/b) Fifth: Bob Jarvis - 33 points (c/b) Along with today's prize money, Mike Hollings turned up with his monthly medal inscribed coasters, which were won by: Div. One: Ernie Williams Div. Two: Reg Peacock Div. Three: Bob Jarvis Devon Results so far: "From your Devon correspondent". 10 Clay's seniors and 5 guests are away in what was last year sunny Devon. I'm afraid this year the first 3 days were more like November. Teeing off with the temperature barely touching 10 degrees. Today, Wednesday, has changed and we played in sunshine and a pleasant 15 degrees and no wind, last day tomorrow looks like a complete change and waterproofs will be the order of the day. Competitive as ever, results for the first 4 days: 18 hole par 3: 1st Mark Waddy 2nd Stuart Miles. Monday: Alan Pocklington 44 points. 2nd Dave Nicholson 38 points. Tuesday: Dave Nicholson 36 points. 2nd Stuart Miles 33 points. Wednesday: Dave Nicholson 38 points. Alan Pocklington 36 points. Final round tomorrow for the main trophy. I have to mention the leader in the "28 my ar*e Trophy" is Alan with an amazing 11 four pointers, I think he can claim that particular prize.

CLAYS SENIORS REPORT JUNE 11TH FROM MIKE HEALEY

Seniors - where do I start? Stuart Miles has gone off to Devon with twelve seniors to play at the Ashbury GC course down there and I am assured of results as they plough through the week. Twelve seniors signed up for early door golf this morning - eleven of whom took part in an individual Stableford. The results were courtesy of Andy Mitchell. Individual Stableford Results; First: Tom McGrady (36 pts) Second: Ken Burgoyne (34 pts) Third: Keith Hawthorn (29 pts) Meanwhile - sixteen Clays seniors played for the team in a match against Holywell GC and we even had Jon Falcus turning out for the opposition (and winning to boot!!) The weather held despite cool temperatures early on and eventually the sunshine broke through. Alas, it was not all roses and I am obliged to report that Clays were runners up by 2 games to six. The opposition came prepared this time but we will be ready in August for the replay. The opposing players thought our course was in great condition, especially the greens and to a player, they all raved about the two course meal provided by Hayley after the golf. There was a ballsweep and no fewer than three twos were scored - all by Holywell players (Rob Hulse, Brian Furnell and Cliff Edwards). Mark Smale (Holywell Chairman) thanked all for our hospitality and Dave Hughes (Holywell Senior Captain) offered a reciprocal fixture in the future. The whole afternoon was completed with a raffle draw for wine and the two bottles were won by Mick McHugh and Nigel Davies (both Past Captains at Clays). I will finish with a big thank you to Tom Pierce who stepped in for Malcolm with all the organisation on the day.

CLAYS MATCH VS NORTHOP. AWAY REPORT VIA MIKE HEALEY

Northop were extremely welcoming and the weather was OK (terrible for June really!) We won the match 6-2 although there were some close finishes. We then enjoyed a two course meal with our hosts and look forward to welcoming them in July. Malcolm is otherwise engaged tomorrow but Tom Pierce is boss for our home match versus Holywell. Malcolm wishes us all well and for those who are playing, I am looking forward to continuing our great run of wins.

GOLF REPORT RECENT REPORTS FROM MIKE HEALEY. JUNE 10TH 2024

Tuesday 4th June (Stuart Miles Report) Seniors. Considering we had 16 members at an away match, 4 players playing their knockout match and six in Scotland on a golfing holiday, we still had 22 seniors who turned up for this morning's golf. Says something about our seniors’ section, when we still have this number for a kitty comp. With one eye on the weather forecast, which was all doom and gloom for mid-morning, we decided to alter the competition to an individual stableford to hopefully speed things up and avoid a soaking. Well, you would be better hanging a piece of seaweed out the window as other than three short showers, the weather was fine. Five prizes were available. Individual Stableford Results; First. Tom Blackshaw 37 points. Second. Graham Wright 36 points. Third. Alan Barnsdale 35 points c/b. Fourth. Peter Lord 35 points c/b. Five. Alan Bottomley 34 points. Thursday 6th June June Monthly Medal Div 1: 1st - Ernie Williams (72 c/b) 2nd - Richard Collier (72 c/b) 3rd - David Mole Jones (74) Div 2: 1st - Reg Peacock (74 c/b) 2nd - Sean McCarthy (74 c/b) 3rd - Chris Blazdell (75) Div 3: 1st - Bob Jarvis (71) 2nd - Peter Lord (76) 3rd - Vic Rogerson (77) There were no twos scored in the ballsweep