GOLF REPORT THURSDAY AUGUST 29TH 2024 FROM STUART MILES

Seniors, good afternoon and I have to say it's nice to be back playing golf after a few weeks off. Thanks to Mike , Don and others who have covered for me in my absence. Before we have today's report I have a message from Malcolm. He is 5 players short for the match away to Harwarden a week's Tuesday, if anyone can play can you please put your name on the sheet on the board or contact Malcolm or myself directly, thank you. Today's kitty comp, well after a bit of an autumn feel first thing it turned out to be a glorious day and that showed with 46 seniors putting their tallies up, most this year I think, Mike will let me know if I'm wrong. Texas scramble was the order of the day and with the number we had we had 6 x three balls and 4 x four balls. 2 prizes for each group. Result. 3 balls. 1st Andy Mitchell, Tom Blackshaw, Mike Scott. 64.7. 2nd Barry Dare, Tony Harcombe, Nigel Davies. 66.00. 4 balls. 1st John Falcus, Eric Thwaites, Tom McGrady, Peter Lord. 59.9. 2nd Don Wraight, Alan Bottomley, Pauline Peacock, Keith Hawthorn 62.2.

SENIORS GOLF AUGUST 27TH 2024, REPORT FROM MIKE HEALEY

Michael Healey Tue, 27 Aug at 17:46 Seniors - you are about to receive no less than two reports from today's endeavours. Firstly, the match against Holywell (away) was contested between sixteen members from each club and as they normally do, they arranged to play an Am/Am. They were a little disappointed in their own greens, which had some treatment a fortnight earlier and they apologised in advance. The friendship between groups has always been and will remain tip-top. The barman and kitchen staff were thanked for another excellent meal and I don't think I have ever had a bad meal there. There were two two's scored on the day and Malcolm Williams and Ian Jones both received balls - well done them. Their club random draw for a bottle of wine was won by Ram Patel (Holywell) and the overall winners (who all received a bottle of wine) were Ian Naylor, Brian Law (both Holywell), George Hughers and Mike Healey recording 82 points. The runners up were just one shot away. My thanks go to Malcolm for all of his organisation, both before and during the day. The second report arrives courtesy of Don Wraight, who organised the home draw for an Individual Stableford, played and resolved the cards at the end, before sending this report: Excellent turn out today in spite of 16 players away at Holywell, 32 players turned up at Clays this morning to play an Individual Stableford competition. The course as usual, was very good and although very windy, we all managed to get round before the rain came, which to be honest the course needed. Excellent scores with the top 6 winning prizes: 1st Mike Drake 40 pts 2nd Colin Bown 38 pts (c/b) 3rd Peter Taylor 38 pts 4th Paul Cheetham 35 pts 5th Russ Adamson 34 pts 6th Fred Court 33 pts (c/b) My thanks go to Don for his contribution today and well done all of the above winners

CLAYS SENIORS OPEN RESULT FROM MIKE HEALEY

Clays Senior Open - Where do I start? That one is easy - it has to be the thank yous. At the top of the tree comes Mike Hollings who has fronted the entire operation, kept us on our toes and organised everything that we have experienced today. I would add my thanks to all the members of the committee who have played their part in a variety of jobs throughout the day, some starting at 7.00 am and others finishing at the other end - 6.45 pm. Adding to that, my thanks go to Andy for arriving early to open everything up and allowing buggies for gazebo operations. Club Captain, Mr President and ladies from the ladies section have been present in the Halfway House throughout the day and overall, it was a great team effort. Hayley employed extra staff for the refreshments afterwards and it was a long day for them. One of my biggest thank yous goes to Mark and the Greenstaff for their magnificent work prior to the competition. The course was in excellent condition and lots of compliments were received. Finally, to the seniors who contributed to the raffle prizes, a massive thank you for your input, which raised ove £400.00 on the day and who knows, the Xmas Party could be a good one this year. Weatherwise, I believe we all expected damper weather from an earlier point in the day but it held and the fine drizzle did strengthen with heavier rain later on for the afternoon tees. It did not deter the winning teams who also seemed to arrive from the later tees. Over 100 participants took part, 54 of them being Clays Seniors. Apart from twos in the ballsweep (which are not recorded here) there were a variety of prizes alongside the major three winning prizes for points. Read on for full results: First: Graham Davidson-Clark and Jane Evans - 43 points (c/b) Second: Alan Bottomley and Mick Carnell - 43 ponts (c/b) Third: Jon and Sue Falcus - 43 points (c/b) The three cards were decided on back nine - 23, 22, and 21 consecutively. Well done all! Nearest the Pin on the 5th hole was won by Mal Hughes (Clays) Nearest the Pin in two on the 18th hole (guests only) was won by Bill Hughes (Padeswood and Buckley) Nearest the Line on the 10th hole was won by Tony Harcombe (Clays) Overall, it was a day that suited all with many going home having enjoyed their golf.

9x3 plus 9x2 results AUGUST 20TH 2024 RESULTS VIA MIKE HEALEY

Seniors - You have already received my report about the Clays Senior Open and the winners were fairly late in on Thursday last week, so they in turn, received their prizes on the day. Or organiser Mike Hollings, brought along the rest of the prizes today and they were duly presented before today's results were announced. I still have an envelope for Malcolm Hughes and Mick Carnell. Malcolm Williams was also able to fill the team sheet for next Tuesday and we now have a full team to play Holywell at their place. The draw has also been made for the DJ Bogie competition this coming Thursday, Today's golf - Our latecomer was let off for his tardiness and late tally this morning because it made up the numbers to a perfect 36 members. 9 x fourballs set forth for a (9x3) plus (9x2) in fairly warm weather. Any mention of intermittent showers disappeared, as blue skies with a little cloud ruled the weather, giving us very pleasant conditions. The course remains in great condition leaving no excuse for poor scoring. There were three prizes in total today- read on for scores: (9x3) plus (9x2) Results: First: Peter Lord, Peter Taylor, Alan Pocklington and Barry Evans - 110 points Second: Don Wraight, Andy Mitchell, Graham Wright and George Hughes - 97 points Third: Fred Court, Peter Fraser, Ian Ketland and Jon Falcus - 94 points

MATCH VS ALDERSEY GREEN AT HOME PLUS INDIVIDUAL STABLEFORD RESULT

Seniors - Yet another win for Clays Seniors in their match against Aldersey Green at home. I have waxed lyrical about the course condition for weeks now and it is not letting us down. We met up with the opposition for coffee, making acquaintance with both new and old friends and the golf flowed. No fewer than 18 opposition were on show today, giving us a winning score of 6.5 to 2.5. A few thank yous went out to two members who stepped in very late to accommodate the opposition - John Kelty and Ken Tieszen. Lo and behold they were both drawn out by the opposition in the raffle and both received a bottle of wine - just desserts. More thanks went to Jane Evans also for stepping in and representing the team and she ended up being the only person out of 36 who scored a two (on the second green), receiving balls in the ballsweep for her efforts - well done Jane. My final thanks went to Tom Pierce for organising everything that required organising and supporting me on the day. The food was excellent as always from Hayley and her staff. A very enjoyable day for golf, conviviality and once again without rain. We also received a message from Andy Mitch that 8 earlybirds went out for an Individual Stableford before the match: Individual Stableford Result: First: Alan Barnsdale - 36 points Second: Don Wraight - 35 points

DGU COUNTY CAPTAINS DAY AUGUST 4TH 2024

The DGU County Captains Day was held at Clays last Sunday 4th August. 25 Clays entrants set forth out of a total entry of 74 entrants. There were 6 categories of prizes with winners and runners up awards in each. That makes 12 in total. NO FEWER THAN 8 OF THE PRIZES WERE WON BY CLAYS PLAYERS! These included 4 winners - Richard Collier, County Scratch Champion - Phil Davies County 6 to 16 Champion - Nigel Davies Senior Handicap Champion - Nick Buley Captains Day Stableford Winner. Plus the 4 runners up! This is a fantastic result. My congratulations to all 8 of you. My thanks also to our other entrants for their support on this day. Many thanks as well to Wayne Harris from the DGU for his organisation on the day, to Gareth Roberts who brought the event to Clays, and to Peter Bowen for his very long stint as starter. Below is the full text from the DGU web site with all the details. Alan Pocklington Competitions Secretary DGU County Captain's Day 4th August 2024 : Results ---------------------------------------------------- This year's County Captain Gareth Roberts has passed on his and the County's thanks to Clays' G.C. management and their greens staff for hosting and presenting the course in such a fantastic condition. He had received many compliments from members of other DGU clubs. He also thanked John Hatcher and Wayne Harris for their organisation skills on what turned out to be a very long day. Also, thanks went out to both Peter Bowen and Allan Pocklington for doing the starter duties on the day. COUNTY CAPTAIN'S DAY : RESULTS County Scratch Champion - Richard Collier Clays 75 Runner Up - Ian Hall Plassey 76 County 6 to 16 Champion - Phil Davies Clays 65 Runner Up - G. Davidson Clarke Clays 69 County 17 to 28 Champion - Gavin Millington Moss 43 Runner Up - James Houston Clays 36 Senior Gross Champion - Andy O’Loughlin Denbigh 79 Runner Up - Huw Parry Denbigh 80 CPO Senior Handicap Champion - Nigel Davies Clays 69 CPO Runner Up - Dave Palferman Clays 69 CPO Captain’s Day Stableford First Prize - Nick Buley Clays 42 Second Prize - Jack Whitehouse Clays 36 CPO All Scores are Stableford Points, except for County Scratch and Seniors Gross Competition which are shown as gross score. CPO = Card Play-off NOTE: Prize Vouchers will be issued via Club Representatives as soon as possible Spot Prizes of golf balls were given on the day to the following : Nearest Pin 12th - Chris Parry MVGC/County Vice Captain. Longest Drive 14th - Arwel Hughes Denbigh GC Nearest the pin in two 18th - Ian Hall Plassey GC

ALDERSEY GREEN SENIORS OPEN AUGUST 2024

Today's Report from Aldersey Green Senior Open: Hi Mike - Another good day although quite cold and with the odd threat of rain but it did stay dry. The course was in good condition overall but most of us thought that the greens were a bit slow. With their rating and giving a 90% handicap for pairs betterball we all had more shots than we normally play off but, it was the same for all the entrants. Some excellent scores overall and our kitty competition was quite tight. On one of the par 3 holes, one of our group hit the ball about 170 yards onto the green with it never leaving the ground. He than got a 3 for 4 points. No names but his initials are MD. Well done. First place Mike Drake and Tony Harcombe with 48 points Second Dave Mole Jones and Alan Bottomley with 47 points Third Eric Thwaites and George Hughes with 46 points. Other scores ranged from 36 to 44.

RHOS ON SEA MATCH RESULT VIA MIKE HEALEY

Hi Mike - A very enjoyable day at Rhos on Sea although the weather was a bit cloudy with a chilly breeze at times. Once again the course was in excellent condition with a lot of run despite heavy rain yesterday. The greens are fantastic with the contours being the subject of much discussion at the end. As always at these events there was a wide range of scores with pairs competing for our own 3 prizes. First:.... a surprise.... (Not really.) Richard Collier and Dave Palferman 40 points (21 on back 9) Second: Ernie Williams and Andrew Mitchell 40 points (19 on back 9) Third: Vic Rogerson and Alan Barnsdale 39 points. A further six pairs recorded scores between 31 points and 38 points. Thanks to all those who played

SENIORS RESULTS AUGUST 6TH 2024, RESULTS VIA MIKE HEALEY

Seniors - Another scorcher. The sun shone, the fairways had bounce and the greens are super - what more could we ask? No fewer than 28 seniors took themselves off to the Rhos-on-Sea senior Open and low numbers were expected at home. 24 tallies were perfect until a latecomer made it 25, so we split into 3 x threeballs and 4 x fourballs for a 2 to Count. Before the kitty prizes were announced, there was a reminder about raffle prizes for our own Senior Open next week and the Senior Captain also presented the monthly slate coasters to the winners of each section for the August medal. There were only two prizes going to the winning team in each section for today but the runners-up also get a mention: Threeball - 2 to Count: First: Alan Bottomley, Barry Dare and Mike Turner - 72 points (Prize) Second: Bryn Williams, Tony Vesty and Mike Healey - 71 points Fourball - 2 to Count: First: Mark Hughes, Mike Scott, Paul Cheetham and Fred Court - 87 points (Prize) Second: Steve Graham, Barry Evans, John Kelty and Peter Lord - 85 points

GOLF RULES VIA FRED AUGUST 2024

Seniors - Second e-mail of the day. Some of our kitty comps are won by a single point on occasions (a missed putt or a missed breach of the rules). Some observations have led the committee to look into the knowledge and application of rules by our senior section. Many members are good and many are average in their knowledge of the rules. Some, quite frankly, are diabolical with certain rules and we debated how we can improve the circumstances. The "Sheriff" for the senior section has always been Fred Court and we have asked him (having rejoined the committee) to publish a series of questions and answers, so that we might all improve our knowledge of the rules, should we need to. I thank Fred in advance for his planned contributions - please find below Fred's introduction to the series: Sheriff on the Golf Rules. As a teenager my sport of choice was “Fencing” a sport with integrity. For example if a judge missed a blade contact on your target area, but you knew contact had been made, you called “touche”, acknowledgement of a possible score against you. Many of you may say I am too pedantic with the rules but to me the same integrity should apply within the game of golf and the correct interpretation of the rules. A misunderstood application in the use of a rule will give a favourable score advantage to you against the rest of the field, therefore I am asking Seniors to take a few moments from time to time to read and understand the rules and their application, in order to create a level playing field. If a fellow competitor having scored 5 on a hole asked for 4 to be recorded, I am sure there would be a review of the play on the hole and the correct score of 5 recorded, so why do so many of us believe it correct to ignore the application of a penalty for a breach in the rules, eg. a player failing to mark the ball position where a rule permits the ball may be lifted, with one caveat, the ball position shall be marked. In competition a player has two responsibilities - the first being the correct gross score for each hole is applied to his card and second, as the attester for the gross scores on the card marked for a fellow competitor. Note a gross score is the number of strokes made plus any penalty strokes that should be applied. Monthly question and answer blogs will follow. The "Sheriff" Is back

AUGUST MEDAL 2024, RESULTS VIA MIKE HEALEY

Seniors - I believe 46 of us ventured forth in yesterday's senior medal, with possibly some of us coming fifth (apologies). I thank two people for the day - firstly, Mark and crew for presenting the course in excellent condition. The fairways in general looked great and held well after some heavy overnight rain. The greens are the best I've played on locally this year. My second thanks goes to Don for organising the weather to accompany the medal draw. It makes you feel like playing everyday when we can go out in shorts and T-shirts to do battle like we did. There was no excuse for shoddy scores and some good scores were indeed returned. Before the divisional results there are a couple of twos to announce in the ballsweep. Congratulations go to Don Wraight on the 5th and Nigel Davies on the 12th - well played both. August Medal Results: Division 1: 1st - Ernie Williams (70), 2nd - Jon Falcus (71), 3rd - Eric Thwaites (71)(c/b) Dave Palferman also carded 71 but missed out on countback. Division 2: 1st - John Kelty (67), 2nd - Peter Fraser (68), 3rd - Mike Healey (73) Dave A Jones also carded 73 but missed out on countback Division 3: 1st - Steve Graham (71), 2nd - Peter Lord (73), 3rd - Paul Cheetham (73)(c/b)