Not quite the Ryder cup report from Mike Healey

Seniors - It escapes my particular Senior mind as to who dubbed this competition "Not Quite the Ryder Cup". It is better than the actual Ryder Cup in terms of commitment, team spirit and camaraderie. I am not convinced on the golf but once again, our senior section managed to create a great atmosphere, before during and after the event. The competition is not a new concept at Clays, in fact it was being run along similar lines in the early 2000 years. As an experiment, a sign-up sheet was posted and 2022 saw 48 seniors doing battle. 2023 was the exact same copy of the previous year and indeed, the result remained the same. Yes - both years ended up being an equitable draw, even after a series of telephone calls and reserves stepping in. This year was different - 13 pairs signed up for their respective teams: Wales v Rest of the World and a further three seniors pinged in for the reserve list. My thanks go to Bev Nicholson, Russ Adamson and Peter Bowen for being on standby. Peter even turned up on the day and ended up taking the main photo on the clubhouse steps. Both teams looked resplendent in their red and blue and a number of Welsh flags were spotted on and around the course in between fairways. Signals were being made and finger calculators were being put into use for result prediction. All team communications came to a halt when, Alan Barnsdale scored his Hole-in-One on the fifth hole. The news spread fast and even got back to the clubhouse before Alan. The two captains: Barry Evans and Peter Taylor made their pair selections/order of play lists last Thursday, when the kitty comp was rained off but announcement of team selection was a hard kept secret right up until immediately after the group photo. The battle began and slowly but surely the results started to drift in. The pace was reasonable although none of us would have minded a few more minutes out in the sunshine. The prizes were lined up and prizegiving began. The occasion started with the presentation of Medal winners from September. Div One - Ernie Williams, Div Two - Tony Harcombe and Div Three - Paul Cheetham. The two team captains were presented with their Honorary bottle of wine and the result announced. For the first time ever in three years we had a winner as follows: Wales = 6 matches won and Rest of the World = 7 matches won My congratulations go to Peter and his team who proceeded to step up and receive their mini bottles of wine and a Billy Bonus Golf Ball. The clubhouse saw nearly everybody staying for the result and there was a great atmosphere all round. It was all finished off with a tot of whisky for those that wanted one, from Alan's Hole-in-One. My final thanks go to Chris Roseblade who took photos on the course and Richard Collier who photographed the prizegiving. A great day had by all - please find photos attached