PAIRS BETTERBALL OCTOBER 3RS 2024. REPORT FROM STUART

Seniors, well after Sunday and Monday's downpour we managed to get out. What a glorious day, sunshine, pleasantly warm and no wind. Considering the rain the course was in good condition with only holes 16 and 17 closed. 32 seniors put their tallies up and the format was pairs betterball. 4 prizes with the 4th place being decided on a countback between 3 teams and 1st and 2nd place on a count back. Results; 1st Paul Cheetham / Richard Collier 34 points. c/b. 2nd Ken Burgoyne / Mark Hughes 34 points c/b. 3rd Chris Blazdell / Tony Vesty 33 points. 4th Don Wraight / Andy Mitchell 32 points. There has been some debate about the preferred lies in the rough. I will clarify this and send an email out once it has been agreed before next Tuesday. One other item Jon Falcus was presented with his voucher for his win with his partner Nigel Davies (Nigel had already received his voucher, but pointed out that I hadn't mentioned his name when doing the presentation, sorry Nigel) in a DGU competition at Llangollen, congratulations to both of them. Nigel wanted to make a speech but thankfully his request was shouted down. Weather permitting, see you next Tuesday

CLAYS PAIR WINS DGU AUTUMN MEETING. REPORT FROM ALAN POCKLINGTON The Clays pairing of Nigel Davies and Jon Falcus were the winners last Sunday at Llangollen. This was the DGU Autumn Meeting, the final DGU event of the season. They won with the magnificent total of 47 points! Congratulations to them, and also my thanks to the other Clays players who entered the event. It was very well supported with 19 Clays pairs entering. Below is the text from the DGU Web site. Alan Pocklington AUTUMN MEETING : Report and results. Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday at Vale of Llangollen Golf Club and braved the unseasonal weather, which ranged between Storm & Tempest , a Plague of Frogs and Glorious sunshine! We witnessed our largest ever field with 150 players registered but then disrupted by 7 players failing to attend and one last minute apology. Our thanks are extended to the players who help us by shuffling around and accommodating the inevitable 'tweaks' in start times on the day. RESULTS: As seems to be the 'norm' in current events, the returned scores were remarkable, bearing in mind the weather. The winners were Davies & Falcus (Clays Golf Driving Range & Golf Course) with 47 pts, winning on countback from Tweedie & Brown (Vale of Llangollen Golf Club). Subsequent places were secured by: 3rd : Evans & Waddell (Moss Valley Golf Club - MVGC Official) 46 4th : Bull & Jones (Plassey - Holiday Park, Retail Village & Golf Course) 44 5th : Pearce & Griffiths (Vale of Llangollen Golf Club) 43 12 pairs scored 42 points or more and, as required by the WHS, their cards will be returned to their home club for handicap modification . This ends our events for the year and we thank EVERY player for their support.

CLAYS SENIORS VS WREXHAM . REPORT VIA MIKE HEALEY

Seniors - I start with a quick report regarding the non-match playing seniors. I'm not sure of exact numbers (12/13) but groups went out before today's match and organised their own kitty comp. I believe Reg Whittam took the honours but the groups were a bit scattered and not all cards came back to me. Well done all for having an extra stableford comp. Today was yet another match win for Clays Seniors against other clubs. This time it was the turn of Wrexham Golf Club, who requested home and away fixtures at the start of the year. Before the golf is mentioned, I have to sing the praises of Mark and his greenkeeping staff. I believe the course was closed for a short period on Sunday due to the downpours over several days. Plenty of work went into the course to get it ship-shape and when Malcolm visited yesterday, he was told it was playable. Indeed it was and in much better condition than any of us expected. Just before the golf, Hayley arrived early for our usual coffee but we were inexplicably thin on the ground from both teams. The unknown factor was traffic problems on the by-pass. A number of players arrived slightly after the expected start time but eventually we got everybody under way. The scores came in and Clays ran out winners 7.5 against 2.5. We held our regular Ballsweep and there were a number of prizes: Jane Evans - 2's on both12th and 17th holes Neil Gledhill - 2's on both 5th and 12th holes (Wrexham previously Clays) Andrew Chisholm - 2 on the 5th hole (Wrexham) Bottles of wine from the raffle draw were won by Tony Cooke and Huwie Griffiths (both Wrexham). Excellent food from Hayley, great rivalry and banter from the Wrexham players, good golf and a good day had by all. Thanks once again to Malcolm and Tom for their organisation. The sign up is now posted for the return match on the 24th October at Wrexham GC.

INDIVIDUAL STABLEFORD QUALIFIER SEPTEMBER 19TH 2024. REPORT FROM STUART MILES

Seniors, after the excitement of Tuesday's Not Quite the Ryder Cup it was back to normal today with an Individual Stableford Qualifier. 34 seniors put their tallies up and set off to enjoy the lovely Autumn sunshine, lovely day for golf. Once we managed to get our scores in IG thanks to the guys in reception for helping out the results where; Results; 1st Dave A. Jones. 34 points c/b. 2nd Dave Mole Jones 34 points c/b. 3rd Jonathan Fulcus 33 points. 4th Peter Lord 32 points. c/b. 5th Keith Hawthorn 32 points. c/b 6th Alan Bottomley 31 points. Congratulations to Dave who had a superb back 9 score of 21 points, to just pip Dave Mole on the countback. Alan, catch up with me next time I have your prize money. Just a reminder that next Tuesday there is a home match against Wrexham, best of luck to the team and here's hoping you thoroughly beat them. Anyone else wishing to play before the match needs to book at tee, last one at 8.40am. Next Thursday is a kitty comp, Mutilipler. Cheers. Stuart.

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

LAS VEGAS FORMAT SEPTEMBER 12TH 2024. Report via Mike Healey

0 Seniors - It was always a bit of a "gamble" playing the "Las Vegas" format on a day that was forecast for heavy rain. Just over a dozen members turned up, four got as far as pulling out trolleys - two of whom, donned full weather gear with the intention of going out and headed off to the first tee. I believe one of Shakespeare's expressions was "Discretion is the better part of valor!" and that certainly applied this morning. The two stalwarts re-appeared rather sharpish, as the heavens opened further and conditions worsened. The rest of the Seniors stood around debating weather forecasts at length and the general concensus was that the rain was not going to abate much before late morning hence the Las Vegas was abruptly cancelled. 3 or 4 remained behind for machine coffee, but the car park cleared by 9.30am. From my point of view, it was opportune to catch the two Ryder Cup Captains and go through the selection process with them. I can now announce that Wales will be led by Barry Evans and Peter Taylor will take charge of RotW. They sat down separately and selected their pairings and I have subsequently completed a draw, which will be announced on the day. There will be a draw sheet posted with names, times, tees and shot allowance based on today's handicap index. We are playing 90% of Course Handicap. Should your handicap index change before Tuesday, you must adjust your shots accordingly (if needed). Next Tuesday, with hindsight, would it be too much trouble to arrive slightly earlier than suggested in the last communication. If we can be ready for a photograph at 8.30am, announce the teams and start moving to tees about 8.40am. The Captains will lead the way but the rest of us need to be right behind them at 8.50am for our starts. We have 5 groups off the 1st, 4 off the 16th and 4 off the 14th - with 52 playing (great commitment) we need to be on the ball getting to tees. No doubt you will all look resplendent in your reds and blues and should there be echoes of "Sosban Fach" , "Ilkley Moor baht at" and other jingoistic callings drifting across the fairways, it will all add to the occasion. I thank you all for signing up and look forward to our annual battle of the nations. See you all on Tuesday. Mike

HESWALL SENIORS OPEN AND OTHER FUTURE NEWS

Seniors - Firstly, my thanks go to Dave Palferman for a quick report returned from the Heswall Senior Open today, followed by notification of the forthcoming "Not Quite the Ryder Cup" competition next Tuesday. Four intrepid senior members ventured forth in what can best be described as horrendous weather; high wind, torrential rain, hailstones and the odd clap of thunder. Memories of our trip to North Wales golf came flooding back, no pun intended. The course at Heswall was presented in excellent condition with wide, well maintained fairways and beautiful looking greens. As normal players from Clays found the greens a little slow but true. We would recommend a return visit when the weather is more suited to playing golf. Unusually for a senior open, the competition was an Individual Stableford 95% off yellow tees today. It will be a more normal 4BBB next year. Unfortunately, the scores were adversely impacted by the weather: Dave Palferman 39pts Dave Mole Jones 32pts Jon Falcus 31pts Colin Brown 29pts Regards Dave P. "Not Quite the Ryder Cup" - Tuesday 17th September I have in my possession a sign-up sheet with 50 names on it, which breaks down to 26 Welsh players and 24 players for RotW. Ideally we require 2 more names for RotW or one of our Welsh players to change allegiance and we would send out a singleton match at the front of the pack. First come first serve on names to me via e-mail. We don't really wish to go beyond 52 players (already 13 tees) I am attaching a printed copy of the sign-up sheet (now in alphabetical order) for all of you to check that you are all still available. I have added today's H/Cap index by your name for selection purposes only. If it changes before Tuesday, obviously you play off your new handicap. The Team Captains will be announced tomorrow after our Las Vegas competition and pairings will be decided for a Pairs Betterball by them over the weekend. The teams/pairings will be announced immediately after our traditional photograph at 8.45am on the steps (please arrive slightly beforehand, if you wish to be on the photo). There will also be a printed copy of the draw on the handicap board outside to check. We ask that all Wales team members wear a red shirt/top and RotW team members wear a blue shirt/top. Back at the clubhouse, please return all cards to Mike and remember your usual £1.00 kitty comp fee to cover inexpensive prizes for the winners. We have two more requests: Please make every effort to remain at least long enough at the end for the prizegiving and most importantly, it would be most appreciated if you could let me know at any time over the weekend, for any reason, if you cannot play next Tuesday, so that we can balance the teams. Contact: mjhealey@talk21.com or 07716 527332 See you in the morning.

GOLF REPORT REF HAWARDEN

Seniors - Report number two for the day. Malcolm organised 16 of us to visit Harwarden GC and a splendid day we had. Like us, the greenkeepers started their ground maintenance yesterday and half of the greens had been tyned and sanded but still in reasonable condition. The remaining greens were in very good condition for putting. We recognised a number of the opposition, who were all very helpful with tips around the course and eventually Clays team ran out winners by 6 matches to 2. We experienced a couple of squals early on and the tailenders caught the last of the rain just before coming back to the clubhouse. The 2 course meal was very welcome and catering staff thanked for their service. Apart from the team result a number of players received balls in the sweep. Unfortunately, Harwarden do not recognise 2's on their fifth hole because it is deemed too short (104 yards) but the players who made a two still get a mention - Reg Peacock, Jeff Prestwich and Kev Taylor (both Harwarden). Kev also recorded a two on the second, along with Ian Dyment (both Harwarden) and Paul Wallace-Jones. Those three all received balls. Last but not least, we had the usual raffle draw for wine and lo and behold, both bottles were won by Clays players - Richard Collier and Dave A Jones. Thank you Malcolm and I believe the team sign-up sheet is now on the board for the Wrexham match on the 24th of the month.

INDIVIDUAL STABLEFORD SEPTEMBER 10TH 2024 FROM STUART MILES

Seniors, with an away match 27 seniors still put their tallies up even with the prospect of rain, which we got and boy did it rain for a few minutes. With the planned course maintenance ongoing it was decided to play individual stableford and any holes that could not be played the player was to record a net par and 2 points. All but a few of us managed to play the 18 holes. Results. 1st Mike Carnell 34 points. 2nd Peter Fraser 33 points c/b. 3rd Alan Pocklington 33 points c/b. 4th Mike Drake 32 points. 5th John Falcus 31 points c/b. 6th Wyn Jenkins 31 points c/b. See you all on Thursday for Las Vegas, by which time I would have learnt the rules, rather than confusing you today like I did.