Yellow Ball Thursday October 28th 2021 Results from Mike Healey

Seniors - I begin with a thank you to Steve for starting the troops off in my absence. The Yellow Ball attracted an awkward number - 29 members - which meant that we were split into two competitions once again (three and four balls). Ball hunting was still on the agenda, given the amount of leaves dropping currently and there was an increasing wind to contend with before the rain. The latter arrived after the golf thankfully. Yellow Ball - Threeballs: Winners: Tom McGrady, Mick Carnell and Alan Barnsdale 152 points £3.00 each Yellow Ball - Fourballs: Winners: Damian Atkin, Peter Taylor, Graham Bryne and Mike Hollings 177 points £4.00 each Runners Up: Brian Beaton, Tony Harcombe, Mike Parks and Mike Drake 172 points £1.00 each

Stableford both scores to count October 26th report from Mike Healey

Seniors - 39 members turned up this morning and enjoyed a Pairs - Both to Count competition. The early morning rain that was forecast simply did not materialise and the cloudy conditions even turned to sunshine at one stage - we definitely played in very mild conditions. The groundstaff were making headway with cutting the rough during the morning but continuous falling of leaves made finding golf balls difficult. Some of the tees around the course have already been shortened making scoring slightly easier. The prize winners were as follows - Pairs - Both to Count First: Bob Jarvis and Alan Bottomley 74 points £7.00 each Second: Mick Carnell and Tony Harcombe 73 points (c/b) £5.00 each Third: Dave A Jones and Russ Adamson 73 points (c/b) £4.00 each Fourth: Mike Hollings and Mike Drake 72 points £3.00 each Fifth: Peter Taylor and Mike Healey 69 points £1.00 each

Seniors Individual Stableford . Report from Mike Healey October 21st 2021

The promised sunshine arrived although the temperature remained very much on the cool side. Following 4/5 days of rain, the fairways were sticky, golf balls not travelling through the air and no bounce at all on the fairways. To compound matters, the trees have shed most of their leaves leaving vast areas of the course covered and necessitating frequent searches, even on the fairways. There was a discussion following the competition, concerning course length - reduced fairways and with hindsight, it was declared a non-qualifier. Enough excuses - our Individual Stableford was not particularly well scored but there was plenty of competition at the top nevertheless. Forty Seniors took part in the Individual Stableford and the result was as follows: Individual Stableford First: Peter Thomas 36 points £10.00 Second: Ken Tieszen 34 points (c/b) £8.00 Third: Cliff Davies 34 points (c/b) £7.00 Fourth: Ernie Williams 34 points (c/b) £6.00 Fifth: Dave Palferman 33 points (c/b) £4.00 Sixth: Alan Barnsdale 33 points (c/b) £3.00 Seventh: Nigel Davies 33 points (c/b) £2.00

Golf report Tuesday October 18th 2021. Results kindly sent by Mike Healey

You have probably already guessed what happened with the golf today?! A dozen hardy souls turned up at the said time, supposedly for the Tango competition but alas, most of us took a rain check - literally!! Caps off to Mick Carnell, Colin Evans and Bob Brown who ventured forth into the elements, aiming to play at least nine holes - result still to be announced as below. . The rest of the arrivals greeted Hayley back into the clubhouse and settled for Bacon Butties and coffee. The rain became lighter and the three brave-hearts that went out completed 18 holes. Mick Carnell was the eventual winner with 32 points.

Texas scramble October 14th 2021. Report from Mike Healey

Seniors - Numbers were up again today - 43 members turned up for the scheduled Texas Scramble. Cloudy but warm weather was predicted by the BBC and that is what we got. Instructions for the two groups were read out - especially regarding bunkers (Bunkergate is already forgotten!!) and the troops set forth. The only thing troubling the members was the working out of handicaps at the finish. 7 x fourballs and 5 x threeballs went into battle and all came home in reasonable time. Texas Scramble Threeball: Winners - 59.3 Stewart Poole, Nigel Harris, Les Williams £4.00 each Runners Up - 59.4 Richard Collier, Peter Fraser, Mike Drake £1.00 each Texas Scramble Fourball: Winners - 51.5 Ernie Wiklliams, Keith Hawthorn, Dilly Jones, Nigel Davies £5.00 Each Runners Up - 54.0 Tom McGrady, Irwin Elkin, Barry Dare, Dave Jones £2.00 each

Seniors Bonus Ball competition October 12th 2021. Report from Mike Healey

Today we had another first! The Bonus Ball that was scheduled became a long-winded debate on whether groups should be disqualified or not. Let me explain. The club have been playing bunkers as GUR for a couple of weeks because of the inclement weather. Bunkers came back into play on Sunday and the BRS notice this morning made no reference to bunkers whatsoever! We all need to be aware of the daily BRS guidance and also read the course advice on the large outdoor noticeboard before walking to the first tee!! At the very least find out before beginning to play. What happened? 31 members turned up for the draw. We were divided into 5 x threeballs and 4 x fourballs. Only two teams in each section (four teams from nine) played the course correctly!(ie bunkers in full play). The easiest thing to do to resolve the situation was to disqualify five teams but it was decided to be a little more equitable and give members their money back. The fourballs were easy to sort out in terms of the kitty comp prizes but not so the threeballs. Please all be aware - disqualifications WILL happen in the future. These are the points winners of the groups who played correctly: Bonus Ball - Threeballs First: Chris Jacques, Colin Evans, Mike Healey 137 points Second: Barry Evans, Mike Griffiths, Graham Bryne 128 points Bonus Ball - Fourballs First: Mike Parks, Irwin Elkin, Andy Mitchell, Richard Collier 174 points Second: Stuart Leyland, Mick Carnell, Colin Brown, Nigel Harris 173 points

Presentation day photos courtesy of Don Wraight

Mick Carnell r/u Gemini trophy partner Dave A Jones not present Mick McHugh/Chris Jones winner Gemini Peter Bowen/Dave A Jones r/u Matchplay pairs Joe White/Mike Drake winners Matchplay pairs Lliam Roddis winner D.J.Bogie Damien Atkin winner Seniors Trophy Tony Jackson winner Senior matchplay Champion Mick McHugh winner of Club Order of Merit Nigel Davies winner Aber Shield ( Club Comp)

Seniors Medal October 7th 2021. Results courtesy of Bob Brown

DIVISION ONE First: Alan Bottomley 39 points Second: Ernie Williams 37 points Third: Andy Mitchell 35 points DIVISION TWO First: Peter Thomas 38 points on countback Second: Tom McGrady 38 points on countback Third: Pauline Peacock 37 points DIVISION THREE First: Barry Dare 39 points Second: Mike Drake 38 points Third: Stuart Leyland 37 points

Report on Kitty Competition October 5th from Mike Healey and Tom McGrady.

Seniors - You will know already from my earlier e-mail that 8 brave souls decided to make an attempt at mastering the elements today. It was always down as a Pairs Betterball competition and so the brave set forth. On the 1st tee, a little bit of caution took hold and they decided to play only 9 holes, therefore not visiting the other side of the course. The BBC were not far wrong with very blustery gusts and frequent bursts of rain - that was putting it mildly. The course was already damp from overnight rain and preferred lies through the general area were the orders of the day. All bunkers were GUR and the 16th hole playing short because of drainage work. Still the troops plodded on and returned the following results: Pairs Betterball First: Tom McGrady and Mick Carnell 21 points (c/b) £3 each Second: Alan Bottomley and Tony Jackson 21 points(c/b) £1 each Well done to all 8 for braving the conditions and thanks to Tom McGrady for the report. Mike H

Captains Newsletter September 2021

September started with the culmination of this season’s board competitions on finals weekend. A big thanks to all those who entered the various competitions. Congratulations to all those who progressed to a final, especially the winners. I was lucky enough to witness some very good golf on the first day of the finals weekend. The action photographs I took are available on the clubs Facebook page. If anyone would like a copy of the original high-resolution file to get their own print, please contact me on the email address below. Congratulations also goes to Stuart Poole and Damian Atkin who won the Wales Golf Senior Greensomes final held at Mold golf club. Our senior section goes from strength to strength winning all their inter club matches this season. The season’s matches were completed with an impressive 6:2 victory away at Mold golf club. Also, the seniors record of winning senior opens continues with another win at Arscott Golf Club. Well done Russ Adamson, Chris Jones and Alan Barnsdale. While on the subject of our senior section, a big thanks to all those who donated their winnings from the kitty comps to the captain’s charity. And the success continues: with a team comprising Bob Brown, Gareth (Mr President) Roberts and your Captain winning the Denbighshire Golfing Union Past Captains Presidents Day competition held at our golf club. Well done team, especially to Bob who required broad shoulders to carry us through the opening holes. A personal thanks to Chris (Trigger) Jones for his hard work installing the new steps to access the 7th tee. A plea to all members to use these steps to gain access to and egress from the 7th tee, there are no prizes for sliding down the bank on your backside, just ridicule! The season is not quite over, there are a number of events scheduled for October. The first is the Ladies Borders Challenge that will see our ladies team play a team from Henlle at Clays. Good luck ladies. The second event is Presentation Day on Saturday 9th October. Please would all finalists do their best to attend the presentation that will take place at approximately 2pm. There is an open invitation to all members to come along and congratulate the finalists. The final two events take place on Sunday 10th October. One, the Clays Past Captains board competition has kindly been arranged by Paul Williams. Any past Captain who wants to play in this event please contact Paul as soon as possible so that he can finalise tee times and catering arrangements. The second event on this date is the Jubilee Plate finals to be held at Vale of Llangollen Golf Club. The semi-finals are held in the morning with the final in the afternoon. Three of the four teams to compete in the semi-finals are from Clays. Good luck to Paul Stevenson and Graham Davidson-Clarke, Aled Bonds and Kev Wynn Jones and finally Rich Coillier and your Captain. Hopefully, I will be reporting further success in my newsletter next month! Dave Palferman dpalferman@gmail.com