Aldwickbury Park Early Birds

Weather today was good no rain, no wind, course lookin excellent, another week or so and the new bunkers should be in play. Two injured or unwell players didn't make it so get well soon to John and Stevie B. The fairway definition is much better however between the fairway and the thick rough the edges have been cut with two opposingly cut 1metre wide strips. These make the actual fairways very narrow in places, players are also not sure if these strips are still fairway, I believe not but we could do with some clarification from the club as we currently have pick and place in action, does that include these strips? A good day for birdies with 10 in total, hole 14 in its new configuration, giving away seven pars from the 14 players. Martin L putted in from off the green in the dip on hole 2 for a great birdie. Peter C and Paul making birdies on the 17th, Peter C's was further than Paul's. Although Tony managed to win on Monday by parking in the low handicap parking slot it ...

Course looking fabulous today with the ropes taken away from all the filled in bunkers, many of these no longer GUR. Much more definition to the course. The weather was again kind to us with no wind and no rain. All looking good for some high Stableford scores. It was the first weekend for the Winter League with many of the group taking part. I played with James today and he was playing faultlessly unfortunately the 17th and 18th were not kind to him, a poor chip on 17th and an overhit second to 18th put him into second place overall. James managed to par 11 of the holes and carded a gross 78. Well done James. Steve Brewerton recovering well from the trees, especially on 12 where he first nearly lost it in the trees off the tee, then hit the second out to the side, third again into the trees to the right of the green, a great chip shot onto the green with a possibility of a 5 but missed the putt to take a 6. Some good front nine scores with several on 19 points, similarly on the back n...

Glorious weather greeted us today and the last group was Jason Landau, James Miller, Peter Creighton and Peter Williams who would be our winner? An early start of 9:30am would mean we finish at a reasonable hour and we would not catch any traffic on the way home. The course was much quieter than yesterday and we managed to get around in just over four hours. Duncan did not even attempt to play golf today but became the roving photographer giving us a good shot of Martin Deery getting the nearest the pin on 17. Nearest the pin on the 17th by Martin Deery, courtesy of roving report Duncan. Duncan also managed to catch my long bunker shot to the green on the 5th and I managed to make the birdie. Well done me.    Anyway back to the game, Roger Small had an abysmal start managing only 4 points on the front nine, he almost doubled his score on the par 3 12th with a four point par, another four point par on the 14th to help his score a little bit. On the 16th Roger was concerned he m...

Participants, 15 soles from the Saturday swindle and Peter Williams' friend Shaks Kurshid on the end.  The second Swindle Major of the season was at Wokefield Golf Club and place we had visited many times before. This year coinciding with the Ryder Cup in the USA. Who would win? The Ryder cup was going incredibly well for Team Europe and it looked like we would thrash the USA. Europe only needing 3 points to win and 2.5 points to retain. More to follow. Drama before we started with Duncan managing to injure himself trying to cut carrots. I trip to A&E resulted in his cut finger being dressed by our wonderful NHS.  Duncan's finger after an altercation with a knife whilst cutting carrots Duncan decided he would try to play and joined us on the first tee. Unfortunately he could only manage a few shots before calling it a day. He did attempt the longest drive and the nearest the pins though. Well done for trying, It was a slow start as the group ahead of us struggled to get a ...

The golf course is looking much better with good grass growth everywhere. New bunkers are looking great with surrounding areas recovering well. Greens are still a bit bumpy. Last game before we head of to Wokefield Golf Club for our Autumn Cup. We have 15 going plus one guest joining us on Sunday. The weather is looking good.  Excellent win by Dan today shooting 38 points. Dan went out in a poor 13 points but a back nine of 25 points secured the win. This must be the best ever score over nine holes we have had! Second went to Jason on 35 points on countback from three others. Possibly some good form to take into the swindle Autumn Cup. Off the course the Ryder cup is going very well for the European  team, we are currently thrashing the Americans. We currently have a 11.5 to 4.5 lead going into the Sunday singles matches. The Americans are always strong in the singles but we could be on for a record win. Stories from the course Reporter Roger Gibbs "I could tell you the story ...

Pleasant weather today, no rain and a light wind. The course was looking much better with some good grass growth. Old bunkers on the 5th and 12th have now been filled in with soil rather than being left as  rough grass filled depressions. All the new bunkers have been filled with sand. The GUR areas around them will be with us for a few months.  We had to endure unpredictable greens this week, unfortunately it was maintenance week and the greens have been hollow tined. Why Hollow Tine? "Golf greens endure a lot of foot traffic. This compacts the soil, making it hard for water and nutrients to penetrate and for the grass to breathe. Hollow tining relieves this compaction, allowing the grass roots to absorb moisture and oxygen more efficiently. It also aids in managing thatch (a layer of organic matter that can hinder grass health) and improves drainage, leading to stronger, healthier greens." Golf was slow today the first group holding up play leading to a 4 hour 20 minute rou...