Scores for Saturday 3 August 2024

 

After the recent hot spell it was almost a relief to wake up to evidence of rainfall and the threat of showers as we embarked on this weeks melee at Aldwickbury Park. Some confusion this week as Pete Laurence had dropped out with Covid (get well soon Pete) and Coenraad turned up to take his place only to realise he was actually already down to play. This is what happens to people who have reached that time of life where every day is pretty much the same as the rest, I know! 

Anyhow, all was well and 11 turned out to what was to prove to be a pretty good day of golf. 

The benign conditions resulted in some excellent scores. 10 out of the 11 players managed to score 30 points or more and it was pretty tight as the range of those 10 was only 9 points. 33.73 was the average stableford score and our gross score average was 94. 

There were 8 birdies out there today including a remarkable 3 birdies in our group on the 11th hole. I think this may be a record and as one of the birdie scorers in the group I have to say they were all 3 perfectly played. There were also 3 birdies on the 2nd today, spread out evenly across the groups. 6 birdies across 2 holes from 5 players in a field of 11, remarkable!

Birdies for Martin Deery (11) Steve Reynolds (3, 11) Steve Brewerton (3) Brian Geddes (11) Coenraad Fourie (8, 12) Pete Williams (3) Well done gents

Our winner today was Martin Deery with 38 points on countback from Steve Reynolds. It was always clear that Steve would take second place today, he played so well from the off and was 4 over at the turn. We are all familiar with his track record so in our group we were always confident that someone in the field would better his fantastic round. Martin, without realising it, decided it would be him. He was 2 points back on the turn but quietly crept up on Steve and took the lead on the last courtesy of Steve putting his second shot in the water and Martin finding the green and putting out for a par and the 3 points needed to win on countback. Well done Martin!

Steve Reynolds, what can I say, felicitations turned into commiserations at the last. A great round that deserved more than second place. Still, we all have our role to play I guess. Congrats on second place Steve.

The front 9 was taken by none other than pistol Pete Creighton with 21 points on countback from Paul Gardner. Well done Pete, another placing in a nice purple patch.

Finally yours truly took the back 9 with 20 points. I too put a ball in the water on the 18th but a steady back 9 was already a winning back 9 by the 17th. Congrats to me. 

Looking forward to an extra round with the group on Monday as we take to Redbourn, a substitute for our planned trip to Burhill which couldn't happen due to a junior fixture. Looking forward to my second round at our neighbours course in as many months. Have a great week all, good luck to all those taking part on Monday.