Please support our advertisers
Hambro & Tolly Round One
Sunday 20th May saw the first round of the Hambro & Tolly Cobbold Cup competitions. The Suffolk hosted Diss in the Hambro (Hcap 9 and below) and were drawn away at Cretingham Golf Club in the Tolly Cobbold (Hcap 10 and above).
The morning play saw mixed fortunes for both sides, with some stout victories and severe losses. Notably Ian Mortlock & Dan Palfrey (Hambro), who were 7 hole victors in the morning play, and Neil Bradley & Andy Gregory 2 hole victors for the Tolly.
The lunch interval had the Suffolk down by 6 holes in the Tolly, and losing by only four holes in the Hambro. So there was everything to play for in the second round of matches.
As is often the way with 36 hole matches, the away side come out fighting in the afternoon. And this was the case at Cretingham. Captain Mick Davey had a stroke of genius and moved the team around in the afternoon which gained The Suffolk two extra shots, and this proved to be crucial.
The Hambro also had a change around for the afternoon series, with the touring Iain Stark coming in for Doug Frew. It would promise to be a key change of gear.
So the afternoon matches got underway and it was clear that at Cretingham the tide had turned. The final pairing for Cretingham, who had been 7 hole winners in the morning, were again doing well, however the rest of the Suffolk pairings were up. Two key birdies on the 17th & 18th by Gary Turner & Stewart Kerr swung the match the way of The Suffolk. In the final analysis, The Suffolk won by two holes with the final pairing of Magnus Ahlberg & Roger Smith left to stroll up the final hole, safe in the knowledge that the team had done enough.
The afternoon matches in the Hambro were an altogether closer affair. Diss had seemingly been in the driving seat all day, but on the back nine, The Suffolk pulled out some key hole victories to put the overall match all square after 143 holes. This meant that the entire match had come down to the final hole. Unfortunately, the pairing of Chris Tate & Simon Webb, who were credible 2 hole victors in the afternoon, were unable to get the par required to force a playoff. The Suffolk therefore lost by just one hole.
Classified Scores (Suffolk Players only)
Hambro
Morning
Gary Last & Richard Tungate (1up)
Dan Palfrey & Ian Mortlock (7up)
Chris Tate & Simon Webb (5down)
Mike Greener & Doug Frew (7down)
Afternoon
Gary Last & Richard Tungate (1down)
Dan Palfrey & Ian Mortlock (AS)
Mike Greener & Iain Stark (2up)
Chris Tate & Simon Webb (2up)
Overall
The Suffolk lost by 1 hole
Tolly Cobbold
Morning
Andy Gregory & Neil Bradley (2up)
Magnus Ahlberg & Roger Smith (1up)
Darren Hubbard & Jim Chapman (2down)
Mick Turner & Gary Turner (7down)
Afternoon
Andy Gregory & Neil Bradley (4up)
Darren Hubbard & Jim Chapman (5up)
Stewart Kerr & Gary Turner (3up)
Magnus Ahlberg & Roger Smith (4down)
Overall
The Suffolk won by 2 holes.
The Suffolk will face Beccles or Rushmere at The Suffolk Golf & Country Club on June 24th in the second round of the Tolly Cobbold. First matches tee off at 09:30, please come along and support.
October Medal 9/10/11
The October Medal was competed for on a dry, but windy day. With a large portion of the club’s members either in France or being Easily Led elsewhere, there were only 24 entrants. This gave one of the competitors a prime opportunity to gain an invite into the Masters tournament, which is open only for competition winners throughout the year.
Leading Gross score was the ever reliable Gary Last, with a very commendable 76, a net 70 from his handicap of 6. This score however was not good enough to propel Gary to the top of the leaderboard, as resident Geordie Robin Liddell used his clubs to batter the course into submission (which is opposite to the usual occurrence). His Gross 86 from 19 handicap gave him a winning total of 67, and a handicap reduction to 17.4.
Next on the agenda for our club members is the new Captain’s Drive In, which is sure to produce some fireworks.
Captains Day 2011
Sunday 25th September saw 72 intrepid golfers take to the course in a shotgun start for Graham Chapman's Captain's Day competition. The format was individual stableford, and they players were buoyed by the excellent weather, not to mention the prospect of the annual prize giving ceremony to follow!
The scoring was incredibly high, as is often the case when the weather and course conditions are favorable. The winner of the coveted wooden trophy was John Pritchard with 42 points. John was victorious on countback from Steve Thorp, with Martin Turner, Ian Howell & Pete Cocksedge a mere 1 shot adrift on 41 points.
The prize giving was well attended, and all the prize winners were happy with their collective bounty of trophies, medals and glassware. None more so than Chris Tate, who had a remarkable 5 Mid-Week Medal wins. This total of 5 was set even more improbably by Gary Lacey a few years ago.
October Mid-Week Stableford - 5th October 2011
On a blustery but dry day, there were seven entrants to the October Mid-Week Stableford. This was probably the main reason the Iain Stark was victorious. The other 6 entrants will also be pleased to hear that because no player got within two shots of their handicap, the competition was rendered ‘Reduction Only’ and so there will be no 0.1’s allocated.