Lady Captains Day 

Lady Captain (Sandra Johnson) shared her day with the ladies section at weekend, blessed with lovely weather conditions and surrounded by good friends. Coming on top of the leaderboard was Past Lady Captain, Joanne Akers with 83 - 11 = 72. 

Congratulations on a successful day Sandra and congrats to competition winner Joanne Akers. 




Single Stableford 

Due to the tee reservation of the Lady Captains day on Saturday, the gents competition was limited. I thought a smaller field could've resulted in a smaller winning score, but that wasn't the case. 

New member Peter Grogan managed to keep his ball inbounds all the way round and carded 44 stableford points… yes it was singles, to win division 2 and best score for the day. In division 1 we had a tremendous gross score of 73 from Carlton Weldon which returned him 41 stableford points, playing off a handicap of 8. Finally but not least, fellow Droylsdonian Garry Foster capped his 2nd win in a single month to win with 42 points. 

Winner Div 1: Carlton Weldon - 41 points 
Winner Div 2: Peter Grogan - 44 points 
Winner Div 3: Garry Foster - 42 points 


 

Vice Presidents & Morris Medal 

One of my favourite competitions of the year. This is raw golf, no handicapping, it reveals who is able to withstand the pressure and stand up to the moment. If you considered yourself a good player, believe you have half a chance of winning the club scratch championship, you would book your holidays around this event. It means that much to a good player to become club scratch champion. I once did it at Fairfield Golf Club in 2000 when I was 18 years old, apparently back then the youngest to have ever won it. 

If you read last weeks' newsletter, you'll have understood who was within half a chance of winning. My predictions weren't far off in the end, as the top three came within 1 shot of each other. Brothers' Taylor & Spencer Yates carded 71 to be clubhouse leaders until Andy Bent carded his opening round of 70 to take a 1 shot lead into the final 18 holes. Things didn't quite materialise for Taylor but that wasn't the case for young Spenny. He grasped his opportunity with both hands and managed to land himself two majors in one day. 

Opening with a 71 gross was a good score, particularly playing off a handicap of 6. But was Spencer really in with a chance of winning the club scratch championship? Well he thought so, as he backed that up with another 71 gross in the afternoon, applying pressure on clubhouse leader Andy Bent. This put Spencer leader in the clubhouse for the club scratch Morris medal, but also the Nett prize being the vice presidents prize. His -10 total was nowhere near matched, in actual fact his nearest competitor was past Captain Dave Allen, some 7 shots behind. 

Still out on the links was defending Morris medal champion Andy Bent, and hot favourite. His second round 73 which consisted of a double bogey on hole 14 and bogey on 16 left him one shot shy of the new club scratch champion. 

A special mention to Josh Ainscough, yet another youthful member coming through the ranks and posting leading score for round two with 70. 

Congratulations to all prize winners, and a special thank you to Dave Kilshaw and Vince Whelan as Vice Presidents. 

A History Lesson 

After attending the presentation of the Vice Presidents & Morris Medal, Mr. Dave Kilshaw gave a small talk regarding the history of the Morris medal which I found extremely interesting. From this I thought it would be worth sharing some of the clubs history with you; 

Morris Medal 

Tom Morris, a native of Scotland, was appointed postmaster at Stalybridge in 1912 and soon afterwards joined Stamford where he was a scratch player. He developed a great fondness for the club and on the occasion of his transfer to Evesham in 1919 he presented Stamford with perpetual medal to be competed for annually. 

Tom Morris passed away at Evesham in 1924 at the age of fifty. 

In view of Mr. Morris's ability as a golfer it is appropriate that the Morris Medal would always be competed for as a scratch event. It was originally played for in a separate competition but from 1938 it was played alongside the Lowe trophy. 

After the war it was separate from the Lowe trophy and instead played alongside the Moseley scratch trophy. Since 1973 both trophies have been played for on Vice President's day over 36 holes.




2 for 1 on all Pitch marks. 

You're all eager for a bit of a bargain, I've been here for nearly ten years to witness that. 

So here's a deal for you. For every time you make a pitch mark, you must repair 2! 

It's simple and its good golf etiquette. 

Get yourself into the habit of leaving the course in the same condition that you found it!