Eric's Game

Only about 18 turned up today for Eric Game today.
The course played well from Tee to Green, the difficulty was landing the ball on the very hard frosty greens and avoiding the ball careering off to the back of the green.

There will only be 1 division due to the reduced number of players

1st Gerry Webb score 19
2nd John Robinson score 20 on CB
3rd John Alexander score 20 on CB


Charity Hole - For Bowel Cancer
I know most of you are supporting the Charity hole
However, there have been a number of players not wishing to put their 50p's in the pot when scoring above a net par on the 13th hole.
So the new Charity hole is the 8th. All of the regular seniors get a shot on this hole and the tees are placed further forward. 

So it's 50p,  if there is a score higher than a net par (so a score of 5 and above) and/or 50p for any ball going in the pond or the ditch.

Please remember that this is for charity and the following facts

• Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer – every half an hour someone dies of the disease
• The majority (95%) of bowel cancer cases occur in people over 50
• Your lifetime risk of developing bowel cancer is 1 in 14 - so at least 4-5 Seniors will get Bowel Cancer
• You are not immune from getting this cancer!!

A big thank you, to those who are supporting the charity

Hi Guys,

Quite a few bits for news and updates.

Kevin Sheehan
Kevin has advised me that he has to undergo triple heart bypass surgery on the 17th December.
I am sure we all wish Kevin the best and hope for a speedy return to our ranks.

Mixed Match with the Ladies
A number of us played with the Witney Lakes Ladies on Wednesday. It has been some time since we last played together, but thanks to Carol McFarland 22 players teed off on Wednesday 29th for a pairs 9 hole competition.
The ladies provided lots for Mince Pies and other festive treats and Annie made us her cider cake.
The winners were 
1. Peter Burdon and Linda Clarkson 21 points
2. Bob Kirkwood and Tina Snow 19 points
3. Tony Daly and Joyce Mills 19 points

Peter also won the nearest the pin.


Deana Bunker Lesson
8 brave souls turned up on a freezing Wednesday afternoon for a Bunker lesson with Deana.
We learnt how to get out of a normal bunker lie, keep the weight on the front foot,  lower the end of the club nearest to the hands, open the club face to get the bounce of the club and hit behind the ball. 
The next shot was a plugged ball, here a steeper shot is required to get the ball out.
Finally a fairway bunker where a tight grip is need on the club.

Malcolm Saunders did a great Bunker shot on the 15th today following the lesson

Anyone struggling with any golf shot, now is a good time to book a lesson with either Deana or Adam to get yourself ready for the New Year.

Thursday 30th November Eric's Game

Roll Up - Sign Up Sheet in Sports Bar

2 Tee start from 8.15


Those starting on the 1st will play the first 9 holes as Stroke play and the back 9 as Stableford
Those starting on the 10th will play the first 9 holes as Stableford and the following 9 holes as StrokeplayThis is a singles game.
The front 9 is stroke play and the back 9 Stableford
Full handicaps apply with 1/2 of the handicap taken for each half. If the handicap is an odd number the highest 1/2 handicap applies to the front 9.
The score is the Stroke Play minus the Stableford Points.
The lowest score wins

PRIZE GIVING will follow around 1.00pm when we also hope to have John Strode of YesPleaseGolf to talk to us about what he has in store!

Results of the U-Boat

Big upset the holders are out, but they fought on until the 22 hole before Robin Day and Tony Daly overcame them.

I told Mike Smith that he should be smiling this morning as his paring with a fellow 12 handicapper Chris Hatherly made them the pre-tournament favourites, and they delivered a 6 and 5 victory over John Watt and Steve Aldren.

I know some people were not too happy about changing the team at the last minute due to drop outs. I took the view that to have 4 teams pull out before the first round was not the best approach for this competition. And after all it is supposed to be a fun event.

Full results
1. Alan Jones & Cliff Smith beat Mike Twyman & James Barnatt - 2 up
2. Doug Keen & Steve Harrison beat Geoff Mills & Paddy Marcks - 2up
3. Chris Hatherly & Mike Smith beat John Watt & Steve Aldren - 6&5
4. Glyn Rees & Alex Tyrell beat Ron Deacon & John Robinson - 4&3
5. Roger Laban & Stuart Green beat Tony Ward & Derek Tidy - 2up
6. Kevin Timms & Rod Rapley beat Bill Ford & Rae Comley - 7&5
7. Peter Burdon and Barry Lund beat Martin Buckingham and an absent Terry Edmunds - nk
8. Robin Day and Tony Daly beat Ron Feasey & Richard Gent on the 22 hole

So winners match 1 will play winners match 2, and so on.
Next match to be played 14th December

Good Morning,

The U-Boat first round kicks off in earnest tomorrow.



For those that are not playing the U-Boat, there is a start sheet pinned to the notice board in the sports bar.

Wednesday 29th Mixed Match with the Ladies - 9 hole mixed pairs Stableford

Players are Tony Daly, Rod Rapley, Glyn Rees, Malcolm Saunders, Richard Gent, Ron Feasey, Paddy Marcks, Stuart Green, Peter Burdon, Bob Kirkwood, Mike Dawson, Barry Lund and John Watt
Please turn up at 9.30Ron Feasey, Malcolm Saunders
Mince Pies coutesey of the Ladies after the match

Wednesday 29th 2.45pm Deana Bunker Lesson

Attendees - Rod Rapley Paddy Marcks, Glyn Rees, Richard Gent, Dave Butler, Stuart Green, Peter Burdon, Malcolm Saunders  


Thursday 30th November Eric's Game

This is a singles game.
The front 9 is stroke play and the back 9 Stableford
Full handicaps apply with 1/2 of the handicap taken for each half. If the handicap is an odd number the highest 1/2 handicap applies to the front 9.
The score is the Stroke Play minus the Stableford Points.
The lowest score wins

Winter Stableford R2 23rd November 2017

The early weather was good today, but around 12 noon  and onward the wind was a serious factor.

I understand Kevin had a bot of a fall today on the 7th and had to retire after the 9th. We all hope you are ok, Kevin.

So the early players had the advantage.

Good to see two of our recently joined members returning today, Rod Bools and Graham Haynes

There was an issue with Intelligent golf today.
For Qualifying competitions, to enter the competition in future you will need to do the following
1. Sign in at the front desk
2. Either swipe your membership card or enter your PIN at the terminal next to the fridge on the left hand side of the front desk, as you are looking at it.
3. After you have completed the match, log in to the terminal in the sports bar and enter your scores.

POINT 2 is very important, if you do not do that you cannot then enter a score
I will tell you on the Blog and the start sheet when this needs to be done, but this time of year it is mainly the Monthly Medal, Winter Stablefords and other Stableford competitions if the course is long enough for a qualifier

James Timber will enter the scores for today so we will see that around Christmas

There is no zero on the terminal, so if in a stableford you have picked up on a hole enter NR. This will just go on the hole score you are entering, it does no NR the entire round

Hopefully I have remembered the scores correctly

Two of our regular early birds dominated Division 1 today

Division 1 
1. Mike Smith   33 points
2. Alex Tyrell     32 points on CB
3. John Alexander 32 points

Division 2
Richard Gent  32 points
Ron Deacon    31 points
John Robinson 30 points

U-Boat Timings revision

The revised U-Boat Tee Off Times are on the U-Boat Tab.

Following a couple of drop outs there is also a tweak in the pairings with Roger Laban replacing Mike Dawson.

With Kevin Sheehan's withdrawal, Tony Ward needs a partner.

Any volunteers, please come forward asap to give Tony the chance to play in this competition

Quite high winds tonight

I have looked at the forecast and by 7.00 tomorrow morning they should have receded.

I will be at the Lakes at 8.00 am tomorrow morning to assess the situation

My safety is the prime consideration!!

Bunker Lesson Deana

Rod Rapley, Paddy Marcks, Glyn Rees, Richard Gent, Dave Butler,Ron Feasey, Stuart Green & Peter Burdon.

Room for two more

Let me know if you want to have this bunker lesson

Rules of Golf - Attending the Flag

Playing with Peter Burdon yesterday, he asked for the flag to be attended when he was off the green.
None of the remaining players had heard of this, we all thought that the flag could be attended when putting on the green.

Of course Peter is a wise old bird and was correct.

Below are the rules for that and other rules pertaining to the Flag

Rule 17, and the Decisions arising from it, deals with most aspects concerning the flagstick. I recommend that all golfers read this Rule for themselves, but in this blog I am going to highlight the most salient points;

• The first one is one that in my experience surprises many players. The flagstick may be attended, removed or held up before making a stroke from anywhere on the course. But I recommend that you don’t ask for it to be attended if you are playing to a putting green that is 150 yards away, as you may soon run out of people to play with! (Rule 17-1).
• If a competitor sees that a ball is going to hit a flagstick that has been removed, typically when it is lying on the putting green beside the hole, they may move it to avoid the ball striking it, without incurring a penalty (Decision 17-1/7). Before 1st January 2008 such an action incurred a penalty of one stroke. (Edit: This Decision was withdrawn when the principle was included in Rule 24-1 in January 2012.)
• If an unattended flagstick is still in the hole when a player makes a stroke, no-one may remove it while a ball is in motion if doing so might influence the movement of the ball (Rule 17-2). Breach of this Rule incurs the general penalty**.
• Here's one that not many people know. Anyone standing close to the flagstick (i.e. within reach of it) is deemed to be attending it, even if the player making the stroke has not authorised them to do so. So, when playing a stroke be very careful and ask anyone standing close to the flagstick to move away, or you could incur the general penalty** if your ball strikes it, even though you may have been playing from off the green (Decision 17-1/1).
• There is nothing in the Rules stipulating where a player must stand when attending the flagstick (Decision 17-1/4).
• A player may hold the flagstick with one hand and tap their ball into the hole with the other. But they should make sure that they remove the flagstick so that their ball does not strike it (Decision 17-1/5.) and they may not use it for assistance.
• If a ball strikes the flagstick, while it is being attended, the player making the stroke incurs a general penalty** (Rule 17-3). This may seem unfair as it could be due to the carelessness of the person attending the flagstick for you, but that is the Rule. However, if a fellow competitor, or opponent, purposely allows a ball to hit the flagstick, so that the player will incur a penalty, then they are disqualified under Rule 1-2 for influencing the movement of the ball.
• If your ball is on the putting green you should always ask for the flagstick to be attended, because if your ball hits the flagstick you incur the general penalty** (Rule 17-3).
• The flag is part of the flagstick and the same rulings apply if a ball hits the flag (Decision 17-3/5).
• Be extremely careful if your ball comes to rest against the flagstick. Rule 17-4 states that when you remove the flagstick, the ball must fall into the hole. If a player picks up their ball before it has completely dropped below the level of the lip of the hole they incur a penalty of one stroke, under Rule 18-2, and must place it back on the lip of the hole.
• When a player is making a stroke they may leave the flagstick positioned as it is or centre it in the hole, but they may not adjust it to a more favourable position than centred (Decision 17/4).

**The general penalty in stroke play is two strokes and in match play is loss of hole.

Foursomes Chapman System Results 

Once we all got our minds around the format and John A got his mind around the handicaps, an interesting competition was had.
It was a game that required some thought to try and put your partner in the best place possible and some pressure not to mess up their shot with your response.

After a drive of 4 feet by Roger on the first that stayed on the tee box, he and John got their game together and went round in a nett 63, they also had the best gross of 83
Runners up were Chris Hatherly and John Robinson with a nett 65 and 3rd on count back were Dave Butler and Roy William  ahead of Alan Jones and Robin Day, both with 66

U Boat matches Round 1 28th November

Unfortunately Mike Dawson and Kevin Sheehan have had to withdraw from this years U-Boat competition.
Roger Laban has said he will step into one of the places, so we need one more player.
The matches start next Tuesday 28th November, but if you cannot make next Tuesday, the match can be arranged for another day.

Anyone interested e-mail me at rod@jtiuk.com

Mixed Match with the Ladies Section

We currently have the following playing in the Match with the Ladies

Rod Rapley, Paddy Marcks, Glyn Rees, Richard Gent, Malcolm Saunders,Ron Feasey, Stuart Green, Peter Burdon and Bob Kirkwood.

We need one more player.
E-mail me if you can make it to rod@jtiuk.com

Bunker Lesson Deana

Rod Rapley, Paddy Marcks, Glyn Rees, Richard Gent, Dave Butler,Ron Feasey, Stuart Green, Peter Burdon & John Alexander

Room for one more

Let me know if you want to have this bunker lesson

Good Evening

Please note that tomorrows competition will be a card drawn start which will be drawn around 8.10 as there are 12 cards to be drawn


Thursday Winter  Stableford R2

Please note that there have been a couple of withdrawals due to ill health

Please check the tee time sheet for your start time

Mixed Pairs Match

The is a 9 hole mixed pairs match against Witney Ladies on Wednesday 29th November @ 10.00 am

Mince Pies provided by the Ladies!!

There are 3 places up for grabs

Anyone interested e-mail me at rod@jtiuk.com 

Deana Bunker Lesson

Places being grabbed so far, me, Paddy, Glyn, Richard Dave B.

5 more places up for grabs

First e-mailed first served to rod@jtiuk.com

Bunker Lesson with Deana

Deana has agreed to conduct a free 30 minute Bunker Lessons for the Seniors on Wednesday 29th November at 2.45.

The first 8 seniors to e-mail me at rod@jtiuk.com can benefit from this free lesson

Tuesday Competition.

Although I have called it a Canadian Foursome, I now believe the correct name is The Chapman Format.

This competition was suggested by Chris Hatherly one of our new members, so don't blame me!!

This is a team game for 2 players, we will play it as 2 x 2 players, therefore 4 players tee off together

As it is a team game, we will use the Card system to draw teams to avoid any accusations of team fixing.

I will be at the Sports Bar at 8.00 to draw the teams, please do not start this before I get there, last time it got into a muddle.
Get there asap to make sure you are part of a team

COMPETITION RULES
Both players tee off
Both players then switch” balls and each hit their partner’s 2nd shot.
The best or preferred ball after the 2nd shot is then chosen and player who’s 2nd shot was not chosen, is the player who hits the 3rd shot
Shots are then alternated until the ball is holed out.
Scoring is stroke play

Competition Thursday 30th November
Here's your chance- I am open to suggestions for the game on the Thursday 30th November
It must must a fast game so we can be back in the Sports Bar for Prize Giving around 12.30 to 1.00
You can also provide a prize for one of the holes, doesn't have to be expensive, just has to be in good taste

Further to my announcement of the reduced price for the Presentation evening, Julie Marcks said that as she enjoyed herself so much during the evening she is donating her £9 the the Charity of the year Bowel Cancer. Jill my wife has followed  Julie 's example.

There is absolutely no pressure for anyone else to follow this lead, but if you would like to please let Brian know and he can ensure the monies go to the right pot

Intelligent Golf

Please be aware that Witney Lakes Golf has now moved away from HowDidIDo to Intelligent Golf.

You will therefore need to access the e-mail sent by the club introducing you to Intelligent Golf ensure you are set up to see the results of our competitions.

The first competition for us Witney Lakes Seniors, using Intelligent Golf will be the Winter Stableford R2 on Thursday 23rd November.

Obviously this is new to all of us, some some patience will be necessary, to iron out any wrinkles

Just trying to get the housekeeping in order.

I don't have any contact details for the following, which is a requirement for playing with the Seniors.
Can the following e-mail me your address, mobile and home telephone numbers and e-mail address to rod@jtiuk.com

Rod Bools
Bill Howard
Roger Laban
Jim Postles
Tony Daly
Graham Haynes
Barrie Black
Steve Aldren
Tony Carter

Thanks
Rod Rapley

Thank to Ron Feasey for herding the cats this morning.

Welcome to Graham Haynes who has just joined us from Wychwood and played his first match with the Seniors today. Brian Rollerson will be after your subs Graham!!

The results of the Stableford today whereare

Division 1

1. Dave Williams   35points
2. John Alexander  33 points
3. Doug Keen         33 Points

Division 2

1. John Watt           31 points
2. Cliff Smith         29 points
3. Dave Butler        28 pints

Malcolm Saunders generously donated a bottle of wine for the nearest the pin on the 6th hole which was won by our line dancer extraordinaire Dougie Keen!! 

I will put up the start sheet for the Winter Stableford R2 on Thursday 23rd November, a little bit later on

Hi everyone,

Some sad news today.

Geoff Mills collapsed on the 2nd tee today and had to return home. Geoff, we hope that this was nothing serious.

In addition Kevin Sheehan has been diagnosed narrowing of the arteries and is waiting on an angiogram to ascertain the next steps. Kevin is stepping back from golf, while this is sorted.

And Sick-note Andy Wright has a bad hip!!

I am sure everyone's thoughts are with all of our team mates during this time.

Here's hoping everyone else is OK

U-Boat Round 1 - Tuesday 28th November 2017

Unfortunately two players have withdrawn from the U-Boat competition, Andy Wright through injury and Brian Floyd due to commitments.

I have therefore re-drawn the competition by putting their remaining partners together and drawn lots to see who they play.

The result means that there is no need for a preliminary round

Please see the revised draw for Round 1, which is to be played on Tuesday 28th November.
Group 1 will play at 8.30
Group 2 will play at 8.38
Group 3 will play at 8.46
Group 4 will play at 8.54
Group 5 will play at 9.02
Group 6 will play at 9.10
Group 7 will play at 9.10
Group 8 will play at 9.18

 Round 1

Group 1              Brian Rollerson & Steve Harrison V Geoff Mills & Paddy Marcks 

Group 2              Mike Twyman & James Barnatt v Alan Jones & Cliff Smith

Group 3              Chris Hatherly & Mike Smith v John Watt & Steve Aldren

Group 4              Glyn Rees & Alex Tyrell v Ron Deacon & John Robinson

Group 5              Mike Dawson & Stuart Green v Tony Ward & Kevin Sheenan

Group 6              Bill Ford & Rae Comley v Kevin Timms & Rod Rapley

Group 7              Terry Edmunds & Martin Buckingham v Peter Burdon & Barry Lund

Group 8              Ron Feasy & Richard Gent v Pat Hiles & Nigel Pitchforth

Roll Up Thursday 16th November - Stableford

Hi guys

An apology from me.
I took the sign up sheet down yesterday and have misplaced it

So I am going to put another one up on the notice board in the Sports Bar

I won't be there on Thursday, well I will be at the Lakes but not available for the competition, so Ron Feasey will be master of ceremonies.

It is a qualifier, one of the last of the yellow tees this year, I would imagine.

Important - Nearest the pin on the 6th
Malcolm has generously donated a bottle of wine for nearest the pin on the 6th
Can the first group out pick up the marker from reception and place it on the 6th hole

Good Afternoon,

A couple of housekeeping matters first.

I did advise that I would run the player draw this morning between 8.10 to 8.15. However when I arrived at 8.12 this had already commenced. Unfortunately this lead to a large degree of uncertainty of who was playing with who and at what time. Steve Aldren thought he was drawn out, but was unaware of the timings or indeed who he was playing with. No body had completed the start sheet.
He therefore thought that he had not been drawn out and was put into another group, before the confusion was sorted out

So although it was a kind gesture from whoever commenced the draw, I must ask that we follow my directions on these matters to avoid any misunderstandings. As I said I was there at 8.12, our first tee time is 8.30 so there was no need to commence the draw before I got there

The second point the club have asked me to restate is that all golfers must sign in at reception. Those seniors that do not wish to join with their colleagues in playing from 8.30 must book a time time themselves, they cannot just tee off without a tee time.

So on to less onerous matters, the Texas Scramble, where 27 turned out.
I have had positive feedback on this competition, I think most enjoyed it and it does give the opportunity to try shots that you would not necessarily try during a medal.

The result was very close with 3 groups all returning to the club house with a score of 64. In the Witney Lakes Seniors we do not operate a system of decimal points in these competitions therefore a handicap of 9.3 is a handicap of 9 , for future reference. So the winners were decided on count back.

The winners who had a stunning last two holes of gross Birdies where Martin Buckingham, Roger Laban and Chris Hatherly

Results
1st Martin Buckingham, Roger Laban & Chris Hatherly    Net  64 (on CB)
2nd John Alexander, Malcolm Saunders & Gerry Webb     Net 64 (on CB)
3rd Richard Gent, Bob Kirkwood & Rod Rapley                 Net 64 (on CB)

Not the Birdie he wanted

Some of you will already know that Richard Gent had his golf ball taken away by a crow last week.

So I thought I would check the rules and see what they are for this type of incident

I found this on the interweb, however if it is not correct I am sure someone will advise me accordingly

Rule 18-1 says that if a ball is moved by an outside agency (anyone or anything that isn't involved in your round, caddies excluded), the ball must be replaced at the spot where it was moved, without penalty. If the ball can't be found, but you know it was taken by an outside agency, you must put a different one in play.

You must also put your ball back in its original resting spot if it's struck by another ball.

If your ball is moved by a fellow-competitor or his caddie during stroke play, there's no penalty. If the ball is moved in match play, other than in searching for it, then the side that moved it receives a one-shot penalty. This includes a ball that's moved by an opponent who thinks your ball is in the way of his next stroke, even on the green. He needs your permission to move it.

What if a ball is moved, but you can't determine where it was moved from? Using Rule 20-3c, through the green (anywhere on the course except hazards, and the green and teeing area of the hole being played), the ball must be dropped as near as possible to the place where it lay. Same goes if it was in a hazard. But it must be dropped in that hazard. On a green, it must be placed, not dropped.

Update to the Texas Scramble competition on Tuesday 14th

There will be a handicap adjustment following some feedback.
This will be 1/6 of the 3 combined scores
If the last group out is a 4 ball their adjustment will be 1/8


Tuesday game is a Texas Scramble that will be played as a 3 ball competition. 
Each member of the team must use a minimum of 5 tee shots during the round
Scoring is the total shots taken on each hole i.e. strokeplay

By popular opinion we will start drawing the cards at 8.10 as soon as we have 9-12 players present.

Make sure you turn up asap to make sure you are part of a 3 ball!!

For those of you that prefer a sign up sheet we will have that for the Stableford on the 16th

Good Morning

Tuesday game is a Texas Scramble that will be played as a 3 ball competition. 
Each member of the team must use a minimum of 5 tee shots during the round
There is no handicap adjustment.
Scoring is the total shots taken on each hole

By popular opinion we will start drawing the cards at 8.10 as soon as we have 9-12 players present.

Make sure you turn up asap to make sure you are part of a 3 ball!!

For those of you that prefer a sign up sheet we will have that for the Stableford on the 16th

Presentation Evening


Those that attended the Presentation Evening on the 27th October, will know that the quality of the food was somewhat below an acceptable standard.

I have been in discussions with the club and have negotiated a discount of the price paid of £8 per person or £16 per couple

In discussions with the committee members, our recommendation is that Brian allocates this money against our monthly competition subs, rather than get Group4 to park a van outside the Sports Bar.

I hope this makes sense to all, however if any individual is vehemently opposed to this method of repayment please let me know.

Regarding the quality of the catering going forward  and in particular with regard to our match day meals, I am in further discussions with the club on this and will come back to you on this in early Spring, before the start of our fixtures 

U Boat Competition 2017/18

I have added a tab for the U Boat competition and posted the draw

There is a preliminary round, so the timings for the first round proper between the winners of this match and the Round 1 match with the current holders should take place asap or on the 28th November. There is time in the calendar to make up the time before the final in April

After the fog lifted an excellent days golf for the 33 seniors who took to the fairways.

Really good to greet our second new member of the week Rod Bools who has joined us from Burford, more of Rod later and good to welcome back Jim Postles after some time away.

It was a tale of two captains, the former Captain winning the medal by some margin, 4 shots and the new Captain winning the longest drive on the 18th, thank you Glyn for the wine

The results were;

Division 1

Kevin Timms 70
Malcolm Saunders 74
Rod Bools 74

Division 2
John Watt 77
Barry Lund 79
Brian Rollerson 80

There have been a couple questions,/comments, from some members, which I will address here

1. Roll Up Sign Up Sheets or drawing cards
A couple of members directly asked me to introduce drawing the cards to allocate playing partners for some roll ups. I therefore implemented this system on Tuesday
The feed back I received was all positive, people enjoyed mixing together before teeing off and having the opportunity to play with people they do not normally play with
I therefore proposed to run both systems, alternating between them for the roll ups, until there is a ground swell of opinion one way or any other

2. Why are we teeing off at 8.30.
A number of members, questioned why the greens were not being wiped before out first groups went out. Kevin and I raised this with the club. The best solution was for us to delay the tee time until 8.30, to allow the green staff time to get the first greens prepared.
In addition,the sunrise time continue to be later during November and it will not be suitable to play at 8.00 am, in the near future nor during December, January and February

This has been agreed with the club, so if anyone wants to tee off earlier, they will need to go to reception to book their tee time. If we are running a roll up with the start sorted by drawing cards, anyone teeing prior to the drawing of cards will not be entered into the competitions.

3. Buggies
I know some people are concerned about the Buggies being withdrawn from service for the winter. I spoke with Martin Burbanks regarding this. He advised that because the ground is still relatively hard there are no plans to withdraw the buggies in the near future. There are 2 buggies currently available and another coming back into commission soon.
Apparently buggies will not be bookable, it is a first come first served system. It might make sense for those who need a buggy to play together, if that is the case you can organise yourselves for the Roll Ups and let me know for the sign up matches
At the AGM with Tracy and James from the club, they were advised that in some instances the buggies were not properly prepared, for instances not wiped dry. They have agreed that this was not acceptable and that this would be changed.
Therefore if the buggies are not prepared let me and the club know


4. Suggestions
Ron Deacon came up with a great suggestion, why don't the club have grating on the ground level for the cleaning of the trolleys. Currently when cleaning the trolley you still pick up grass when leaving the area. Ron and I mentioned this to Martin Burbanks who thought it was a good idea. Not sure whether this will lead to a change, but who knows

Anyone else with any ideas let me know

It was a little bit wet today, but not too bad.

I don't know what the less intrepid among us will be like when the winds pick up and there is driving rain , or frosty mornings!!

Anyhow 18 brave souls ventured  out and as mentioned, once out there it was ok for golf with the course playing well.

I would like to welcome Mike (his name is not John, Doug!) Twyman, to the seniors section. Mike has been with Witney Lakes a number of years, but has just seen the light and is looking to join in with us. Mike can't be with us for the next week or so, but has said he will return. Brian of course took the opportunity of extracting the fees from him immediately

I had the good fortune of seeing Ron Deacon produce a masterclass of using his handicap to full advantage, however he will need to up hi game as HowDidIDo has just cut him from 28 to 26.4

As only 18 participants there is just one divison

The winners were;

Ron Deacon 37 points
Doug Keen 33 points on countback
Mike Twyman 33 points

Good Afternoon

On tomorrow's Stableford 7th November I am looking to run a 2's competition on all of the holes.
Entry will be £2 and any player(s) scoring a Gross 2 will win a share of the pot, with a small amount going to the charity and a small amount to the Seniors Section, for use on Away Days, food at the Monthly Prize Giving etc

So if you want to participate bring your £1 and £2 coins, nor old £1 coins please

If you are not in you can't win it!!

We will see how it goes and will run it more often say monthly if there is an appetite for it

Hi all,

Some general stuff

Roll up Stableford Tuesday 7th November
A number of people have asked me to use the system of drawing cards to make up the pairings for some of the Roll Ups.
Therefore I will try this method on 7th November.
I will look to do the draw in the Sports Bar at 8.10 to 8.15 for the first groups when we have circa 12 players cards.

November Monthly Medal
The Start Times for the Monthly Medal on 9th November are now posted on the Tee Times Tab, and will be posted on the notice board on Tuesday

U-Boat KO Pairs
The entries for this competition will close next Thursday 9th November, when the draw will be made.
If you want to win this highly original prestigious trophy, make sure your name is on the sheet

Charity Hole 13th - Net Par or better and Bunkers - 50p
There have been some howls of displeasure on my choice of the Captains Charity hole.
Being a fair man I will look to change this from 1st January 2018.
However please remember this is for charity, the idea is that money does get collected

Captain's Contact Details

If anyone wants to contact me here are my details

e-mail: rod@jtiuk.com
Mobile: 07721420100
Home: 01993778145

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Good Evening Golfers,

It was a lovely crisp morning at the Lakes for our first 8.30 Tee Off of the autumn.

Today's competition was an alternating Red, Yellow White Tee Off, a number of people said they enjoyed the format, so we will stage another one soon, but maybe alternating the order of the Tees.

I am slightly embarrassed to announce myself as the overall winner today, but expect I will just have to get over it 

The winners were as follows

Division 1
1st Rod Rapley 41 points
2nd Doug Keen 36 points on CB
3rd Mike Smith 36 points 

Division 2 
1st Eric Wearing 39 points
2nd Pat Hiles 37 points on CB
3rd John Robinson 37 points


A pretty good day for John, as he also won the bottle of Red for the closest to the pin in two on the 16th hole, donated by myself

Glyn Rees has kindly offered to provide a bottle of Wine for the longest drive on the 18th for the Monthly Medal on the 9th November.

Any other offers of a prize,will be gratefully received and you can choose the hole and the mechanics

Good Morning from your old mate the Ex Captain

Sorry I didn't post yesterday's results what with all the work with prizes and momentos and chip portion sizes (if you weren't involved don't ask ) I forgot who the winners were. This morning from memory I think it was Cliff Smith and Brian Rollerson beating Dave Williams and Cliff Surman on count back both with 43 points.

If I'm wrong I'm sure James will sort it out, I definitely need a holiday.
So over and out and thanks for all the fun