Alan Hall's Funeral
Gents I was hoping today to get a firm idea to pass to Alan's family on the number of attendees for Alan's funeral at St Nicholas Church, Harpenden,1pm on Tuesday Feb 4th with the wake at APGC 2-5pm.
If you are planning to attend can you please let me know this week so I can advise the family, tks.
Keith
This month Alex covers Pick and Place plus dealing with bunkers when they are GUR. Click on the rules blog on the right of the page for the full blog.
Remember Alex will also deal with any one-off questions you may have - just ask him! This week there were two questions from swindlers:-
Q If you hit your ball accidently when taking a practice swing does it cost you a penalty shot?
A The short answer is on the tee NO anywhere else YES.
Q Can you pick & place after dropping from knee height when taking relief?
A Yes you can, but only when the winter rules are in place.
25 hardy souls teed off in temperatures around freezing, with 6 seeking shelter and warmth after 9 holes. It was actually a nice day for most of the round - bright and sunny. Just very cold!
Dave Robson came out on top with a hefty 43 points to scoop £20 and a 5-shot cut. Well done to Dave. Gus Merelie and Mike Crofts weren't too far behind on 40 points for joint second and a fiver each. Scant reward, some may say...
Front and back nines were won by Jeff Titman and Eugene Hickey in 19 and 18 points respectively, for a fiver each.
Celebrating the Life of Alan Hall
It saddens me to have to report the passing of our lovely friend Alan Hall earlier this week. Alan was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word - the epitome of "Old Harpenden". He was still playing the occasional round (sometimes wearing tropical shorts that had belonged to his father!) and was regularly to be seen in the clubhouse, ready to chat to anyone. Those of us who were at the annual dinner at the George last month had the pleasure not only of his company but of his musical talent - Alan played in a band most of his life and always gave us a tune and a song or two on his ukulele at our awards nights. There will be many more swindle stories to be told I'm sure.
Alan's funeral will be at St Nicholas' Church in Harpenden on Feb 4th, followed by a celebration of his life at the APGC clubhouse. All his golfing chums are welcome; more details to follow in due course.
Alex’s Monthly Rules Blog.
Although I have no rules
qualifications except for 50+ years of playing this silly game I think I do
have a reasonable knowledge of the rules. On a monthly basis or when
someone wants to highlight or debate a rule or a situation that they have encountered
on the course I will attempt to answer any queries you may have on the rules.
Any questions you have either on the Rules of Golf, APGC local rules or our
Wednesday swindle rules please let me know verbally on a Wednesday or by
email at any time.
I think as we are on winter rules
and with the amount of free relief around the course at the moment my first
blog will be about how, when & where you can pick and place. My first blog
I will put out before the end of January so if you have anything you would like
me to address about pick and place please let me know.
If I don’t know the answer, I know
a few people who will.
Alex
Your Xmas Present 2024
All the Wednesday Group scores for 2024 have now been passed to Axel Flaig for scrutiny! Hopefully APGC will decide on any general play handicap adjustments before our first outing on the 8th Jan so they can be included in your start year 2025 swindle handicap. Most of you now know that your 3 year winnings/game played ratio for 2022-2024 are also taken into account and your WHI (Yellow Tee) handicap will be adjusted accordingly.
These handicap adjustments are as follows:
-2 : Mark Whittington, Dave Clarke,
-1 : Dave Smith, Chris Manners, Ali Robertson, Glen Rootman, Paul Matthews, Alan Wright, Steve Mummery, Jeff Titman, Kim Nguyen, Bob Bright, Paul Berendt, Bryn Jones, Kelvin Smith, Dave Robson.
+1 : Colin Stickland, Alex Hall, Andy Wyatt, Gus Merelie, Mike Crofts, Peter Miller, Martin Davies, Dominic Johnson.
+2 : David Cheek, Trevor Hones, Sameer Chelache.
+4 : Jim Morrison
Any player not on the list above has 0 adjustment to take into account. There is an appeals process but it very difficult to work out!! Have a good Xmas and looking forward to our first outing on the 8th Jan.
For the final swindle of the year 20 brave souls fought their way around a blustery course. In a team competition of 6 separate 4-balls (there were 4 ghosts...) the aggregate scores ranged from 71 to 85. The winning team was Andy Wyatt, The Boss, Kelvin the Bionic Man and Trevor Hones. For the record, The Boss was a ghost for another team and helped them to finish 2nd. Kelvin was also a ghost for another team and helped them to avoid finishing last. Pick your sides! The winning team took home a handsome £7.50 each. Alan Wright matched Andy at the top of the scoring charts with 37 stapleford points and won himself a fiver. The final prize of 2024, a fiver for nearest the pin in 3 on the 10th, went to Robin Bull.
Remember that the league tables were finalised before the prize-giving dinner, but the averages have continued to be updated so if you want to see your final positions, just follow the link at the top left of this screen.
So that's it for 2024. Have a great Christmas everyone, and thanks for making the Wednesday Swindle the best group of the lot at APGC. See you in 2025!
Despite an early Christmas present from the Boss in the shape of pick and place everywhere, scoring once again proved difficult in heavy and cold conditions. The average score was just a smidge over 30 points. Clearly teeing the ball up on a convenient tuft of grass helped, but not that much! Consequently 38 points was enough for a clear win for the bionic man - £21 and a 4-shot cut to Kelvin. Gus played very steadily (though I say it myself!) for 36 points and £10 in 2nd place, and Andy Wyatt played nicely for the second week running for 34 points and 3rd place, worth £6.
The front nine was won convincingly with 20 points by Dave Smith, and the back nine by PBI with some good ball striking for 17 points. A fiver for each of them.
A few players baled out before the end this week, such was the cold. Given all the wet weather lately we really can't complain, but let's hope for an uptick in temperatures sometime soon!
After a mere 13 years playing the Wednesday Swindle, JC has finally had enough and is clearing off northwards. No, not to his ancestral home in haggis-land, but to the wilds of Norfolk. He celebrated his final appearance in the august company of Dave, Steve and Alan and signed off with a respectable 32 points. Not bad considering the number of nips from his hip-flask along the way. Afterwards in the bar a tearful JC departed with the words, "Guys, it's been a privilege and a pleasure. For all of you".
Cheers JC!