Like the proverbial London bus, no sooner did one stellar round come along than it was closely followed by another. First up was the Hickmeister with a wonderful gross 73. He only dropped shots to gross par on 2 holes - a bogey somewhere on the front nine, and then an overcooked shot into the wind costing him a double-bogey at the 18th. All the other holes were pars or birdies. A par on the last would have seen Eugene post the first sub-par round in swindle history. In any case, chapeau Monsieur le Hick!
Then... wonder of wonders, in came Ali with a gross 72, the joint lowest gross round ever for a Wednesday swindler. Ali's highlights included 3 straight birdies on 8, 9 and 10. A truly magnificent achievement - well done Ali! An entry on the hall of fame, and a tag on the home page. Immortality!
Ali's 44 points took home £22 and a 1-shot cut to +7. Eugene's 42 points earned him £12 and a 4-week 1-shot cut to +6. In joint 3rd for £3 each with highly creditable 41 pointers were The Boss and David Coutts. Rounding off the prizes were Colin for £4 with 21 on the front nine and Steve Mummery for £4 with 22 on the back nine.
The average score this week was 36.8 which means my best-of-the-season 37 points was no more than a smidge abover average. And I thought the greens were a nightmare - what do I know!
Hall Trophy - Match Report
A heavyweight clash between Steve Mummery and The Don was witnessed by your correspondent, and what a match it was! Steve birdied the first (albeit a traffic cone) to go one up, then promptly handed it back on the 2nd by playing the wrong ball! Steve then won the next 2 holes before being pegged back at the 5th. It was back and forth after that, Don finally nosing into the lead early in the back nine. Steve's customarily doughty play had Don scrambling hard to stay ahead, but he held on, just. Then at the 16th Don had a putt to go dormie 2, but missed! Panic stations on the 17th, as Don drove sideways into the undergrowth - all square going down the last! Don sliced his drive before slicing his approach to somewhere near the water, while Steve serenely played to the edge of the green in 2. I swear Don's ball was hanging on a blade of grass over the pond, but he somehow played a fluff shot and landed about 12 feet from the pin. After Steve made the par, Don needed to make the putt to take the match to sudden death. And he holed it! So off they went, where Don prevailed on the 2nd. Well done to both of them for a great match - Don now goes on to face Tom in the quarter-final, with the winner of that one to play Kelvin.
Parish Notices
Awayday
The next Awayday will be at Whipsnade Golf Club on Monday 2nd November from 10am. The cost is £36 for tea/coffee on arrival and 18 holes. The chef doesn't work on a Monday so there is no food on offer. Get yourselves signed up on the website as normal, if you'd like to play.
Captain's Charity Raffle
For those of you not playing in the Seniors Charity Day on 6
October who would like to be in the draw to win a new TaylorMade Spider
TourX Putter, tickets are £10 each with all proceeds going to Rennie
Grove Peace Hospice Care.
£10 paid into the APGC SENIOR SECTION account: Sort Code 309390 Account Number 00246804 with 'PUTTER' as the reference, and you are in!
And lastly, should you wish to donate towards raffle prizes
or items for auction, please contact Jim McGown or Glen or alternatively leave
in the Pro Shop and they will collect.
Annual Awards Dinner
More details nearer the time, but Sameer is on the case and has booked the Plough and Harrow in Harpenden for Wednesday December 9th. Get the date in your diaries!