On Friday 3rd November a full house of forty Montgo members competed in a pair’s better-ball medal competition for the Montgo Quaich.
The Oliva Nova greens were in their usual excellent condition however the fairways have been recently overseeded and were rather fluffy, add this to the heavy watering to help the new grass grow and the result was a course playing very long.
Firstly I must congratulate Simon Fox for inventing a completely new format of golf, taking the best gross score from the pair and deducting 7/16th of their combined handicap to produce the winner.
I doubt whether the R & A will be in any great hurry to adopt the format, but it did create a very close competition and at the end of the day everybody played the same game.
In fourth place, with a net score of 68, were Sue Burman and Neil Cuming. Gerian van Ooijen and new member Brian Butler were pushed in to third place on countback by Patrick Lynch and Heiko Schram, both scoring a net 67, leaving the lovely trophy to be presented to Denise Cooper and Richard Fox with a fine net 66.
The “Desperados” prize for the strongest pair of the day went to Liz Grin and Martine Thatcher, no need to mention the score!!!!
There were a total of five nearest the pin prizes on offer. Graham Borley won the men’s prize on the 3rd, with guest Christiane Gruboeck taking the ladies. The 16th went to Dennis Hammond for the men and Gerian van Ooijen for the ladies, and nearest the pin with the second shot on the 18th was won by Simon Fox, ensuring he got two mentions on the day.
There were three 2’s recorded by Neil Cuming, Georgie Turner, and Gerian van Ooijen. Many thanks to today’s sponsors, Liz and Barry Butler, for a wonderful competition and excellent prize table.
In the final of the singles matchplay Sally Cottrell capped a great season by beating Peter Gardiner in a tense match, three and one.
