Another early start meant a morning chill greeted those arriving to tee off in the initial flights. Thirty-four members and 8 guests made it, a large enough number that meant things had warmed up a bit by the time the latest starters set off, the weather eventually, by half way through the round, requiring the stripping down to short-sleeved shirts.
The front 9 was set up long and some devilish pin placings (avoid days when placed in position C!!) and slick greens that did not hold meant short both long and short games were tested, especially the latter.
The difficulties were reflected in the scoring with 27 points enough to come in 4th in both Bronze and Silver Categories (although the latter helped by two good scoring members of that division unfortunately forgetting to hand in their cards, later (too late) found in a rubbish bin).
Only Chris Ayres, the day’s best scorer with 35 points, came close to playing to his handicap, with both last and this week’s Category winner (Silver last, Gold this) Russell Bailey posting the next best return of 33 points.
The day’s stableford competition results, by category and in reverse order, were the following:
Bronze Category: 4th Mike Jordan (27), 3rd Brian Butler (29), 2nd Marg Birtwistle (30), and 1st Chris Ayres with 35 points
Silver Category: 4th Ken Flaherty (27), 3rd Ray Smithers (30), 2nd Alan Hill (31), and 1st Scotty Phillips with 32 points
Gold Category: 4th Robin Eastman (31 on CB), 3rd Bjorn Pettersson (32 on CB), 2nd Phil de Lacy (32 on CB), and 1st Russell Bailey with 33 points.
Nearest the pins on the par 3’s (open to all) went to Kev Albright (hole 5), Marg Birtwistle (7), Charlie Harkin (10), Phil de Lacy (14), and Barry Roehrig (17).
The Abacus was won by Norman McBride
The Best Guest prizes went to winner Kev Albright (33) and runner-up Debbie Rose (25)
Our thanks go to the staff at Las Colinas for their contribution to an enjoyable day.
Keep up to date with all SMGS matters by logging on to our website www.smgs.org or simply give Tony Smale a call on 628227687 to find out more about the society and its weekly golf get-togethers. Next week we will be at Villamartin.
