It was a Merry Day for Mary at Stapleford Park
Today’s event was played at Stapleford Park Golf Club one of the more prestigious courses on the CGS calendar this year. A venue which this year hosted a European Senior Tour event, featuring some big name players such as Sam Torrance.
When we arrived we could see that this was a quality golf course and designed for tournament golf. The greens were large and the fairways were lined by high rough and deep bunkers.
We had made arrangements for 36 golfers but only 33 managed to make it on the day which was unfortunate. We had a very warm welcome from our hosts and were looked after by the resident pro and catering staff. They provided us with Tea/Coffee and Bacon or Egg baps, which went down very well after most had travelled for an hour or so to the venue in Melton Mowbray.
The last 3 seasons had seen the Order of Merit come down to the last event with either 2 or 3 players still having a chance to take the title. This year was much different Carl Douglas had closed out the title by the 7th Major. However still up for grabs was; Order of Merit runner up, Birdie Champion and the 3 divisional winners.
Weather wasn’t the best but for this time of the year we shouldn’t be expecting better. It was a little windy but the wind kept the rain away. The wind played a huge part in the days scores the lowest stapleford score was 18 points and the winning score was 37. The competition scratch score (CSS) for our event was par 75 with par on the stableford scale being set at 34 points.
Leading off the event was our captain and vice captain, Jacko Powell, Dean Leith and also in the first group Keith Riley. The 1st hole at Stapleford Park is a very tempting driveable par 4 protected by several large bunkers. The thought of going into those bunkers or loosing your ball in the long grass surrounding the fairway may have influenced a few decisions, so a few players who could reach the green decided against it and laid up short of the bunkers, a wise move indeed. The 1st group out all hit good tee shots avoiding any of the trouble. The same couldn’t be said for many of the other groups that followed. Those who attempted to go for the green found their ball had disappeared into the thick rough; this would prove to be the story of the day and most of the talk in the club house.
What everyone must remember is this is golf and not all courses will suit your game but what you have to do is adapt, you need to change your game to suit the conditions. Some courses you just can’t take driver and blaze it down the fairway you have to think your way round. This was definitely a challenging course but if you managed your game you could produce a credible score.
The eventual winner Mary Riley was able to produce such a score, 37 points was an excellent score on the day. Mary as threatened to win several times throughout the season but the closest she got was the runner up spot. There is no doubt that Mary is a steady golfer, one of two lady golfers in the CGS and one of the most consistent players man or woman, her consistency can be seen from her position in the Order of Merit. If she continues in this form we won’t have to wait long for the CGS first lady Order of Merit winner. To top it all Mary also picked up the nearest the Pin Prize. Mary’s husband and fellow CGS member Keith Riley struck and excellent shot on the nearest the pin hole to 13 feet, it looked even closer from the tee. Keith’s group all said that it would be a tough one to beat. Being in the first group Keith thought he would have along wait to see if he would pick up a prize. However it didn’t take long for that mark to be beaten. Up step Mary Riley, Keith’s wife, who was in the 5th group out. Mary hit lovely shot on that hole to about 8 feet from the pin to snatch the prize from husband Keith and claim the final nearest the pin prize of 2010. Congratulations to Mary Riley for some excellent golf on the day. Looks like Mary as the bragging rights over Keith yet again but don’t worry Keith hopefully you can give Mary a more competitive match next season with Mary’s handicap now down to 18 after her win.
In 2nd place with 36 points was Keith Salmon, I’m sure you’ll remember Keith scoring an amazing 47 points earlier in the year at Stoneleigh. Well Keith had another good day, he’s becoming a very consistent golfer and a great match play partner in our team events. Keith recorded the CGS second eagle of the season when he holed is 3rd shot from the fairway on the par 5 2nd – not bad for a lefty!!
The CGS is an open society and we welcome new members and guests to our events and today was no exception. Our guest for the day came all the way from Bristol to play in the event, a journey of some 150 miles. Bristol Titans captain Tennis Russell whom many of the CGS members have gotten to know through the 3-way match between the CGS, ACGA and the Bristol Titans. He plays off 9 handicap, and is a man for the banter but can back it up with some good golf. Tennis came in with 36 points but lost 2nd place to Keith Salmon through countback, he also wasn’t able to receive the 3rd place prize due to the CGS ruling on guess players not being eligible to win the overall prizes, something I’m sure Tennis is aware of since the Titans also employ the same rules. He was however able to win longest drive or nearest the pin.
So unfortunate for Tennis but fortunate for new CGS member Patrick Ukwade, playing in his first event as a member. Patrick picked up the 3rd place prize with a score of 35 points playing off 24 handicap.
Today we also had our usual longest drive prize an award which is usually contested by the CGS big hitters Junior “Bubba Watson” Harris, Roan “Dustin Johnson” Mcleod and Ian “JB Holmes” Higgins. Junior Harris had pretty much ruled himself out of the running in the last few events by only bringing his 3 wood, now Junior you don’t think you can beat Ian with a 3 wood? – as Jacko would say “him lickle but him can clap ha ball”. Anyway with the absence of a driver it was left to the other big hitters Roan, Ian and the rest of the field to battle it out. Roan took the last 3 longest drive titles and therefore ruled himself out of the running, due to a new CGS ruling only allowing a player to win three long drive titles in a season. So it was down to Ian and the rest of the field to win the prize. Having come close before Ian was not going to let this one get away and unleashed a long bomb to take the prize.
Along with Mary’s 37 points we had several players on 35 points: Jacko Powell, Winston Clark and Patrick Ukwade. So overall giving the conditions the CGS members accounted themselves very well on the day.
The CGS try to simulate the way Pro events run, where by the leaders of an event would all play together in the final round. Well with regards to out Order of Merit we run a similar pattern. So in the final group was Order of Merit leader and champion elect Carl Douglas along with Linton Bell, Ken Brown and Ian Higgins. The latter three were all playing for the 2nd in the 2010 Order since Carl had wrapped the title up in the last event.
Well it’s a good job that the title had already been decided because Carl now playing off 11 had a nightmare and the others didn’t return good scores either. They all found the going tough and none of this group made the 30 point mark.
It was a long day for all and the 19th was a very welcome sight. The spread put on by Stapleford Park was top notch and was no doubt the best we’ve had since the CGS began. None of the committee were expecting the level of service that was laid out for us. We were expecting a buffet but this was a very high standard buffet and the quantity was equal to the quality. I’m sure all would be in agreement when I say that the cheesecake went down a treat. I know some who had two and at least one other who had three portions of cheesecake hmmmm!….can we go back again now, if only for the cheesecake….man it nice!! Not only was there cheesecake but also sponge pudding. Next time forget the golf!!
We must say a big thank you to Stapleford Park for the quality service they provided to the Caribbean Golf Society not only with a superb golf course, even if some did not enjoy their round but the meal afterwards was excellent and will be hard to match by any of our future venues.
The committee would like to thank all the members for another successful season; we are a growing organisation with new members joining all the time. We try to give our members value for money with the events and continue to try our best to keep the cost down. I’m sure everyone who attended this event will agree that they got their money’s worth. We averaged 36 per event this year and could easily have raised that to 38 including guests. The interest in the CGS is there and that’s down to all the members for spreading the word. When we arrive at a venue we are well behaved we look good and people remember us. So keep up the good work it will only benefit everyone in the future.