Please don’t worry that I will be routinely providing these but such were the events at the club this weekend that I thought all members might want to hear how the weekend played out.
First up on Saturday, June 22nd , the club had a home tie as we took on Bexleyheath Golf Club in the Jack Hicks – a knockout competition between clubs with 9-hole courses, across Kent. The format is Foursomes and singles, with a team of ten representing the club. The weather was kind and saw the morning Foursomes end all square at 2-2. After lunch 8 singles matches set out. Bexleyheath were tough opposition with some very good golfers and many of the matches were tight with some going down to the final hole. The final match score did not reflect the closeness of the individual games but saw Aquarius triumph in the singles by 6 ½ to 1 ½ winning the overall match 8 ½ to 3 ½ . A great effort from all 10 players. As is the nature of the competition we will be playing away in our next fixture which will make the tie more challenging but we can be confident following a convincing win against an excellent Bexleyheath side. All ten players returned, after ice baths and early nights, to join 11 others on the course on Sunday morning, the 23 rd June, for the Club Championship, the Hutchings. The Hutchings is played over 2 rounds on a scratch basis with a parallel Mashie stableford competition to add some wider interest for all players.
After the morning round the Hutchings saw a bunch of players within touching distance of the lead and the Mashie saw 3 points separate the top 7 players. After lunch – the traditional Ham egg and chips, many thanks Debbie, 17 players set out, with the winner looking likely to come from the final group of Bob Jarvis, Derek Germaine and Paul Metters. The penultimate group of Richard Mercer, Bobby Cain and Sy Bekir were pushing hard but others fell away or failed to make up any ground on the leaders. As the last group strode down the 16th, the penultimate group had finished and leader in the clubhouse was Richard with a 2 round total of 157 followed by Bobby and Sy on 159. As the final group turned to play the last two holes, reports filtered back to the clubhouse that the 16th hadn’t gone that well for the final group but Paul was holding a slender lead over Bob, as they stepped on to the final tee. Out of bounds on the final tee put paid to Bob’s chances and anything less than a 7 would secure victory for Paul. But he had taken a 6 on the 16th and would nerves play a part? A ripple of excitement spread around the clubhouse and Richard put down his 4th pint in case he needed to prepare for a play-off.
But victory was never in doubt for Paul as he held his nerve and finished with a 5 and an impressive 2 round total of 155 to secure his first ever victory in The Hutchings by 2 shots. Second was Richard on 157 and Bobby and Sy tied for third place on 159. There was some consolation for Richard as he took the Mashie competition with a total of 73 points, winning on count back from Matt Davies and a point clear of Toby Mortimer.
But the day belonged to the new Club Champion. Congratulations to Paul on an impressive win, made all the more so by his heroic efforts playing 36 holes the day before. As always days like these require the support and hard work of a number of individuals to make them the success that they are. A big thank you to Sue for keeping all in order with the scores and the cards, supported by Fiona, Roger and Marion, who ploughed a lone furrow spotting on the top of the banks. Thanks as always to Debbie and Caroline for feeding and watering players and supporters and a special thanks to the Greens team, Derek and Charlie under the stewardship of Chris, who had the course in great shape, especially the greens, for the two days of competition.
Al Reid - 2019 Club Captain
