The Autumn Cup at Davyhulme 2018

Captain Pete Derbyshire’s run of glorious golfing days continued. If anything the sun was too bright. Being lower in the sky keeping an eye on the ball was a problem. But better that than raindrops landing in your eye. The course was okay but for some reason the scores were down on when played 2 years ago. The average score then was 30 compared with 26 this year. Only 18 holes were played as the days are getting shorter. This gave us a taster for next year when all events are going to be 18 only. Below are the result tables.

 PM Individual event

Nearest the Pins	2. Steve Payne	4. Martin Claffy	12. Nobody	17. Pete Derbyshire
Longest Drive	Mel Garner
2's	1.Bill Harris

 

Posn	Name	Score	Handicap	Revised
5th	Bob Chadwick	31
4th	Brian Murray	31
3rd	Phil Lancaster	34	15.3	14.8
2nd	Dave Baynes	35	19.9	17.9
1st	Kev Bolton	36	21.6	18.6

 

As we finished early we were able to dine in our smart casual attire. Councillor Murphy’s long red shorts being on the casual side of that phrase. The meal was fine as were the bacon sandwiches on arrival. The burning question then was could the shy and retiring Kev Bolton manage a winners speech. I tried to organise a book on how long it was going to last but couldn’t find a calendar for time keeping purposes. It looked like we were in for a marathon as he talked us through the first 2 holes. But credit where credit is due he did not dwell on his prowess and delivered a pleasantly balanced speech with touches of humility. Bill Harris did his usual pulling something out of the ashes to clean up the 2’s and go home with pockets jingling. On the way home Kev told me the reason he didn’t reveal all the secrets of his round. He is writing 2 books on the event. Out first will be “Up front at Davyhulme” and the delayed for the Christmas rush will be “Davyhulme the back 9”.  I just hope his good form remains solid until the pairs at Wilmslow where he will be partnering me with his new handicap.  

 

 

 

Turkey Golf, September 2018 Report

On 12^th September 28 lucky souls assembled at Manchester Airport for the annual overseas Portland Golf event. We decided to return to Turkey following 3 years in Spain and Portugal. The £6 price tag for a pint of lager in the departure lounge didn’t put some people off as they were on their hols. The flight was more or less on time and despite the previous days problems of 2 hour queues in security it was fairly painless.

Arriving in Turkey we were greeted by Laura Golf Travel reps who provided a glass of bubbly and a stress free transfer to our hotel the Kaya Palazzo Belek. There were a couple of complaints about rooms which were swiftly and efficiently dealt with by the hotel and we all settled in for the night.

An early start with a 09:04 tee time saw a rushed breakfast and a swift packaging of supplies for the golf, and we were taken by golf buggy to the hotels own course for day 1. It made a pleasant change to play golf in 30deg and sun rather than the rain we had left behind. And day one gave the following results.

Men			Ladies
Bob Sinclair	38		Gail Robertson	31
Johnny Shepherd	37		Carol Aikin	25
Bob Chadwick	35		Lynda Brady	25

 

If we thought day 1 was an early start I don’t think we were prepared for Mel telling us that next day was an 08:06 start and it was a minibus drive away, so 07:15 collection. This caused some anguish as restaurant didn’t open until 07:00. So a quick bowl of cereal and packed lunch and off we went. One of our party from Wigan Colin Melling kept us waiting whilst he made his version of a Wigan Kebab which consisted of Turkey on a muffin. We arrived at the Carya course which is the venue for the Turkish Open. During the course of the day Colin decided to enjoy the fruits of his labours only to be thwarted by a Turkish crow who he reckons followed him, waited until he unwrapped his butty and  whilst he was taking his put made off with the turkey. We’re not sure if it was the same bird, but on the next hole a crow picked up his ball off the green and tried to make off with it, only a screaming banshee attack from Colin retrieved the ball.

	Results
	Ladies
	Frances Sinnott	30
	Gail Robertson	26
	Carol Aiken	24
	Men
	Dave McGovern	33
	Phil Lancaster	31
	Kevin Bolton	30

 

Day 3 was another early start this time to the PGA Sultan course so another early start and hastily packed lunch Colin double wrapping his this time. There were no real incidents of note this day and a challenging course gave a lot of satisfaction ( I think that’s what they said) to all.

Ladies Results			Mens Results
Frances Sinnott	26		Phil Lancaster	33
Gail Robertson	25		Kevin Bolton	30
Carol Aiken	24		Bob Sinclair	29

 

We were greeted with the news that the tee times the next day were beginning at 12:06, although a cheer broke out that we could have a lie in, the results at the course proved the benefits of an early tee. Although we had booked 10 buggies booked in advance when we arrived there were none to be had. One of our party had the foresight to bring a medical note so they had to find one for him but we had the situation where one of our ladies would be unable to play unless one was found. The compromise we were given was an electric trolley for 9 holes switching to a buggy for back 9. This still wasn’t enough for one of our party but eventually we managed to acquire one. To say it was challenging was an understatement my electric buggy gave up the ghost after two holes and the freshly acquired buggy decided to shed a tyre after 3 holes. The girls eventually got a replacement buggy and my electric one was exchanged for a pull one. The Gloria golf course wasn’t so Glorious

Ladies Results			Mens Results
Frances Sinnott	25		Bob Chadwick	36
Gail Robertson	24		Brian Chambers	33
Carol Aiken	22		Johnny Shepherd	31

 

Our final game on Tuesday was at the Montgomerie course, and back to the 08:00 start but following the issues with buggies no complaints made. The added bonus of this course was the fact that the 19^th  provided a free bar and food offer, the early finishers took full advantage of this fact. The food was actually some of the best found at the golf clubs.

 

	Results
	Ladies
	Gail Robertson	31
	Frances Sinnott	30
	Carol Aiken	28
	Gents
	Johnny Shepherd	38
	John Leigh	37
	Robin Bailey	35

 

Overall Results
Ladies
	Kaya	Carya	Sultan	Gloria	Montgomerie	Total
Gail Robertson	31	26	25	24	31	137
Frances Sinnott	22	30	26	25	30	133
Carol Aiken	25	24	24	22	28	123
Chris Waterfield	23	15	23	21	27	109
Lynda Brady	25	21	17	15	20	98
Men
Johnny Shepherd	37	30	28	31	38	164
Bob Sinclair	38	29	29	26	33	155
Phil Lancaster	30	31	33	30	31	155
Bob Chadwick	35	23	22	36	34	150
Kevin Bolton	30	30	29	24	30	143

 

The hotel provided a great holiday with excellent rooms and food and drink aplenty. Following one evening of struggling to find a number of tables to allow us to eat together the restaurant manager opened a room especially for our group and provided us with our own waiters. This then became our room for the duration of the holiday.

 

The group as usual made their own entertainment most nights, and we only got one warning about the noise, think it was for the out of tune singing (no names no pack drill).

 

On the rare occasion where we had a rest from the golf some of our party decided to go on a Segway off road trail it was quite a strange experience.

 

It was an excellent holiday and thanks go to Mel for organising it. The one sour note from our stay was that one of our party Annemarie Banks took ill on the last day and had to be taken to hospital. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to travel back with us and at time of writing this is still in hospital in Turkey. The good news is that she is no longer in intensive care but still in critical care. Our best wishes go to her for a speedy recovery. Thanks also go to Golfing Experience, and Laura Golf Travel for the support to Annemarie when she was first admitted.

Kevin Bolton

 

 

 

Jeff Hindle Memorial Trophy

The latest date in the Portland Golf Society 2018 calendar took place at Worsley Golf Club on Thursday 30^th August. Due to holiday commitments there were a number of absences from our stalwart members. Most noticeable was our Captain Pete Derbyshire who was taking a well earned break ( at least he says it was well earned). Normally that would mean a promotion of our vice captain Frances Sinott but a packed diary of grandchildren and tv appearances ( more of that later) prevented her attendance. So our previous years captain was pressed reluctantly (shy and retiring that he is) into substituting. Our handicaps secretary was also absent as he and Dave Baynes were mugging some pensioners somewhere in a Seniors Open event. Thus no handicap reductions were made on the day as his substitute (ex captain again) could not get his head round the methods used by Mr Payne to generate handicaps.

Worsley was looking good after the recent rainfall and the day maintained Captain Pete Derbyshires record of having a dry golf  event despite being substituted by Kevin Tlaloc Bolton ( in case you’re wondering Tlaloc is the Aztec god of rain, lightening and thunder). The morning event gave us a flavour of the course and starting off with two long par 5’s closely followed by a 216 yrd par 3 certainly assisted the big hitters.  The results for the morning team event were :

 Results of morning team event

Mention 24pts	Brian Murray	Rob Chadwick	Ernie Rowlands
2nd Place 25 pts	Phil Lancaster	Anthony Sever	Terry Tobin
Winners 27 pts	Ian Ringwood	John Coburn	Howard Dixon

 

A lunch of sandwich and chips followed, which included the surprise appearance of Andy Southworth, it seems he could smell the chips from the Telephone Exchange. Due to the late withdrawal of John Martin, who had to service his holiday mansion in Abersoch as the butlers and chambermaids had gone on a well earned break, the afternoon session was changed to 4 balls.

 PM Individual event

Nearest the Pins	Hole 6: Joe Boyd	Hole 8: Kevin Bolton	Hole 13: Phil Lancaster	Hole 18: Phil Lancaster
Longest Drive	Geoff Haynes

 

Overall

It was a close finish to the competition with 3 tied on 34 points, two on 35 and a clear winner. Card playoffs had to go to back 3 before just missing out was Kevin Bolton head of the 34’s.  Second and third places was a real Syd and Eddie affair with Andy Minshull pushing Big John Coburn back into 3^rd.  Despite  scoring zero points on the first and last holes Martin Claffey sandwiched 39 points in between and following young Callum Claffeys win a couple of years ago become the first father and son holders of this trophy.

Top 6 finishers

	Points
Mention Dave McGovern	34
Mention Terry Tobin	34
Mention Kevin Bolton	34
3rd John Coburn	35
2nd Andy Minshull	35
1st Martin Claffy	39

 

There were 4 two’s on the day Bill Harris, Joe Boyd and 2x 2’s for Phil Lancaster.

Back to the absence of our vice captain it appears that she went to an event at the Lowry and was filmed for an upcoming TV show ( I don’t know for sure but they are making a new series of Love Island, just saying.)

Anyway that’s all from the Antiques Roadshow.

See you at Davenport on 27^th September and hope the lucky ones going to Turkey golfing in the next couple of weeks have a great time.

Tlaloc

God of Rain, etc