The Society ventured South this year to the county of Kent for a new experience much to the delight of our southern based members. Two links courses at Prince’s and Littlestone were chosen and the final day was in Essex at the Orsett club.
With several late cancellations 34 members plus one guest arrived at the Mercure Hythe Imperial Hotel on Saturday evening in preparation for the matches ahead. Two parties were assembled one heading for the local Chinese and the other to the Curry house.
The Captain’s team was led by Society Captain Mark Johnson with Vice Captain Neil White his assistant. The Challengers team was led by Adam Thompson assisted by Vice Captain Craig Vale.
The two teams lined up as follows:
Captain Mark Johnson's Team Black | H'Cap | Tour Win % | Challenger Adam Thompson's Team Blue | H'Cap | Tour Win % |
Mark Johnson | 12 | 42.5 | Adam Thompson | 5 | 60.5 |
Neil White, Vice Capt. | 10 | 70.0 | Craig Vale, Vice Capt. | 16 | 59.2 |
Steve Barkshire | 12 | 85.0 | Martyn Dodwell | 7 | 67.1 |
John Evans | 20 | 30.0 | Steve Gross | 22 | 41.7 |
Gordon Galloway | 8 | 62.5 | Dave Grubb | 23 | 34.4 |
Steve Harris | 9 | 30.0 | John Haley | 20 | 46.9 |
Alan Heard | 8 | 53.3 | Bobby Ho | 13 | 43.0 |
Paul Herrmann | 15 | 36.3 | Howard Holliday | 6 | 66.7 |
Karl Hughes | 10 | 61.1 | Phil Latham | 16 | 66.7 |
Peter Meaney | 12 | 30.0 | Steve Lloyd | 5 | 65.3 |
Darren Minor | 11 | N/A | Adrian Marchant | 14 | 47.5 |
Kevin Morris | 3 | 40.0 | Jamie Moore | 17 | 49.7 |
Shaun Mullaney | 5 | 37.1 | Steven Raji | 18 | 70.0 |
John Shaw | 4 | 62.2 | Jeff Thacker | 20 | 48.6 |
James Shipman | 10 | 49.5 | Tim Thacker | 9 | 57.0 |
Gordon Sullivan | 26 | 46.7 | Graham Thorpe | 21 | 20.0 |
Alan Tolley | 19 | 50.0 | |||
Alex Tolley | 13 | 80.0 | Gary Tyler | 13 | 80.0 |
AVERAGE | 11.1 | 51.3% | AVERAGE | 14.7 | 54.1% |
Unknown to most members the day started with fancy dress with Martyn Dodwell coming down for breakfast as Rab C Nesbitt in his scruffy white vest minus head band . The weather deteriorated after breakfast as the members made their way through torrential rain to the golf course and flooded roads. On arrival we sheltered in the clubhouse as we watched the putting green fail to soak up the water. As the rain eased slightly we all ventured out to the first tee for a 10-30 start. Paul Herrmann came unprepared for rain with no waterproofs and very little grip in his shoes as he slipped around the 9 holes with Mark his partner acting as caddie drying his grips off.
John Shaw | beat | Tim Thacker & Martyn Dodwell | 1up |
Shaun Mullaney & Steve Barkshire | beat | Steve Gross & Jeff Thacker | 2up |
Kevin Morris & John Evans | beat | Howard Holliday & Steve Lloyd | 1up |
Alan Heard & Peter Meaney | half | Gary Tyler & Adrian Marchant | A/S |
John Haley & Dave Grubb | beat | James Shipman & Darren Minor | 1up |
Gordon Galloway & Gordon Sullivan | half | Alan Tolley & Graham Thorpe | A/S |
Karl Hughes & Alex Tolley | beat | Phil Latham & Adam Thompson | 3/2 |
Jamie Moore & Craig Vale | beat | Neil White & Steve Harris | 3/2 |
Bobby Ho & Steven Raji | beat | Mark Johnson & Paul Herrmann | 2/1 |
The Captains team finished with a 1 point advantage and it took the Challengers team to the fifth game to register a win thanks to John Haley & Dave Grubb. The match after them was a close affair with the pair of “gay gordons” leading after the seventh 2 up with 2 holes to play, but with Graham having to instruct the past captain how to play the 9th hole we rescued the match for a half. Finally Jamie Moore was on fire all tour and finished with a resounding 3 & 2 result accompanied by vice captain Craig Vale.
The lunch was basic with cold soup and cold beer, but all the action was in the locker room with a semi-naked Steve Raji learning that cheap waterproof bottoms were no defence against the rain on a typical English summers day. Apparently his underpants were so wet he had to purchase some new ones from the pro-shop, he got the last pair in his size at a cost of £20. Nice! Meanwhile Graham Thorpe gashed his knuckle on completion of the first round and left a blood trail in the locker rooms and toilets which needed a doctor to clean up after him thanks to John Shaw.
The weather improved for the afternoon matches to sunny spells and heavy showers.
Kevin Morris had the dubious pleasure of leading the teams off and playing two singles matches. Whilst the course had drained well from the mornings rain the footpaths were something else deep brown water to be avoided. Having avoided many of the pools Howard Holliday was coming to the end of his round when he let his trolley go on full steam ahead along the edge of the muddy path, then suddenly with a mind of its own it turned right and fell on its side into one of the deepest brown pools on the course totally submerging itself before Howard had time to rescue the contents of his bag. Kevin & Steve Gross could not keep straight faces and as Howard emptied his golf bag at the green about six inches of brown water was in the bottom of the bag.
As John Shaw waited on the first tee sporting his new expensive Oakley sunglasses, secured by him after spending a year on researching which were the best for cycling and were most trendy. Who should walk past him wearing identical glasses was Alan Tolley . So much for research!
However it did not affect his game too much playing par golf mixed with four birdies in a resounding 6 & 5 win with partner Neil White in the annihilation of Dave Grubb & Graham Thorpe.
With Alan Tolley wearing his new shades he topped his tee shot into heavy rough on the short third and couldn’t find it. With his second he left it 12 feet on the right of the pin.
Opponent Alex Tolley had chipped up to less than 3 feet. With the rain falling again Alan drained the putt for a 4 nett 3 leaving Alex to put for a half which he missed. This left the Alan & Phil Latham 2 up after 3 holes but Alex and Sean Mullaney then stepped up their game and won comfortably for a 4 & 3 result.
Gordon Sullivan struggled with his sat/nav watch in the afternoon round with the three loops of nine holes at Princes it kept picking the wrong course for Gordon and his partner Paul Herrmann and took their mind off their game which they lost 5 & 4 to Adam Thompson & Jamie Moore.
Captain Mark Johnson had fun in the bunker on the seventeenth contacting the ball too well as it flew into the rough. Upon finding it buried in the undergrowth he hit it too well back into the same green side bunker which plugged in the sand. His match ended soon after losing by 2 holes to Craig Vale & Steven Raji.
Kevin Morris | beat | Steve Gross | 5/4 |
Howard Holliday | beat | Kevin Morris | 3/2 |
Steve Barkshire & Peter Meaney | beat | Jeff Thacker & Tim Thacker | 5/3 |
Gary Tyler & Steve Lloyd | beat | Alan Heard & John Evans | 1up |
James Shipman & Karl Hughes | beat | John Haley & Martyn Dodwell | 1up |
John Shaw & Neil White | beat | Graham Thorpe & Dave Grubb | 6/5 |
Shaun Mullaney & Alex Tolley | beat | Alan Tolley & Phil Latham | 4/3 |
Gordon Galloway & Steve Harris | half | Adrian Marchant & Bobby Ho | A/S |
Jamie Moore & Adam Thompson | beat | Gordon Sullivan & Paul Herrmann | 5/4 |
Craig Vale & Steven Raji | beat | Mark Johnson & Darren Minor | 2up |
Steve Barkshire - Won 2 out of 2
Karl Hughes - Won 2 out
of 2
Kevin Morris - Won 2 out of 3
Steven Raji - Won
2 out of 2
Shaun Mullaney - Won 2 out of 2
John Shaw - Won 2 out of 2
Alex Tolley - Won 2 out of
2
Craig Vale - Won 2 out of 2
Jamie Moore - Won 2 out of 2
Steven Raji - Won 2 out of 2
A short drive down the coast to our second venue at Littlestone Golf Club on a glorious morning members assembled early for a group photograph.
First time out were the pink trousers, having had a bad day on the Sunday losing both his matches his captain had insisted he purchased these pink strides to improve his game. They certainly worked on that Monday and he was forced to wear them again on the third day at Orsett.
Tim and Kevin also experienced a sight they cannot forget and are still experiencing nightmares from it. They were witness to a despicable act of molestation as they walked down the fairway Adam had stopped and bent down to get something out of his bag. His opponent Gordon took the opportunity to drop his trousers and manoeuvre behind Adam to do what we are unsure?
Fortunately there are no pictures of this sordid incident just unforgettable memories!
Adam & Tim won the match 3 & 1.
Paul Herrmann’s tour continued to go downhill as his trolley snapped after only 3 holes. Paul has a large Ping staff bag which did not have a carry strap. His opponent Steve Lloyd was torn between friendship or comedy watching Paul carry his bag for the remaining 15 holes? Friendship prevailed with Steve letting Paul use his trolley. Paul also had a bicker with his partner John Evans whose ball they were going to use. In the end they compromised and used their own balls whoever teed off. They eventually lost the match 2 down to Steve Lloyd and Martin Dodwell.
The Challengers Team had a good morning winning the session 5.5 to 3.5 and as both teams went in for lunch the match was level at 14 points each and all to play for in the afternoon four balls.
James Shipman | beat | Howard Holliday & Bobby Ho | 2/1 |
Adrian Marchant & Jamie Moore | beat | Karl Hughes & Darren Minor | 3/2 |
Shaun Mullaney & John Shaw | half | Graham Thorpe & Phil Latham | A/S |
Neil White & Alex Tolley | beat | Alan Tolley & Jeff Thacker | 5/3 |
Steve Lloyd & Martyn Dodwell | beat | John Evans & Paul Herrmann | 2up |
John Haley & Steven Raji | beat | Mark Johnson & Gordon Sullivan | 6/4 |
Steve Gross & Dave Grubb | beat | Peter Meaney & Steve Harris | 2/1 |
Adam Thompson & Tim Thacker | beat | Gordon Galloway & Kevin Morris | 3/1 |
Steve Barkshire & Alan Heard | beat | Gary Tyler & Craig Vale | 2up |
Shaun Mullaney had drawn the short straw for the afternoon having to play two singles matches against Howard Holliday and Adrian Marchant from the Challengers team. Outnumbered and out scored by both challengers Shaun could not stem the rising challenge from Adam’s team.
This first four ball in the afternoon saw Karl rush back to the clubhouse after playing the first hole as he had forgotten to swap his battery over lunchtime, with Steve & Graham wanting to tee off at the second without him, but he eventually caught us up. The game was very close and after the Challengers lost the lead at the sixteenth to be one down. With encouraging words from Steve, Graham halved the 17th and won the 18th to halve the match. Graham must have changed in appearance on this round as marcho mistook him for Bobby Ho from the balcony in the clubhouse.
A good case for Specsavers I believe!
A good partnership of Alan Tolley and Martin Dodwell came back from 2 down with 8 to play to halve the last. After a terrible front nine Alan came back in 43 strokes and dovetailed well with his partner.
Both Captains had contrasting fortunes.
Mark Johnson with partner Alan Heard had gone 1 up at the 17th and managed to par the 18th, but they had not reckoned for Dave Grubb holing a good 5 net 4 to halve the match.
Adam Thompson congratulated his vice captain Craig Vale’s performance who played the round of his life, having three gross birdies and finished only two shots over par winning their match 6 & 5 over Gordon Galloway & Steve Harris. Adam’s comment however was it was a one-off performance as he was “s—te again” the following day.
A significant result from the Challengers team this afternoon going seven points clear.
In fact the Captains team did not win a match and only halved 3 games for their 1.5 points.
The evening celebrations centred around member Paul Herrmann whose birthday was celebrated by the generous gesture of drinks all round. If we had known in advance Paul we could have got you a new trolley or new water proofs!
Happy Birthday.
Howard Holliday | beat | Shaun Mullaney | 6/5 |
Adrian Marchant | beat | Shaun Mullaney | 3/2 |
Karl Hughes & Neil White | half | Graham Thorpe & Steve Lloyd | A/S |
Jeff Thacker & Jamie Moore | beat | James Shipman & John Shaw | 1up |
Bobby Ho & John Haley | beat | Paul Herrmann & Peter Meaney | 2/1 |
Steven Raji & Steve Gross | beat | John Evans & Gordon Sullivan | 3/2 |
Kevin Morris & Darren Minor | half | Martyn Dodwell & Alan Tolley | A/S |
Tim Thacker & Phil Latham | beat | Steve Barkshire & Alex Tolley | 4/3 |
Adam Thompson & Craig Vale | beat | Gordon Galloway & Steve Harris | 6/5 |
Mark Johnson & Alan Heard | half | Gary Tyler & Dave Grubb | A/S |
Steve Barkshire - Won 3
out of 4
Alex Tolley - Won 3 out of 4
Jamie Moore - Won 4 out of 4
Steven Raji - Won 4 out of 4
An early breakfast and we were all on the road (M20) heading for the Dartford Crossing to take us into Essex to the Orsett Golf Club where we received a warm welcome from the Professional on arrival.
The Captain’s team had secured a guest Des McWilliams over night to meet the Challengers scoring burst from yesterday so each team had 18 players for the day in singles combat.
The two Captains and Vice Captains were the first group away, with two tight matches in progress. Mark was using his shots against Adam but on the 14th Mark played carefully laying up short of the green to take a 5 nett 4. Adam (Seve) Thompson splashes his bunker shot off the green and it trundles slowly down to the hole for a birdie 3. Adam secured the win finishing 1 up.
Craig also secured a point in the vice captains game finishing 2 UP.
Alex Tolley halved with Steve Lloyd and John Evans beat Alan Tolley who did not live up to his own expectations losing 3 & 2.
The Captain’s team hit back with Steve Harris beating Martin Dodwell 2 &1 and a comprehensive win by Peter Meaney 7 & 6 over Phil Latham.
Graham Thorpe gained revenge over John Shaw (previously played three times and never beaten John) keeping his ball in play better than John who sprayed it from fairway to fairway and rough winning 7 & 6.
Unknown to members that were back in the clubhouse a build up of players in the latter games was taking place as several balls were finding the long rough.
Bobby Ho in particular found out what “Operation Stack” in these parts means, but he never expected it on the golf course though!
The Challengers Team continued to accumulate points steadily in the latter singles matches. There were wins for Jeff Thacker, Gary Tyler, John Haley, Bobby Ho, & Steve Raji. Important halves were achieved from Tim Thacker, Steve Gross, and David Grubb ( final putt of the day on the 18th.)
The Challengers Team had maintained their ruthless drive of the previous day and won the singles 10.5 to 7.5 on the day. The final score was a resounding victory for Adam Thompson’s Challengers of 33 to 23.
Adam gratefully received the trophy from Mark who thanked everyone for their participation over three days of excellent golf and after the meal we all headed home trying to beat the traffic.
Adam Thompson | beat | Mark Johnson | 1up |
Craig Vale | beat | Neil White | 2up |
Alex Tolley | half | Steve Lloyd | A/S |
John Evans | beat | Alan Tolley | 3/2 |
Kevin Morris | half | Jamie Moore | A/S |
Steve Harris | beat | Martyn Dodwell | 2/1 |
Peter Meaney | beat | Phil Latham | 7/6 |
Graham Thorpe | beat | John Shaw | 7/6 |
Jeff Thacker | beat | Alan Heard | 5/3 |
James Shipman | half | Tim Thacker | A/S |
Des Mcwilliams | beat | Adrian Marcant | 4/3 |
Gary Tyler | beat | Karl Hughes | 2/1 |
Steve Barkshire | beat | Howard Holliday | 2/1 |
John Haley | beat | Paul Herrmann | 3/2 |
Gordon Sullivan | half | Steve Gross | A/S |
Bobby Ho | beat | Shaun Mullaney | 2/1 |
Steven Raji | beat | Darren Minor | 2/1 |
Gordon Galloway | half | Dave Grubb | A/S |
Steve Barkshire - Won 4
out of 5
Alex Tolley - Won 3.5 out of 5
Steven Raji - Won 5 out of 5
Jamie Moore - Won 4.5 out
of 5
Well done to Steven and Jamie for remaining unbeaten on the Tour.
Member | Tour Win Percentage | No of Tours Attended |
---|---|---|
Hornby, Brian | 100.0% | 1 |
Raji, Steven | 85.0% | 2 |
Barkshire, Steve | 83.3% | 3 |
Rawling, Pete | 80.0% | 1 |
Tolley, Alex | 75.0% | 2 |
Tyler, Gary | 75.0% | 4 |
Fairweather, Stewart | 70.0% | 2 |
Lloyd, Steve | 65.0% | 17 |
Dodwell, Martyn | 64.9% | 17 |
Holliday, Howard | 64.8% | 14 |
Thompson, Adam | 62.3% | 11 |
Vale, Craig | 62.1% | 7 |
Latham, Phil | 61.4% | 7 |
Shaw, John | 61.4% | 16 |
Hughes, Karl | 60.4% | 17 |
White, Neil | 60.0% | 2 |
Galloway, Gordon | 58.9% | 9 |
Weston, Paul | 58.9% | 9 |
Smith, Neil | 58.6% | 7 |
Hayward, Simon | 58.3% | 6 |
Thacker, Tim | 56.5% | 15 |
Talboys, Ian | 56.1% | 16 |
Moore, Jamie | 53.8% | 10 |
Haley, John | 53.5% | 5 |
Smith, Andy | 52.1% | 12 |
Heard, Alan | 50.0% | 4 |
Poultney, Les | 50.0% | 2 |
Shipman, James | 49.5% | 16 |
Marchant, Adrian | 48.6% | 11 |
Tolley, Alan | 47.9% | 14 |
Thacker, Jeff | 47.5% | 8 |
Sullivan, Gordon | 45.0% | 16 |
Morris, Kevin | 45.0% | 2 |
Ho, Bobby | 44.8% | 15 |
Gross, Steve | 43.8% | 4 |
Hancock, Bill | 42.8% | 8 |
Mansell, John | 40.2% | 11 |
Fox, Mike | 40.2% | 15 |
Craddy, Chris | 40.0% | 3 |
Keates, Brian | 40.0% | 11 |
Mullaney, Shaun | 38.8% | 8 |
Grubb, Dave | 37.0% | 10 |
Johnson, Mark | 36.0% | 5 |
Tomkiss, Terry | 35.0% | 4 |
Meaney, Peter | 35.0% | 4 |
Thorpe, Graham | 35.0% | 2 |
Herrmann, Paul | 33.0% | 11 |
Evans, John | 32.0% | 5 |
Harris, Steve | 30.0% | 5 |
Jackson, Anthony | 30.0% | 4 |
Johnson, Lloyd | 30.0% | 1 |
Adams, Graham | 21.7% | 6 |