Kingshill - Wed 15th Nov 2023

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Was it really mid-November? Blue skies, sunglasses, Gary had his legs out & the course was in great condition. Amazing considering how monsoon-like it's been recently. Even our local N.Foreland was closed earlier this week. The greens were the talk of the golfers afterwards... some of, if not the best we've played.

It was the N.Foreland crew who led us off, carefully watching each other's tee shots as it was quite tricky to see with the low sun & the glare from Gary's bright green shorts. Although, to be fair it was Gary who was showing good early form, especially on the Par 3s where he got his name on the 1st two nearest-the-pin markers. No-one beat his mark on the 1st Par3, 6th hole, as Gary walked off with the 1st prize, but Ian Horsham got inside him on the 8th hole to enjoy his first NP of the year. Our 2nd four-ball was the St Augustine's posse who, for the 1st time in a month (or so it seems), were enjoying playing without flippers & a snorkel. What a performance from this 4-ball, including our latest debutant Paul Flint, who came in with a decent 34pts which was only good enough for 4th place overall, & only 3rd place in this 4ball. Super-consistent Carl again came in with over 30pts (31), but it was a surprise that he came 4th in this group... apparently he hasn't been able to practise whilst roaming around the jungle for the last few weeks. This left Terry & June as Top Scorers in this group, & overall with 36pts. [Edit: Apologies for the Terry & June typo... it should read... Terry & Jon].

The final 3 groups were mainly just enjoying the great course, the great weather & the great company... that is, apart from, Gerry, who couldn't find his A game, or B game... in-fact he almost went through the whole alphabet before he found any form... Gerry ended up with the 'most-golf' "award" coming in 5 shots behind the rest of the field. In Group 4, we were hosting a match for our friends at the St Stephen's Golf Society, with Tony beating Gareth 5 and 3. This also put Tony level with Terry & June on 36pts. [Edit: Apologies again for the Terry & June typo... it must be the annoying predictive text... it should read... Terry & Jon].  In the final group, it was good to welcome back Peter K, & also to see the return of Mick Beale who claimed his 1st prize with the Nearest the Pin on the 11th. 

Incredibly not one of the 20 golfers got on the Par3 17th, which was also the shortest hole today... which means that Gary's nearest the pin puts him one behind Rhodri in the race for this year's King-Pin trophy, with Anthony & Jon 1 further back.

So, with Tony, Terry & June all on 36pts [Edit: Apologies for the Terry & June typo... must be my fat-fingers... it should read... Terry & Jon], Carl had to delve into the murky waters of 'countback'. Tony split up our St A's pair. Terry came 3rd, Tony 2nd & for the 2nd time in 3 months & the 3rd time in 5 months, Jon was our winner. Well done Jon - great consistency.

Next month is our end of year game, the 5-club challenge at Westgate on Thursday 14th December. Our King-Pin trophy will be decided & our prestigious 'Player of the Year' award (best 6 scores count).

'Player of the Year' Update... This looks like the most competitive 'final' since our records began... Realistically there are 5 players in with a shout of the trophy... Here are their scores (the score in the bracket is their current lowest counting score....):

• Carl Bolton 209 (33)
• Nigel Stevenson 209 (29)
• Bob McDougall 208 (31)
• Jon Hunnisett 207 (30)
• Terry Porter 206 (29)

See you in Westgate...