Stonelees - Wed 21st Jan 2026

Report

It's January & it's wet but surprisingly not cold.  Usually at Stonelees we play the front 9 on frozen ground before the back 9 in the mud... today it was mainly just a mud-bath!  Close attention was being paid to the Met Office app although not many were believing that it  would mainly be dry today... The main aim for our January game is to catch-up, make sure everyone's doing ok during what can often be a low time of the year, & of course to have a great big breakfast together... Anthony pulled all the stops out again & served up the best brekkie of the year so far, although Sean's "alternative" breakfast looked suspiciously like a pint of beer!!  The usual shenanigans of the 4-ball draw ensued, & we heard of how Stonelees members have tended to dominate this annual January outing in the past, but surely not this year as the reigning BGS GOTY (Alan Garrett) has been cut a shot this month for winning the big prize in December...

A quick change to the plans sent the three '3-balls' off to the Executive 9 holes whilst the two '4-balls' started on the Heights.  It was an 'unofficial' race but the last '4-ball' got back about 10mins before the last '3-ball', although to be fair, all the other groups had been in for a couple of drinks before the 'team tortoise v team sloth' race was finally over.

We may as well get it over & done with... today's winner, & also the current winner of the Stonelees monthly medal for FOUR months in a row, was Ady Calland, with 37pts.  In all the years of the Broadstairs Golf Society we've never been closer to one of our golfers being strung up & beaten by the local patrons... they were incredulous... & for his victory drink, Ady even had to sit on a different table from his usual Stonelees' mates as there was quite a bit of muttering going on...  Rhodri, ever the peace-maker, tried to appease the angry mob as he shared the news that a conversation during the round with Ady had led to a 'Tiered-cut' for those who win our monthly game... meaning that Ady will have a 3-shot cut for his next game. However, this didn't seem to quell the indignation & we may need to watch who's in Ady's 4-ball next month...  2nd Place went to Ady's playing partner Tudor (36pts), with Jon Martin 3rd with 34pts.  We had to wait for the final 3-ball to get in to discover that Mark Blundell had "won" the most-golf, which according to our resident statto is the 1st time Mark has "won" this least prestigious prize.

A new addition this year was 9-holes on the Executive course which includes 8 Par3s, so lots of opportunities for a Nearest the Pin - some saw this as one of those gimmicks to swell numbers for what is often a tricky outing to get our golfers to sign up for; others saw it as a chance to get on the board for the 2026 King Pin trophy.  Hole 1 & 7, were both won by Smoggie.  Hole 4 on the Exec & the Heights were both won by Ady (yes, he officially has no shame!!).  Steve Faulkner won Hole 2, Tudor won Hole 3, Rhodri won Hole 6 & 8, Ant won Hole 9, and Andy Miller won Hole 8 on the heights with a glorious shot with the wand that is his driver...

Highlights of the day included a peach of a tee shot by Ady (again) on the Exec 8th hole, & then a real classy act of a Gentleman as he brought his towel to clean my club after a practice swing... as a thanks I produced an ever so slightly better peach of a shot (we could call it a nectarine) to get at least a inch closer to the hole & walk off with the Nearest the Pin prize (I didn't realise at the time how popular this shot would've been!).  As always, it was great to have Rob with us for company... & I'm pleased to say that he navigated all the mud & slippery slopes without any mishaps or muddy slides...

Finally, the team comp... was won quite convincingly by Andy Miller, Tudor Morgan, & yes, you've guessed it Ady Calland... Hats off, round of applause, Good evening & Good Night... 

& next month we'll be at our "Home" club of North Foreland on Wed 11th February with B'fast at 9am.  Look out for messages on the WhatsApp group! Now where are those Handicap scissors...???