Round Up Of 2013
Spring Meeting - The Scotsman Trophy
18th April 2013 / Ringway Golf Club
The first meeting of the season witnessed an excellent turnout with several new members and lots of guests - a total of 43 golfers. Blustery conditions on the day proved to be testing for most on a well presented Ringway layout with slippery greens and some sneaky new bunkers. Only 3 players managed to score 36 points or more - considered to be the requisite total for playing to handicap. One of these was guest prize winner Anthony Guy who put together an impressive 37 points, coincidentally the same score he achieved in this competition last year at Dunham Forest. The other 2 were Ringway member Chris Bamford and Steve Fletcher both of whom amassed 38 points with Steve edging out Chris on a card playoff.
A few items worthy of note - Monty Milner set off like a train on the front nine until his beloved Man City umbrella succumbed to the wind followed closely by his swing as he slumped to 'nil point' on the back nine. Bob Bolton arrived early ready for the defence of the title only to find he had forgotten to take his clubs with him! Needless to say he didn't trouble the scoreboard either. Five players on the day managed to score less points than their handicap (amazingly one of them wasn't Monty!). There were two two's - one for Anthony Guy on the 13th and one for Eddie Wright on the 16th. Monty would like to thank Eddie for generously donating his two's prize of a bottle of wine - apparently it went down very nicely with dinner.
A large number of the members remembered to bring along a bottle in exchange for the all new 2013 MAGS bag tag. Thanks to Malc Ealand for sorting the tags that look really smart. For those that forgot to bring a bottle with them please bring one along to the next meet Captains Day Formby Hall May 19th.
Results:
Winner: Steve Fletcher (16) 38 points cpo from Chris Bamford
Winner 20+ handicap: Ben Emerton (21) 30 points
Front 9: Chris Bamford (15) 20 points
Back 9: Colin Axon (6) 17 points
Guest Prize: Anthony Guy (15) 37 points
Nearest the pin: Graham Chenery
Captains Day - The Arthur Wood Trophy
Sunday 19th May 2013 / Formby Hall
The venue presented a magnificent challenge and arguably the best greens anyone had seen all season. The course was in pristine condition despite the inclement spring weather that abated for the duration allowing the Captain and his merry band to enjoy an exceptional afternoon. Had the standard of the golf been up to that of the post match banter, course records would have tumbled. However it was not to be and only one person in the field managed to play to their handicap and that was eventual winner Robin Wiltshire with 36 points.
Special thanks go to Graeme Wood for generously sponsoring the day and to the Captain for providing an array of prizes as well as on-course sustenance in the form of fruit water and chocolate, not to mention the bar bill that he also picked up.
Worthy of mention is the 'sporting entertainment' provided by Clive (the blue) Kirkham and Billy (the red) Howard, neither of whom would appear to know very much about football or golf it would seem although Clive did manage to sneak a prize with his back 9 score. As for the two's competition - this was won by Formby Hall so the course gets to keep all the balls that everyone lost.
Results:
Winner: Robin Wiltshire 36 points
Runner up: Jay Axon 33 points
3rd Place: Clive Kirkham 31 points
Winner 20+ handicap: Ian Cook 28 points
Back 9 winner: Clive Kirkham 18 points
Front 9 winner: Jay Axon 17 points
Nearest the pin: Malcolm Ealand
Guest Prize winner: Rory O ‘Rourke 27 points
Colin Axon 16+14 30 points
Malcolm Ealand 14+15 29 points
John Evans 16+10 26 points
Captain 12+10 22 points
Bob Morritt 13+9 22 points
Tim Senn 11+14 25 points
John Lawson 14+11 25 points
Paul Smith 11+15 26 points
Billy Howard 13+13 26 points
Ken Buckley 15+12 27 points
Howard Anson 14+8 21 points
Invitation Day - The Cyril Bond Trophy
Tuesday 11th June 2013 / Sandiway G.C.
It’s been more than 12 years since MAGS visited the hallowed fairways of Sandiway. Something tells me that we won’t leave it quite so long to the next visit such was the splendour of this magnificent course. In a year where so many courses have struggled to get any decent growth into their greens there was no such problem at Sandiway and the whole course was presented in magnificent condition.
The forecasted rain stayed away and indeed the sun shone for most of the afternoon in what proved to be excellent conditions for golf. This was reflected in scoring that would no doubt of met with approval by the late great Cyril Bond, whose trophy we were competing for.
Winners on the day with a superb score of 43 points was Dave Bolton who was trying his best to impress his partner (and boss) Gavin Peavoy – might be a good time to ask for that rise now Dave!. In second place and it gives me great pleasure to record this, was our immediate past captain Derek Mee and his partner Anthony Guy with 42 points. Derek was awarded a special prize of a bottle of wine for getting onto the score card once – well it is a team game when all is said and done and without Derek’s heroic effort second spot could not have been achieved. Bolton senior playing with Withington captain Alan Stewart and scoring 41 points took third place. Nearest to the pin on the tricky par 3 6th hole was won by Steve Rogers and Anthony Guy had the only 2 of the day at the 18th hole.
Results:
Some generally good golf was enjoyed by most on the day as was a delightful evening repast consisting of the customary S&K pie.
Winners: DAVE BOLTON- GAVIN PEAVOY – 43 points. 2nd Place: DEREK MEE – ANTHONY GUY – 42 points 3rd Place: BOB BOLTON- ALAN STEWART – 41 points
PAUL SMITH & GUEST - 40 points; CAPTAIN – CLIVE ALLEN – 39 points; STEVE ROGERS—TONY RYAN – 38 points; KEN BUCKLEY STEVE FLETCHER – 37 points
BILLY HOWARD JOHN EVANS – 37 points; CLIVE KIRKHAM- NICK HAMBLIN – 37 points; HOWARD ANSON - MATT HATTON – 36 points
PHIL SULLIVAN – RICK SULLIVAN – 35 points; CHRIS LEYLAND – DECLAN McKENNA – 35 points; MONTY MILNER- LES ASHCROFT – 34 points;
MIKE WILLIAMS - GRAHAM CHENERY – 31 points
The inaugural Monty Milner Trophy
Thursday 18th July 2013 / Whitefield G.C.
They say the sun shines on the righteous and it certainly did today for the first Monty Milner trophy. The hottest day of the year at 30+ degrees served up a 'hot' energy sapping course that took its toll on the assembled golfers. Monty, enjoying his first year of playing unrestricted golf, free from the rigours of being our secretary, a role he performed splendidly for nearly a quarter of a century, was completely focussed on taking home his own trophy. Fully equipped and ready for action Monty had completed his latest session with golf's greatest secret 'The Mind Factor'. Sadly his mind was to prove the Xfactor and he came away reporting that a restricted number of clubs (14) was unreasonable for Whitefield as he required a cannon as well. He also asked for his old job back as he lost a card playoff for the first time (something that would never of happened in 'his day'). Thank you Monty for the generous donation of such a handsome trophy - we understand it was modelled on it's donor!
Results:
Anyway to the scores and prize winners on a course that Steve Kelsall said of, 'I can't remember playing anywhere with such spectacular par 3's'.
Our winner today with a score of 34 points was Colin Axon. Winner of the 20+ handicap prize was the evergreen (or is that ever off the green?) David Wilkinson. The exertion was to prove too much for Dave who had to have his batteries recharged as the photo at the bottom of this report shows! The front 9 was won with 18 points by Steve Fletcher and Monty was eclipsed by Malcolm Ealand on a card playoff for the back 9, also with 18 points. Nearest the pin was won by John Evans and surprise surprise Anthony Guy won the guest prize with the high score of the day 38 points.
The Autumn Meeting
8th October 2013 / Wilmslow G.C.
Our last meet of the year under the supreme captaincy of Jim Sinclair Smith. Rarely has a captain presided over every meet and delivered excellent weather at all times but Jim certainly has and the Autumn meeting was no exception as he brought the curtain down to his 'on-course' term of office. It was a positively balmy day for early October to round off a fabulous summer of sun and fun. Wilmslow was in magnificent condition and there were some excellent score from the 33 golfers that attended.
In the end it turned out to be the Chris Bamford benefit day as he cleaned up most of the major prizes. His winning score of 40 points off 15 handicap gave him a clear victory from second placed Dave Bolton with 37 points and Robin Wiltshire with 35 points. Chris collected the John Cartwright Autumn meeting trophy and then snaffled the NABS trophy by virtue of adding his spring meeting score of 38 points to his 40 points autumn score giving a tally of 78 points, some 11 points better than second placed Colin Axon. Chris also knocked his tee shot about 3 feet away from the pin on the 9th hole to win the nearest the pin prize as well. He then proceeded to slot the putt for a two and a nice bottle of red.
In the 20+ handicap category Ken tried to award David Wilkinson the prize for his excellent score of 32 points off 27 handicap. Ken did indeed award Wilko the prize and his photo was duly taken for posterity. However Wilko was stripped of this prestigious award following a stewards inquiry after Lee Thomason bleated on about his score being 35 points off a 20 handicap. Wilko was beside himself, distraught and devastated whilst Thomason showed no remorse as he snatched the prize from Wilko's sweaty grasp - shame on you Thommo, no photo for you!
Front and back 9 winners were the serial prize winning duo of Robin Wiltshire and Dave Bolton with 19 and 21 points respectively and the Ted bates trophy which is awarded to the best combined spring and autumn score from a past captain went to Ken Buckley for his 63 points.
Now here's a surprise - Anthony Guy won the guest prize. However this time he excelled himself and scored 39 points instead of his usual winning score of 38 points. I think it's time we started sending his cards back to Styal for handicap scrutiny.
Results:
Winner Autumn meeting trophy Chris Bamford (15 handicap) 40 points
20+ handicap category Lee Thomason (20 handicap) 35 points
Guest prize Anthony Guy (13 handicap) 39 points
Front 9 prize Robin Wiltshire 19 points
Back 9 prize dave Bolton 21 points
Nearest the pin on 9th hole Chris Bamford
NABS trophy winner Chris Bamford Spring 38 points + Autumn 40 points = 78 points
Ted Bates trophy Ken Buckley Spring 30 points + Autumn 33 points = 63 points
MAGS AGM
November 15th 2013 / Hazel Grove GC
Clive Kirkham becomes 52nd Captain
By way of a change this year the AGM was held at Hazel Grove and was preceded by a 15 hole Texas Scramble. It proved to be an inspired idea that we have to thank our Hon Sec Ken for introducing. The object of the exercise was to have a fun day of golf that extended the season and presented the opportunity for an early christmas luncheon amongst friends followed by the official business of the AGM. At just £20 for dinner and golf it was a huge hit with those that attended and according to Ken is a definite for 2014.
In the inimitable style of his predecessor, Ken managed to wangle himself into the winning team, although most people seemed to walk away with a prize due to a surplus of bottles collected over the season via Ken's Irish bingo!
Outgoing Captain Jim Sinclair Smith gave a farewell speech thanking everyone for a memorable year and wished Clive Kirkham every success for 2014. Newly anointed Captain Clive then addressed the assembled throng and laid down a marker for what is to come with his usual wit and repartee - 2014 should be a roller coaster for us all!