Captains’ Days held at Melton Mowbray GC

A very strong field of 142 golfers, both men and women turned, out for John Harvey’s Captains Day at melton Mowbray Golf Club.
MMGC Captain John Harvey welcoming golfers to his Captain's Competition, from left to right Gav Baxter, Captain John Harvey, Rob Smith and Oscar Baxter.MMGC Captain John Harvey welcoming golfers to his Captain's Competition, from left to right Gav Baxter, Captain John Harvey, Rob Smith and Oscar Baxter.
MMGC Captain John Harvey welcoming golfers to his Captain's Competition, from left to right Gav Baxter, Captain John Harvey, Rob Smith and Oscar Baxter.

The day started quite cool and breezy but dry, favouring some of the early golfers.

The afternoon proved somewhat different and very testing for everyone with the occasional heavy shower.

Results: Mens Division 1 (Handicap 1-13): 1 Jonathan Wade 39pts, 2 Frazer Jones 38pts, 3 Richard South 37pts ocb, 4 Brian Cole 37pts, 5 Phil Curtis 36pts; Mens Division 2 (Handicap 14-19): 1 Jordan Hirst 41pts, 2 Kevin Rate 38pts ocb, 3 John Squires 38pts, 4 Mike Hoggan 37pts ocb, 5 Anthony Halls 37 pts; Mens Division 3 (Handicap 20+): 1 Joe Anderson 34 pts ocb, 2 Alan Hodgkinson 34pts, 3 David Mckain 33pts ocb, 4 Doug Woolley 33pts ocb, 5 Colin Kitchen 33pts; Ladies: 1 Nancy Denny 38pts, 2 Liz Snow 35pts, 3 Dee Hughes 32pts; Juniors: 1 Spencer Parker, 2 Charlie Haffenden.

The winners at Lady captain's Day.The winners at Lady captain's Day.
The winners at Lady captain's Day.

The straightest drives were Clive Sharpe and Mick Wilson (both actually on the line), nearest the pin in two (Hole 3) was Liam Wright and ladies’ nearest the pin (Hole 14) was Pat Barnes.

The mens nearest the pin on (Hole 16) was Darren Mackie and the Captain’s Trophy for single figure handicap went to Mick Wilson with 34pts.

On an incredibly hot and windless day, 31 ladies set out for a challenging 18 holes of golf on Lady Captain’s Day.

Lady Captain Jackie Fisher, had organised a fun competition and in honour of the Glorious Twelfth. Not only was the longest drive on this hole, but two sneaky forfeit bunkers as well.

The individual winners at Kenwick Park.The individual winners at Kenwick Park.
The individual winners at Kenwick Park.

In first were Julia Brown, Karen Middleton, Bettyne Norton and ghost player Janet Bentley with 88 points, ahead of second place Joan Allen, Pat Barnes, Maureen McCall and Glynis Breward with 84 points and Sally Hudson, Chris Cook, Sue Stimson and ‘Drina Terzza with 80 points in third.

Longest drive on the 12th was Dee Hughes and closest the pin on the 14th was Chris Cook.

Nineteen ladies joined Lady Captain Jackie Fisher at Kenwick Park for an away break.

Rain interrupted play for some on the first day, but some stalwarts made it all the way round.

The team winners at Kenwick Park.The team winners at Kenwick Park.
The team winners at Kenwick Park.

In first place were Lady Captain Jackie Fisher, Lady Vice Captain Margaret Samways, Dee Hughes and, ghost player, Jane Berry.

Golfing on the second day was a much more pleasant experience, at least in terms of the weather.

The winning player was Dee Hughes with 31 points. In second place was Sue Hitchman and third was Nancy Denny.

Nearest the pin on the 12th was Maureen McCall and the team with all drives on the fairway of the 13th was Elaine Howarth, Sally Hudson and Margaret Smale.

From left to right are Tony Westwood (Melton Golf Professional), amateur Andy Blunt and Forest Hill Professional Martin Brutnall and amateur Paul Turner at the Pro-Am.From left to right are Tony Westwood (Melton Golf Professional), amateur Andy Blunt and Forest Hill Professional Martin Brutnall and amateur Paul Turner at the Pro-Am.
From left to right are Tony Westwood (Melton Golf Professional), amateur Andy Blunt and Forest Hill Professional Martin Brutnall and amateur Paul Turner at the Pro-Am.

On Saturday, Melton golfers braved the cold and wind to compete in the Medal Competition.

Results: Division 1: 1 John Burgess net 69, 2 Kieran Foster net 70, 3 Frazer Jones net 70, 4 Martin Wheeler net 70, 5 Steve Harrison net 71; Division 2: 1 Steve Brown net 69, 2 Darren Mackie net 70, 3 Joseph Carnell net 71, 4 Daid Mckain net 72.

Best gross of the day was Kieran Foster 70

The twos sweep was shared by Ben Manship, Gerry Stephens (two), Neil Travis, Kevin Robertson, Jack Inguanta, John Harvey, Andrew Spencer, Kieron Foster, Frazer Jones, James Denny.

The third round of the PRO-AM challenge between Melton Golf Club and Forest Hill took place on Sunday and Melton were looking to revenge the defeat last year.

It was Forest Hill who took the early initiative by winning the first hole.

The next two holes were halved until Melton took the fourth and fifth to go 1 up, all square at the sixth and Melton again took the lead at the seventh.

Even the best suffer with nerves with the occasional wayward shots from both professionals.

A win at the ninth for Forest Hill would make it all square at the turn.

Melton won the 10th and 11th, only for their opponents to have an excellent birdie at the 12th and again pull one back.

A wayward drive on the 15th gave Melton the opportunity, which they took advantage of and went 2 up.

The win was finally executed on the 16th by chip to within 12 ft by Tony and a well taken putt by Andy Blunt, only for Forest Hill to miss their putt.

The final score after some excellent golf by both pairings was a win 3&2 to Melton Mowbray.

Melton are waiting for notification of their next opponents.

Forty pairs played Stoke Rochford Seniors annual Invitation, another successful event organised by Vice-Captain David Hamilton, who was ably assisted by Darrell Knight, Keith Eddy and starter Don Clements.

Results (Stoke Rochford player named first): 1 Barry Mitchell and M.Hook (Lincoln GC) with 47pts, 2 Steve Cullington and W. Wallace (Spalding) 43pts, 3 Eddie Plant & S. Stout (Wollaton Pk) 43pts, 4 Barry Coop & R. Topping (Erewash Valley) 43pts, 5 Brian Ayto & P. Cunniff (Nottinghamshire) 43pts.

Nearest the pin winners were Ken Taylor & P. Towers (3rd), Mike Nixon & M. Eggleston (1th), David Swaithe & P. Gittings (17th).

Due to delays caused by Covid restrictions the Stoke Rochford Seniors Winter League final was completed this week.

The holders Ernie Armstrong and Alan Church were defending their title against Barry Coop and Don Pennycook.

Barry and Don played well together using their shots to great advantage to get four up by the 10th hole, at which point the heaven opened. After halving the 10th, a birdie on the 12th and a win on the 13th completed a fine win for Barry and Don to become champions by a comfortable 6&5.