A Message from the Captain...
SO, another season is nearly over; one which leaves much to be satisfied over and much to anticipate. We saw the Society’s over-50s scratch team triumph in the Cyril Gray, only the third competition the Society has won in nearly one hundred years of trying. Congratulations are due to Martin Hayes and his team, and you can read a full account of their exploits elsewhere in this issue. Martin himself became only the sixth recipient of an Outstanding Contribution Award from the Society, a recognition of his hundred appearances in the Halford Hewitt, as well as for bringing home the Cyril Gray.
We did not repeat the success in the other major competitions, the Hewitt and the Grafton Morrish, but the Society is blessed with an abundance of talent in its younger cohorts (there are fifteen OWs with plus handicaps), and one senses it can only be a matter of time before they go on a sustained run of wins. There is also a significant sum of money in the Support Fund which I focussed upon during the year, the purpose of which is to encourage participation in those ‘majors’ by the best players, regardless of their personal finances. Thanks to your generosity, over £1,500 was raised in cash, with pledges of nearly £1000 annually in the future. This will help especially youngsters to play, without concerns about
Who Can Join?
accommodation, travel costs etc.
We held four open meetings – open to all members, that is – and four matches against other OB sides or clubs. We are hopeful of organising more such matches in years ahead, at attractive courses but at a reasonable cost, with an aim of getting all our members involved, from every generation. Our membership totals 136, up about 10% on the year, which is a testament to the opportunities for golf provided by the Society, but participation levels are not as high as we would like them to be. We will try to entice more of you to join us.
Congratulations to the following winners of our open meetings – Don Anderson, Nick Chatham, Tony Harris and Dudley Thompson, and also to whomever takes the honours in the only meeting still outstanding, the Scratch Cup, which is intended this year to be played as foursomes, rather than singles, given that it is intended to kick off preparations over the winter for the Hewitt, a foursomes competition.
Happy golfing!
Alan Scovell
CAPTAIN, OWGS, 2024
All Old Whitgiftians, pupils and staff of Whitgift School, and parents of pupils, qualify to join, male or female. Others who have a close connection with the School are also welcome and golfers of all handicaps are encouraged to apply.
As a member you will have the chance to meet up with peers, colleagues or teachers. The annual subscription is currently just £35 Please contact the Hon Secretary Peter Gale at: honsec@oldwhitsgolf.com
President’s Day at Hever Castle
A rare sunny day, for the most part, saw us turn up in reasonable numbers to Hever Castle GC – or at least try to turn up. We had been warned beforehand that there would be roadworks outside the club, but they proved a little more expansive than had been expected, to the extent that all approach roads were marked as ‘road closed’, except that some of them really weren’t. Anyway, most – but not all – made it through.
Hever is a nice course, but very long, so probably not for the faint-hearted; its 17th measures well over 600 yards. And there is plenty of water; it has its own version of Augusta’s ‘Amen Corner’, except that
Nick Chatham
including his brother and his other half, and scored an impressive 32 points, to lift the President’s Prize (a very heavy box from Fortnum & Mason). He narrowly beat Alan Scovell (31) and Martin Hayes (30). Brother Mark Chatham and Jerry Hamley won the two ‘nearest the pin’ prizes.
In addition to the prizes for the day itself, a presentation was made to Martin Hayes (left) of an ‘Outstanding Contribution Award’ for his many feats over a fortyfour year OWGS career, including 102 Hewitt appearances, plus 59 in the Grafton Morrish and Cyril Gray, combined. Furthermore, his overall win rate exceeds 60%, a significant achievement.
This year, the icing on the cake has been to captain Whitgift’s winning team in the 2024 Cyril Gray scoring five points out of five in his own matches.
The Hornsey-Walker and Veteran’s Cup at Sweetwoods
On 15th August 15 OWs gathered for an event that combined the Hornsey-Walker trophy, the longest running event of the society, with the Veteran’s Cup, open to the over 65s. The venue, Sweetwoods, near Sevenoaks on the Kent/Sussex border, was new to the society, and to almost all the players. Despite a few scary looking holes, most of it was very fair, with wide fairways, and it proved a very enjoyable venue.
We started with a lunch, followed by a 2pm tee-off in four groups. During lunch we observed a minute’s silence in memory of Ken Anderson, who sadly passed away the previous week. In the end we had three players tied on 36 points, a commendable score given the very tricky greens. Tony Harris (pictured right) took first place on a six-hole countback, and so won the Hornsey Walker trophy. Don Anderson (far right) came second, and so won the Veteran’s Cup Martin Hayes played sublime golf playing off a 2 handicap, but had no luck with his many birdie putts, so finished in an unlucky 3rd place on his 36 points. All in all, we discovered a very enjoyable golf course and had some worthy winners.
Captain Alan Scovell, Nick Chatham & President Pip Burley
THE CYRIL GRAY 2024 - a Tournament Win for Whitgift!
The Cyril Gray is a scratch foursomes competition played every year at Worplesdon, contested by the last 32 schools to enter the Halford Hewitt It is limited to players over 50 years of age. There are three pairs per side, and the competition is a straight knockout, one school against another.
The first two rounds saw reasonably comfortable wins against Ampleforth and Fettes, the latter a school who had previously held a winning 7-2 record against Whitgift.
The quarter-final against Watson’s was a much tougher proposition. The pivotal match turned out to be the top pairing, where Whitgift found themselves needing to hole a knee-trembling fivefooter for par on 17 to stay level. On the 18th , Martin Hayes sent his drive about 290 yards down the middle of the fairway, whilst his Watson’s opponent was probably about 50 yards further back. Watson’s approach was to the left-hand side of the green and toppled over the bank into quite a deep swale, whilst Neill Williams, ever the calm executioner, delivered a 150-yard wedge to within four feet of the hole. Watson’s failed to make par and conceded the match, and thereby the tie. A 2-1 win for Whitgift, in what proved to be the closest tie of Whitgift’s tournament.
The last day dawned, with the good weather still on offer, plus a semi-final against local rivals Epsom, who appeared to flip their playing order, with the strongest going last. Match 3 was going to be tricky. It was. Try as they might, Nic Gates & Jonny Ufton never really got into the game, were six down after twelve holes, and lost soon after. However, the top two pairs took things in their stride and both emerged as fairly comfortable winners, with everything over by the 15th hole.
Whitgift’s opponents in the final were Chigwell, who had a much closer semi-final against Merchiston, with the match taken to extra holes before it was decided, thus leaving Chigwell less time to prepare for the afternoon. Whitgift, meanwhile, had a fairly relaxing lunch
Miracle of the Macon
Domaine de Rochebin Macon Villages 2022 is described as “Deliciously light in body, vivaciously fresh and clean. Peach stone fruits, pear, apple and melon with a hint of cream oak and nuttiness. Refreshing, balancing acidity with lovely light minerals.” More recent empirical analysis suggests it is also good for your golf!
Certainly Gates & Ufton, soundly beaten in the morning, emerged stunningly fortified in the afternoon, playing in the third pair with a refreshed freedom and confidence. A rifled iron into the fourth
green by Gates set up Ufton for an 8foot birdie two and set the tone for the front nine, from which they extracted a 3-up lead.
The top two matches were much closer affairs, and were ultimately shared, with Hayes & Williams winning 3&2, whilst Richard Gibson & Nick Edwards lost 2&1. So, all attention shifted back on the third match, which reached the 15th green with Gates & Ufton still 3 up, but with Gates marginally wide with a 15-foot effort from the side of the green to win the hole and the match. 3up with 3 to play, and a crowd of people gathered around the par 3 16th green, including the Cyril Gray President in a buggy holding an inviting glass of wine –was it the de Rochebin? Gates hit an iron about 25 foot past the pin, straight but all downhill from there. Chigwell were closer, so Jonny Ufton had to putt first, hitting a finely judged putt which was never moving fast but still managed to trickle past the hole, leaving his partner with a 3-foot putt, but importantly, uphill. Chigwell just failed with their effort from about 15 feet, leaving Nic Gates with the opportunity to make the winning putt. Which he duly took (photo).
Congratulations to all who played, including Mark Haswell and Alan Scovell in round 1. Martin Hayes emerged from the week with five points out of 5, followed by Neill Williams 4 out of 4, and Richard Gibson and Nick Edwards, both 4 out of 5. Nic Gates and Jonny Ufton won the deciding match and are seeking sponsorship from de Rocebin. Peter Gale
Croham Hurst Win at Home
Tony Harris reports below on the outcome of the match against Croham Hurst Golf Club.
“On Thursday afternoon 22nd August ten of us renewed our long-standing fixture with Croham Hurst . The course was in excellent condition, we dodged the rain, and as usual the Croham members were excellent hosts and we enjoyed the traditional fish and chip supper afterwards
Congratulations to Gerald Law and his son Leander for their halved match. Suffice to say the other four matches were enjoyed but unsuccessful. “
The winning Whitgift team with trophy – Nic Gates, Richard Gibson, Martin Hayes, Nick Edwards, Johnny Ufton & Neill Williams
Heavy Going at The Grafton Morrish
The Grafton Morrish began – for your correspondent – with the not-so-gentle sound of a 50mph northerly rustling the roof tiles and horizontal rain lashing the window of his room. Several layers of windproof and waterproofs later, and we arrived at the clubhouse of Royal West Norfolk GC, which is sometimes cut off by the highest tides and looks somewhat forbidding as it appears on the coastline in the gloom of an early (7.40am) start. A certain sense of hysteria was noted in those within the clubhouse; everyone amused at the ridiculousness of trying to play golf in such conditions, which, even if the rain relented in time for the start, caused the Brancaster sand dunes to deposit much of their content into the eyes of the players. I cannot remember seeing so many provisional balls being hit (by both sides). It was chaotic. Bags of clubs and trolleys were being blown over time and time again. The opening drives of both Whitgift and Malvern had to be retaken, both having been aimed left and finishing 100 yards right; Whitgift lost the hole to a seven. It was brutal, all the more so when the rain reappeared mid-round.
All three of Whitgift’s pairs – Harrison Sellers/Jack Raison; Max Stanley /Toby Kemp; and Matt Webster/Nick BaxterBrand - made a shaky start, and the scoreboard (had there been one) would not have looked kind to Whitgift during the outward half. Things got better at the turn; having been 4 down after 9 holes, Webster/Baxter-Brand started a recovery, as did Sellers/Raison, who had been 5 down after 8, but then won two holes on the bounce. The middle match however, was closer throughout. Could the mother-of-all-comebacks be on the cards? Unfortunately, no. Sellers/Raison eventually went down to a 3&2 defeat, whilst both matches behind them went down the 18th. Kemp/Stanley got back to level at 16, only for Stanley to be blown off balance during his tee shot to 17, resulting in a 1-down defeat. Webster/Baxter-Brand continued their recovery all the way, eventually levelling things up on 18. So, a closer match than the scoreline suggests, but nonetheless a first-round defeat. Loretto may have lost the Hewitt this year, but they ended up as Grafton Morrish champions.
Peter Gale
The Autumn Tour Visited ... Norfolk.
Apparently, this is the country’s driest county, although that reputation was not enhanced over the three days of the tour
Admittedly the first day’s golf at Bungay was technically in Suffolk, by the slimmest of margins, but the weather was most definitely coming from its neighbour, and it was very very wet, testing to the limit the waterproof qualities of the outerwear. The golf lasted merely the ten holes necessary to get back to the clubhouse, which was a shame because Bungay is a nice course, and a bit of a steal at a £33 green fee.
Gorleston was not quite as wet as the previous day, probably because the wind was so strong that it blew most of the rain on to Bungay and beyond. With the previous day’s results rendered null and void, this was the first round to count towards any awards, but stableford scores varied between 17 and 30, indicating the difficulty most of the party found with the conditions. Another nice course; definitely a test when the wind blows.
Great Yarmouth and Caister GC on Thursday was a different proposition altogether. Built in and around the racecourse, the greens were generally good but, even allowing for the hollow-tining being done, some of the fairways resembled Big Side on a bad day in the 60s. Scoring however was better, because of the sunny and relatively calm weather, by an average of about four shots compared to the previous day.
Tony Mason was a deserved overall winner, hoovering up with scores of 30 points and 34 points on the two days, and emerging as overall winner and eclectic winner, as well as leading Cross’s to retention of the ‘house’ trophy. Martin Hayes showed his class in terms of the number of ‘nearest the pins’ that he won.
Cuddington Draws the Season to an End
The season meanders to its conclusion, and the final open meeting of the season took place at Cuddington on what was, at first, quite a bright afternoon. The scoring was generally impressive. There were seven scores of 34 points and upwards, but the leading three all came in the first group to go out; former President Dudley Thompson scored a magnificent 40 points, winning the Autumn Cup, edging out his playing partners Mike Berners-Price (38) and Ben Rudall (37). Ironically most people seemed to score better on the second nine (when it was raining) than on the first (when it was not)! Prizes were awarded by Tony Harris over Cuddington’s ‘Golfers’ Grill’, which appeared to be greatly enjoyed
Dudley Thompson and Tony Harris
Harrison Sellers and Jack Raison