General Club Noticeboard

On Tuesday August 13^th, 45 Seniors braved strong winds and fast greens to play in the 9^th Stableford competition of the year. The competition was played on the Belmont course (holes 10-27) and the greens had been solid tined and rolled, making putting a bit of a challenge in the windy conditions.

The scores were the lowest we’ve seen this year, mainly due to the tough conditions. The winner with 33 points was Tim Stubbs on countback from 3 others, also on 33 points!

First the heat wave and then torrential rain...what a difference a week makes!

36 Belton Park Ladies visited Ruddington Grange for the annual competition at another club, The Travelling Trophy. Starting out in dull weather, the competition was reduced from 18 holes to nine after torrential rain and the threat of thunderstorms.

The staff at Ruddington Grange rose to the challenge, brought the meal forward and all ended well.

Prize winners were;
1st - Julie Beanland, Veronica Rose, Sue Hall and Yvonne Bashford (43 points)
2nd - Annette Fordham, Jools Taylor, Sue and Jeanette Strutt (41 points)
3rd - Pam Wiggins, Sue Walker-Sherriff, Reine O'Reilly and Helen Long (40 points)
Nearest the pin - Helen Long

Thanks to Enid Maltby or hosting the Ruddington ladies on their trip to Belton Park.

On Tuesday, August 6^th 35 Seniors competed for the Colin Ryan Cup. The Colin Ryan Cup is the second of two medal competitions where the best combined gross score from this and the John Cowe Cup count towards the Ian Lindsay Trophy - the Seniors Scratch Championship.

The weather was excellent and the course was in superb condition. The winner on the day was Ken Ackroyd with a net score of 69! Ken received a 3 shot cut to his handicap!

The winner of the Ian Lindsay trophy with a combined gross score of 155 for the two rounds was Tim Stubbs playing off a handicap of 6.

On Thursday, August 8^th the Seniors from Belton Park travelled to Market Rasen for a friendly match. The match was indeed very friendly and everyone enjoyed the course, the excellent hospitality and the food after the match. The weather on Thursday was superb; warm and sunny, a big contrast to the home fixture earlier in the year which was cancelled due to bad weather.

The course is still recovering from the hot summer of 2018, but the greens were very smooth having been ironed with the new greens iron.

Captain Mike Collins, fresh from his holiday, and his partner Dave Martin led the charge with a good win. The second pair of Pete Long and Gary Hill fought back from 3 down at the turn to all square going up the 18^th until the Market Rasen Vice Captain Steve drained a 60ft putt for a birdie 2 on the last hole! However, the overall result was an excellent away win for the Belton Park team 5-3, the second away win of the season!

The Belton Park C team travelled to Rutland County for a return match, already proud of a home win and determined to do the double. Due to a diary administrative error, Rutland County’s Captain Keith Wright had to get a team together at short notice as the team sheet had the next day as the match date!

The Rutland County course had major differences to Belton Park, such as slow greens, fluffy fairways and tee boxes, which was a total opposite to the Belton Park course. These conditions gave the home team an advantage, nearly all Belton Park’s team suffered lagged putts.

The first pair of Captain Ian Carroll and John Cooke started badly for the Belton Park team, but they ended up winning 4&3. The second pair of Andy MacGowan and Kevin Smith had a good win 4&2. Andy had previously led the team for the home match, winning his game 5&4. The third pair of Kevin Phillips and Tom Parry showed the rest of the team the way, by out golfing the previous two pairs to achieve a 5&4 win - very good golf! The fourth pair of Garry Taylor & Robb Tapp had a difficult time as their opposition decided to play 5 under their handicap and Rutland County’s Peter Chippendale and his partner had a good 3&2 win. Nigel Rodway and Ajay Panchal came in next, fighting all the way through to the last hole but alas lost it on the 18^th. The best performance of the day came from Dish Patel who shot a gross 31 on the front 9, sinking putts from everywhere! Well played Dish, that’s how it’s done! Dish was partnered by Martin Clarke. Martin and Dish have at last gone on to the best player of the year awards list! 

Two fully prepared teams came head to head, both wanting to win, and Radcliffe were trying to preserve their unbeaten record so far this season. The Belton Park course was set up beautifully, with clearly defined fairways, but with slightly slower greens due to heavy rain storms. 

Captain Ian Carroll and partner Clive Horn took on Radcliffe’s Captain Zog and John Mc Beth. This match was very close, both on handicaps and on the final result, the Belton pair losing 2&1. The 2^nd Belton pair of Andy MacGowan and Alec Sherwin took no prisoners, winning with a fantastic 7&6 and will go on to the best players of the year award.  

With five games completed, Radcliffe were winning the match 3-2 and there was a tense wait for the final game to finish. Some 15 minutes later the 3^rd Belton pair of Ben Bayliss and Kevin Smith appeared and there were smiles on the Belton Park team’s faces with a 2 up win to halve the overall match 3-3. Radcliffe remain undefeated this season and the Belton Park team will travel to Radcliffe in a couple of weeks to try and end their unbeaten record.