First-4-Golf

Better weather I’m sure that you will agree, but the high winds certainly played havoc with the scores of club competitions. Wind has a devastating effect in that for a right handed player, wind from the left to the right of the golf course can be a nightmare in shot making terms. Most right hander’s have a propensity to move the ball from left to right in the air during flight. If this flight can be reproduced on a regular basis, and moves about the same distance off centre each time, then we refer to it as a “fade”. There is a fine margin of error between that stroke and a more powerful movement to the right, usually with the ball landing in the right hand rough, which on this occasion is referred to as a “slice”, caused by the club face contacting the ball when it is usually facing about one o’clock relative to a twelve a clock desired direction. And then there’s the descending angle of the swing…but that another long story.

Suffice to say, the faders and slicers had an interesting weekend as the winds persevered over the two days, a fact highlighted by Phil Coleman of the Vale of Llangollen golf club when he reported the Sunday morning Draw for Partners results which involved no less than fifty seven players.

With scores reflecting the conditions somewhat, the winners were J T Hughes and Bill Matthews with just 32 points compared with about 37 of last week. Trefor Jones and Phil Jones came in second with 30 from third placed Neil A. Jones and Malcolm Delaney, the newly installed club captain, on 28. Barry Pearce and Del Williams submitted identical numbers but suffered as a result of a card scrutiny over the closing five holes.

The tee pegs went to Frank Owen and Dave Dermott with 18 points whereas the tee pegs are usually worthy of about 24. Three players achieved birdie twos on the eighteenth hole and carried off fifteen balls each for their trouble.

Wrexham entered the third week of the Sunday morning league and again suffered from the wind over this exposed links. Winners this week with 38 points were Ian Darlington and Mike Fellowes followed by Danny Moore and Paul Hogan on 37. This is the third week that Paul has featured in the first two places so he obviously finds the competition to his liking. Duncan Fellowes and Mike Darlington were in third place with 35 with Paul Roberts and Andre Jones fourth on 32. I’m sure that next week Paul will inform me of how many players participate in the event each week which has proved to be very popular in the past.

Wrexham ladies played a nine holes better ball off 7/8 of handicap allowance and witnessed a win for the partnership of Pauline Archer and Della Evans with 18 points resulting in a card scrutiny for the lead position from five cards with the same total there were twenty entries all told.

Clays golf club continues to provide members with a full programme of competitive events despite indifferent conditions. The Seniors Kitty competition of 23^rd of the month resulted in a win for Phil Hughes on 41 points from second placed Ernie Williams on 39 and then Mike Hollings with 38. The fourth spot was occupied by Bill Hughes on 37 points, a score also returned by fifth placed Peter Lynch and ranked on count back.

The Senior Winter medal was played through two divisions and played as a Stableford counting event, rather a contradiction in golfing terms, but highly popular to say the least. Winner of division one was Andrew Mitchell with 41 points from second placed Michael Carding on 39 and Ernest Williams on 36.

The second division went to Eifion Wynn Jenkins with 37 points from Steve Monk on 37 and Lynne Mitchell on exactly the same figures, all three being ranked into order by back nine scores.

The Sunday Winter league for men was won by Kevin Scaife on 42 points followed by MK Jones on 39  and Karl Matthias on 38, whilst the Shop Stableford went to Gareth Roberts with 37 points followed by second placed Colin Bryan on 37 and David Riley on 32.

Well, we appear to have experienced three seasons in the space of a week as golfers have confronted high winds, sharp frosts and cold winds for the last week or so which has culminated in a splurge of activity around the coffee machines and a boost in the income of the snooker tables.

Frost really is a two edged sword in that it is necessary to ward off all manner of summer maladies that golf courses suffer from by freezing out dormant remains already in the turf, but the downside is that is really is very difficult to deliver iron shots from rock hard ground as the old adage” ball first, turf last” could easily mean sprained wrists and sore hands for days to come.

The other unfortunate side effect is caused when the thaw sets in. Turf thaws from the top downwards so that the upper levels can be soft, but as hard as nails a half inch below the surface. Walking and turning on the greens can have a “shearing” effect when shoes create twisting actions on the surface resulting in the roots suffering damage which can take literally weeks to repair. So, there is no problem playing on hard greens, but be careful how you tread during the thaw.

The Vale of Llangollen experienced severe frost last Sunday morning which did little to relent during the weekend due to the fact that the course lies in the shadow of theBerwynMountains, so preventing sunlight ever reaching the fairways. Never the less, a hardy band of some thirty eight players turned up for the Sunday draw for partners event which is now in its second week. Winners were Ian Harrison and Gareth Edwards on 39 points from second placed Gary Wright and Ian Faulkner on 36. Third came Glyndwr Williams and Wyn Jones with the better of two 35 point cards, the other belonging to Gareth Austin and Charles Benson. The tee pegs for the scores which failed to impress the other competitors were submitted by single figure golfers Dai Thomas and Gary Tweedie who amassed just 24 points, and the ball sweep went to new member Barry Brand who offered the only birdie two on the eighteenth hole and carried off thirty golf balls.

Wrexham played their Sunday Winter league and my thanks again to Paul Hogan for the emailed results. Winners were Andre Jones and Paul himself with 39 points followed by Daniel Darlington and Paul’s father John with 38. Third place went to Les Shoemark and Mike Darlington with 35, with Dan Moore and Duncan Fellowes in fourth spot with 31.

Derek Lyonof Clays golf club has again forwarded several results, some of which arrived on my desk a fraction too late for last weeks issue. The Captain’s drive in event was played on Saturday 7^th January and resulted in a win for Nigel Young with 39 points from second placed Ian Samuels on 38 and Tim Broster with a similar score. The Ladies’ Captains competition went the way ofKim Harcombe on 33 points followed by Anne Richards with 31 and lady captain Ann Lee with 30.

The Ladies Sunday winter league played the following day was won again byKim Harcombewith 30 points and she in turn was followed by Pauline Peacock on 25.

The club Sunday winter league featured a win for Andrew Jones on 41 points. Second came Neil Gledhill with 38 and third was last year’s captain Reg Peacock on 37.

The Seniors yellow ball event went to the fourball of Tom Mara, Maelor Davies, Ray Jones and Tony Owen with 176 points. Second in the competition were Brian Mercer, Brian Downes, Ron Pierce and Peter Lynch with 172.

The Seniors’ individual Stableford was won by Graham Stokes on 38 points from Joe White on 38 and Noel Jones with 37.

More recent results from Derek reveal that the Seniors Mexican Texas Scramble, despite a blur of nationalities in the title, went to Tony Harcombe, Brian Mercer, John Kelly and Noel Jones on 60.8 and a count back for second place with Harold Hughes, Graham Stokes, Eifion Jenkins and Bill Parry with 60.8. Reg Taylor, Peter Frazer,Fred Courtand Tom Mara were in third place with 61.9.

The ladies’ Winter league went to new member Janet Pritchard with 35 points from second placed Diane Dare on a similar card. Third came Shirley Roberts with 31 points.

The Club monthly medal was played through three divisions as a non counting event.

Leading division one was Karl Matthias with net 69. He was followed by Frank Rodenhurst with net 72 and then Graham David Jones with 73.

The second division featured a win for Paul Jeffs with 67 and he was in turn followed by Reg Peacock on 69 and then Shaun Benson with a 70.

The third division went the way of Neil Gledhill with 73 from second placed Robert Jarvis on 73 and Paul Venn on 75.

 This week’s ladies’ winter league sawKim Harcombeagain sit on the victrix’s chair with 31 points. She was followed by Pauline Peacock on 25 points.

I was pleased to receive an email from Paul Hogan who, with his father John Hogan, are instrumental in running the Winter league at Wrexham Golf club. This is the opening match of the winter series, and bodes well for the future with these two reporting results on a regular basis.

Coincidentally Paul featured as one of the winning pair last Sunday when, partnered by Ian Darlington, they assembled 43 points to lead by a point from Phil Tunnah and Danny Moore on 42 with Clive Griffiths and Andre Jones in third place on the same numbers. Duncan Fellowes, who has also been a stalwart of the organization, partneredJohn Williamsto fourth place with 39 points.

Phil Coleman resumes his mantle as press officer for the Vale of Llangollen veterans in informing me of last Sundays “draw for partners” event which attracted fifty nine players for this the first outing of the series. Played over thirteen holes starting on three separate tees, the winners this first week were Chris Spooner and Dave Roberts with 33 points. This score was replicated by second and third placed players who were ranked on the strength of the last five holes. Second came Bill Matthews and Gareth Edwards whilst Gary Wright and Brian Griffiths occupied third place. Fourth came Mike Hayhurst and Kevin Pennington with 32, and the tee pegs for the least good score of the morning were awarded to Scott Francis and Tony Mash with 24 points.

The Vets also competed in an individual medal event over a fourteen holes length course. Winner was Dai Thomas with 63 – 7 – 56 from second placed Del Williams on 72 – 13.2 – 58.8. Third came Vic Rogerson who submitted the exact same score as Del but with a less good few closing holes, thus the ranking order, with Dave (A.A.) Roberts in fourth spot with 80 – 15- 65.

Despite the very minor inconvenience of negotiating the road works near the entrance, Wrexham played a Mens’ Wednesday Stableford last week which witnessed a win for Adrian  Linford with 39 points. Replicating the score came second placed Steve Mackenzie with Mike Norton in third place with 38. Chris Wade was fourth with 37 followed in turn by Paul Norman on 36 and Mike Parsons on another 36 point card. Prizes were awarded to the top five competitors.

The Saturday Stableford featured a win for Andrew Harrington on 42 points which gave him a three point advantage over second placed Gary Murt on 39 and a further point over Andrew Hunt on 38. Tony Darlington was in fourth place with the better of five 37 point cards, the remainder going to Andy Bostock, Keith Fox, Paul Evans and Dewi Sides, all of the above receiving prizes in the competition.

 Derek Lyon of Clays reported on a couple of events from late December, firstly the Individual Stableford of 29^th which resulted in a win for Bob Brown on 42 points from second placed Tony Harcombe with 39 and Colin Brown on another 39 point card. Peter Lynch also returned 39 points with Mike Carding in fifth place on 37 and Stewart Poole sixth with yet another 37.

A little further back in December was a Seniors Individual Stableford which featured Ray Jones on the winners podium followed by Reg Taylor with the same 39 point total. Dave Lambert was in third place with 38 and Stewart Poole with 37 just beat Dave jones into fifth place with his 36 points.

The Seniors also played a Stableford in appalling conditions on 29^th December resulting in just twenty players braving the elements. Winner on this occasion was Ernie Williams with 40 points from Noel Jones with 39 and Andrew Mitchell on 38. Harold Hughes was in fourth place with 37 points, position determined by a count back over the closing holes.

Further to the Wrexham results earlier in the report, I now have available the results of Tuesday’s ladies’ competition which took the form of a three ball Am Am with the two best scores to count off a 7/8 handicap allowance.

Winners were Carole Jones, Jean Jones and Lynda Mellor with 37 points from second placed Jane Mullet Prandle, Ann Davies and Pat Whitehead with 36.

With weather closing in, and last weekend at the mercy of the elements, some of our group managed nine holes on Saturday morning before the lure of the coffee machine and bacon baps overtook the enthusiasm for plodding for another hour and a quarter playing very bad golf.

Sunday fared no better with ice being the main bugbear, the approach roads to the club having a treacherous sheen to them which was caused by steady drizzle which made matters worse. Still, the hardy few took to the course with gusto and appeared to all intents and purposes to be having a good time.

Results are always thin on the ground at this time of year, butDerek Lyonof Clays surpassed himself by providing five pages of A4 for my printer to disgorge which gave results of played matches, and the goings on at the Annual General meeting when all the officers of the club changed over.

The meeting was held on 12^th December, and outgoing captains, Reg Peacock and Diane Dare gave their reports on the preceding twelve months in the club. A financial report given by Treasurer Eifion Jenkins was also received by the members, and a further general report from the club secretary, Ray Martin.

Reg was succeeded as Captain by Gareth Roberts whose wife Shirley was appointed lady Vice captain in lieu of Anne Lee who in turn succeeded Diane Dare as Lady Captain for 2012. The junior captain was Jimmy Lee, Anne’s son.

 Anne has an excellent golfing pedigree in that she is the sister of Simon Edwards, professional at Windermere golf club who represented G.B & I. against theUSAin the PGA version of the Ryder Cup for club professionals. Her father is Wrexham golf club stalwart, Malcolm J. Edwards who has been a member of his club for over forty years.

The new seniors captain is Colin Brown who took over from Bob Brown who in turn was elected vice captain of the club for the coming twelve months.

Both retiring captains paid tribute to the efforts of the members whose efforts raised money for their charities namely Wrexham’s Family Friends and Home Start and Cancer Research, and mentioned the various successes that had come Clays’ way due to some excellent golf both by teams and individuals throughout 2011.

The Senior section played a “Christmas Bash” and a turkey trot last week, the former being played as a Texas scramble prior to the seniors’ Christmas party. Winning quartet were Jack Brown, Bob Brown, Stan Brookfield and Brian Mercer with 26.1 points. Runners up were Mike Jordan, Peter Almond, Steve Beech and Ron Pierce with 26.6 points, all the aforementioned starting their matches on the 1^st and 14^th tees.

Starting on the 5^th and the 10^th tees came winners Andrew Mitchell, Tony Owens and Ray Martin playing as a three ball and gaining 24.3 points. Obviously on the same numbers, a count back of scores on 24.3 ranked Brian Downes, Gerry Wooster, Stuart Miles and Dave Riley into second place for their efforts from their tees.

The Seniors’ Stableford on 15^th December was played as an individual event and witnessed a win for Noel Jones with 39 points from second placed Graham Stokes on another 38 point card. Peter Frazer was in third place with yet another similar score.Fred Court was fourth with 35 with Bill Parry emulating his score exactly for fifth place.

The conclusion of the AGM was the presentation of the prizes for the recently held Turkey Trots which have been faithfully recorded in this column week by week thanks to the valued contributions fromDerek Lyon.

It is a pleasure to forward all the best of the seasons’ greeting from the Executive and members of Clays to all who have supported the club these past twelve months.

Ever reliable Phil Coleman of the Vale of Llangollen golf club informs me that the Sunday morning “draw for partners” event will commence on January 9^th. Now in its 38^th year since its inception in 1975, the event sees members meeting in the clubhouse at 8.15 a.m. for the draw followed by rapid dispersal to three tees for a simultaneous start over thirteen holes of play at 8.30 a.m. It is usual for up to sixty members to gather for this popular event and long may it continue.

It merely remains for me to wish all contributors and readers of these notes a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year. Keep practicing!!!

Last Wednesday evening all members of the affiliated clubs of the Denbighshire Golfing Union congregated at Denbigh golf club for the Annual General Meeting which witnesses the change of officials on the executive board and also gives parents and friends the opportunity to congratulate the winners of the major county events for 2011.

County president, Wyn Mostyn of the Plassey Oaks golf club was reinstated as president for the second of his two year term and, upon the retirement of Terry Dodd of Chirk, the mantle of County Captain passed to Ken Williams of the Vale of Llangollen golf club.
Ken has been a member of Llangollen since his junior years and, now retired, was the club’s choice as Centenary captain in 2008.

His Vice captain will be Iain Hayes of Abergele golf club who is the Scratch team manager and also a playing member of the county team. Officers who retained their places without opposition were David Ethelston as Secretary; Martin Edwards as Treasurer; Iain Hayes as County team manager and Mrs. Janis Langdon as Junior team manager. Despite all the efforts of the executive, no candidates were forthcoming for the position of Junior/ Youth organizer which was vacated by Bruce Carlyle at the 2010 AGM.

Congratulations were afforded to various individuals who had distinguished themselves during the 2011 season. Thomas Williams of Wrexham was acknowledged as the Junior player of the year to complement his selection for the Golf Union of Wales Under 15 and Under 16 teams despite having two more years in the those age groups. Jamie Lloyd of Wrexham was awarded the Junior champions and winner of the gross Order of Merit with fellow club member Chris Tym taking the nett order of merit. Wrexham also won the DGU junior league shield to rather dominate the awards within these junior categories.

Chloe Williams of Wrexham golf club was congratulated on her selection for the Welsh ladies team and for her progress through the merit award ranks during 2011.
Alyn Torrence took the DGU merit award and the County champion was Rhodri Fieldhouse of Wrexham who was absent from the proceedings due to his university commitments. Denbigh golf club won the first division of the DGU handicap league with Old Colwyn taking the second division and Chirk the third.
Jubilee Plate winners were Haydn Phillips and Paul Sinacola of Rhos on Sea Golf club.

At a more domestic level, the Wrexham ladies played a nine holes event on the 6th December which resulted in a win for Pauline Archer and Janet Lloyd with 18 points from second placed Wendy Roberts and Mary Clark who attained another similar card but a less good final three holes.
A similar event last Tuesday witnessed a win for Marlene Willetts and Mair Williams with 21 points with Anne Morgan and Mary Bainbridge second on 19.

Clays golf club played their Club monthly medal on Saturday 3rd December with Paul Fell winning the first division with73 – 7 – 66 from runner up Kevin Lee Roberts on identical numbers. Third was Richard Evans on 78 – 10 – 68.
Colin Brand took the second division with 82 – 17- 65 followed by P. Wallace jones on 84 – 17 – 67 and then club captain Reg Peacock with 85 – 17 – 68.
The third division went the way of Mark Bebb with his card reading 85 – 22 – 63. He enjoyed a five strokes advantage over A. Mc Beth on 87 – 19 – 68 and Ian Barwood with 86 – 18 – 68.

The new dual carriageway to the Industrial Estate in Wrexham is coming along at an excellent rate, due largely to the relatively dry weather which allows very heavy earth moving equipment to make progress without getting bogged down in mud and soft ground.
The reason that I open with these remarks this week because the Wrexham golf club is having its normal entrance totally obliterated by a change in levels of the road which runs literally feet away from the golf course so the diggers and lorries are now actually working on our main drive and building a new curved road on the front of the eleventh tee which, when tarmaced over with bitumen, will lead directly out of our new entrance and straight on to the new roundabout. It means a new gate a little wider than the old one, but weaving the car through barriers and datum posts, especially in the dark, poses problems all of their own.

The par three course of our neighbours at Clays has virtually been obliterated as a cut swathe from the Holt Road through to Bryn Estyn Lane is now ready for top surfacing as soon as the second, lower roundabout has been built just below the Gredington Arms pub.

Part of the contract entered into with the Wrexham County Borough Council in conjunction with Birse Civils, the main contractors, was the provision of a new ninth tee as the new road comes within a clubs length of the old medal tee. This has been accomplished in fine style and was turfed last week and, from the road, presents an excellent example of tee construction. The eighth hole has temporarily been removed from play but we have utilized the par three hole on the practice ground in its place.

I must add that this entire disturbance has had a minimal effect on the running of the golf club which remains open to visitors and members alike, so our thanks are to the contractors for their sympathetic approach to the job.

Staying with Wrexham, the club played their midweek Stableford for December on the 30th November which was the nearest Wednesday to the beginning of the month.
Winner was Roberts Butcher with 43 points for a stand alone victory from three cards reading 42 points, each being ranked on back nine holes and in the names of Arwel Morris, Chris Church and Malcolm Fennah. Mark Holdcroft was in fifth place with the better of three 41 point cards with John Lloyd and Steve Mackenzie owning sixth and seventh place.

The December medal was just that, a medal event which was won by Andrew Hunt with 79 – 15 – 64 from second placed Alan Harris on 79 – 10 – 69 and then Richard Williams who scored 87 – 18 – 69. The leading three were followed by Gary Murt, net 69; Cliff Jones, 70; Stephen Wright,70; Ian Bennett Jones,70; Alan Evans,70; Steve Mackenzie,70; and Steve Lloyd, also with a net 70.
The ladies played the front nine holes in a competition that comprised teams of three with two scores to count. Winners were Jane Mullett-Prandle, Mary Bainbridge and Freda Darlington with 41 points followed by second placed Wendy Roberts, Angela Penn and Janet Brand with 34. All in all, nine teams took part in the event.

Phil Coleman maintained his steady flow of information from the veterans’ section of the Vale of Llangollen golf club, this week reporting on a match between teams supporting the president of the club Warren Davies, and the club Captain, Albert Dunlop. Played over fourteen holes as a better ball Stableford with twenty a side, the final result was a very close run thing in that the President accumulated 262 points and the Captain amassed 261.
The Veterans’ Christmas lunch will be held in the clubhouse on Friday 16th December commencing at 1.00 p.m.

Clays seniors played an individual Stableford last Monday in which Don Wraight accumulated 35 points to win on a count back with Stewart Poole in second place with the same numbers. Ray Martin was third with 34 followed by Peter Lynch, 34 and Eifion Jenkins with 33.
The Seniors Winter medal was played through two divisions, Ernest Williams winning the first division with 38 points, indicating that the Stableford scoring system was used for the event. Colin Brown was in second place with another 38 followed by ray Martin with 37.
The second division went to our press Officer and past club president, Derek Lyon, with 37 points, and he was followed by Peter Almond on 37 and Peter Fey with yet another similar score for third place. Derek had a birdie two on the par three twelfth hole, and Reg Peacock, the club captain, has a two on the par three fifth hole

The winners of the last three months medals played in September, October and November including all men, ladies and juniors played in the Autumn Medal Championship with the tee being allocated on a random draw.
Richard Evans won the event followed by junior captain Patrick McHugh, both returning net 68’s and they were followed by Ian Stent with net 69.
The Club’s presentation evening was held on 26th November with a declaration of the success of the captains’ charities for 2011. Cancer Research and Wrexham charitable organizations Family Friends and Home Start each received £1470 from the grand total of £4410 raised during the year The Captain, Reg Peacock, and Lady Captain, Diane Dare thanked the members for their support during the year.

Both St Mary’s church in Ruabon and the Bersham Crematorium, Wrexham, were packed to capacity for the respective funerals of Allan Jeffreys of the Vale of Llangollen golf club, and Mary K. Jones of the Wrexham golf club, whose funerals were held just one hour apart last Tuesday.

My first allegiance would normally be to one of our own members, but in this case, a friendship of over forty five years with Allan meant that I had the difficult choice to make by attending St Mary’s Ruabon and pay my respects to an old golfing partner and loyal friend who will be sadly missed by us all.

Mary was equally well supported by a vast number of friends and members as was indicated by the capacity of the crematorium being achieved quite comfortably.

Their respective memories will remain with us for a very long time to come.

The Vale of Llangollen veterans have played two Turkey trots in the past fortnight, the first being won by the evergreen partnership of Pat Riley and Eugene Jones with 36 points over fourteen holes of play. Second came John Ormrod and Graham Bromilow with 35 followed in turn by Dai Thomas and J T Hughes in third place with 34.

The second event, also over fourteen holes, was won by D. Wyn Williams and Dai Thomas with 37 points from second placed Eugene Jones with Den Morris for 34 points. Brian Cross and John O. Wright were in third position with 31 points.

Wrexham in the meantime played a Canadian Greensome last Saturday resulting in a win for N Gregory and Matthew Norfolk with 45 points of Stableford scoring. Runners up were Tony Phillips and Steve Mackenzie with 44 points followed by Stuart Fisher and Adrian Maddocks on the better of two 43 point cards, the other belonging to fourth placed Colin Sharley and Mark Williams.

The Wrexham ladies played a nine holes “three clubs and a putter” competition which was won by Janet Brand with 19 points a score replicated by second placed Wendy Roberts who had a less good back six holes. Third place went to Pauline Archer with 16 points with a total filed of twenty five players in all.

Clays seniors enjoyed a Canadian Greensome on 15^th November which resulted in a pairs win for Don Wraight and Irwin Elkin on 60 points. Second came Eifion Jenkins and Peter Lynch with 62.5 points followed by Roy Jones and Harold Hughes on 63.

Two days later the seniors played their Individual Stableford which featured a win for Colin Brown with 40 points from second placed Peter Almond on 37, Bob Jarvis with 36, Tony Jackson with 36 and Ray Jones, also on 36 with the scores being ranked on back nine scores for placement order.

The fourball Turkey Trot played on 19^th November was won by James Pearson, Jordan Pearson, Bradley Edge and Rob Edge. Second place went to Paul Williams, Martin Jones, Mike Jones and Rob Brown, all on undisclosed scores.

The Turkey Trot played last Sunday was won by Paul Williams and Mike Jones followed by Harry Collins and Peter Lynch.

May I take this early opportunity to remind clubs in Denbighshire that the Annual General Meeting of the Union is to be held at Denbigh golf club on Wednesday 7^th December commencing at 7.30 p.m.

Following the recent demise of Malcolm Edwards of the Wrexham golf club, local golfers will be saddened to hear of the loss of one of the Vale of Llangollen’s true characters, Alan Jeffreys, who passed away last Saturday.

A friend and fellow golfer for over forty years, Alan and I used to visit each others clubs as guests on Invitation Days and Open events, and his self inflicted sobriquet “One putt Al” had us in stitches of laughter as he cheerfully four putted fast greens without demur.

He was a loyal member of the Ruabon Grammar School Old Boys’ Association and a raconteur without equal, his bone dry wit and theatrical asides leaving us tucked up with laughter whenever in his company.

Along with past Llangollen captain the late Tom Parry, he with his lorry, and Tom with his JCB, they fashioned and shaped the majority of the greens on the “new” part of the Llangollen layout, and they remain unaltered as testimony to their astute planning and skill.
He was the proud owner of Steeney Griffith’s bicycle clips, a veteran member of Llangollen in the sixties who always played in chrome bicycle clips which were bequeathed to Alan upon his death. He would have liked me to mention that!
Alan will be genuinely missed by all who play the game in this locality – a sad time for us all.

Results this week are marginally less than usual, starting with Wrexham playing their Mens’ midweek November Stableford. Winner of the first prize in a range that ran down to eleventh, was Gerald Francis Padfield with an excellent 44 points from second placed Stave Kavanagh on 42 followed by Carl White with 41. On 40 points came Colin Hughes who offered a better back nine holes than Barry Dickenson who also returned a 40 point card. Tony Morgan delivered the best of four 39 point cards, the others belonging toDavid Parry, Keith Baines and Adrian Rudge with Stan Rogers and Gil Hunt in tenth and eleventh place with 38 points apiece.

The Junior Stableford of last Sunday featured a win for Jack Waters with 75 – 10 – 65 from second placed Daniel Darlington on 76 – 6 – 70. Lewis Jones was third with 76 – 4 – 72 and he in turn was followed by Chris Tym on 87 – 9 – 78

Lucy Jones led the second division with 100 – 19 – 81 from Rhian Barton with 114 – 26- 88 and Sam Postle on 121 – 29 – 92.

The Ladies played a four ball better ball last Tuesday which witnessed a win for Eileen Jackson and Eileen Graham on 22 points. They were followed by Lynda Mellor and Jo Davies with the same numbers but a less good closing three holes. Fourteen teams took part in the competition

The club also sadly suffered the loss of one of their lady stalwarts in the passing of Mary K. Jones last week. Her funeral is at 2.00 p.m. next Tuesday, 23^rd November at the Wrexham Crematorium.

Clays golf club hosted their Seniors’ yellow ball competition on 8^th November and played the event in four ball format. Winners were Bill Hughes, Brian Downes, Peter Frazer and Terry Jackson with 170 points. Second came Mike Turner, Bob Shotton, Brian Jones and Tony Harcombe with 158 followed by Tom Mara, Geoff Morris and Bob Brown as a three ball on 115.

The highlight of the competition was a hole in one by Brian Mercer on the par three twelfth hole using a three wood.

The Turkey Trot Stableford played on the 12^th of the month featured a win for Nigel Harris with 41 points, a score replicated by Lawrence Highton, and followed by third placed Ian Barwood on 40.

The Turkey Trot Stroke play was won by Paul R Williams with 71 – 7 – 64 with Howard Lloyd second with 77 – 12 – 65 and Colin Brand on 82 – 17 – 65 for third place.

The words “under the weather” seem to have separate meanings if analysed in a literary way. The Euphemism of “under the weather” suggests that of a person in less than perfect health, whilst the literary interpretation conjures mind pictures of a poor soul standing in the middle of a golf course or cricket field with a cartoon cloud hovering over his head and being rained upon from a great height.

The latter I can cope with, but the former caught up with me fine style this past week resulting in long hours gazing at a bedroom ceiling feeling sorry for myself.

Marginally better now, but still confined to the house, the marvels of IT came to the rescue and the basic material for this weeks effort was soon on my desk.

The Colin Hale Junior Open, played at Wrexham Golf Club last Thursday, has gained much from the sponsorship of this generous member of Wrexham Golf Club who gladly adds annual engraved inscriptions to our trophies as the need arises. Colin has been in business as a Jeweller and watch craftsman for over fifty years, taking over from his father T.W. Hale who started the business in Bank Street so many years ago. He provides the prizes at his own expense and much value is placed on the privilege of owning one.

Played through handicap categories in four divisions with the overall winner deemed the Champion golfer, that accolade went to fourteen year old Welsh Boys international Thomas Williams from the home club with an excellent 69 gross, one under par.
This won for Thomas the Colin Hale Trophy and the leading score in the first division.

The second division went to J W Davies of Mold Golf Club with a net 68 with the third group being won by M Davies of Wrexham with a net 61. Harry Jones, also of the Wrexham club took the fourth division with a 67 net.

At adult level the club played a Christmas event in the form of an Am Am with the two best scores from four to count. Winners were R Paul Williams, Chris Marsden, Kevin Matthias and Graham Williams with 91 Stableford points. Second came C Williams, S Evans, A Humphreys and A Edwards with the better of two 87 point cards, whilst in third place we had Jamie Durkin, Tim Jones, Chris Hughes and Matthew Norfolk who lost out on the back nine holes.

Clays golf club played their Senior medal through two handicap divisions last Thursday. Leading the first division came Stewart Poole with 44 points from second placed Andrew Mitchell on 42 and Noel Jones with 40.

The second division went the way of Bo Brown on 39 points followed by Neil Sanger with 38 and or press officerDerek Lyonin third place with his 38 point card.

Co – proprietor Wyn Williams organized Clays’ Past Captains event last Friday which featured a win for current Captain, Reg Peacock with 38 points. Ron Roberts was in second place with 37 points followed by Gareth Roberts in third with 35.

The Club monthly medal was played through three divisions with division one going to Richard Evans with net 65. He was followed by Bill Kelleher with another 65 with Karl Matthias third with 67.

Paul Jeffs took the second division with net 66 from second placed Jack Rycroft on 66 and David Mark Pritchard with 67.
The third group witnessed a win for Neil Gledhill with a net 68. He was followed by Nigel Young on 68 and Ron Matheson on net 70.

The shop Stableford went to Phil Jones with 41 points from second placed Howard Lloyd on 38 and Michael Evans on 37.

The Junior monthly medal was won by Jack Rycroft with a nice net 63 for a six strokes advantage over second placed Patrick McHugh on 69. Matthew Sandoz was in third place with net 71.

The Ladies Tinsel Trail was won byKim Harcombewith 32 points followed by Sheila Roscoe, 31, and Shirley Roberts with 26.

The Vale of Llangollen’s press secretary to the veterans’ section of the club is Phil Coleman who diligently phones me every Sunday at 6.00 p.m. His valued comments are always appreciated because he offers background information about Llangollen trophies that I may not be aware of.

Last week he spoke of the first Turkey Trot for the seniors and also the competition results for the Wallis Putter. The more astute of you will not recall those results appearing in last weeks issue, largely because I forgot just where I had placed the “post-it” notes with his results written on –senior moment I’m afraid, so we begin this week with Phil’s results after finding the offending notes just too late last week.

The Turkey Trot resulted in a win for Mike Edwards with 41 points from second placed Phil Jones on 36 and third placed J. Mike Davies with 35 whilst the Wallis putter went to John McKay with the better of two thirty eight point cards, the second placed offering being owned by Roy Ankers with Mike Delaney third with 37.
That was last week.

This week, the Veterans and the Ladies teamed up for their twelve holes event played as a Greensome Stableford.
Winners were Judy Griffiths and Stefan Koscinski with 27 points from Jean Sylvester and Brian Gresty on 26, only separated from the third placed card of Dee Whiting and Cyril Jones by scrutinizing down to the final three holes of play.

Clays have had a busy week judging by the three pages of results that rolled off my printer, and thanks again toDerek Lyon, past President of the club who serves this column so diligently.

Last Tuesday the seniors played a Canadian Greensome as a pairs Stableford event. Winners were Steve Beech and Noel Jones with 58.5, the .5 resulting in the sum of the handicaps being an odd number to subtract from the total.

Mike Hollins and Tom McGrady were second with 64.5 followed by Maelor Davies and Peter Almond on 63.5 with Ray Martin and Larry Birch fourth with a round 63.

Two days later the seniors played a Texas Scramble which featured Irwin Elkin, Harold Hughes and Keith Jones in the lead with 60.6. Stewart Poole, Brian Jones and Andrew Mitchell were second with 62.7 and they in turn were followed byFred Court, Cliff Davies and Colin Brown on 63.3

The Ladies’ Tinsel Trail witnessed a win for Shirley Roberts on 36 Stableford points from Sheila Roscoe on 32 and Anne Richards with 29 whilst the seniors Stableford of last Saturday went to Peter Lynch and Ray Martin with 48 points from second placed Barry Evans and Noel Jones with 44. Third came Tony Owens and Nick Evans on 43 followed in fourth place by John Kelty and Eifion Jenkins with another 43 point card.

The Junior medal was won by Daniel Thomas Byrne with net 61 followed by Joe Edwards on 67 and then Bradley Edge with 68 whilst the Shop Stroke play for adult player splayed last Saturday featured a win for Noel Popplewell with net 64 from second placed Gareth Parry on 65 and Josh Green on 66.

The Ladies’ second Tinsel Trail was won by Shirley Roberts with 30 points followed by Anne Richards on 27.

The Pro’s shop hosted a Stableford past Sunday which went the way of Danny Williams on 41 points from second placed Mike D Jones on 39 and Allan Caples with 37 and finally from Clays, the results of the Junior Stableford showed a win for Luke Adam Williams on 51 points from second placed Rhys Jones on 47 and Joe Edwards in third place with 44.

Meanwhile at Wrexham we have had the recent midweek November medal in which no less than one hundred and nineteen players took part.

Winner with an excellent gross 72 was ten handicap D Glyn Williams with his net 62. second came Gary Murt on 77 – 14- 63 with Andrew Edwards third on 85 – 22 – 63. Clive Griffiths was in fourth place with 77 – 13 – 64 and Lee Tattum fifth on 73 – 9 – 64.

The Christmas Fayre Mixed Greensome Stableford was played last Sunday and was won by Dorne and Jonathan Tym with 46 points. Second came the club captain, John D Williams and his wife Mair on the better of two 41 point cards, the third placed card being handed in by Ray Bennett and Jacqui Williams. Fourth came Wyn Jones and his wife Shelagh with 39 points.

The ladies played their eighteen holes Christmas Individual Stableford this immediate past Tuesday with Ladies President Hazel Parry leading the field with 33 points on a card play off with Jane Mullett Prandle, also on 33. Pat Purdy scored 32 points for third place in a card play off with Sandie Reddington. There were no birdie twos recorded on the day.