July/August 2024 report

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 Augusta does not have the geese!

Nick Chatham (left) overcame all opposition, 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 (right) of an ‘Outstanding Contribution Award’ for his many feats over a 44 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 (see separate news item), scoring five points out of five in his own matches.

 

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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, 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 4 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 3 players tied on 36 points, a commendable score given the very tricky greens. Tony Harris (photo, left, with match manager Alan Blok)  took first place on a 6 hole countback, and so won the Hornsey Walker trophy. Don Anderson came second, and so won the Veteran’s Cup (photo, right). 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.

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Tony Harris reports below on the outcome of the match against Croham Hurst GC.
“On Thursday afternoon 22nd August ten of us renewed our long standing fixture with Croham Hurst Golf Club. The course was in excellent condition, we dodged the rain, and as usual Croham were excellent hosts and we enjoyed the traditional fish and chip supper.
Congratulations to Gerald Law and his son Leander for their halved match. Suffice to say the other four matches were enjoyed, but unsuccessful. “