Captain’s Corner October 2022
Introduction
The captain’s year started on 20th April 2022 following the cancellation of the event at Harleyford Golf Club, planned for February. The spring meeting was held at West Herts Golf Club, where the prize winners were Colin Sawyer 41 points, Rod Crisp 38 points and Rod Goldsmith 37 points.
Matches and Events
The first match of the year was played at the Lambourne Club, where Bucks beat Bedfordshire by an aggregate score of +11 Points, which was a good start to the season. Following this, the event with the ladies was held on 13th May at Harleyford Golf Club, where the winners were John Pettitt and Gill Redman with 44 points, John Mannering and Jackie Taylor 39 points and David Liston and Nishele Short 38 points. On 26th May, the match versus Herts was halved. The match against Northamtonshire, although an improved score over 2021, was sadly lost by 5 to 3. On 30th May, Bucks halved with Hampshire at Oakland Park Golf Club and the match versus London was lost by a score of 5 to 3.
The captain’s away break was held at the Dorset Golf and Country Club. A total of 13 players attended the event. Unfortunately, 3 three members had to withdraw for personal reasons.
This event proved to be very successful and enjoyable by the attendees. All combinations of the three 9-hole courses were played over the three days. In addition, the accommodation and food proved to be very good. Alan Rose kindly volunteered to be score-keeper and the winners were Bob Jones with the runner up being Tony Jeffries
Captain’s day was held at Flackwell Heath Golf Club and the feedback from members and guests proved to be very positive. The event was won by John Hutchins with 41 points, FHGC’s Club Captain John Corsby was runner up with 40 points and Tony Jeffries was third with 40 points. The event was very well organised by FHGC’s General Manager Gemma, and the food and service were excellent.
The match versus Surrey, held at West Byfleet and the match versus Cambridgeshire at Beaconsfield were both unfortunately lost by 7 to 1. The Four Counties South held at Gerrards Cross Golf Club won for the second year running by Oxfordshire with a score of 188, second was Berkshire with 184 points, third was Gloucestershire with 177 points and fourth was Buckinghamshire with 173 points. The Four Counties North was held at Brickendon Grange Golf Club and won by Worcestershire with 191 points, second was Hertfordshire with 187 points, third was Norfolk with 184 points and fourth weas Buckinghamshire with 180 points. The match versus Oxfordshire was lost by 6to 2 and the match versus Warwickshire was lost by 5 to 3.
The Past Captain’s event was won by Rob Southerden and the runner up was Brian Rodgers.
The match versus Kent was won by 3-1/2 to 2-1/2 and the matches versus Sussex and Essex were lost by 6 to 2 and 7-1/2 to 1/2 respectively.
The Autumn meeting was played in very inclement weather, when it rained consistently all the way through the event. This was won by Peter Short with 35 points, second was Tony Jeffries with 32 points and third was Colin Elwell with 32 points. The Order of Merit this year was won by Peter Short.
In Summary
This has been an enjoyable experience for me and hopefully all members of the association that have participated throughout this year. I have met and played with many more of the Bucks Association’s membership, which has been a delight for me. In addition, I have made many friends in the various counties that we have played against.
The performance in matches started well but went through a disappointing period where the majority were unfortunately lost. No doubt we would hope to improve on this next year and in the future. I will be continuing as Captain of the Association until 20th April 2023 in order to fulfil my tenure for a full 12 months.
John Mannering
Captain 2022