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Thank you to all who attended our last Golf Major Day of 2022 yesterday at Walton Heath. There was a good turnout with 40 MTGS players, 7 TGS players and 6 Guests. After the rain of the previous days, we were blessed with a dry, reasonably warm day.
The course was in fantastic condition, with thick, spongy, grass on the fairways and incredibly fast greens. The only sign of the summer scorching heat and drought was the heather, which was not as thick and punishing as in previous visits. This must have made a big difference to several players, as this year’s scores were appreciably higher than last year.
Walton Heath were kind enough to allow us exclusive use of the Putting Green for the post golf Presidents Putting Competition. The Club Pro obviously thought we must have all been scratch golfers, as only one of us managed to break 36 putts around his 18 hole course. Well Done David Potts!!
Apologies to those of you who got in early that the Lunch was put back 15 minutes. We had so many competitions this year that it took quite a bit of time to collate all the results. The food is always good in Walton Heath, and this year was no exception. Following a fine 3 course Carvery, our President, Graeme Hunt, gave a short speech.
Finally he invited our generous sponsor, Paul Newman of the Grove Group, to present the prizes. Thank you Paul.
On to the results
In Division 1, last year’s President, Nick Haigh, has been like our own, resident, Society Golf Professional this year. Despite supporting a major shoulder injury, he took apart Walton Heath in the same manner he did with St George’s Hill, Woking and then Swinley Forest. An amazing average of over 40 Stableford points per event. Coming in one over scratch gross yesterday was fantastic golf.
Nick took home prizes for the day’s Best Scratch Score, Longest Drive and would have taken home the Division 1 Winner prize had the rules allowed. Always known for his generosity, he allowed his guest, Antony, to win the Div 1 NTP prize and his playing partner, Michael Miller, to win the Div 1 Winner prize. Needless to say the threesome took home the winners’ prizes for the “Best 2 of 3” Competition. Sean Costa has also had a great 2022 season and took home the Div 2 Runner Up prize.
In Division 2 Lloyd Baylis continued his good form of the year, taking home the the Div 2 Winner’s prize, with a great score of 41. His nearest competitor was Lee Devlin who came in with a commendable 33 points. No one challenged Sean Friedman’s powerful drive on the 4th and Ian Hill was very accurate off the tee on the 17th to win the Div 2 NTP prize.
In our small, but select, group of guests, the highest score of the day was brought in by Oliver French. He scored a personal best of 42. Well done Oliver. Alex Lugt came second with an excellent score of 39.
In the Best 2 of 3 Competition, Team Haigh romped home with a stunning score of 89.
Fellow Liphook Member, Joff Suter, led Sam Theron and Alex Lugt to second place with 80 points.
Team Potts, Thomas and Harris were close behind on 79 points.
In the President’s Putting Competition David Potts won with 34 points, followed by Ollie French and Grant Ealey on 36.
Lastly the Aggregate Competition.
No prizes for guessing who won the Player of the Year with a stunning total of 121 from his top 3 scores. Once again well done Nick!!
In Division 1 Stuart Noakes looked odds on favourite to win the top place after his stunning 47 points at Swinley, but a last minute dash by Sean Costa yesterday saw him pipped into second by one point. A good year for them both.
In Division 2, Lloyd Baylis was the deserving winner with a cracking score of 118. That’s not far off Nick’s score of 121!!
Once again congratulations to David Potts for winning the Senior’s Aggregate Mobs Bowl prize.
I hope you have all enjoyed this year’s Major Competitions. It has been brilliant to see so many of you grace the slopes with us this year. New members are always welcome, so if you have any friends in the trade, or family members, who would be interested in joining us, please put them forward.
Paul