Farrington Park Men’s Captain, Rob Riccio, oversaw the Annual Drive-in for the Men’s section’s charity for this year, the Prostate Cancer Appeal, with over one hundred golfers placing their peg on the sixth fairway or rough where they thought Rob’s drive would finish. The closest was Steve Ball, who positioned his peg in the left hand rough.The drive raised over £100 for the charity.
With the course drying out very quickly, players are getting used to the longer holes and some excellent scoring came into the clubhouse for the Saturday Stableford held on 8th April. It was tight at the top of Division One, with Mike Hogg on 39 points beating John Ward into second place on count back; with John Chedgy a close third on 37 points. Division Two saw a brilliant score from John Woodland, with 40 points, taking top spot with Pete Wilcox, second, on 37 points, beating David Morgan into third on count back.
In Division One’s Sunday Stableford (9th April), there were three scores at the top, all on 35 points, in a very competitive competition with Richard Salter in first place and Mike Hogg continuing his good weekend in second and Andy Coles in third. In Division Two, Jon Brignull topped the charts with 34 points, followed in second by Simon Park, on 32 points and Ben Park, third, on 31 points.
Farrington Park Ladies’ Captain, Pauline Young and Maureen Charlton played in another away match in the second round of the national Daily Mail Foursomes match play competition on Wednesday, 12th April. Having brushed aside Wells (at Wells) in the first round by 6&4, their opponents, Lansdown in Bath, proved to be a different encounter altogether. The Lansdown pairing was, as expected, a solid act, who led by one hole most of the way round, Maureen and Pauline pinning them back to all square occasionally.
It was not until the seventeenth that the Farrington Park duo managed to go one up. Unfortunately, they lost the eighteenth, so had to play sudden death. Hanging on when the match was looking to go their opponents’ way, they continued battling on to the 21st hole, where they outplayed their opponents to secure an exhausting victory!
The Biddles Flag, the first trophy of 2017, was played on Ladies’ Thursday morning, 13th April. The format was changed this year to Greensomes stroke play; the pairings were a low and a high handicapper. 38 ladies took part in the fun competition and the new format proved to be very popular. Both players tee off and one tee shot is chosen, then alternate shots are played until holed out. The Greensomes combined handicap is added to the par for the course.
The pairings carried on until they ran out of shots and then placed their flag down on the course. Three pairings continued on to the first hole, with the winning group putting their flag down on the second fairway. The result was, in first place, Jane Waller and Lally Gibson, in second place, Rosi Brown and Sue Forshaw, in third place, Maureen Charlton and Maureen Goodsir and fourth, Heather Woodland and Sandra Hares.
The second Farrington Park Ladies’ Friendlies away match of the year was played at The Mendip on Monday, 10th April. The weather was sunnier, less windy and warmer than forecast and the views were spectacular. Last year, Farrington Park lost four points to one at home. This year was a slight improvement, with a three points to two points defeat, in spite of the first pair playing excellent golf. The greens had been top dressed and played slower than is normal at Mendip, but this did not enable Farrington Park Ladies to turn the tables. It was a great match and a splendid tea, but the Mendip Ladies play excellent golf and are hard to beat.