ROMILEY
GOLF CLUB
Barbara Leith
Lady Captain
Steve Harrison
2017 / 2018
Captain
March 2017
Newsletter
Romiley Golf Club AGM, Friday 24th March 2017
Over 80 members attended the AGM to see
the retiring officials of 2016/17 and listen
with anticipation to the speeches of their
successors.
Outgoing President David Heyward
conveyed all the highlights of his year and
expressed his thanks to all the officials, staff,
members and family, in particular his wife,
Elsie, for all their support. David then
introduced incoming President, John Glynn,
with a tribute to his life as a Scouser,
Evertonian, Newsletter Editor, Quiz Expert,
and his bionic status as a 5'6" captain of his
college basketball team.
John told the audience that as Chairman of his Concert Band he organised a
tour to Lisbon in Portugal where they played at the British Embassy. The
Portuguese President introduced John and his position was elevated in
translation to “El Presidente”, a name that has stuck with the band members.
Outgoing Captain, Gary Williams, thanked all the members for their support.
Gary had enjoyed his golf, had plenty of fun and was proud to have played with
109 different golfers.
Together with the Lady Captain they had raised over £5,000 for their chosen
charity, Alzheimer's. As his last action Gary introduced the new Captain, Steve
Harrison, RGC’s only 8 day member.
Gary Williams handing over the
reins to Steve Harrison
Mr Captain presenting Lady Captain
Barbara Leith with a beautiful bouquet
Irene Barrow, outgoing Lady
Captain, told of her privilege and
honour of the position and thanked
everyone for their support. She was
delighted that all major
competitions had enjoyed good
weather. Her highlights were her
Lady Captain's Day and the
Children's Christmas Party. Irene
reiterated her proud achievement
with the Captain of raising over
£5,000 for the Alzheimer's charity.
New Lady Captain, Barbara Leith,
gave a special thank you to Irene.
Barbara said it was like “Blind
Date” wondering who would be the
Men's Vice. She was "happy" when
the screen came back and it was
Captain Steve, but playing with an 8
day member ………..??
Incoming Ladies’ and Gent’s Vice Captains, Alison Reed and Glyn Roberts,
and Junior Captain, Clark Thompson, were presented to the meeting with
short speeches of acceptance.
A very pleasurable presentation then took place to three life members.
Firstly, Gwyneth Buckley, sent her apologies for being unable to attend but a
tribute was paid by the Lady Captain and the gift was accepted on her behalf
by Denis Hall.
Secondly, Mike Cope. Mike joined the
Club in 1967 after being on the waiting
list for 3 years and was Captain in 1984
and President in 2001. Mike has been
proud to hold positions as Chairman of
the Centenary Committee, Secretary
and Founder of the
Past
Captains’/
Presidents’ Society,
instigator of the
Meet and Greet service and the Taster Courses which have
introduced over 20 current full members to the Club. In
accepting the gift from the Club, Mike relayed many happy
highlights and memories, including the Romiley team
winning the Dunham Forest Trophy for the third time
when he was Captain.
Finally, there was a presentation to Gordon
McDonald. Gordon was on the waiting list for 3 years
and as an alternative became a member of Fairfield
Golf and Sailing Club before joining Romiley in 1967
when he recounts that the annual subscription was 20
guineas with a £10 joining fee. Consolation of a bad
round in the early days used to be a pint and a 6d
packet of crisps but nowadays the crisps are 70p. The
good news is that now he is a Life Member at least he
can afford another packet of crisps.
The last item on the
agenda was a tribute to
the retirement of Ken
Cooper as House Director.
Chairman Peter Howcroft
presented Ken with a
replica Claret Jug for his
6 years on the Board.
Author—
Peter Wagstaff
Vets’ 9 Hole Stableford, Friday, 3rd March, 2017
1st Ken Fendall 22pts 2nd Gordon Tavernor 20 pts cpo 3rd Bill Barrow 20 pts
The course was incredibly wet. The previous day the course was closed for the
Ladies’ Competition, as it was on the Saturday for the men. But the weather
was clement and most of the vets got round the course without wetting anything
other than their shoes and the bottoms of their over trousers.
The Friday Night Quiz, 3rd March, 2017
Torquemada
&
Torquemistress
Quite simply this was the toughest
quiz that Chris had set.
One
example is that of the 20 picture
questions which are given out at the
beginning. Chris realised that he
couldn’t answer them himself, even
though he had the answers, so he
gave written clues alongside.
What a relief!
Chris and Rachel Broster
However, differentiating between
good cowboys and bad cowboys of
1870 USA was not easy. Which was
Sitting Bull? Geronimo? Cochise?
Which one was Butch Cassidy and
which the Sundance Kid? Headscratching was a common affliction
that evening.
The 20 music questions were equally divided between classical and big band.
Not sure many recognised the adagietto from the 4th movement of Mahler’s 5th
Symphony. As for the big bands, which was Duke Ellington, Count Basie,
Glenn Miller? You get the picture. (Should that be “sound?”)
Corinthians were yet again the winners. Your editor is not sure that they
actually got ANY applause. Mutterings were heard about handicapping. Hey
ho! In fighting second place were the Also Rans who were not far behind.
Corinthians
Joyce and John Glynn
Sue and Keith Selby
Also Rans
Alan and Pauline Whitehead
Gillian and Mike Wilson
Alison and Andrew Reed—Jim and Barbara Leith—Richard and Ros Hale
We’re only here for the beer. And wine. Oh. And whiskey. And it is enough for
this pragmatic team just to take part.
Quiz (continued)
Michele Wilde
with dad, Malcolm
Oliver
Colin and Anne Granby
Gary Wilde with M-I-L Ann Wild
Stuart and Joyce Cook
16/03/2017
Romiley Golf Club – Junior Section
The new golf season is here and all Juniors have received a schedule of fixtures
for 2017. All the events are also on the Club calendar on the website
(www.romileygolfclub.org). It is going to be a busy season.
Junior Captain, Clark Thompson
Vice- Captain, Harry Doyle.
Romiley Golf Club is fortunate to have a professional, Alex White, and his
assistant, Graham Drabble, who both take a keen interest in the Junior Section.
Matt Murray, a stalwart of the Club and working in the shop, is on the Junior
Committee. They are always willing to offer advice and guidance and the
Junior Section provides the money for group coaching for Juniors on a regular
basis throughout the year. Please take full advantage of these wonderful
facilities.
The season will start with a “get-together” at the Club on Tuesday, 4th April,
2017. It starts at 5.30 pm with a light meal (free to Juniors), followed by a talk
and golf quiz. The attendance of parents is welcomed because there is no doubt
that the interest, involvement and encouragement of parents is extremely
important in the development of the younger members of the Section.
Yours in Golf,
Bob Blundell
Mike Hanson
Matt Murray
Colin McManus
Ladies 9 Hole BB Pairs, Thursday, 9th March, 2017
1st: Val McKinnon and Edith Clarke,
2nd Irene Barrow & Val Bonser
22 pts
22 pts
3rd Jill Woolstencroft & Francine
Walburn 22 pts
The painstaking work of Glyn Roberts
over many weeks comes to fruition. 23 / 3 /17
Ladies’ Coffee Morning
Pauline Whitehead baked a cake and
Anne Harrison won it. Anne also won
the putting competition for which she
received the spring bouquet.
Too late, Trudy!
Anne has already won!
Alison found the books a most
reassuring resting place.
Who wants to buy them anyway!
Francine inspected all
the geegaws, trinkets,
baubles, bric-a-brac,
knick knacks, and
gimcracks, wondering
whether they would
be any use for her
dressing up box.
Janet Godfrey looked stunning in
her Christian Dior waitress outfit.
Lovely handmade cards by talented Teresa Hogg
and Audrey Jones brightened up the day.
Coffee and cake, with some shopping for jewellery, bric-a-brac, plants, books
and greetings cards thrown in - what could be better for a Monday morning on
a very cold March day.
As always, the cake stall was popular and the ladies excelled themselves with
some scrumptious baking. The card stall did well too, with lots of sales even
before the doors were opened.
The putting was very popular and made a good amount of money, this year
without Roly Hewitt and David Jones participating! In previous years these
two chaps had several "goes" to improve on their previous attempts. Anne
Harrison was the putter of the day with a staggering 200 points. How did she
do that?
Catering for the golfers’ competitive spirit there
was a well stocked Tombola and a raffle, and a
"guess the weight of the cake” contest.
Anne
Harrison won the guess the weight competition as
well and needed help to take home all her prizes
and purchases.
But surely award winning super saleswoman
Francine’s BOGOFs were the star of the show,
and something to behold. Any purchaser of bric-a
brac received at least one free gift, whether they
liked it or not!
Hail, Caesar
Men’s Aggregate Stableford, Saturday, 11th March, 2017
1st John Nolan & Steve Baldwin 73 pt
2nd Barry Johnson & Frank Forrester 71 pts 3rd Gary & Rick Evans 70 pts
Back of the 9th green looking far better
23 / 3 / 17
Top Dog, Finals Day, Sunday, 12th March, 2017
Top Dog Final—Winners—Gary Evans and Billy Whittaker 48 pts
2nd Mike Goodwin and Ryan Yates 46 pts cpo
3rd Paul Mellor and Joe Smith 46 pts
Qualifying League Winners
Dave Ball and Steve Brown, 48 points
Top Dog Competition of the Day
1st Conrad and Simon Tipping 46 pts
2nd Steve Sheils & Steve Cleary 45 pts
At the prize presentation Mr Captain paid tribute to all those who had
managed to play a total of 125 rounds between them, and many had been in
pretty awful conditions. Such is the Top Dog.
He also thanked our professional, Alex White, for ensuring its smooth running.
Mr Captain apologised for the change of date, particularly for Dave Ball who
had organised a trip to Australia to fit in with the final Sunday which was to
have been a week later. As can be seen above, Dave, and his partner, Steve
Brown, had been in pole position as Qualifying League Winners.
Three Lady Texas Scramble, Thursday, 16th March, 2017
1st
2nd
3rd
Pauline Walker
Maureen Codling
Diane Houghton Sally Hebden
Pam Cunnington Jill Woolstencroft
Debs Kershaw
Hilary Craven
Christine Barber
59.2
60.3
61.4
Vets’ 3 Man Texas Scramble Medal, Friday, 17th March, 2017
1st Malcolm Booker
Chris Broster
Keith Selby 31
2nd Kevin Ogden Graham Evans Glyn Roberts 33
3rd Barry Johnson John Glynn Ian Bainbridge 34
Men’s Single Stableford, Saturday, 18th March, 2017
1st Ryan Yates 42 pts, 2nd Bradley Snape 41 pts, 3rd Steve Kidd 40 pts.
Ryan had 2 birdies and 9 pars for an outstanding round
Masters’ Sweepstake
In preparing the sweepstake for
the Masters to be held at Augusta
from 6th to 9th April, 2017,
Graham Drabble is creating his
very own masterpiece with
painstaking precision.
When you go to place your bet
just take some time to admire his
handiwork!!
1
Clearing the Back Pond—Still, 16th March, 2017
2
The Size of the Task
4
Captain Bligh Hogg sets forth
in H.M.S. Penny
3
5
Steve, chopper in hand, sets to work The backbreaking work of landing
slashing through the pennywort to allow the pennywort onto the side
it to be dragged to shore.
allowing pond life to slide back in.
6
One more push next week will see the pennywort vanquished. For the time
being!!! Bless H.M.S. Penny and all who sail in her.
Ladies’ Winter League Winners
The winner, with an aggregate of 20.33,
Lady Captain, Irene Barrow
2nd: Audrey Jones, aggregate of 20.17
3rd: Jacquie Purcer, aggregate of 19.5
Back pond clear of pennywort—30/03/2017
Ladies’ Spring Meeting, 23rd March, 2017
The winners with a great score of 30
points, Rebecca Byle and Sally Hebden
2nd: Diane Houghton and Pauline
Walker with 25 points
3rd: Jacquie Purcer and Gill Walker
with 24 points
This competition was foursomes, a fitting format for the very windy and wet
underfoot conditions. Some of the greens were temporary and difficult but obviously
Rebecca and Pauline didn’t struggle with a score of 30 points over 12 holes.
The sandwiches and chips went down well and it was good for all to eat together for a
change. Here’s hoping that new lady members, Joan Mellor and Sylvia Lawton,
enjoyed the day.
Men’s March Monthly Medal, Saturday, 25th March, 2017
Division One
1st Phil Roberts 74-6=68
2nd Joe Smith 77-7=70 3rd Pete Kimber 80-9=71
Division 2
1st Ryan Yates 84-17=67 2nd Phil Hart 85-17=68
3rd John Barber 79-11=68
Division 3
1st Steve Brown 85-21=64 2nd Simon Tipping 88-19=69 3rd Nick Gorman 93-21=72
The Captains’ Drive In, Sunday, 26th March, 2017
Clark Thompson Steve Harrison Barbara Leith John Glynn
Junior Captain
Captain
Lady Captain President
What a glorious day to begin the season. Glyn Roberts, Vice Captain, welcomed
the crowds to the Captains’ Drive In. He then introduced each of the
participants in glowing terms and the champagne certainly helped.
Our confident and assured captain, Steve Harrison, hit a corker of a drive and
was greeted with loud cheers. Our confident and assured President, John
Glynn, stuffed it. This was met with groans. Junior Captain, Clark Thompson,
lithe and athletic, bent like a bow to arrow his drive away to frenzied cheers
from all his family (plus the crowd!) And Lady Captain, Barbara Leith, elegant
and professional, calmly tonked the ball straight down the middle. A
triumphant punch of Barbara’s fist acknowledged the applause. Three of the
participants marched triumphantly away whilst one little figure tried to
disappear into the shadows.
Clark Thompson
Oh to be young!!
Graham Drabble tries to console Mr Prez
as he displays his headless driver, broken
when practising in the swing room. Alex
White kindly provided another driver!!
What a pity Mr Prez messed up with it!!
Winners—Front 9
1st Derek and Janet Worthington 24 pts
2nd Steve Kidd Graham Couser 22 pts
Winners—back 9
1st Dave Ball Pam Cunnington 22 pts
2’s Competition—only one two
Winner - Mark Jones
2nd Elsie Heyward Roger Ashworth 21 pts
Sum Total of Drives 550 yards
Winner - El Presidente—
John Glynn
Very suspicious!!
Cheers!
Concentration. Head down!
John Ollerenshaw wishes the
president a good season.
There was a bigger crowd for our Club’s Drive In than for President Trump’s
inauguration, although he is challenging this statement.
Ladies’ Bisque Bogey, Thursday, 30th March, 2017
(Bisque Bogey—you choose at which holes to use as much of your handicap as you wish.)
1st Irene Barrow 8 up 2nd LVC Alison Reed 6 up 3rd Bernadette Draper 6 up
What a score for Irene! One does feel a bit for Alison and Bernadette who both
thought they had won with such good scores and then Bernadette comes 3rd on
a CPO. Such is golf.
Vets’ 9 Hole Stableford, Friday, 31st March, 2017
1st Geoff Higgins 18 pts 2nd Kevin Ogden 16 pts 3rd Ian Bainbridge 16 pts
Terry Corfield, 21st September, 1932 - 7th March, 2017
The funeral took place on Friday, 24th
March at Dukinfield Crematorium of that
wonderful man, Terry Corfield. He had
been married to Ingrid for 58 years. Terry
will always be remembered for his military
bearing which is no surprise as he was in
the Royal Engineers for 24 years and ended
as a WO11.
Terry was loving, caring, punctual and
organised. He loved life and was a true
gentleman.
The last time your editor played with Terry
he remembers being at the par 3 15th. “I
love this hole,” said Terry, “ as I can reach
it with my driver.” At the time his handicap
was 24.
In a moving eulogy his son, Michael, talked
about the battle between himself and his
father to be the better golfer, with Michael
being off 7 and Terry off 8. He could play
golf!! In 1981 Terry was Captain of
Houldsworth Golf Club. He ran the Junior
Section for quite some time and certainly
showed them the way ahead.
Michael
lef t
the
congregation with a
wonderful vision of
Terry when he finished
his eulogy with, “I can
see him now, up in
heaven, enjoying a
couple of pints in the
Sergeants’ Mess !”
On the left, a Ken
Clapp original
LADY CAPTAIN - 2016
Being Lady Captain of RGC has been both a privilege and an honour and I
cannot thank everyone enough for all the support and encouragement I have
received throughout my Captaincy.
I have been so lucky (the ladies will agree no doubt) that the weather was really
good for all our major golf competitions throughout the year. My Lady
Captain’s Day was fantastic and I cannot thank everyone enough for making
the day so memorable for me. I really was overwhelmed with all the cards,
gifts, flowers and good wishes. I have been fortunate also that our new
caterers, Ken and Pam Turney, have been a real asset and have served up some
wonderful meals at our prize presentation evenings.
The Ladies' Committee do a great job and work hard behind the scenes to
ensure that our section runs as smoothly as possible and I must say a special
thank you to my Vice-Captain, Barbara Leith, for her unwavering support.
Thank you must also go to Alex, Graham, and latterly Mathew, for all their
helpfulness and patience and the Greens, Mike Moore and his staff and Peter
Milnes, who again have been very willing to help me out, which has been much
appreciated.
I also must especially thank everyone in the office, Charles, Tom and Gill –
nothing has been too much trouble.
Mr Captain and I have had a joint charity this year, the Alzheimer’s Society.
The generosity of the Club members has been wonderful. Our charity and golf
competition day in September was really well attended and to date we have
raised over £5k. We will be announcing the final total shortly and will then
present the cheque to the charity representative.
Thank you to both Mr Captain and Mr President
for their continuing support.
It goes without saying that your year of office goes
very quickly and I have genuinely enjoyed it.
However, I couldn’t have done it without the
support throughout the year of my other half,
Bill. He has been fantastic and he has enjoyed
meeting the ladies when he was “on duty” in the
half way house!
My very best wishes go to the incoming Captains,
Barbara Leith and Steve Harrison, and to John
Glynn, our new President, and Junior Captain,
Clark Thompson. I truly hope they all have a
successful 2017/18.
John Glynn
Clark Thompson
President
Junior Captain
2017 / 2018
Editorial Team
John Glynn (not scrubbed up)
Audrey Jones
Phil Roberts