Seniors' News 2020/21

If you are over 55, new to the club or newly qualified and interested in being involved with Seniors golf, please contact the Seniors captain via email at tjbrowning@hotmail.com

Seniors Fixtures 2021

Match report Seniors v Market Drayton (A) April 29th 2021

Our first match of the summer was held at Market Drayton, a fixture we had not had for quite a few years. It was an excellent match, played in great spirit and on a fantastic course. Our hosts made us very welcome, treating us to tea/coffee and bacon bap at the start of the day and a warm meal after the match. That was about as generous as it got, though, as they then proceeded to beat us quite comfortably in the end, 5.5 points to 2.5 points. Special mention must go to the pairs who gained us our points, Roy Shearwood & Dave Edwards won 1 up, Mel Holdnall & Kevin Gerrish won 2 up and Rob Cowley & Stu Wilson halved their match.

It was good to see so many new players in the Seniors team. As far as I am aware there were 8 debutants, Rob Cowley, Stu Wilson, Rob Walton, Roy Shearwood, Dave Edwards, Kevin Gerrish, Mike Cates and Martin O'Reilly. Thanks also go to the rest of the team, Tony Clements, Bob Jones, Phil White, David Timmington, Mike Williams, Mel Holdnall, Brian Whitehouse and Tim Browning. We all braved a day of much varied weather, especially the snow storm early in the afternoon, and found the course in excellent condition but very challenging. Everyone said that they had enjoyed the day and I look forward to our next fixture to be played at Penn GC on 28th May.

Match report Seniors v Penn GC (A) May 28th 2021

Our second match of the summer, post lockdown, was at Penn GC. Another close match between two well-matched teams. The weather was excellent and, considering how much rain had fallen during the previous week, the course was in very good condition. Special mention must be made to our most succesful pairing on the day, Bob Jones and Mike Oliver, who played superbly and won, very comfortably, 7&5. The other victorious pairs were Dave Edwards and Pete Hutton (4&3) and Les Cook and Brian Whitehouse (2 up). Mel Holdnall and Mike Williams had a very tight match and eventually halved, to give us our 3.5 points. Even though the other two pairs, David Timmington & Rob Cowley and Roy Shearwood & Tim Browning, both lost their matches 3&2, they were both well contested until the 16th hole.

Penn GC provided some excellent hospitality both before and after the game and there was unanimous agreement that the after match meal was of the highest quality. Lets hope that we will be able to reciprocate later in the summer. The captain's speech was typically brief but a special mention was given to Pete Hutton who made his Seniors debut. We all now look forward to a busy summer of matches and events, the next one being the Away Day at Druids Heath GC on June 16th.
 

Seniors, Ladies and Former Captains Away Day to Druids Heath, June 16th.

The Seniors, Ladies and ex Captains Away Day to Druids Heath took place on Wednesday 16th June. After some rather eventful journeys due to roadworks and a motorway closure, everybody arrived at Druids Heath GC in Aldridge in time for tea/coffee and a bacon sandwich. We were blessed with very good weather, wall to wall sunshine and high temperatures with very little wind, all conducive to good golf. The course was in very good condition, firm fairways and fast, but true, greens. After the golf we were served with much needed drinks from the very efficient staff and then had a lovely two course meal in the restaurant Throughout, the staff couldn't have been more friendly or helpful and were a credit to their golf club.

As far as the golf was concerned, there were 32 players taking part, who were divided into 8 fourballs. The scoring was Stableford off full playing handicap, all to score on par 3s, three to score on par 4s and two to score on the par 5s. The results of the team competition can be found below, but there were also prizes for nearest the pin on the four par 3 holes. All these details are outlined below:-

Nearest the pin on the 7th hole; Bill Morris

                                 11th hole; Chris Tibbetts

                                 14th hole; Mike Cates

                                 16th hole; Brian Whitehouse

A special prize was awarded to Dave Beresford for his Eagle 2 on the par 4 10th hole.

Team prizes were awarded to the top 3 teams and are as follows:-

            1st prize, with 117 points, was Ann Holland, Dave Beresford, Stu Wilson & Les Cook

            2nd prize, with 110 points, was Jenny Cousins, John Savage, Will Weaver & Dave Edwards

            3rd prize, with 102 points, was John Gould, Chris Shipley, Mike Cates & Kevin Gerrish.

The whole day was most enjoyable, playing good golf in almost perfect conditions at a club who couldn't have done more for us. It was great to catch up with old friends and we look forward to meeting up some time in the future. Finally, thanks to Druids Heath GC, our hosts for an event that, due to Covid, had been 18 months in the planning but was well worth the wait.

Match report Seniors v Little Lakes GC (A) June 21st 2021

A relatively new fixture was played at Little Lakes Golf Club near Bewdley. It was quite a long journey for some and a very early start. We were greeted by the opposition with tea or coffee and a very welcome bacon sandwich. The match consisted of 8 fourballs and was played in favourable weather on an excellent, but physically very demanding, golf course. With so many of the holes not visible from the tees local knowledge was vital. Consequently we found the matches very demanding, with all our pairs struggling on many of the holes. I'm sure that, if we were to play there again, the outcome would be very different. Combine that with the fact that the opposition's average handicap was much higher than ours and we had to give so many shots it was very difficult for us to gain a positive outcome in each match. Crediot must be given to Bob Jones and Pete Hutton, who played extremely well to gain our only creditable result, a half, although Tim Browning and Martin O'Reilly also had a close game, they were playing one down on the last tee before, eventually losing 2 down. 

Credit goes to the rest of the team, John Payne & Bill Hart, David Timmington & Mike Williams, Mike Oliver & Dave Slater, Rob Cowley & Andy Bartle, Richard Ford & Bill Humphries and Allan Gilhooley & Brian Whitehouse, who all enjoyed the day despite the final outcome. After a pleasant meal and a short speech of thanks and congratulations to our hosts we returned home defeated but not downhearted.

Match report Seniors v Telford G&CC (A) July 1st 2021

Another early start at Telford but a very enjoyable day. We were greeted with tea/coffee and biscuits before teeing off at 8.45! We were able to put in a very good performance, overall, winning the match 4 points to 2. Our most successful pairing was Stu Wilson & Dave Lloyd, who won 4&2. Special thanks to Dave for stepping in at the very last moment but by doing so he was able to notch up 31 years of continuous Seniors friendly matches. Mike Williams & Mike Oliver also had an excellent result, beating their opponents 4&3. Other victories went to Martin O'Reilly & Brian Whitehouse 2&1 and to Richard Ford & Bob Jones by 1 hole. The other two pairings were Rob Cowley & Tim Browning and David Timmington & Andy Bartle both losing, the former only by 1 hole after a very close encounter, eventually losing on the 18th green.

After the matches we were treated to a very good roast chicken meal and drinks. The speeches were, as usual, short and to the point but the captain's speech also included the announcement that all future Seniors fixtures this year were to be, unfortunately, cancelled due to difficulties in raising a team, among other things. So it was great to finish with a victory but disappointing that it was to be our last game. The captain thanked all those who have supported Seniors golf over a very difficult 2 year period but hoped that everything would return to normal as soon as possible and that Worfield Seniors would, again, enjoy many friendly fixtures against other clubs with whom we have an excellent relationship.