Fitzwilliam Golf Society

Following 6 months of record rainfall, 20 Fitz golfers headed out for the first match of the season with some trepidation, only to find benign, dry conditions with some hazy sunshine, and the Ashridge course in excellent condition! 

This enabled some good scoring and some refreshingly rapid play, with everyone getting round in under 4 hours.  The winner of the singles stableford was Andrew Garden with 40 points, beating John Uwins only on his countback of 24 vs 22 for the back nine. Nigel Smethers (3^rd) and Dave Williams (4^th) both came in with 37 points. 

The better-ball team competition was won by Nigel Smethers, Stuart Lester & Danny Gesua who each managed to elegantly dovetail their frequent blobs to their partners scoring well, generating a total of 85 points.  The runners up were John Uwins, Mike Hamment and Chris Coyne with 84. Chris was a “blind” partner allocated to the team in place of Charlie Brown, who was unfortunately absent due to illness on the day, and his steady front 9 plus a 4-pointer on the back helped pull the team well clear of their nearest rivals, Graham May kindly sorting the cards and scoring in the bar. 

Par 3 nearest the pin prizes went to Graham May and Matt Hignell, with Dave Williams bagging nearest in two on the final hole. John Uwins won the longest drive (with a 5-wood) and we are going to have to find an even more challenging shot for him at the next event – I’m thinking cross-fairway bunker or ditch or maybe a sharp dog-leg!  A heartfelt toast to the sadly deceased Bob Barltrop preceded the excellent lunch, and Harry Coe enlightened us all with the truth behind Bob’s much-recounted oar-winning “footie” boat! 

Thanks were expressed to Chris Coyne for his generous and excellent work in delivering a new web-site for the society. All in all, an excellent day which has truly whetted appetites for the next FGS event at Ellesborough.

Stuart Lester, Captain and Match Organiser