17th November 2011

Whisky Trot Stableford - 57 members went out in great weather to compete for the traditional prize.

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Senior Captain's Report ~ end of year 2011

I have had a year to remember and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

At this time last year I remarked how close knit and friendly the Long Sutton Seniors section is, and this sentiment has been re- affirmed by my experiences as Captain this year.

I owe a great debt of thanks to the Seniors Committee without whose help and guidance my job would have been all but impossible and in particular to Immediate past Captain Mick and those who preceded him for the systems and procedures established in the past which made my task that much easier.

This support and hard work is a credit to the Senior section and is reflected by the high regard with which the section is held within the main club.

My thanks goes to each of the committee individually and as a group for their work, and for their sense of humour - sometimes even in the most trying of circumstances.  I must also thank Ken Jacobs, for his contribution both as past captain and as our Fixtures Secretary this year, who is standing down as a committee member. Many thanks Ken.

My thanks also to those who have helped our section as scorers - a sometimes trying task, but always carried out with patience and humour.

 May I also take this opportunity to thank Roger Stone for his sterling support this year. I am very grateful for his advice and hard work as vice captain and I know I will leave my Captaincy in capable hands

We are very fortunate to have a club management group who take the responsibilities of club ownership so positively and progressively. Many seniors have visited other Somerset clubs and further afield and I am sure would agree that though there are many good clubs there remains a number - an increasing number - whose facilities cannot match the on and off course facilities at Long Sutton.

My thanks go to Graham and Felicity and in particular Kate for their attention during my year and the pleasant and efficient way that our section has been treated. Kate has been providing all our table welcome cards and publicity details for our events through the year and this has been noted by our many visitors and guests who once again have been afforded the best quality catering facilities in the county.

The course is improving year on year and I would wish to record the thanks of the Senior section to Peter Tulk and the staff for the work and dedication they put in to enable the course to improve and progress. I have had many complimentary remarks this year from visiting teams and guests .We can be justly proud of our club!

The Seniors Open held in August this year was very successful with nearly 200 participants of which 126 were visitors. Congratulations to organiser Jeremy Evans on a tremendous effort not forgetting John Nicholson whose work on previous Open events laid the foundations for what is now one of the largest Open events in the county.

Our Invitation Event was well supported this year. Next year this event will be concluded with a lunch in order to fully entertain our guests and provide a more fitting finale to what is an already enjoyable day.

The Celts versus England match was well supported and was followed by a voluntary light lunch of Haggis suitably piped in by Ian Davidson – again it is intended to repeat this very enjoyable format.

For the first time our Seniors and Veterans Championship concluded with an informal evening social occasion at which the respective Champion players were presented with their trophies. Nearly 100 people attended the event and enjoyed a barbecue at the club This will now become a permanent addition to our Seniors event programme.

The Seniors friendly match programme was completed and the final record shows that of 30 matches played, 15 were won, 12 lost, and 3 were halved. 60 different members appeared in these matches This figure is most pleasing to report because it means that almost half of our section enjoyed the entirely recreational nature of our matches. I know that our opponents enjoyed the seniors company and I would like to thank all for giving their time and being good ambassadors for the section. Next year I would hope that even more of our membership would find the time to participate in these matches.

On the more competitive side the Senior team did very well in The Somerset Bowl. The club beat 4 teams in their progression to the final of this year’s competition losing by the slimmest of margins 3-2. 15 players represented the club throughout the competition and my thanks and congratulations goes to the team for their efforts.

The Redwood Cup matches were keenly fought as usual with the Seniors holding a narrow 1-point lead entering the second leg. Sleepless nights preceded the return, but our Senior team rose to the occasion winning the overall event- 20 and a half points to 10 and a half points. Normal service resumed!! In all the joint participation numbered 126 for this event - a very pleasing number.

The Ladies section have given of their time freely to both the main club and more particularly to the Senior section this year in several competitions and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their continued support.

The joint Charity Day with the ladies raised £269.60 for the Seniors this year and in all the total raised for my nominated charity SAAF reached £1000. Our section also passed on a gift of £333.75 to the St Margaret’s Hospice from our charity funds.

At this point I wish to thank all seniors for their generous support for Charities in general and mine in particular. I am mindful of the fact that at times I had a captive audience as I cast my net, but I do thank them all and am very grateful for their forbearance. The Seniors also gave of their time for Charity Events - our Open and St Margaret’s Hospice. This was very much appreciated.

The Senior section funds remain in good order and the committee was very pleased to support 5 free competition entries and a generous subsidy of £5 per head at the Christmas lunch. I feel we have passed on a healthy position to the upcoming Captain and his committee.

 When I became Captain last year I knew that what I was about to undertake was a privilege. I have been proud to act as Captain this year. It has been more than a privilege to represent the Seniors and I would thank them for sharing their friendship and time with me.

John Williams

Congratuations to Brian Clarke for winning Frome Seniors Open with 37 points.

The Final of the Seniors Somerset Bowl was held on Tuesday 6th September 2011.

The predicted weather forecast was one that no golfer was looking forward to, especially having to play a Finals match. However the majority of the rain had passed Taunton Vale Golf Course by, in time for the start of the final against Wells Seniors. Although the rain had abated, the extremely windy conditions made the going extremely tough.

The lead pairing of Rod Tucker and Glyn Ottery had a hard fought match against a very strong pair from Wells. After a topsy turvey match they had to succumb to 2 and 1 defeat.

Second pair out Captain John Williams and his partner Roger Stone quickly found themselves forging ahead and by the turn were 3 up. The back 9 saw a charge from the opposition and by the finish of the 17th the score was all square, with the Wells pairing having thrown in two birdies in three holes, two of which were chip ins from off the green. At the 17th green having seen the second chip in from the opposition, drop for a par, John Williams said to his partner "It's Hero or Zero Roger" then boldly drained a 25 foot putt to halve the hole. The 18th was halved so off down the 19th hole the match went. The Wells drive only went about 170 yards, but John Williams managed one of his rather long drives and ended up about 80 yards from the green. Wells second shot ended in the fringe to the left of the pin. Roger managed to get his approach shot onto the green about 15 feet from the pin. A poor chip from the Wells player still left a nine foot putt for par. The Wells single figure player produced his worst putt of the round missing the hole and leaving a one foot putt for a bogey. John Williams rolled his putt to a foot to leave Roger to get the par and a 19th hole victory.

Third pairing consisting of John Whitehead and Dick Butcher played well through their round and fought bravely to give Sutton our second win having won 2 and 1.

MATCH STATUS    Lost one ------ Won two

By now we had heard that our fifth pairing of Nigel Griffiths and partner Alex Lyon, after a very topsy turvey game had unfortunately gone down 2 and 1.

MATCH STATUS---------Lost 2--------Won 2,

All now down to our fourth pairing of Mick Capps and partner Malcolm Dennes. They were having another hard game against a strong Wells pairing the game was ebb and flow. Arriving at the 18th tee the Sutton pair were one up all seemed in the bag ..but golf being golf, things can change dramatically and unfortunately on the 18th green the Wells pair dashed the hopes of the following supporters and managed to win the hole.

Down the 19th for the second time in this cut throat match. Both pairings fired off long drives and were fairly equidistant from the green for the second shots to be played. Mick managed to get his approach to the right of the pin some 15 feet away, there was little in it after the Wells approach also landed on the green.

It was the Wells player to putt first. A deathly hush fell around the green, from both supporters and fellow players.

As we say, it’s not over until the Fat Lady sings. To the delight of the Wells team and their supporters the putt fell, ........A Birdie .

Now it was down to Malcolm to show his true steel and try to match the Birdie putt. This was real pressure, not usually faced in inter club matches, however this was the Bowl Final. Malcolm eyed up his 15 foot putt drew back his putter and sent the ball smoothly towards the hole ...... the ball hit the back of the cup jumped up into the air and unfortunately failed to fall into the hole.

It was all over ....... Wells had won 3 Games to 2. Having been into the Final on three separate occasions this was to be the year for Wells

At the presentation in the Taunton Vale clubhouse the Somerset County Golf President praised the excellent standard of golf played by both teams and added that this was one of the most tense matches that he had witnessed and concluded that it was great to see that such a high standard of golf was played in such a friendly manner amongst the older generation of the Somerset County.

Congratulations to the Sutton team and with this experience WE WILL RETURN NEXT YEAR

Roger Stone