Match Report 2015 Windermere Golf Club
The fourth Parrots Golf Society day out of 2015 was held at Windermere Golf Club on Thursday, with 16 players competing in the afternoon’s 18 holes after Stuart’s arrival at lunchtime (although it would have been 17 had Tony Duncan not been left behind due to a communication mix up!).
Those who played at Windermere last year will remember the sweltering weather that day, and unbelievably, the sun tan lotion was being sloshed around at lunchtime again this year, as Thursday became the hottest day of the year so far. So the conditions were again glorious, and the course was also in very good condition, with some lightning quick greens, which tested the putting skills of even the best on tour.
The morning 11 holes saw a number of respectable scores with 20 points being in plentiful supply. However, standing out from the crowd, in his shorts and fading tan was Mike Barnes with a very good score of 23 points to win the morning. Mike did though admit to a fair degree of fortune in amassing this score, including a big curly putt on the first hole for birdie!
After a sun-drenched lunch on the balcony at the clubhouse, it was time to tee off for the afternoon.
Despite the tight course and tricky greens, there were some good scores posted in the afternoon, with 7 out of the 17 reaching at least 30 points, with only 5 scores the wrong side of the 'buffer zone’.
Now, as you might expect, being in the Lake District, Windermere is a hilly course, and so staying power, or the benefits of buggy power, could well be a factor in putting together a good score in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, buggying certainly didn’t help last year’s winner in the afternoon as sadly for him, Tony Johnson slumped to a very disappointing score of just 16 points. Neither did his electric trolley seem to help the morning winner, which just proves that 'class is temporary, but form is permanent' (his words not mine!) But it did seem to help the other main contenders.
Scoring excellent 35 points apiece, and even sharing the same buggy in the process, were Bill Pye and his new best mate called Pete, Peter Williams. As a result, rumour has it that Pete Whiteside had to buy his own fish supper from the chippy that evening, as his namesake got his feet under the dinner table at Mr and Mrs Pye’s house ahead of him!
But though it looked for a long time like one of these 35’s was going to take second place, from the last group, and in yet another buggy, came Mark Rhodes to post an excellent score of 36 points (off an 8 handicap and a round of 75!). Although not quite enough to win, this was Mark’s second second in three outings (you know what I mean!), so well done to Mark on a great score.
But having been sweating on an, eventual, unbeaten score of 37 points from the first group, was someone, who wasn’t in a buggy, but is often seen working out in the YMCA gyms around the Fylde working on that oh so important staying power........Mark Thomas, Windermere winner for 2015.
I say sweating, not because of the hot day necessarily, but because having fired his second shot just short of the 7th green (for net zero!), none of his group could find his ball, thus resulting in Mark’s only non-scoring hole of the round, and him being convinced that would cost him the win! I should mention though, that your handicap secretary in the next group did find his ball some 10 minutes later, whilst looking for his own ball in the same area, but sadly, this was too late for Mark!
So well done to Mark, who broke the monopoly of Fleetwood Golf Club winners for 2015 so far, and takes the fourth win of the season.
Handicap changes from Windermere are :-
Mark Thomas 23 to 21
Bill Pye 22 to 21
Peter Williams 23 to 22
Glenn Wellard 8 to 9 (phew!)
Paul Greenaway 22 to 23
Phil Matthews 19 to 20
Tony Johnson 23 to 24
The website is updated to the latest standings, but whilst Stuart Weston still leads as only four people have competed in all four rounds, the wolves are gathering slightly lower down in the shape of Mark Rhodes, Geoff Moyle, Bill Pye and Jim Clayton.
Next up is Preston Golf Club on the more usual day of WEDNESDAY 17th June.
After that, it’s off to Portal for those that are going (places still available if anyone is interested), where both rounds will count towards the leaderboard table. For those going who aren’t sure of the details (tee off times etc), check the following page on the Parrots website http://www.parrotsgolf.co.uk/portal-details.php
