BRENT VALLEY GOLF CLUB NEWSLETTER SPRING 2010

Transcription

1 BRENT VALLEY GOLF CLUB NEWSLETTER SPRING 2010 Founded Church Road, Hanwell, London W7 3BE, Tel: ; President: MJ Murphy; Men s Captain: Dave Flynn; Ladies Captain: Kathleen Maloney; Newsletter Editor: Richard Gray Like London buses, you wait for one and then four come along at once. After a long winter, the Majors arrived at Brent Valley thick and fast as all four of the saints competitions were played between March and May. Pictured below are the mens winners. Clockwise from top left: Joe Machado (St Andrews), Martin Brennan (St Georges), Joe Horvath (St Davids) and Noel Rutherford (St Patricks). Ladies winners inside. PAGE 1

2 ST PATRICK S COMPETITION The first Major of the season, the 2010 St Patricks was spared the wrath of the recent weather and went ahead as scheduled on March 21st on a beautiful spring day from the grass tees for the first time this year. As we emerged blinking from the dark winter, there was a real start-of-season buzz in the clubhouse. There were some particularly tough pin placements, with many flags close to the edge (often the back) of the greens, while the summer tees added some yardage to the length of the holes played during the winter. The clubhouse was decked out in Ireland s traditional green and gold from the previous Wednesday when the traditional St Patrick s Day competition had been played and many players sported the colours of the Emerald Isle. ST PATRICK S RESULTS Mens Prize 1st: Noel Rutherford 63 2nd: Ron Dyer 63 3rd: Ray Cryan 64 Mens Scratch Prize Jamie Lea, 71 Ladies Prize 1st: Helen Weil 74 2nd: Veronica Collins 74 3rd: Teresa Brennan 75 Pictures ("om top): On the balcony, le$ to right: Dave Flynn, Kathy Maloney, Matt Maher, Ron Dyer, Oscar Brown. Next: Melissa Breakfield, Helen Wei& and Jayne Charlwood; Next: Ladies Captain Kathy Maloney congratulates the Ladies winner, Helen Wei&. Next: Bi& Kearney advises Mick Hynes with John Hunter not looking on; Last: Jamie Lea, winner of the mens scratch prize. PAGE 2

3 ST GEORGE S COMPETITION On a glorious spring day (April 19) the Brent Valley faithful gathered for the second major of the year. Like Tiger Woods on his final round, many players sported the red of St George - though very few produced a standard of golf to match. With the weather so good, some were even wearing shorts! The slayer of the dragon on the day and winner of the men s competition with an excellent performance by a full three strokes was ex-president and Captain, Martin Brennan (pictured on the cover). The winner of the mens scratch competition was Jamie Lea, enjoying an excellent season, having won the St Patricks just a few weeks earlier. Winner of the ladies prize was vice-captain, Veronica Collins, pictured on For England and St George! Ray Black in patriotic red and white her way to her victory on the first tee below left. THE DAY THE PLANES STOPPED FLYING OVER BRENT VALLEY Golfers on the weekend of April enjoyed a rare experience on Brent Valley thanks to events in Iceland. A volcano called Eyja$allajökull (imagine getting that in a spelling test!) erupted and its dust cloud caused the closure of airspace over almost the whole of Europe. So the planes from Heathrow, which arrive and depart every minute or so over Brent Valley, were absent. And so the squarks of the parakeets went uninterrupted for at least one weekend on Brent Valley. PAGE 3

4 ST DAVID S COMPETITION We still had no new Prime Minister on the morning of Sunday May 9, three days after the general election, but by the end of the afternoon, we knew who the two new St David s champions were: Jayne Charlwood and Joe Hovarth. With a hung parliament, the 3 Plaid Cymbru MPs who won seats in Parliament may have a role to play in the new government but Jayne Charlwood is presented with the Ladies St David s Cup by captain Cathy Maloney. they had no role in Brent Valley s St. David s competition. The day started off drizzly but ended with some sunshine, giving some of the later tee times a small advantage. Jayne s victory marked the culmination of a road-to-damascus journey from absolute beginner to competent golfer. Not much longer than 24 months ago she joined Brent Valley as a top-handicapper, enduring all the frustrations of a keen but undeveloped golfer. But after various coaching sessions from different members in the club, her handicap has gone south and she has now taken her first Brent Valley major! By contrast, Joe Hovarth has been playing for years and it was about time he won something! In second place in the mens event was Martin Brennan with another excellent performance, playing off a reduced handicap following his St George s win. Jamie Lea can t believe how we& Joe Hovarth is playing as he goes on to win the St Davids JOE CELEBRATES DOUBLE VICTORY! The club s vice-captain, Joe Hovarth, had a double celebration on Sunday May 9. He took first prize in the St Davids and his beloved Chelsea romped home to the Premiership title, putting eight past a halfhearted Wigan side. Most other Brent Valley members were celebrating too - well, it was better than Man U winning again! PAGE 4

5 ST ANDREW S The English football season came to its traditional end the day before with a sad inevitability (sorry Joe) as Chelsea scooped their first double, beating Portsmouth 1-0 in the FA Cup Veronica Co&ins receives the St Andrew s Prize "om Ladies captain Kathy Maloney The new BVGC committee On May 11, the AGM approved the following members on committee: MJ Murphy (President) Barrie Barker (Treasurer) Marge Griffen (Secretary) Kathy Maloney (Ladies Captain and Handicap Secretary) David Flynn (Mens Captain) Joe Hovarth (Mens Vice-Captain) John Antunes (ex-captain) Keith Hall (Seniors Captain) Peter Hyde (Competitions Secretary) Steve Cannon (Social Secretary) Others: Jayne Charlwood, Ken Curtis, Richard Gray, Larry Weill, Rick Harvey final. And Brent Valley s quartet of major competitions also came to an end with the Scottish competition, the St Andrews. No-one dared to wear a kilt, but Jim Chalmers did have a Scotland rugby shirt on. Next year Jim? Joe Machado triumphed in the men s competition, scoring an excellent net 61, including 2 birdies. He was 2 strokes ahead of John Hunter and 3 ahead of Martin Brennan. In an eloquent acceptance speech, Joe declared himself to be one of the few players who liked being cut. The choruses of Hear! Hear! rang somewhat hollow to say the least. Jamie Lea pipped Philip Christides on the back nine for the best scratch score, both players scoring 69. The general standard of play was excellent with 15 players scoring Did it go in? Mick Hynes admires his approach to the 2nd green during the St Andrews net pars or lower. In the ladies competition, Veronica Collins took her second major of the season, with a net score of 65, a full 7 strokes ahead of second placed Helen Weill. Close but no cigar. John Antunes is chuffed with his drive on the first hole. The rest of his round wasn t as good PAGE 5

6 NAME-THAT- BRENT- VALLEY- MEMBER- IN-THEIR- YOUNGER DAYS! No. 2 In the second of our highly popular series, Name-that-Brent-Valley-Member-In-Their -Younger-Days, the black-and-white photo (taken in the 50s, or possibly even the 40s?) on the right shows a shy little boy wearing a pair of finest elasticated Rupert Bear trousers and home-knitted tank top, perhaps on his first day at big school. The member in question retains his sense of style to this day, if not all of his hair. Can you guess which Brent Valley member that cheeky smile belonged - and still belongs - to? Identity revealed in the next newsletter. The identity of the last newsletter s NTBVMI- TYD feature was none other than... MJ Murphy. Yes, indeed our very own president. And the ravages of time (see below) have done such a good job since this photo was taken that noone guessed right. In fact, no-one even mentioned El Presidente s name as a possibility. So the prize rolls over to the next newsletter! In in 2010 PAGE 6

7 IS THERE AN ELECTION ON? Brent Valley member and MP (at least for a few more weeks he was thinking at the time) for Ealing North, Stephen Pound (pictured right with Mick McSwiggan) was at the club on the day of the St Georges, enjoying a pint of the black stuff and renewing old acquaintances. Some cynics might say the timing of his visit was motivated by the upcoming election. But not the Brent Valley Newsletter. Stephen has been a familiar face in the club over the years, enjoying our social evenings and major competitions. Especially those taking place a few weeks before elections (just joking, Steve!). Whether he won a few extra votes amongst Brent Valley members or not from his visit, his out-and-about presence certainly seemed to pay off. He came home with a whopping 50.4% of the vote and was one of the few Labour MPs to enjoy a swing in his favour. PAGE 7

8 BRENT VALLEY IN PICTURES PAGE 8

9 Page on left, clockwise from top left: Don Stewart; John Hunter; Mick Hynes and Mick Stockton; Graeme Tollitt; Frank Burke; Fay Daquil. This page: Steve Cannon; Colm Gough; Mike Cameron; Billy Kearney. AGM Brent Valley Golf Club held its 2010 Annual General Meeting on May 14. With thirty-three members attending, addresses were given by the President, the Mens and Ladies Captains and the Treasurer. The new committee was approved by members (see page 5) and the main business was an overview of the club s financial situation. Thanks to various fund-raising actions (take-your-pick, poker nights, newsletter advertising, centenary booklet sales and race night) the club s finances are in relatively good health, despite another fall in membership numbers (to 102). It was also decided to revert the duration of the club s season to run between the holding of the AGMs in May. This follows the repeated cancellation of the captain s drive-in in January due to poor weather. As such the current year (and corresponding captains period of office) will run until May EGM On April 30 an Extraordinary General Meeting was held to discuss proposals made by the course s new management company, MyTimeActive (MTA). The company has proposed to take over the club s lease on the clubhouse and in exchange, it will guarantee the club specific tee times and use of the clubhouse on agreed dates. Members were given the opportunity to express their views and the EGM approved the subcommittee to continue negotiating with MTA. The meeting was attended by 53 members. PAGE 9

10 SENIORS St. Patrick s Day. March 17 th fell on a Wednesday this year and so the seniors were hosts to the rest of the Club for a day s celebratory golf. Although the large majority of club members have full-time work, the turn-out on the day totalled 56 players! Sorry to those members who took the day off and omitted to let their bosses know, especially if they are mentioned below if the newsletter gets into circulation at work, their covers are blown! The weather on the day was superb, with the course looking better by the day as spring creeps up. Retired seniors captain Rick Harvey together with Ken Curtis took over the responsibility for organising the entire event Above: Rick Harvey receives first prize "om Seniors Captain Keith Ha&. Below: Mo Aslam, Alan Niel and Colm Gough at Seniors Away Day at Wexham Park and as usual all went very well despite some players assuming that they could start as late as they liked and still qualify for the match! We really ought to get members committed and paid up in advance of these matches so that a proper draw can be made and specific times allocated. For those seniors turning up at their usual early time of 8am, it was a long day but as seen below, our boys did very well when it came to winners! Results from the day s play were: Overall winner: John Antunes, Second: Steve Cannon, Third: Ray Black. Handicaps 0-10: Ronnie Dyer, Handicaps 11-18: Richard Roberts, Handicaps: 19-28: Ken Elstone. Seniors aged 70+: Billy Kearney. Nearest the Pin (2): Andy Lambe & Jack Woodham. Congratulations to all winners and particularly the winning seniors seven out of an overall total of nine! Well done you guys! Wexham Park Golf Club, Away Day, 24 th March. The dawn sky looked exactly as forecast with heavy rain expected later in the day. In the event, however, cloudy skies turned to bursts of sunshine and by time we had all teed-off through to the last man in, the sun shone throughout at temperatures of 15 C. As a result, red faces abounded in the club house at lunchtime! Special prizes went to the first 8 players, with additional prizes for the best two over 70s; two ladies; two guests and the not to be forgotten two nearest the pin(s) and the longest drive! As ever, the seniors never like any player to go home without a prize and this day was no exception. A choice of Easter eggs or golfing paraphernalia went to all the remaining players and it is fair to say that a good time was had by all 31 of us! Particular congratulations go to Rick Harvey, last year s seniors captain who was overall first with a score of 39 points. Alan Niel s 38 points to give him second place was a creditable performance with James Graven third with 37 points. The other placed prize winners were Jack Woodham, Andy Lambe, Matty Carthy and Denis Burke. The over-70s prize was won by Billy Kearney, with John Walton in second. Theresa Brennan took the ladies prize with 31 points. PAGE 10

11 Home team winners (le$ to right): Richard Roberts, Bi&y Kearney, Matty Carthy, Colm Gough NAPGC Golfguard Team Series 2010 Mitchell-Thomson Senior Men s Greensomes Trophy The first round of this event took place on Wednesday 28 th April, between BVGC Seniors and Little Hay Seniors. We had participated in this event on three previous occasions and had never passed beyond the first round. The best possible team was selected and on the day, did us proud. On the day, the weather was faultless so no complaints there. Rick Harvey and Geoff Rayner playing away, drew with their opponents with 34 points whilst Ray Black and James Graven scored a magnificent 39 against their opponents 36. Back on home club soil Matty Carthy and Colm Gough scored 32 points to 29 finishing 3 points up and Richard Roberts and Billy Kearney 37 points to 35 winning by a total of 5 points and an overall match win of 8 points! Winning away at a course like Little Hay was a major achievement and to be 5 up at home under very strong opposition from a highly competitive team was an excellent achievement. Interestingly, when the organisers were contacted to log the results we were told that BVGC Seniors score was one of the highest, if not the highest recorded. Not only that, Little Hay were previous winners of this competition and confirmed that against us they had fielded their seniors A team who regularly play and win competitions! There are more rounds to come in this competition but well done the seniors A Team for winning this first round and good luck for the next. Brent Valley Seniors versus Farnham Park GC Seniors This annual friendly competition had its first match away at Farnham Park GC on Friday 7 th May. Playing four ball better ball Match Play, our opponents won 4½ to our 1½. Rick Harvey & Geoff Rayner helped to avoid too great a win by our hosts, winning their round decisively 5 and 4. Billy Kearney and Mo Aslam finished all square. The return match at Brent Valley takes place on Friday 30 th July so watch this space to see the final outcome! April s poker night was won by last year s golden bracelet winner, Rick Harvey, securing his place in the top 10 final in June. May s prize, the last of the season, was taken by Francis Lee. With this, the 10 finalists for the big Top Table Poker Final on June 26 are: Rick Harvey (55 points), Dave Packer (50), Larry Weill (43), Don Stewart (42), Alan Niel (41), Oscar Brown (39), Richard Gray (34), Graeme Tollitt (25) and Francis Lee (25). On May 11 the AGM expressed its thanks to Don Stewart for organising the poker nights and for the significant funds they have raised for the club over the last year. Oscar Brown, winner of March s poker evening, and finalist on June 26, counts his chips Poker evenings are on the penultimate Friday of each month. See calendar for exact dates. PAGE 11

12 BRENTSIDE The Brentside Society held its annual captain s prize and three regular monthly outings in the last three months. Captain s Prize on May 21. Captain Frank Deely presided over the annual captain s event, held this year at Ealing Golf Club with 28 members and 19 guests. For the second year running the prize was won by Ray Cryan (pictured below). Keith Buckingham won the guest prize. The longest drive (8th hole) was won by Brendan Dillon (a guest attending from Vancouver, Canada, playing off a handicap of 1). March 28th outing: A stableford event attended by 28 members, newly inducted member Rick Harvey made a strong impression in his first outing with 41 points, followed by captain Frank Deely (39) and Jamie Lea (38). April 25th outing: A strong turnout with 29 members and 22 guests for a medal event won by John Hunter (64), with Martin Brennan second (65) and Steve Cannon third (65). Philip Christides was the guest winner. May 23rd outing: 22 members and 7 guests. Matty Carthy bounced back from his performance at the captain s prize to win the monthly prize with an impressive 44, with Mick McSwiggan (39) second and Frank Deely (39) third. Matt Maher was the guest winner. In other news, successful applicants for the 4 vacant positions in the Society were Rick Harvey, Graeme Tollitt, Tom Murray and Andrew Long. The Society has a maximum of 48 members at any one time. The Society sends its best wishes to one of its lowest handicap members, Andrew Lea, who is currently out of action due to illness. STAT ATTACK! What really is the hardest hole on Brent Valley? The newsletter hired the brainiest statisticians to settle the argument once and for all. We all know the 6th is stroke index 1, but is it the hardest? And is the 15th really the easiest? Taking our data from we looked at hundreds of rounds played during various Brent Valley competitions and entered it into one of the world s most powerful computers and we came up with the following results shown on the Diff Hole +Par right. The column Diff indicates the difficulty, with Diff 1 the hardest hole. The numbers in the +Par column show how many strokes over par Brent Valley s members play the holes on average The results show that the 15th is the easiest hole (no surprise there) with the average Brent Valley member playing it over par. But perhaps the biggest surprise is that the 17th is the hole that members find by far the hardest (1.72 over par). Or could it be that as they approach the end of the round some players are already starting to think about their handicaps and... their nerves start getting the better of them? We wonder Thanks to the following for their research in the making of this article: NASA, IBM and Stephen Hawkins. PAGE 12

13 OTHER COMPETITION RESULTS MENS CREMIN 6 7/3/10 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Points Joe Horvath 42 Ray Black 40 Sean Diggins 38 John Antunes 37 Graeme Tollitt 36 CREMIN FINAL 28/3/10 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Points Jamie Lea 38 John Antunes 38 Michael Hynes 38 Joe Horvath 37 Frank Burke 36 BRENT CUP 1 11/4/10 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Net score John McFall 60 John Antunes 63 Steve Cannon 65 Ray Black 68 Joe Machado 68 BRENT CUP 2 16/5/10 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Net score Joe Machado 60 John Hunter 63 Martin Brennan 64 Ken Curtis 64 Phillip Christides 64 JIMMY CUP 23/5/10 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Points Matty Carthy 8 Billy Kearney 5 Mick McSwiggan 3 Steve Hynes 2 Jack Farrugia 2 LADIES MONTHLY MEDAL 11/4/10 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Net score Helen Weill 72 Teresa Brennan 81 Jayne Charlwood 84 Barbara Murphy 87 Teresa Machado 87 MONTHLY ST FORD 25/4/10 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Points Helen Weill 38 Melissa Breakfield 34 Veronica Collins 34 Teresa Brennan 31 Jayne Charlwood 29 MONTHLY ST FORD 23/5/10 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Urgh! Joe Machado may not have liked the look of his first tee shot in the Brent Cup 2, but it set him off on a stunning net 60 to win the competition! Points Mary Curtis 35 Annette Dillon 33 Veronica Collins 32 Helen Weill 31 Kathy Maloney 30 PAGE 13

14 Events Calendar June July August September Wed 2: Seniors Medal, Ladies MM Fri 2: Summer Quiz Sun 1: Brent Cup 5, Phoenix Wed 1: Seniors Medal, Ladies MM Sat 5: Ladies Spring Cup Sat 3: Brent Cup 4; England v Ireland v RoW Wed 4: Seniors Medal Sat/Sun 4/5: Brent Cup 6 Sun 6: Ladies MM, Ladies Spring Cup, Phoenix Sun 4: Brent Cup 4; Phoenix; Ladies MM Wed 11: Seniors Stableford Sun 5: Brent Cup 6, Ladies MM, Phoenix Wed 9: Seniors Stableford Wed 7: Seniors Medal, Ladies MM Sun 15: Brentside Wed 8: Seniors Stableford Sat 12: Phoenix Away day; Brent Cup 3; Ladies Midsummer Salver Sat 10: Lady Captain s Day Wed 18: Seniors Bogey Sat/Sun 11/12: President s Prize Sun 13: Brentside; Brent Cup 3; Ladies Midsummer Salver Sun 11: Pat McGlew Trophy Fri 20: Poker Wed 15: Seniors Bogey Wed 16: Seniors Bogey Wed 14: Seniors Stableford Sat/Sun 21/22: Ladies Stableford Fri 17: Poker Fri 18: Poker Sat/Sun 17/18: Club Championship Wed 25: Seniors Sat 18: Ladies Autumn Cup Sat 19: Fun Day; Ladies Stableford Wed 21: Seniors Bogey Sun 19: Ladies Autumn Cup, Brentside v Phoenix Sun 20: AM-AM (mixed) Fri 23: Poker Wed 22: Seniors Wed 23: Seniors Sat 24: Ladies Stableford Sat 25: Ladies Stableford Sat 26: Poker Final (5pm start) Sat/Sun 26/27: Captain s Prize. Sun 25: Ladies Stableford; Brentside Wed 28: Seniors Sun 26: Ladies Stableford, Billy Birmingham Wed 29: Seniors Thanks! Go to our advertisers, Keith Hall (Seniors and various photos) and Bill Mulvanny (Brentside). If you have any ideas, photos or golfing theses for the newsletter, contact Richard Gray. PAGE 14

15 COOL GOLFERS OF THE WORLD NO. 3: CHE GUEVARA Hasta la Victoria Siempre! (Ever towards victory!) was the battle cry accompanying many a student poster of Ernesto Che Guevara, the Latin American communist revolutionary. But what many don t realise is that when he said it, he perhaps had his winter singles that Sunday against Fidel Castro in mind rather than the overthrow of the capitalist regime in Bolivia. Si señor! Che Guevara was a golf nut. With Irish grandparents originally from Galway, Che came from a well-to-do family in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he went to a private school and was an avid rugby player. To earn a bit of pocket money, Che used to caddy at his local golf club and like many caddies, he developed his own golfing skills while lining up the putts for others. He continued to play while studying medicine in Buenos Aires. Like many students today, in 1955 he went on a gap year, touring South America on a motorbike with a mate. Which is where his phone calls back to his parents raised their first concerns about the young Che s future career path. While his parents back home had high hopes he would become a GP, Che was having his head filled with ideas of revolution. Alongside comrade at arms, Fidel Castro, he helped to overthrow Cuba s corrupt dictatorship in Once in power though, Che was able to resume his golfing activities - indeed, as the photos here show, he went straight from the battle-field to the golf course! Luckily all the members at Havana s Rovers Athletic golf club had fled so there was no issue with Che wearing boots on the greens - anyway, they were the government by then so they could do whatever they wanted. Of course the communist regime abolished caddies and adopted a very relaxed dress code - very much like Brent Valley then! In the next edition of Cool Golfers of the World : Barack Obama PAGE 15

16 WISHING ALL BRENT VALLEY MEMBERS A GOOD GOLFING SUMMER! Tuffin & Wren is an independently owned and run firm of Residential Estate Agents specialising in the sale & letting of quality homes in and around Ealing & Hanwell in West London. Founded in 1989 by the original partners, Richard Tuffin & David Wren, the company has grown considerably since, moving to larger corner premises at the junction of Greenford Avenue & Cuckoo Lane in Hanwell and the prominent corner premises at the junction of Northfield & Altenburg Avenues in Ealing. Employing a unique, distinctive marketing style that successfully marries the latest in digital technology with a commitment to traditional values such as personal service and attention to detail, our highly motivated sales & lettings teams, headed by the resident partners, can genuinely claim that whether buying, selling, renting or letting you'll be Sold On Our Service! Ealing Address: 138 Northfield Avenue, Ealing London, W13 9SB Tel: Fax: Hanwell Address: 72 Greenford Avenue, Hanwell, London, W7 3QS Tel: Fax: homes@tuffin-wren.co.uk PAGE 16