Category Archives: Golf

CDWS Annual Golf Day and Lunch

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The Annual Golf Day was held at Oakland Park Golf Club on Friday 11th September.

We had eight members playing, which enabled us to make two teams for a Texas
Scramble. Two were new members, Geraint and Maggie Parry, who are enthusiastic and regular players at their local golf club in Chorleywood. They are a welcome addition to our roster of players. It was also a pleasure to see Pam Britton back in action after a long awaited hip operation earlier this year. Last year Pam needed a buggy, but this year she took the course in her stride.

Some marital rivalry was introduced to the competition by careful team selection. The married couples were split up and allocated one to each of the opposing teams. As can be seen from this picture Rob Britton was very pleased that Pam had not gained bragging rights!

The course was in excellent condition considering the damage done by the long period of dry weather. The fairways were back to being green and the greens themselves, having just been freshly cut, were fast and true.

Both teams set off in the sunshine and had a very enjoyable time using all their golfing skills and guile. Every hole was completed by selecting the best of the four balls they played for every shot until the ball was in the hole.

Considering the range of handicaps and ages in each team it was impossible to predict the winners so when the result was announced in the club house we were amazed to discover that both teams had exactly the same score, four shots over the par for the
course!!

Well played everyone.

After the golf, seven more members joined the players for a two
course lunch of seared salmon with beurre blanc sauce follow by
apple tart and custard.

An enjoyable time was had by all.

Colin Thomas

Golf Day 2025

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The Society’s Golf Day on Friday September 12th dawned dry and bright. ‘Twas ever thus’ – as they don’t often say in the Valleys.

Four teams of three gathered to compete in a Texas Scramble.  As usual there had been some last-minute changes. Colin Thomas recruited fellow Oaklands Park Golf Club member Jeff Rowlands, who hails from Penarth, to join us. Brian Evans joined not only to play but also to perform the role of a knight in shining armour. He drove the buggy which enabled Pam Britton to play the full 18 holes. Pam not only enjoyed the golf, she was also treated to a thrilling ride as Brian raced around the course searching for the ball after Ralph Broomby had hit some of his wilder shots!

Whilst the standard of golf may not have equalled that on display in the Ryder Cup, the competition result was much closer. The winning team of Pat Whitworth, Colin Thomas and Jeff Rowlands won by just one point.  At the lunch, they were presented with well-deserved prizes of bottles of wine. The losing teams won no prizes but their consolation was an enjoyable morning out on the course in good company and fresh air.

After the morning’s golf a rather late lunch was served. The twenty diners included two prospective new members, Dafydd Thomas and Glenys Parry-Jones, who were warmly welcomed. They must have enjoyed the company as both confirmed their membership.

During a conversation with Dafydd, he asked me where I came from in Wales and proceeded to inform me that he had a cousin living there. It turns out that his cousin has been a friend of mine since junior school, one whom I still meet up with regularly. It’s a small world.

We extend our thanks to Oaklands Park Golf Club. Their course was in excellent condition and the two course lunch and service was as good as ever.

Thanks also to Colin for taking on some of the organising this year, and to all who participated and helped make it another enjoyable event.

Gwyndaf John

2024 Golf Day

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It was our good fortune to enjoy a dry and mild day for our Annual Golf event at Oakland Park Golf Club. A perfect day for golf, though the same adjective would not accurately describe the golf played.

Three teams of three competed in a “Texas Scramble”. In this special format a team sets off with each player taking a shot. One of the shots is chosen and it is from the location of that chosen ball that each player’s next shot is taken. The team proceeds in this way until a ball is holed. Another detail is that the team must select at least 5 shots from the tee played by each team member.

Each team included a member of Oakland Golf Club, who would be familiar with the course. Rob Britton led the first team to tee off, accompanied by Rob Brett and Ray Brown. The latter was a last minute replacement for the injured Brian Evans, but was an eminently well-qualified substitute as his wife is Welsh.  Despite sharing the same initials this team did not always share the same opinion when trying to choose their “best” shot. Perhaps a consequence of putting two retired legal eagles in the same team.

The second team consisted of Pam Britton accompanied by Gwyndaf John and John Whitworth, and the third saw Colin Thomas partnered by Pat Whitworth and Alun McCarthy.

The “best shot” format ensures that players of all standards contribute to the team result, with wayward shots forgotten – mostly! The team members bond together in their collective effort, and it is good fun.

By the end we were all thankful for and appreciative of our playing partners’ efforts, as one example shows. From the first tee John hit his drive off into the rough on the right, Gwyndaf’s ball soared high and was lost in the shrubbery to the left. Fortunately, for the first but not the last time during the round, Pam stepped up and struck her drive sweetly down the middle of the fairway.

The end result was very close indeed. Though there were no birdies recorded, there were plenty of pars recorded on all the scorecards. In the end Pam, John and Gwyndaf scraped home as the winners. They took 81 strokes, just one stroke less than the two Robs’ and Ray. Another three behind were Colin, Pat and Alun.

After the golf the players were joined by other members of the Society for a splendid two course lunch. Among those attending were Elan and Robin Preston-Whyte who had travelled over from Egham. A later than usual start to the golf meant a late sitting for the meal, so thanks are due to all the non-playing guests for their patience.

Prizes were awarded to the winning team, and Gwyndaf and Rob were thanked for arranging the event.

 

 

 

Gwyndaf John

 

Golf Day 2023

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25th August – Oakland Park Golf Course

As always for this event the sun shone down on the hardy golfers who were keenly competing for this annual Major event.
This year Gwyndaf had organised a Texas Scramble. A very enjoyable format that involves all the players in every golf shot regardless of ability.
The results were very close apart from the winning team who achieved an impressive score worthy of winning the golf club Championship had it been achieved by a single player !
Well done Pat and the two Robs.

Detailed scores are listed below ….

Teams & scores:
75 strokes – Pat Whitworth, Rob Brett & Rob Britton
80 – Margaret Broomby, John Whitworth & Gwyndaf John
81 – Pam Britton, Ralph Broomby & Eryl Morris
84 – Jane Morris, Colin Thomas & Alun McCarthy

Ladies nearest the pin: Jane Morris
Gents nearest the pin: Gwyndaf John

Gwyndaf presented the winning team with a number of much needed golf aids – a “shot saver” for more accurately lining up putts and other strokes; A “golf ball grabber” that fits on the putter handle so that the player doesn’t need to bend down to lift the ball from the hole; some clip-on pencils; and a pack of ball position markers.
Rob Britton presented a bottle of wine to each of the nearest the pin winners.

20 members sat down for a lunch of Seared Salmon with Beurre Blanc Sauce & veg followed by lemon tart with mixed berry compote and whipped cream
Bill Jones brought along the Society’s new banner, the first time it has appeared at one of our events, though it has been promoting the Society at external events
An excellent day was enjoyed by all.

Colin Thomas

More photographs here.

Golf Day 2022

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Friday 19th August was a fine day for playing golf. It is fair to say that the golf played on that day at Oaklands Park Golf Club by the members of the Chiltern Welsh was rather less than fine, but it was enjoyable nevertheless.

Nine players arrived in good time to enjoy coffee and a bacon roll, and to be allocated into three teams of three for a competition over the 18 holes. As the last team holed out on the 9th green before moving on to the 10th tee, we were joined by Gwyneth Herrington who completed the last nine holes at Oaklands for the first time. Gwyneth managed to outscore two of our team over the back nine, but we were unable to count those points unfortunately. Not that it would have made a difference to the overall team results.

The first team home, of Jane Morris, Brian Evans and Rob Britton, were the clear winners recording 93 points. The other teams, of Pam Britton, Eryl Morris and Alan Longshaw, and of Alun McCarthy, Rob Brett and Gwyndaf John, scored much the same with 80 and 82 points respectively.

Individual honours fell to Rob Britton for the longest drive, and to Alan Longshaw for nearest the pin.
Alun recorded the day’s highest individual points score, with Eryl also recording an above par individual score of 37 points.
This was Alun’s first round of 18 holes on a full-size course. He only started playing the game upon his retirement last year, and had only played on a short “par 3” course previously. But his high score ensures that he will not enjoy such a generous handicap at our next Golf Day!

After the playing exertions, 18 gathered for the lunch afterwards and tucked into a main course of salmon followed by dessert of lemon tart. It was a particular pleasure to see Helen Hall there, on a trip out from the Care Home she has recently moved into at Chorleywood. She was brought along by Ann Lawrence, who was herself looking remarkably well after her recent operation.

The winning team were congratulated on their triumph and presented with a prize of three bottles of wine. Rob thanked Gwyndaf for organising the event, though Gwyndaf pointed out that Rob himself had been the key contact with the Golf Club.

Gwyndaf John

Golf Day 2021

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The weather was fine and course conditions good for the CDWS Annual Golf Day on 27th August.

Ten members turned out for the event at our usual venue of Oaklands Park Golf Club.

Golf Day 2021

For the team competition players were allocated to three teams of three, each with a similar aggregate handicap. They were led by a lady captain, namely Kate Picton, Margaret Broomby, and Pam Britton.

The team scoring was the tried and tested Chris Thomas system, though the man himself was unable to be with us on the day. The Stableford points of all three players counted on the par-3 holes, the two best scores counted on the par-4 holes, and only the one best score counted on the par-5s.

All players competed for the best individual score including the tenth player, Brian Evans, who accompanied the final team on their round. As he went around on his golf-buggy he also played a useful role as a ball spotter for his playing partners.

To their consternation, the visitors found their usual handicaps cut, as Oaklands is rated as an easier than average course under the new World Handicapping System.

Oaklands members played off their usual course handicap, with the exception of Colin Thomas. He claims that his official handicap is now 29, but we all remembered that he returned the top score last year playing off 24. Unsurprisingly there was unanimity that he should score off the same 24 handicap this year. He still managed to return the second highest score!

It has to be admitted that the players’ performances did not match the excellence of the conditions.

With one notable exception. Pam Britton was in superb form and her 41 points was much the highest individual score on the day. With her in such good form her playing partners, Ralph Broomby and Gwyndaf John, only needed to make a modest contribution for their team’s shared victory.

The strong hitting trio of Kate, Rob Britton and Alan Longshaw made up the first three to tee off, and they returned a team score of 65 points. They also claimed a record for the number of “Blobs” on the team scorecard after much time spent searching for lost golf balls.

Oaklands is a tight course that rewards accuracy rather than length. As was found out by Ralph and Brian as well as Alan, all players more used to the long open fairways on the courses of Gerrards Cross and Harewood Downs.

Pam led the way in the second trio with low straight shots that ran on for a decent length down the fairways and avoided the trouble that lurked in wait for any loose shot. Her team scored 80 points.

Margaret Broomby’s team of her, Colin Thomas and Rob Brett all played consistently. They put up a fight to finish a close second with 76 points.

As ever with a round of golf everybody experienced highs and lows during their round. But everyone was very pleased to be out on the course together once again, and enjoyed the event.

After our morning’s exertions the players enjoyed a light lunch in  the open air.

Rob Britton has won two veteran’s competitions at Wexham Park in recent months. On this occasion however the honours were well and truly deserved by his wife.

Pam

Pam was presented with a bouquet of Agapanthus flowers for her team’s victory and also scooped the bottle of wine for the best individual score.

 

 

 

Gwyndaf John

Golf Day 2020

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CDWS Golf Day 4th September 2020

It was so nice to be able to be able to catch up with some old friends in a socially distanced way. It was the first occasion that the Chiltern District Welsh Society had been able to meet since our St David’s Day Dinner back in March at the start of the lock-down.

We arrived at Oakland Park Golf Club at about 9am to be greeted with bacon butties to prepare the competitors for the morning’s exercise.

Unfortunately, some of the participants had to call off due to injury and Gwyndaf John did some hasty rearrangement of the teams.

David Powell and Colin Picton formed the supporters group to wave off and welcome back the golfers.

Due to Covid restrictions rules were changed to allow for social distancing. Conditions were good, with sunshine and a slight wind.

The competitors formed themselves into 4 groups – three 3 balls and one 4 ball set off about 10 minutes apart.

The supporters returned to the course at 12:30 to find the first group at eighteenth hole and accompanied them for refreshments at the 19th hole.

Soon after the 2nd and 3rd groups returned and we compared scores, with Kate Picton quietly confident of the result. We waited for the fourth group to arrive…

Some 30 minutes later the last group arrived – and when their scores were compared – proved to be the winners! Gwyndaf looked quite pleased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chairman David Powell presented the prizes to the winning team.

As the restaurant was closed there was no chance for a meal, so after congratulating the winners, we said our farewells and returned home.

It was good to have a chance to see fellow members again.

 

 

Our thanks to Rob Britton and Gwyndaf John for arranging the day.

Golf Day – 30th August 2019

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Once again we were blessed with perfect golfing weather.  I cannot recall having played our golf day in any other conditions.

 

Colin Thomas, Pam Britton and Rob Brett

The scores of the team competition were very close, and was won by Pam Britton, Colin Thomas and Robert Brett. 

 

Lady Winner – Irene Glyn Jones

The winner of the individual stapleford score was Irene Glynn-Jones, who returned a fantastic score of 44.  Irene played an excellent round of golf and her putting was outstanding.

The ladies’ longest drive went to Pam Britton and the men’s longest drive went to Ralph Broomby.

Men’s Longest Drive Winner – Raph Broomby

The ladies’ nearest the pin was won by Jane Morris and the men’s by Eryll Morris.  Perhaps they have been practicing hard together!

Unfortunately the numbers of golfers went down this year again, but we had full support from those members of the Society who came to the lunch.

Chris Thomas and Pam Britton were thanked for organising the golf day and the club staff for a very enjoyable meal.

Rob Britton