Tag 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

St David’s Day Dinner 2026

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This year we held our St David’s Day Dinner on 27th February as the rest of the weekend was already booked. We chose Gerrards Cross Golf Club again, as the food was so good and it has good acoustics.

We all met for a pre-meal glass of fizz (or orange juice) at 6:30 and caught up with old friends. It was very encouraging to see  so many new members there too, including our local MP, Sarah Green. Sarah was our speaker last year, and we were delighted that she agreed to come again this year along with her partner Daniel Paterson .

One of our newest members, Rhiannon Bruce,  discovered that she had been to the same school as Sarah, though not at the same time.

David Hancox made it in time, which was a surprise as he had to drop his children off, then get changed and rush all the way from Kingston Bagpuize, which is the other side of Abingdon, and a good hour away.

Gwyndaf had prepared a table plan so that we knew where we were sitting. We had 62 in total spread across 7 tables, so it was a good turn-out.

Ann Evans had arranged for the golf club to be decorated with lots of Welsh flags and, with the help of the ladies and wives of the committee, there were bouquets of daffodils on each table.

At just after 7 we all took our places in the dining room and were welcomed by Gwyndaf John, as chairman and Ann Evans, as President, said grace.

Our dinners were lovely.  Kay Day had chosen a delicious selection of food, with starters of prawn cocktail, cawl or chicken liver pate, followed by lamb shank, confit duck or trout for mains and lemon tart, chocolate fondant, fruit cocktail or Welsh cheeses for dessert.

After the dinner, Gwyndaf introduced two of our members, Gwion Thomas and his wife, Chloe Willson-Thomas who would sing for us, accompanied by John Breese on the piano.

Gwion Thomas met Chloe whilst studying at Music College, and their duet has continued ever since.

A baritone, Gwion was born in Gorseinon, South Wales. He gave up a career in banking to study singing at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, where he graduated with Distinction, winning many prizes. He has been a wide-ranging opera and concert soloist, taking leading solo operatic roles with the Welsh National Opera, the Scottish Opera, and many other companies.

Chloe is a Soprano, and has been the Rector of Farnham Royal with Hedgerley since March 2020. She too was a freelance professional singer and singing teacher after a first degree in Music and a post-graduate diploma in advanced musical performance from the Royal Northern College of Music. After ordination in 2009 she went on to complete a theology degree at Oxford University.

Gwion and Chloe sang a variety of solos and duets starting with a piece from Handel and covering Mozart, Welsh songs and pieces by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

A Victorian song – ‘The Spider and the Fly’ was very funny as Chloe tried to lure an innocent fly (Gwion) into her parlour.

John Breese was excellent as accompanist, especially considering the wide range of music and how little time he had to prepare.

We are truly very lucky to have three such excellent musicians within our membership.

Gwyndaf thanked our entertainers and we then concluded with the National anthem, followed by communal singing of some old favourites.

 

A big thank you to Mike Owen for the photographs – there are even more on this page

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

St David’s Day Dinner 2025

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We held our annual St David’s Day Dinner on Saturday 1st March at Gerrards Cross Golf Course, as this has been so successful in the past. This year was no different.

We gathered at 6:30 to be  greeted with a glass of fizz or a soft drink, and this gave us the chance to catch up with old friends and to talk of anything except rugby.

This year we were particularly pleased to be joined by Bob Ford (who was chairman when I first joined in 2010) and Jayne Pegler as well as Peter & Pat Chapman, who had travelled from their home in Brecon to be with us. It was also good to see Ernest Morris back with us after his accident.

Peter and Pat’s journey was not the longest though, as Glenys Newton’s son , Gareth, was visiting from Canada and came along for the occasion.

Gwyndaf also had a guest, Gareth Morgan, Chairman of the Slough Welsh Society, with his wife Janet.

There were over 60 of us in total and we all wandered over to look at the table plan to see which table Gwyndaf had assigned us .

Before we sat down for dinner, Ann Evans said grace.

As usual with Gerrards Cross Golf Club, the food was very good, with the most popular choices being Beetroot and Orange Gravadlax and Lamb Tagine followed by Merlot poached Pears with Blackcurrant Sorbet.

After the meal, Gwyndaf introduced our speaker for the evening, Sarah Green, the MP for Chesham and Amersham.

Sarah was born and grew up in Corwen, Clwyd and speaks Welsh fluently.

She greeted us in Welsh, before talking about her early life going to school in Bala and then on to Aberystwyth University, where she was chair of the Welsh Young Liberals (IR Cymru).

Her early work was in market research, before she started her own marketing and communications company, working as a freelance and consultant.

Sarah stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate in general elections in Wales, before the death of Dame Cheryl Gillan triggered the 2021 by-election in Chesham and Amersham.

She said that she was lucky to be able to stand for the by-election, as she had a job where she could put things on hold at comparatively short notice while she canvassed.

She then described going to parliament for the first time as being like being a new pupil at school, getting used to the atmosphere in the House.

At the last general election the borders of the Chesham and Amersham constituency changed to include Gerrards Cross, but Sarah won again and returned to Parliament.

This time there were lots of new MPs, and she could understand their sense of wonder and confusion over the first few days.

Sarah, while explaining that much of the work in parliament in unseen, added that it is not the Punch and Judy like exchanges seen on television, but in the work of the various committees, where politicians work together that matter.

Finally Sarah ended by saying that she felt proud to have worked on the Public Accounts Committee and to have worked on NHS finance questions.

Gwyndaf John thanked Sarah for her talk and Ann Evans presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

John Breese then took to the piano and played the National Anthem, followed by a number of old favourites and everyone joined in using the song sheets provided.

The evening finished about 10:30pm, another successful St David’s Day celebration.

There are more photographs of the evening here.

St David’s Day Dinner 2024

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St David’s Day Black Tie Dinner – held on 1st March at Gerrards Cross Golf Club

All 50 guests were greeted with a glass of bubbly or soft drink – as appropriate.  The lounge provided an excellent space to catch up with old friends and indeed some guests from the principality – Whitland to be precise. I was delighted to meet with the brother of one of my classmates at Narberth Grammar School. Our mutual aquaintances were numerous; a joyful start to the evening.

As usual Gerrards Cross Club did us proud with a very good 3 course meal; the leek and potato soup was so good I thought my mum must have had a hand in it. There were also many compliments directed at the sewin ( sea trout) – main course as well as the suitable lamb dish. The staff looked after us well and added to the friendly ambience of the evening.

 

The after-dinner entertainment was provided by a harpist – Lucy Hewitt.  A local artiste who attended Dr. Challoner’s High School in Little Chalfont. In 2021 she was the Bucks Young Musician of the Year. She concluded her Harp pieces with the Welsh National Anthem – which was accompanied by all guests singing with gusto.

 

 

The evening concluded with “community singing” around the Electronic Keyboard – superbly played by John Breeze. Six hymns ( 3 in Welsh and 3 in English) ensured that we all departed with ‘a song in our heart’.

Well done to the Committee for a very successful evening and fluent compering from Gwyndaf John – with both amusing and informative potted history of St. David.

Da iawn.

Gwyn Owen  5/03/24

 

You can see more photographs of the evening here.

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.

St David’s Day Dinner 2023

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On Friday 3rd March the society held its annual St David’s Day Dinner at Gerrards Cross Golf Club. Kay Day had organised the event with the help of the golf club’s catering manager, Martin Hillary and Gwyndaf John.
We all gathered for a welcome drink at 6:30 and met up with new members and old friends. The club house at Gerrards Cross looks very smart after being redecorated last year, and the décor was made even better by the addition of several Welsh Flags around the room.
We were very pleased to have Geraint and Glenys Lewis from the Slough Welsh Society join us, and several new members and guests. In total there must have been about 65 of us present arranged across eight tables.


At around 7:15 President, Ann Evans said grace in both English and Welsh, and we sat down to eat. The food was of a very high standard and we must thank the staff of the golf club for the quality of both the food and the service.

For starters, there was a choice of leek & potato soup, halloumi salad or mackerel, with sea bass, pan roasted lamb or stuffed peppers for the main (no-one went for the vegetarian option), and with chocolate mousse, crème brulé, poached pears or an enormous plate of cheese and biscuits for dessert.
After our meal, Colin Picton introduced our speaker, Margaret Knight. Maggie is an art and cultural historian, has designed courses at the Victoria & Albert Museum and was historical advisor for the Channel 4 series ‘Mrs Brown’.

We had expected her talk to be about Wales and the Welsh in art, but she entertained us with a talk on The Keltoi – a history of the Celtic peoples through their artifacts.
There was a lot to learn, starting with the earliest known examples of Celts in Hallstatt in modern Austria around 1200BC. These people were originally salt miners and many artifacts have been found preserved by the salt including leather backpacks and textiles. From there, these early Celts came to mine and refine metal ores into first bronze then iron, which were highly prized by other cultures.
Their metalwork was distinctive with scrolls and a symbol of three circles within a circle. This form of decoration gradually spread across Europe as the Celts grew in numbers and became more successful. Maggie showed us examples of beautiful ornate torcs worn by high-ranking individuals.
The earliest references to the ‘Keltoi’ were by the Greeks. These people seem to have used little written language (except to keep accounts) and so there is very little history to follow, but it seems that the culture gradually spread across much of Europe, to France and Spain, where they were known as Gauls, and to have reached the British Isles by about 500BC.

Their language and culture were common and even today there are great similarities between the languages of Wales, Brittany and Galicia.
One of the strengths of the Celtic culture was its decentralised nature, tribes ruled locally with no central government structure. But this was also its weakness, for, faced with the expansion of Rome, they were not able to withstand the Roman invasion for long. Maggie described the Claudian pursuit of Celtic druids to Anglesey where most were put to the sword.


Maggie then answered many questions from the floor, before Colin Picton thanked her for a fascinating talk.

John Breese then took to the piano and, after the National Anthem, many favourite songs finished off the evening.

A big thank you to all those who made the evening such a success.

There are many more photos of the evening 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