Ford dealers Colin Easson Motors in Cottesmore near Oakham are Greetham Valley’s longest running sponsor and have been sponsoring a trophy competition right from the birth of the club. The support for the club was started by the firm’s patriarch Colin Easson and has been carried on by his son Roly and family for the past few years. Greetham Valley Managing Director Robert Hinch said “We are proud to have been associated with such a strong and prestigious local company for the past twenty one years”. Colin has been taken ill recently and everybody at the club sends their good wishes for a speedy recovery.

In the Men’s competition for the Colin Easson Trophy, Adam Smith overcame the cold and extremely high winds, with gusts of up to sixty miles an hour, to take the win with a gutsy thirty eight points on the Lakes course. Adam, off twenty three, said that it was a very tough game but he was overjoyed if somewhat surprised to have won it, even with the conditions he didn’t think that his score would stand up. The next target for Adam is the 19-28 Handicap Championship this weekend, last year’s winner James Ablett, a close friend of Adam’s, will no doubt be trying hard to win it again.

Second and third were settled on count back after four people came in with thirty seven points. Nine handicapper Dean Wilkinson took second place, Fraser Denholm off six was third. Peter Key and Kevin Daff were pushed back into fourth and fifth respectively.

The Second Team were in action at home against a strong team from Boston Golf Club on the Lakes course. Simon Bateman and Pete Dickinson took the first game by five and four, Team Captain Alan Bennett and Stef Dutton also won the second game out one up. Neil Crees and Peter De Kremer won the third game by two and one which meant that the Greetham Valley team needed just a half from the remaining three games to register a win. In the fourth game George Grant and Ben Easson lost three and two but the remaining two pairs, Tony Mould and Paul Jenkinson, who won four and three and Steve Anderson and Carl Causbrook, who won one up gave the home team a great five games to one win. Alan Bennett said that the team worked very hard for each other and gave them a good base to work from for the rest of the season.

Men’s Captain Trevor Smith had to work hard to win the Midweek Stableford on the Lakes course. The top three all came in with the same score of thirty six points and were separated on count back. Trevor took the win, four handicapper Nick Cunnington was second and scratch player Jordan Burdall was third.

Trevor Smith was the star of the show again just a few days later in the May Weekend Medal. Playing off two in division one, he shot a gross seventy to win the medal and the lowest gross. Trevor said that he was very pleased with the way that he played and was over the moon to be cut to one. Six handicapper Chris Steele was cut to five after taking second place with a gross seventy seven.

Three players came in with a net score of seventy two and were separated on count back. Nine handicapper Steve Anderson took third from Peter Ryan off thirteen and Elliot Clark off twelve was pushed back into fifth.

In division two Dave Smith off twenty was cut to nineteen after winning the division with a net seventy one. Ken Mason was second with a seventy two, he was cut to twenty two while Steve Sharples who won the lowest gross lost out on count back and was placed third.

In the Ladies Medal, scratch player Sophie Beardsall was once again the class of the field taking the medal and the lowest gross with a sparkling seventy four. Twenty seven handicapper Fay Taylor took second place with a net seventy six and Amanda Cassie was third with a seventy seven.

The B Team were in action away to Burghley Park at the weekend led by Men’s Vice Captain Shaun Denholm. After the first six games Burghley Park had the upper hand having won four games and a half to Greetham Valley’s one and a half. Burghley looked good for the win needing just one of the final four games to go their way. Alan Bennett and Mike Watkins won the next game for Greetham Valley three and two to put that thought on hold. Fred Aspin and David Aldred were the next pairing in for Greetham, they won three and one. Wayne Terrett and Keith Heppenstall won their game four and three; this meant that the overall match was level at four and a half games each.

It all now depended upon the last game out on the course which two former Captains, Jim Wheeler and Geoff Woolley won one up to give the Greetham Valley team a fantastic victory after a great fight back. Team Captain Shaun said that waiting for the results to come in was almost as hard as actually playing the game. He went on to praise the spirit of his team and thanked them for a great result.

On the same day, the Mixed Team led by Ladies Vice Captain Bev Dolman struggled to find a team to play Melton Mowbray at home as ten pairs were at Burghley Park in the B team match and six pairs were playing for the first team. Bev needed eight pairs, she was helped out by Captain Trevor Smith who called up a few players who were new to mixed team golf to help out. They won the match with a comfortable four and a half to three and a half. Bev said that the new players had enjoyed the game so much that they said they would be very happy to help out again.

The First Team were also at home this weekend, they entertained Gedney Hill and were keen to avenge the defeat experienced when they played them away just last week. Jordan Burdall and Chris Steele set the team on their way with a comfortable four and three win,  Andrew Frisby and Ben Gasson followed suit with a hard fought two and one win.

Fraser Denholm and Richard Wilson soon took the team to the half way mark by demolishing their opposition seven and five. Greetham Valley needed just the half to complete the win but the team were in no mood to let up the pressure. Adam Clegg and Ray Gladwinfield continued the team’s good form with a four and two victory to win the match but there was more to come. Trevor Smith and Bob Green won their game four and three, Paul Clegg and Scotty Stephenson also won by the same score to complete a fantastic clean sweep.

 Greetham Valley Captains Trevor Smith and Sheila Douty say that they have only four places left for the Bank Holiday competition, sign up on the board or be disappointed!!

Greetham Valley’s Sophie Beardsall has had a rather hectic eight or nine days. She and playing partner Sally Bowker were the stars of the field in the recent Coronation Foursomes competition which they won with a fantastic score of forty points. Sue Brand and Annie McCulloch were second with thirty two points. Jacky Bayley and Jackie Friend took third with twenty nine points.

A few days later, Sophie, off scratch, competed in the County Championships at Blankney Golf Club, winning her first game against Michelle Willerton two and one. In the quarter finals she was up against the number three seed, one of the County’s up and coming juniors, Billie Jo Smith from Woodhall Spa; again, Sophie won two and one. The semi finals saw some high quality golf in very tough, wet and windy conditions, Sophie was drawn against plus three handicapper Helen Hewlett from Seacroft golf club. The match was nip and tuck throughout and could only be settled on the eighteenth. Unfortunately, Sophie lost when her final putt lipped out.

While she was disappointed to have lost she took great comfort from taking Helen all the way and playing some great golf in very trying conditions. Helen went on to win in the final beating Holme Hall’s Emilee Taylor three and two. Sophie was very happy to find that she and fellow Greetham Valley member Emma Tipping, off two, have been picked once again to be part of the County team who in June, will play at Hawkestone Golf Club in Shropshire where they will try to regain the title that they lost in last year’s County finals. Greetham Valley and County girls’ Junior organiser Pat Jones, was praised by County Captain Cindy Ireland for the great work that she has put in with the County Girls over the past couple of years.

Sophie was back in action at the weekend playing in the Colin Easson Trophy. The competition was played on the Lakes course in extremely high winds. Wittering, which is only a few miles away as the golf ball flies, registered gusts up to 59 miles an hour. Playing at Blankney must have given Sophie a bit of practice but after a slight argument with a tree, unusually for her, she bogey’d the third. She put that behind her and followed it up with thirteen pars and two birdies to take the win with a splendid thirty seven points. Sue Brand was second with thirty six points and the ever improving Cathy Steele came in with thirty five points for third place.

The Seniors, who had beaten Thorney Lakes five and a half to two and a half away continued their winning ways in high winds at home on the Valley course with a five and a half to two and a half win. The Ladies had a tough match on the Lakes course against Stoke Rochford and went behind after the first game but managed to turn it around to halve the match.

The Ladies Midweek Medal was played on the Lakes course in what this year almost seems to be obligatory rough weather. Twenty five handicapper Rita Knapp seemed to take it all in her stride, winning with a nett seventy one. Gilly Grant off ten took second place and the lowest gross with a gross eighty three. Cathy Steele found herself in the top three again with a nett seventy four to take third.

Bob Beverley and Neil Harris won the Tudor Springs Foursomes, they came in with a net seventy one and will represent Greetham Valley in next yea’rs Mail on Sunday Foursomes competition. Brett Skerritt and Paul Childe-Freeman were second with a nett seventy three point five. Third place was taken by two seniors, John Taylor and Peter Wood, they came in with a seventy five.

Ken Mason, playing off twenty six had the game of his life in this month’s May Midweek Medal. Played on the par 68 Valley course in warm conditions, Ken played to twelve to shoot a gross eighty four, nett fifty eight to win the medal and, as a reward, had his handicap cut to twenty three.

Neil Chatterton off thirteen was cut to twelve after taking second place on count back from twenty three handicapper Simon Bell. Both players came in with a net sixty two which would normally be good enough to win. Neil was cut to twelve and Simon to twenty one. Jordan Burdall playing off scratch shot a fantastic sixty five to take the lowest gross.

The Seniors’ May qualifying stableford was also played on the Valley course but in cool and blustery conditions. Keith Heppenstall, taking time off from his acting commitments, took the win in division one with thirty seven points and was cut to seventeen. Second and third were settled on count back after two players came in with thirty four points, Ken Stewart off ten took second place ahead of seventeen handicapper Tim Lee.  

Mike Hooper off twenty four took the honours in division two, he also had thirty seven points. Peter Keast was second with thirty six points, Charles Guttridge took third place on count back from Dave Lucas after they both scored thirty five points.

Greetham Valley’s Mixed Team entertained Stoke Rochford on the Lakes Course. Men’s Captain Trevor Smith and Ladies Captain Sheila Douty had a comprehensive win in the first game winning five and four. President Martin Boughton and Rena Lister lost their game two down to level the match for the visitors, this didn’t last for long however as Bill Skinner and Jackie Friend came in as three and one winners. The visitors struck back to win the next game and to level the match once again when Vice Captain Shaun Denholm and Chris Edwards lost five and four.

The game tilted back in favour of the home team after Fred Aspin and Angela Wheeler won what was quite a fractious game two and one. The result of the match now depended upon the final game out on the course. This was a very close game and went all the way to the last green but Jim Wheeler and Beryl Crosland took it with a winning putt to win one up. The result was a win by four to two for the Greetham Valley team.

Greetham Valley’s Seniors are enjoying a fine run of form at the moment. After recently beating Rutland County at home by four and a half to three and a half, they travelled up the A1 to Stoke Rochford for what they know is always going to be a tough game. 

Stoke Rochford are trying out a new system this year of having breakfast before the match instead of dinner after it. After a good breakfast both teams took to the course. First blood went to Seniors’ Captain Rod Wells and playing partner Fred Aspin who won a very tough game with the last putt of the match to win one up. Dave Lucas and Martin Hope won one up and Gordon Wiles and Mel Clark also won by the same score line. David Aldred and John Clinton were next in with the first set back for the visitors, a four and three loss. Neil Bradbury and Ian Ryder came in next with the shock result of the day, winning eight and six.  

 The Greetham Valley team needed only a half to win the match - David Wallace and Barry Tillotson did that and more by winning their game four and three. Martin Boothman and Barry Shaw halved the penultimate game and to cap it all off, John Morfee and Bernard Bell won their game three and two. This meant that Greetham Valley had taken a very rare win at Stoke Rochford by six and a half to one and a half. 

Captain Rod was very pleased with his team and praised their tenacity saying that the three matches won on the final green could have gone either way. They look forward to their next game which is at home to Thorney Lakes on the ninth of May; this is the return leg, Greetham Valley won the first game away at Thorney Lakes a few weeks ago.

First Team Captain Neil Harris was in a slight panic during the week: with a number of key players missing due to other commitments, he didn’t have a full team to travel to Blankney for their match on Saturday. Neil managed to cobble together a team consisting of some regulars and some “volunteers” for the visit to fortress Blankney, so called because the home sides very rarely lose.

Debutants Dean Wilkinson and Chris Wheatland lost their game against a strong opening pair. Paul Clegg and another debutant Dean Greetham reversed that trend to win three and one. Neil Harris and Chris Steele lost their game putting the home team back in charge. George Grant and Fraser Denholm battled hard to halve their game after being behind in the early part of the game. Club Captain Trevor Smith and Andrew Frisby battled back to take the win on the final hole. This left the match finely balanced at two and a half games each, it all depended upon the last game out on the course. Ben Gasson and Ryan Tarrant secured the overall team win by winning three and two, this gave the Greetham Valley team an historic three and a half to two and a half win.

Neil said that everybody had really upped their game and he thanked them for their efforts, with particular  praise for the new players to the team who, win or lose, were there supporting their team members through to the final putt.

The Elsham Foursomes is a unique competition: each match has to go the full eighteen holes and it is the sum of the results of each match which determines the winning team. Greetham Valley played against Belton Woods in the first round. In the first game Jordan Burdall and Chris Steele halved their match. Next up were Neil Harris and Trevor Smith who won as did Adam Clegg and Andrew Frisby who holed the final putt on the last green to secure the overall victory for the Greetham Valley team.

Neil said that it was a hard fought encounter in a difficult format but each and every member of the team played their part to take Greetham Valley through to the next round.

The conditions just couldn’t have been any better than they were for the April Medal. Warm, sunny, very little breeze and very quick greens. Dave Copley took full advantage of the conditions to par the first hole, setting himself up for a good round, but just as you get comfortable the course jumps up and bites back. He double bogey’d the second hole after paying a visit to one of the green side bunkers. Eleven handicapper Dave then sorted out his concentration and went on a run dropping only three shots in the next fifteen holes.

He had been driving with great authority all day when inexplicably, he sliced his drive from the eighteenth tee almost putting it out of bounds. He might have been better off if he had, as his provisional ball was in a good position for three. Dave had to take a drop just to be able to chip over the corner bunker and ended up with a quadruple bogey to mar what should have been a fantastic round.

However, his score of 81-11-70 was just enough to take the win in division one and the overall medal win. He was very surprised as he really thought that he had blown it on the final hole. As a reward, he was cut to ten.  Paul Pritchett off twelve was second with a nett seventy two and fourteen handicapper Terry Romeo was third with a nett seventy three. Ryan Tarrant and Men’s Captain Trevor Smith shared the lowest gross after both shot a gross seventy nine.

Peter Zimmer Smith won division two, he also had a nett seventy but lost out on count back to Dave Copley for the overall medal win. Peter, playing off fifteen, dropped only seven shots in the first fifteen holes but three double bogeys in the last three holes really spoilt his chance for the medal win. Peter said that he was very happy with his game up until the sixteenth when it all went horribly wrong, however, he did have the consolation of taking the lowest gross and moving into division one for the next medal after being cut to fourteen. David Burton off twelve took second place on count back from fourteen handicapper Chris Brand, both came in with a nett seventy one.

Former Ladies and League Team Captain Gilly Grant, playing off ten, was the class of the field in the Ladies Medal. Gilly played to her handicap to win the Medal in the ladies competition by  two shots ahead of her nearest opponent, she shot a net seventy three. Current Ladies Captain Sheila Douty, playing off sixteen, took second with a nett seventy five and County player Sophie Beardsall playing off scratch was third with seventy six. Sophie also won the lowest gross.

A few days before the Medal, conditions were not quite so warm and the wind was howling for the eighth Rotary Club of Rutland annual golf day. Forty players in teams of four took part in the charity day which was organised by long standing loyal Greetham Valley member Bruce Strickland. Bruce said that he and his fellow Rotarians do several charity events throughout the year and usually raise between six and eight thousand pounds a year for charities. They also sponsor several young individuals such as a young writer, a young musician and a young cook as well as help with team building exercises. They also give money to the Mercy Ships charity.

The average score for the teams competing was around the ninety mark but the winners, using local knowledge, were a team from Greetham Valley, Graham Smith, Chris Wheatland, George Brand and Mick Peasgood. They came in with a staggering score of 117 to take the win. They were some twenty points better than Milestone Communications who were this year’s runners up. However, one of their players, Rob Smith, won both the Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin. The Ladies’ nearest the pin was won by Hazel Hinch.

Bruce said that in an age when people are finding it tough to make ends meet, he was overwhelmed at the generosity of the competitors, as £920 was raised for the charity pot.      

The Midweek Stableford was also played on the Lakes course in somewhat chilly conditions. Ralph Clark had a fantastic round to win with a score of forty points, he was cut to thirteen; James Kearney took second place with thirty five points. Andy Hardy took third place on count back from Neil Chatterton and Robert Gray after they all came in with thirty four points.

This year is the 21st anniversary of Greetham Valley which started life as a driving range with a nine hole par 3 course, quickly added to by two eighteen hole championship courses, the Lakes and the Valley. A  bowling club completes the sporting picture. The complex also boasts a thirty five bedroom hotel, a Gym and a two hundred seater function room, restaurants and Lounge Bar - Greetham Valley has taken big strides in a short space of time! For the members though, it is all about the golf. The first white tee competition of the year is the aptly named Anniversary Trophy, a stableford competition off full handicap, to celebrate Greetham Valley’s birthday . 

Played on the Lakes course on a warm sunny day with not a great deal of wind, no snow, rain, sleet or fog – almost a normal golf day after the bad winter which seems to have gone on forever. Thirteen handicapper Stephen Bennoson got off to a great start when he parred the first six holes and only dropped a shot at the par four seventh after arguing with the front bunker. Stephen got himself together and went on the par trail again making the next three. After a visit to the trees on the eleventh he dropped his second shot but bounced back with pars on the next two. He was to have another par and a birdie on the long par five sixteenth before two small errors resulted in bogies on the last two holes. However, after dropping only four shots in total he finished with a splendid forty five points, some four points better than second place.  

Stephen said that he started out in a great frame of mind, relaxed and positive that the practice that he had put in during the long winter would pay off. He was naturally very happy with the win but even happier to have got his golfing year off to such a great start, he was cut to eleven. Jamie Lowndes was second with a well crafted forty one points, he was cut to eighteen. Terry Dunlop took third place just one point behind and was cut to sixteen.   

In the Ladies Anniversary competition, Pat Jamieson took the win on count back from County player Emma Tipping, both Ladies played good steady golf to come in with thirty five points but Pat took the win and the trophy after coming in with a better score on the last three holes. Pat, who has practised very hard during the winter, said that she was happy with her round apart from a blob on the par five second. Mandie Cassie took third place with thirty four points.

Sue Wiles took the win and the lowest gross prize with a brilliant display in the Ladies Midweek Medal played on the Lakes course. Sue, playing off nineteen, shot a gross eighty eight, net sixty nine. Ladies Vice Captain Bev Dolman off twelve was second with a net seventy nine on count back from former Ladies Captain Jackie Friend.

The Seniors played their first qualifier of the year, the Seniors April Medal on the Lakes course off yellow tees. Nick Meyer off eighteen was in scintillating form in division one and took the win and the overall medal with some three shots to spare. Nick said that everything just seemed to work well, nothing out of the ordinary, just good solid golf shots, he was cut to seventeen. John Taylor off fifteen took second place with a net seventy two. Third and fourth were settled on count back after Robert Gray and 2012 Club Captain Jim Wheeler both came in with a net seventy three, Robert was placed third and Jim Fourth. Peter Giblett off ten had the lowest gross of eighty five.

Geoff Thomas won division two with a net seventy four. Mike Pare and Stuart Dodd were second and third on count back after both scoring a net seventy seven. Dave Lucas and John Morfee took fourth and fifth again on count back with a net seventy eight.

Ros Nicol won the Ladies nine hole stableford qualifier with a score of seventeen. Thirty six handicapper Mimi Harris had fifteen points for second and Pat Dawson off twenty nine was third with fourteen points.

Greetham Valley’s First Team lost their first game of the year against Tydd St. Giles at the weekend. Ryan Tarrant and Scotty Stevenson had to battle really hard to get a half to get the team on the board. Andy Frisby and Ben Gasson lost their game three and two after both players struggled with the putter. Neil Harris and Adam Clegg who recently returned from a six week lay off due to injury, took the win in the third game by five and four after Adam knocked in a string of birdies. Trevor Smith and Bob Green were up against it with former touring Pro Kevin Goude who demonstrated some huge hitting, they lost three and two. Ray Gladwinfield and Chris Steele managed to win their game one up on the last hole. It all now depended on the last game for the Greetham team, a draw to halve the match or a win to win overall. Unfortunately, it ended in a loss for the Greetham duo of Fraser Denholm and Simon Bateman, they lost two down. Team Captain Neil Harris said that they were disappointed to lose but look forward to their next game away to Blankney later in the month.