Captains’ Weekend at Greetham Valley

Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th July
Greetham Valley’s 2012 Captains, Jim Wheeler and Eileen Pare, are delighted to invite members and their guests to enjoy the annual Captains’ Weekend activities at the end of July.

The Saturday sees the main golf competition, a full handicap stableford, being played on the Lakes course for lots of prizes! There will be a free buffet at the Halfway House, just to keep players well fueled. In the evening, all members are invited to bring as many guests as they like to enjoy a BBQ and live musical entertainment from 7.30pm. Members tickets are just £6, guests £8, available now from Reception.

On the Sunday, Jim and Eileen have organised a fun golf competition – a multiplier 3 person team event, held over 12 holes on the Lakes course, holes 1-10 and 17-18. Multiplier rules will be posted on the noticeboards, please ask Jim, Eileen or Dennis Millington for any clarification. This format was played last year for the first time at Greetham Valley and was greatly enjoyed by all players.

Fingers crossed for some fine Rutland weather for this weekend!


Seniors’ golf results at Greetham Valley – May Medal

The Rutland weather returned to the cool and wet conditions that we have sadly become accustomed to recently when Greetham Valley’s Seniors took to the Lakes course for their May Medal. Peter Giblett took his first win of the year with a brilliant net sixty nine and was rewarded with a cut to twelve. Former Club Captain and local author Neil Harris off six was second with a net seventy, he also won the lowest gross with a sterling seventy six. Third and fourth were settled on countback, David Aldred took third from Tim Howlett, they both came in with a net seventy one.

New member Peter Wood playing off twenty four won division two with a net seventy, Mike Pare was second on seventy two and won the lowest gross. Once again our old friend countback was brought out to decide upon third and fourth after both players came in with a net seventy three. Peter Palmer took third ahead of Dennis Cleggett.


Rutland Ford dealers Colin Easson at Greetham Valley

Colin Easson Motors based in Cottesmore are celebrating two anniversaries this year: thirty five years as a main Ford car dealer in Rutland and twenty years of supporting golf at Greetham Valley. Sales Director Roland Easson said that they take great pride in having three generations of their family working in the business. Each year they sponsor the Colin Easson Motors golf competition with the same family ethic in mind. The competition is a stableford played off white tees on the Lakes course and is split into three sections: Intermediate (under 21), Ladies and Gents. This makes it possible for three generations to play in the same competition. The weather on the day would have been warm but for a very chilly and gusting wind that got even stronger as the day wore on. 

 Appropriately enough, Ben Easson won the Intermediate section. Susan Ker won the Ladies competition with thirty five points; the twenty five handicapper said that it was very hard in the wind but she was thrilled to have won such a prestigious competition. Nine handicapper Heather Morgan was second with thirty four points and three handicapper Emma Tipping was third with thirty three. 

The winner in the Gents’ section was ten handicapper James Horwood who came in with forty points, a great score on a windy day when most people struggled. Geoff Woolley was second on count back with thirty eight points, fifteen handicapper Neil Baker also on thirty eight took third place.

Two handicapper Trevor Smith won the longest drive on the sixteenth, he described it as just a little off the heel but that was enough to keep it below the wind. Greetham Valley Golf Club is also a family concern, with two generations currently working there and the two Hinch girls waiting in the wings and in the throes of GCSE years! Managing Director Robert Hinch paid tribute to the Easson family and thanked them for their continuing support.


Greetham Valley’s Second Team win against Burghley

Greetham Valley’s recently promoted Second Team had a narrow loss in their first Lincolnshire League game against Sleaford. Their next game of the season was against local tough rivals Burghley Park at home. This match was played on the Lakes course off white tees in warm conditions with a slight breeze. Former Club Captain Neil Crees took charge of the team as regular team Captain Alan Bennett was away in Ireland on business. Peter Dickinson and Paul Clegg were the first pair out, they won four and two. Next up were Paul Jenkinson and Ryan Tarrant who, after a very hard fight halved their game. After Neil Crees and Peter De Kremer won their match one up, things were looking very positive for the Greetham team, who needed one more game to win the match. Simon Bateman and James Horwood duly obliged by winning their game five and four. This was the team’s first win in their new division but it didn’t stop there: Steven Graham and George Grant won the penultimate game by five and four. The final game was also a Greetham win, Fraser Denholm and Elliot Clark won two and one. This ended with a scoreline of five and a half games to a half, a massive win by any standards.  

Stand-in Captain Neil Crees said that the team had gelled well together and were a great support to each other. Alan Bennett added that after losing the first game of the season, this was a great team performance and he hoped to use it to drive the team onto bigger things. Their next match will be against Stoke Rochford on the 26th May.


Greetham Valley Ladies’ Golf

On a somewhat miserable May Bank Holiday Monday with wet and windy conditions (what a surprise!), Greetham Valley’s Ladies took to the Lakes course to compete in the first qualifying round of the Peugeot Coronation Foursomes. This is a competition where you have to really trust your partner and not get upset if they inadvertently put you in a bunker or behind a tree for your shot. The conditions really affected the scoring, fortunately Greetham Valley is a very quick draining course and doesn’t hold the water like some but the constant rain took it’s toll. 

Former Ladies’ President Beryl Crosland and her partner Rena Lister took the win with thirty three points. Kay Ropson and Liz Taylor were second with thirty points and Val Guy and Valda Austin were third with twenty eight.

Beryl and Rena will now go forward to the next round at Spalding Golf Club when they hope for much bettter weather.

The Ladies’ League team have got off to a fine start to the year under team captain Annie McCulloch, winning their first match against Spalding by four games to nil. At the weekend they played their second game in quite rough weather conditions against Belton Woods and won by three and a half to a half. They will play Belton Woods away on May 20th when they hope to keep up their winning ways to push for a climb up the Lincolnshire League. 

Sophie Beardsall and Emma Tipping took part in the County Championships recently; Sophie lost in the quarter finals but they are both delighted to have been selected for the Lincolnshire County Team for County Week in June.


Elsham Trophy and Ladies’ April Medal results

On a cold and yet another very wet Friday, Greetham Valley played host to the current County Champions Stoke Rochford in the Elsham Trophy. This is a scratch competition for golf clubs affiliated to Lincolnshire; thirty one clubs are competing for it this year and South Kyme had a bye in the first round to balance the numbers.

Stoke Rochford fielded a strong side to ensure that they progressed in the competition with the ultimate aim of retaining their title. The Stoke team, who had a combined handicap of less than ten, proved to be far too strong for a weakened Greetham team. Home advantage didn’t really count against such a strong team. Stoke Rochford produced some scintillating golf in difficult conditions and emerged very worthy winners with faultless displays by each and every member. Greetham Valley wishes them the very best and hope that they go on to take the title that they won last year. 

Neil Harris & Jordan Burdall lost to Craig Hallam & Nick Watson; Alan Bennett & Simon Bateman lost to Rodger Rawson & Steve Greenfield; Ben Gasson & Pete Dickinson lost to Paul Knapp & Greg Shelton.

Wet and very windy was also the order of the day for the Ladies’ April Medal and as a consequence, the scores were some way off the competitors’ norm. Sophie Beardsall won her first medal of the year and took the lowest gross with a gross seventy six, net seventy five. Fellow County player Emma Tipping was second with a gross seventy nine, net seventy seven. Nine handicapper Heather Morgan took third spot with a gross eighty nine, net eighty.


Greetham Valley Seniors’ Away Day at Harborough

With many golf clubs experiencing difficulties because of the very wet drought conditions, fifty plus Greetham Valley seniors travelled to Market Harborough Golf Club for their “Spring” away day with a certain amount of trepidation. Anybody who has played at Harborough will know that it is a very hilly course so the prospect of wind, rain and loads of hill climbing didn’t exactly get the adrenaline going in anticipation. As it turned out, the rain came much later than forecast and only affected the final two groups on the last two holes. It was very windy and cold but at least it was dry.

The competition was in two parts, a team game and a singles competition. The team game was won by Seniors’ Captain Peter MacDonald Pearce, David Wallace and Dennis Cleggett with eighty points. Two points behind them in second place was the team of Colin Chapman, Tony King and John Dowding who finished on seventy eight. Third placed team were Tim Lee, Ian Kellam and Peter Palmer with seventy seven points, they took it on count back from Joe Ball, Martin Hope and David Nicol.

There were two Nearest the Pins which were close enough to give the players a bit of a heart and wallet attack, a little bit more to the left or right and they would have been very expensive holes in one. Peter Hall took one and Seniors’ Treasurer Barry Tillotson took the other. Fred Aspin won the Longest Drive.

In the singles competition, new member John Cutliffe was just pushed out of the top three placings on count back and had to be content with fourth. Third place went to David Wallace and Mel Clark took second spot, all three scored thirty seven points. John Dowding took first place with a great score of thirty nine points. John said that he was very pleased to have won but was even happier with the way that he managed to think himself around what is a very difficult course. He said that his playing partners, who had both played the course before, were a great help.

The away day had been very well organised by Seniors’ Vice Captain Rod Wells with able assistance on the day from the injured Norman Sampson.


Lincolnshire League Second Team result

After winning promotion to Division One of the Lincolnshire League for this year, Greetham Valley’s Second Team found their first match at home to be a very tough welcome to the division when they came up against a strong Sleaford side.

The morning started off in difficult enough circumstances, as one player dropped out with just thirty minutes to go before the start of the match. Team Captain Alan Bennett was seen with gritted teeth driving a buggy out onto the course desperately trying to find another player. 

Despite some strong performances, the home team went down three and a half to two and a half. Alan said that with three of the team in for their first match with the second team, he feels that they can only get stronger as the year progresses. Results:

George Grant / Ryan Tarrant lost 3+2;   Paul Clegg / Peter Dickinson won 1 up;  Simon Bateman / Adam Clegg lost 1 down;  Alan Bennett / Nick Cunnington won 1 up;  Neil Crees / Fraser Denholm lost 4+2;  Dave Copley / James Horwood halved.


Vice Captain Trevor wins April Medal

The rain which had been giving Rutland a good old watering had a little rest on Saturday 21st, which meant that most of the over one hundred competitors in the April Medal came home dry. The field was broken up into three divisions. In division one, Vice Captain Trevor Smith had a bit of a mixed round: he parred the first three holes, then had a birdie on the fourth, but gave the shot back when he bogied the fifth. Trevor then bogied the ninth and tenth to put himself two over but managed to pull his score back in line with birdies on the eleventh and twelfth. He managed two further birdies on the seventeenth and eighteenth to give him a score of gross seventy, net sixty eight. Trevor said that the three bogies were unfortunate but that he was pleased with the five birdies and to take the lowest gross overall.

Second and third were decided on count back after four players came in with a net seventy one. Fraser Denholm took second place, Adam Clegg was third and the unfortunate Steve Pearce and Ryan Tarrant had to be satisfied with fourth and fifth.

Adi Bruce had a fine round to take the win and the lowest gross in division two with a gross eighty two, nett sixty nine. George Brand was second with a nett seventy one and Neil Baker came third with a nett seventy two.

David Burton won division three with a gross ninety five, nett seventy five. Count back was once more deployed to sort out the second and third places; Jason Giblett and Mark Musgrove were second and third respectively, while Peter Key was pushed back to fourth: they all scored a nett seventy seven.


Greetham Valley win fourth round of Mail on Sunday competition

Greetham Valley were drawn away to Melton Mowbray in round four of the Mail on Sunday team knockout competition. However, due to the recent rains which assaulted Rutland and Leicestershire, the Melton course was closed and the match had to be played at well drained Greetham.

The match was played on the Lakes course in a mixture of sun, rain and high winds. In the first game, eight handicapper George Grant was drawn against Mick Wilson off four; after eighteen holes the game was decided on the final putt, George taking it to win one up.

Neil Harris took on John Rawlings in the next game, both players playing off seven. Again this was settled on the last putt with Neil downing a ten footer to give the Greetham Valley team a two nil lead.

Six handicapper Dave Morgan was next to tee off for Greetham Valley in the third game, he took on thirteen handicapper Owen Cole. Dave won on the fourteenth by six and four to give the home team an unassailable lead in the match. 

The players in the first three games went back out onto the course to support their team mates in the last two games. This proved to be the kiss of death for the last two Greetham Valley players!  Glenn Sharpe lost six and four to Rob Smith and compatriot Matt Williams suffered a similar fate, when he lost by four and two to 2 handicapper Sam Pollard

Team Captain Trevor Smith said that he was proud of the team for reaching round five and for being one of the few local teams to be still in the competition. They will find out who they play in the following week, but with only Boston West left in the competition locally, they know that they will soon be on their travels to try to progress to the fifth round.