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.

After almost six months of play, competitors in the Winter Order of Merit played their final round of the series and for a change it was played in warm sunshine, a distinct change from only two weeks ago when it had to be called off because of thick snow covering the course.

Adrian Cunningham saved his best game until the last round; as he hadn’t suffered a cut to his handicap, he played off his original handicap of twenty eight. Adrian came in with a massive score of forty six points, twenty one on the front including a four pointer on the first and twenty five on the back nine which included a further three four point holes.  Adrian said that after a great start everything just seemed to work well for him. Club Secretary Dennis Millington was second with thirty eight points and Steve Anderson playing off five was third with thirty seven points just edging out second team Captain Alan Bennett on count back. 

The three top placed players played together in the last group: Trevor Smith, playing off plus three, faced the almost impossible task of finding three birdies and parring everything else just to get thirty six points, he came in with a score of thirty two. The usually steady and dependable Paul Jenkinson who had been sitting in second place had one of his rare off days and could only score twenty nine points. Trevor was placed second and Paul third but the winner of the 2012/13 Order of Merit was Steve Anderson. Steve had started the day in third place some fifteen points behind the leader but thanks to a sterling effort, he came in with thirty seven points, and being awarded thirty points in the league table for third place, this was enough to take the title in this long and hard fought competition. 

Carl Causbrook headed a tightly packed group in fourth with David Copley, Alan Bennett, Tony Mould and Ian Copley taking fifth to eighth places respectively. Greetham President Martin Boughton, who had won the first competition in 2010/11, finished ninth and organiser Neil Harris crept into tenth. Adam Clegg returned from injury to take the prize for the best Saturday score outside the top twelve and Dennis Millington secured the best Sunday score with another dogged performance in the final event. 

Order of Merit winner Steve Anderson said that before the start of the final round it felt like a very tough ask but he stuck to his task getting off to a good start by parring the first, he dropped only four shots in his round. He went on to say that the recent change in the flag colours helped enormously as on some holes it is difficult to see the bottom half of the flag stick. Course Manager Adi Porter said that they had set the flags out as per the tee markings, red at the front for Ladies, yellow for Men and white at the back for the competition tees; there have been very positive comments received from members supporting the change.

No one player has been able to win more than once during this season’s competition, although some have come close to it. Neil Harristhanked all of the fifty three members who played in it and for supporting the competition.  He went on to say that £1253 had been shared out in varying amounts in prizes throughout the competition including £495 for the final. The WOOM will be starting all over again, this time as a club competition, on the twenty sixth of October.

In the photo, second in from the left is Greetham Valley President Martin Boughton, to his left holding the trophy is the overall winner for 2012/2013, Steve Anderson. Next to Steve is organiser Neil Harris and to Neil’s left is the final weeks winner, Adrian Cunningham. 

As previously reported, Greetham Valley will be the venue for the England Boy’s Championships qualifier next year. To celebrate this, Greetham Valley Pro Jim Hetherington will be starting his Junior Academy on Saturday 13th April. This will be for six one hour lessons with equipment loan, balls and free membership to the Academy course for three months. All this will be only £48, less than Jim charges for a full one hour lesson. 

Greetham Valley are keen to promote Junior Golf and to increase Junior participation at the club. Jim and the management are encouraging children to take part to give them a sense of being part of something where they will get guidance, support and encouragement should they wish to continue their golf development after the initial introduction to the game. The push to bring more Juniors into golf will continue throughout the season with a variety of free taster sessions which start in May and structured Junior courses. Jim can be contacted at Greetham Valley james.hetherington@yahoo.co.uk or on 07712 052763.

Greetham Valley Managing Director Robert Hinch said that they fully support Jim’s efforts to provide a solid base from which youngsters can start golf. He went on to say that it is very important for parents to know that their children are learning to play the game in a safe and controlled environment.

After beating local rivals Burghley Park in the last round of the Mail on Sunday team knockout competition, Greetham Valley’s Ladies faced Oundle at home in the next round on Sunday. The previous round was played in a mix of snow, rain and high winds; this one was very different, a slight breeze, quite warm and the ground firm enough for the ball to run.

Gilly Grant leading from the front beat Liz Swan seven and five, Annie McCulloch who had stepped in at the last moment as Sue Brand was ill, followed this up with a three and two win over Ros Riley.

Pat Jamieson, who has been in excellent form recently, lost her game against Karen Joyce four and two. Ladies Captain Sheila Douty playing in her first Mail on Sunday game also lost her game against an in form Gerry Robinson four and three. Scratch player Sophie Beardsall had to give Pat Silburn ten shots but she still managed to halve her game scoring a remarkable two under par, this left the overall match tied. 

Despite Sophie’s heroics she then had to face Pat in a sudden death play off. On the first hole Sophie was on the green in two, six foot from the hole only to see Pat put her third shot some two foot from the hole with a shot in hand. Sophie, under extreme pressure, lipped out and Pat sunk her two footer for a par to knock Greetham Valley out and take Oundle into the next round. Gilly Grant thanked her team for playing their hearts out with special thanks to Sophie for giving them a chance with the extra play off hole.