Three steady rounds wins
Joe Matthews the Tour Stableford
Championship whilst
Richard Meadowcroft takes the
Tour Stokeplay Trophy

What a fabulous weekend we all had as we again headed into North Wales to enjoy the beer, golf and the views of some of the best links courses in the country. Llandudno provided us with lively entertainment and the quality of our Hotel and its location was just excellent.

At the end of a tiring three days of golf it was Joe Matthews (handicap 23) who came out on top to win the Society’s flagship event and become the “Tour Stableford Champion”. Joe played three very good rounds of golf on three difficult courses and had Stableford Scores of 34, 30 and 34 which gave him a winning score of 98 points to edge out his nearest challenger Richard Meadowcroft who finished on 96 points. However, Richard took consolation of second place by winning the Strokeplay Trophy  for the lowest gross score over the three days. Congratulations to both players on playing some superb golf in some very difficult weather conditions.

It was also a a great weekend for Phil Smith who won two of the three days and undoubtedly, played the best golf, but unfortunately was not eligible to compete for the overall Tour championships because he had not played the three qualifying games prior to the Tour due to work commitments. What an enjoyable three days of golf he had though despite not being able to take the silverware home. Well done Phil.

Our weekend started with a further visit to Rhuddlan Golf Club which has become a firm favourite with us all. A good breakfast was needed to keep us all going as we all braved the worst weather of the weekend. Last time we played here it was Phil Smith who came out on top with 42 points. Well, history repeated itself with another fine score of 39 points to win the days competition. In second place on count back came Peter Simms with Karl Furniss finishing third, both finishing on 38 points. It was an excellent day for Peter Simms who also won the Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin. Another couple of Stableford Points and he would have had a clean sweep.

The evening meal at the Sunnyside Hotel was very much welcome after such a tough day of golf. Two members of our party had already found some “Old Thumper” at the boozer just around the corner, and after a few swift halves managed to get back just in time for dinner. The Fine Master, Peter Meadowcroft, was quick to point out the misdemeanours of the day and all were duly noted and fines dished out much to the approval of the innocents amongst us. (Richard and Joe must have money to burn - between them, their fines alone were enough to buy a scanner).

On Saturday it was off to North Wales Golf Club but not before we had all had another good old breakfast. Unfortunately, “Old Thumper” had put paid to my aspirations of a full English Breakfast and for the very first time in 13 years on Tour - I had to settle for a couple of rounds of toast and no fine either! Mel Clewlow organised the “60 yard Pitching Competition” and that was won by Steve Rushton with the very first shot of the day. A bottle of Brandy was the prize much to the delight of the “Sunday Six” having secured some light drinking for the Sunday evening.

North Wales Golf Club again provided us with a great links course. The weather again made conditions tough but a fabulous round from Peter Hughes scoring 39 points from 92 strokes was enough to win the day with Peter enjoying his best golf with the Society. In second place came Richard Meadowcroft with 34 points from 90 strokes and the lowest gross score of the day. Richard also enjoyed a rare eagle on the long and difficult par 5, 527 yards 14th hole. Two great shots and the third dropping into the cup much to the delight of his playing partner for the day Phil Smith. In third spot came Daz Matthews with 33 points from 93 strokes.  The Nearest the Pin was won by Joe Matthews and the Longest Drive went to Karl Furniss. Saturday evening brought more of the same - eating, drinking, being fined, laughing, watching the world go by in Weatherspoons plus other little cute things plus wondering who was going to have the round of their lives at Conway the next day.

At Dinner a raffle organised by  Captain Stanley raised some more money for our nominated Charity - Christies and put together with the money from the Auction later in the evening, I believe a couple of hundred pounds was raised. The raffle brought another welcome bit of luck with Brian Abell winning a bottle of whisky much to the delight of the “Sunday Six”, but getting the bottle off Brian was a more difficult job than we had first thought. However, on the Sunday night, as everyone else were making their way home, the “Sunday Six” opened and polished off the Brandy then Brian’s bottle of whisky came into its own. Great fun. (Poor old Sevee, my last sight of him on the Monday on our return home, was to see him flat out on the back seat of Kevin’s car, in a car park in Betws-y- Coed!!)

Sunday took us to Conway Golf Club for our very first Society visit. What a great Links course with all of our expectations met. The day was calm with a little drizzle splashed throughout the day. No strong winds so the course defences were left open for us to challenge. The earlier holes were not as tough as we had all been told and at this stage it must be said that many of us thought we would need a sack full of balls to complete this course. (Yes, OK Andrew, -  a special mention must be made to alert everyone that Andrew used the same ball all weekend! - How did we know that? - well we know because Andrew reminded us of this fact every five minutes on Sunday night and he was somewhat distraught that this had not been mentioned at our weekend presentations on the Sunday afternoon at Conway.), Anyway, back to the course which started to bare its teeth on the last few holes when a wayward shot into the gauze bushes was punished mercilessly. The score cards show that good rounds were starting to become just average after a few balls were going astray - but not Andrews, I hasten to say. The views across the bay were breathtaking for those who took time out to have a look and believe you me I did, as I started to wonder if I could throw my clubs into the sea from the various tees.

On the day it was Phil Smith, Joe Matthews and Peter Meadowcroft who scored the best and played well to their handicap. Phil Smith came in with 34 points from 85 strokes to win his second Trophy of the weekend after beating Joe Matthews on count back to push him into second place but the points were enough to clinch the Tour Stableford trophy for the evergreen Joe. Our Fine Master took time off dishing the fines out to come in with a good 33 points and a third place finish some three points ahead of the next challenger. There was no doubt that this was a difficult course but the lack of wind on the day helped us all to have a most enjoyable day and take away some great memories of Conway Golf Club. The Nearest the Pin was won by Peter Simms and the Longest Drive by Kevin Abell.

The winning Team was led by Steve Ruddell who marshaled his troops in fine style - or was it just luck that they came home with the highest score. Team Ruddell consisted of John Smith, Steve Ruddell, Russ Howard and Phil Smith. Either way the Captains Cup went to Mr Ruddell, who I believe, was in the winning team last year. Well played boys.

It was a brilliant weekend with the three days just flying by. The courses were excellent despite the worst weather we have experienced on Tour but this did not prevent some really good golf from being played. The Hotel provided us with lovely food and a location to enable us to find our way back to our rooms so much easier! It was a shame that it did not have the bar open into the early hours but we coped.

Thank you to all those who came along armed with prizes for the raffle and auction, it was very much appreciated by all of us and made Stan’s job easier. Thanks to Stan and Joe for organising this side to the Tour and to all of you for presenting me with a trophy with the inscription of “Top PIG” for all my efforts over the years - thanks guys, it was appreciated.

We must not forget the work that Andrew does in pulling together the scores for the weekend to make working out the winners and losers so much easier on the Sunday. Andrew again for organising the cards and to Brian for filling them in and their distribution before each game.

To Peter Meadowcroft who keeps coming up with some amazing stories and fines from the days play. So amusing and thoroughly enjoyable to watch after a good dinner and a few drinks. A total of £70.43p was raised from the fines - you naughty boys! Ta mee old mate!

Joe presented Phil with a golf trophy in recognition of all his efforts in putting together our Tours and Society Days. Very much appreciated gentlemen and may we have many more Tours in the future.

Finally, to Joe Matthews and Brian Copestick for their magnificent job of organising the markers each day and making such a simple job so enjoyable to watch! Chasing the leading group and running up and down the fairways in their buggy to dish out the markers after we had started. Back and forth to the car park in the buggy each day when they realise that they have, yet again, forgotten the markers having left them in the boot of the car. It was pure pleasure.

Yes, a fabulous weekend and looking forward to next year already.