Forty-eight Seniors from Blankney enjoyed the annual away-day at Newark. The weather was as good as could be wished for at this time of the year. A splendid day finished-off with the traditional "cow pie and chips". Thanks once again to Len Coffey for doing such a good job of the organisation.

The results were as follows:-

First place - Roger Lugsdin & Neil Blanchard with 45 points;

Second place - Mike Merrison & Roger Fry with 44 points;

Third place - Derek Green & Bob Khan with 43 points;

Fourth place - Rowland Ward & John Thompson with 42 points.

On Friday 28th October, Blankney Golf Club has a major event on. Accordingly, if playing in the Seniors Roll Up, the times for teeing off will be restricted to 07:00 to 07:45.

Please take note.

Malcolm Earney
Seniors Secretary

Bert Cawsey Cup held on Thursday 16^th October was won by:-

                                                Hcap           Points

1.    Tam KEAY                           10               38

2.    John Bryant                           9                 36  (on count back)

3.    Colin MUMBY                     15               36

4.    Harry JAMIESON                14               35

5.    Roger FRY                           13               33

Full results available on www.howdidido.com

CSS Score 74 & SSS 72

62 entered

Whisky Draw won by:– David Stevenson & Doug Riddell

Twos taking £8:57 each – (now credited in the Pros Shop) are

^{Peter ADAMS                        13th}

^{John THOMPSON                 13th}

^{Richard BLAKEY                   10th}

^{Dave HILLS                           13th}

^{Harry JAMIESON                  10th}

^{Tam KEAY                            7th}

^{Bob MANSER                      16th}  

^{Malcolm Earney}

The 3rd of October was blessed with unseasonably good weather (it got as high as 29C) for the Blankney Seniors Invitation Day. Thirty pairs took part in a Fourball Better Ball tournament. There were guest representing 21 different clubs.

The event was won by Ian Spencer -Knott and his partner who came in with a score of 48 Stableford points. In second place on countback with 45 points was Peter Bennett and partner with Ian McGregor and partner in third. There were seven "twos", but particular mention must be made of the two on the fourth hole by Phil White, and the fact that Geoff Keighley managed a pair of twos on the 13th & 16th.

Barbara and Irene received a well deserved vote of thanks for the very welcome refreshments at the 12th.

GRIMSBY EXCHANGE  DAY

 On Monday 26 September 46 seniors went to Grimsby for our first exchange day.  Unfortunately, like lots of other courses in the County, Grimsby is suffering from lack of rainfall and a limit on the amount of water they can use so we had to play four temporary holes.

We were very well looked after by all the staff, almost everyone enjoyed the day and thought it was good value.  John Robson won with 36 points on a card play off from Roger Lugsdin.  We will most likely go again next year in the hope that the full course is playable.

32 players from Grimsby had a very enjoyable day at Blankney and have expressed a wish to repeat the fixture next year.

Nev

In extremely blustery weather 57 Seniors participated in our annual medal competition, The Gilliatt Driver. In spite of the testing conditions Bob Manser came in with a truly creditable nett 67, closely followed into second place by Peter Bennett, who recorded  a nett  68. In third place with nett 71 was David Sturdy, in fourth on nett 72 was George Foster beating John Fleming into fifth on countback.

The CSS for the day was 72. 

Tuesday 12th July saw an excellent turnout of seventy-seven Seniors take part in the annual Bert Newman Shield. The clear winner was Rowland Ward with 41 Stableford points. In second place was David Sturdy who beat David Wilson into third place on countback, both having returned a score of 39 points. Fourth and fifth places went to Martin Cornelius and Derek Green respectively, both on countback with scores of 38 points. The CSS for the day was 72. 

So, how did the all important match against the Blankney Ladies go? Seniors Captain Peter Morley says "that we did far better than I had anticipated, secure as I am, in the knowledge that our ladies are a force to be reckoned with. I still don't remember saying "yes" to 6 bisques (or whatever they are) but as a result of our generosity in that department, and a dubious (surely) handicap system, (how can Chris Kessler be off 36 and plant so many balls straight down the middle?) and the certain knowledge that we would give any putt that was less than 2 putter lengths, whereas all I received was a grudging tap in when the hole was already won, the Ladies scored a 7-6 victory. Seriously, congratulations to our Ladies and thank you for a most enjoyable day. But ---can someone  assist with the following " the match hinged on the last 4 ball and they did not appear until 45 minutes after the preceding 4 ball. Why? Who were they and what were they doing? Did they know the match hinged on their performance? As ever, golf and our annual battle has it's imponderables. Best of luck to the next Seniors Captain. I'm sure the situation won't change".

L.U.G.C. COUNTY SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP

SOUTH KYME GOLF CLUB 9^th June 2011

GROUP C = 65 – 69

DONALD RIDLEY – BLANKNEY G.C.             

BEST NETT.  81 less 13 = 68 Nett

GROUP D = 70 +

ALAN CONWAY – BLANKNEY G.C.             

BEST GROSS   83

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNNER UP WAS DAVID QUINCEY of WOODHALL SPA AFTER A SIX HOLE PLAY OFF

On what can only be described as a perfect day for golf, probably more summer thn spring, 83 Seniors took part in the first of the major competitions of 2011 The Ken Williams Cup.

The scoring seemed to reflect the weather as the winner, Roger Sharp, returned a very good 42 Stableford points. Second place went to Don Ridley with 40 points. Don beat David Stevenson into third place on countback. Fourth and fifth places went to Roger Lugsdin and John Dooley both with 39 points.

There were two lucky winners of "The Twos Pool" namely Bob Manser and Don Craigs who are substantially wealthier than before they started. The SSI for the competition was 71.

The traditional season opener between teams of the Seniors' Captain and Vice-Captain took place on Thurday 3rd March. The weather was not too brilliant being very dull and cold ( for those fortunate enough to be reading this in warmer climes, it got up to 4C). The result, hopefully not too portentous for the coming season, was a resounding win for the Vice-Captain with a score of 2.5 to 8.5.

Message from Derek Green 

In an attempt to smooth the Monday golf where large numbers are involved I intend to have two card draws, one at 07:45 and one at 08:30. This will be an experiment at the moment and will start on Monday 28 February and continue to the end of March. This will not apply to Qualifiers.

One of the matters raised was the question of e-mail addresses being held by the Seniors Secretary.   If you wish for me to have yours, please send me an e-mail.  If you wish for any of your details to be excluded from the Seniors hand book, again you only need to let me know.

 My contact details are:-           Malcolm Earney Honorary Secretary/Treasurer

Blankney Golf Club Senior Golfers

7 Harvest Close

Metheringham

Lincoln

LN4 3XA

01526 322283

malcolmearney@hotmail.co.uk

MINUTES

BLANKNEY SENIOR GOLFERS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Monday 13^th December 2010

PRESENT

                        George Foster (Seniors Captain) – Chairman

                        Peter Morley (Seniors Vice-Captain)

                        Malcolm Earney (Seniors Secretary/Treasurer) and 60 Members

APOLOGIES

                        Apologies for absence were received from Peter Adams, Adrian Turner, John Watson, Mick Young, Elwyn Barton, John Robinson, Mick Cawsey, Douglas Bray, Eddie Lang, Harry Jamieson, Steve Grundy and Don Hudson.

OPENING REMARKS

                        The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and requested a minute’s silence in memory of members, members’ wives and former members who had died in the year since the previous A.G.M. Particular mention was made of Reg Woolley, a long- standing member and donor of one of our principal competition prizes, who had died a few days previously.

PRESENTATION OF PRIZES

                        Prizes were presented as follows:-

                        The Reg Woolley Cup

Winner:                       Roger Lugsdin

Runner-up:                 Peter Adams

Semi Finalist:             Paul Ryan

Semi Finalist:             Martin Cornelius

                        Gilliat Driver             Bert Cawsey Cup               Order of Merit

Winner:            Peter Adams             Bob Manser                         Colin Eades

Second:            David Sturdy              David Stevenson                     Dave Hills

Third:              David Green               Colin Eades                           ----------

Eclectic Salver

Winner:            Bill Stonier    -- 58.15 

Second:            Bob Fisher     -- 61.1     ---            A further 6 runners-up received prizes

Third:              Colin Eades   -- 61.3  

Seniors Roll-up League

Winner:            Roger Fry                   --            61 points

Second:            Chris Cawthorne            --            60 points

Third:              John Griffith              --            55 points

MINUTES OF THE 2009 A.G.M.

                        The Minutes of the 2009 A.G.M. had been displayed for the required period. There being no matters arising they were accepted unanimously by the meeting as a true record on the proposal of Don Ridley seconded by Gordon Brenchley.

CAPTAIN’S REPORT

            Reflecting on his year’s tenure George Foster expressed his feelings of pleasure and privilege at having had the opportunity to captain the Seniors during 2010, which he will always remember as a special year. He thanked the many willing helpers for their invaluable assistance over the year. In particular he was grateful to Malcolm Earney who, in his first year as Secretary/Treasurer, had discharged his considerable responsibilities with great skill and enthusiasm. Thanks were also extended to his vice-captain Peter Morley for running the Eclectic Competition and the Social golf mornings with the help of volunteers (particularly Douglas Bray); to Doug Riddell who so competently arranged the Valentine’s Evening, a most enjoyable away day at Torksey and informal golfing days at Thorpe Wood and Rutland Water Golf Course; to Mike Merrison who continues to maintain and improve the Website which keeps us all in touch; to Ian Smith for the Roll-up League; to Paul Ashmore for arranging Golfing Holidays during the year; to Len Coffey for the annual winter warmer at Newark; to John Fleming for initiating and organising the Winter League; to Steve Langley for the Handbook and to Past Captains and others who were always happy to give help and advice when it was sought. Thanks were also extended to those members and their ladies who provided refreshments at the Halfway House for home matches and competitions.

CAPTAIN’S REPORT (continued)

The season started with the Valentine’s Dinner, attended by the Club Captain, Chairman and Club Manager, their wives, and the Lady Captain. An opportunity to be attentive to our ladies in preparation for the neglect they suffer when the golf gets under way. Golf took over from early March when teams representing Captain and Vice-captain took to the course, followed a few days later by the annual match against the Club with the inevitable result, a loss, in spite of the fact that we had to provide them with a couple of players to make up their numbers. April saw the start of the match season proper. The match year proved to be satisfactory in all respects. The weather was kind on match days, almost without exception, and of 29 matches we won 17, halved 2 and lost 10. A total of 61 Seniors turned out for team matches during the season. June brought the annual needle meeting with Blankney Ladies where we scraped home to a victory by winning the last match.

Seniors Open Day, also in June, was as popular and successful as ever with 155 players taking part including 84 visitors from 30 other clubs. Winners in all three categories were Blankney members Rick Streeter, Mick Young and Jim Keable. The traditional day out this year took us to Torksey towards the end of July. It proved to be an interesting and challenging course, the food was good and most people got round dry apart from a few tail-enders. Bob Khan was a worthy winner with a score of 40 points.

As the year moved towards what proved to be a splendid spell of autumn weather the Seniors Invitation day was enjoyed by 37 pairs, the winners on the day being Derek Green and his guest Steve Gibb from Leighton Buzzard with 43 points.

With a further word of thanks to all who had made his year in office such an enjoyable experience George bowed out with a final joke followed by best wishes to Peter Morley and his vice-captain Derek Green for their coming year in office.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

            “Without a lot of help from many people, it would not have been possible to carry out my duties” The words of Malcolm Earney as he reported at the end of his first year as Secretary/Treasurer. In particular he thanked Captain George Foster for the quiet and efficient discharge of his duties and for his support and consideration throughout the year and Derek Green – his mentor- always there in case of need but his thanks went to all who had given willing help when asked.

            As expected, his first year had been a sharp learning curve with mistakes made but, hopefully, rectified.

Seniors Open Day continues to attract a large field and comments received from visitors were mainly favourable. Entries for this and the Seniors Invitation remain at a satisfactory high level but entries for internal competitions remain disappointingly low in relation to the number of regular senior golfers and he repeated the plea of his predecessor, that these competitions receive more support.

            He mentioned two suggestions for consideration. First that an additional age category be introduced for the Seniors Open i.e. Category C.70 and over be replaced by Category C.70-75 and Category D.76 and over. Secondly that entry for the Draw for both Open Day and Invitation Day should be paid for in advance. This would make things much easier administratively. The suggestions were left for discussion under any other business. This ended the report

                        .

TREASURER’S REPORT

            Wearing his “other hat” Malcolm Earney referred the meeting to the Balance Sheet as displayed on the notice board and website, copies of which were available in the room.

            The closing balance is roughly the same as at this time last year and there were no exceptional items of income or expenditure to report. As suggested at last year’s A.G.M. a contribution of £200 had been made during the year towards the cost of providing a large screen monitor for use in connection with the score computer.

            More detail has been provided to supplement this year’s Accounts and it is hoped that this is useful to members.

Thanks were expressed to Len Coffey for auditing the accounts and questions were invited.

            Derek Green asked why there appeared to be no donation this year to “Captain’s Charity” – The reason given was that neither the Treasurer nor the Captain was aware that this was an annual tradition. It was suggested that a donation to a Charity of the outgoing captain’s choice could still be made but it was decided that it would be left to next year’s captain to make amends.

                        There being no other questions, the Accounts were unanimously accepted by the meeting.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

                        Nominations for the election of officers had been on display for the required period. In the absence of any counter nominations the following were appointed by unanimous vote to hold office in 2011: -

Captain

Peter Morley              -            Proposed George Foster seconded John Robinson

Vice-captain

Derek Green              -            Proposed David Stanley seconded Nev Scott

Secretary/Treasurer

Malcolm Earney            -            Proposed Derek Green seconded Roy McIlwain

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

                        1)             Steve Langley reminded everyone that he has copies of the latest edition of the handbook available. In this connection he said that it had been suggested that distribution of the booklet, containing addresses and telephone numbers, might be a breach of confidentiality. The feeling of the meeting was that as this information is already freely available from Club records such fears appear to be unfounded and production and distribution should continue. This being so the meeting generally approved a further suggestion that e-mail addresses could be included in the handbook in future. If anyone prefers their details to be excluded from the handbook they should make their wish known to Steve Langley.

                        2)         The Secretary’s suggestions concerning the addition of a fourth age category for the Seniors Open and pre-payment for entry in the Draw for both Seniors Open and Seniors Invitation were unanimously approved on the proposal of David Rickaby seconded by John Robson

HANDOVER OF CAPTAINCY

                        George Foster formally handed over the Captaincy to Peter Morley wishing him a happy and successful year in office with which he coupled similar good wishes to Derek Green as vice-captain.

                        Peter Morley in accepting George’s good wishes congratulated him on a superb year’s captaincy. Looking forward to his own year in office he felt George would be a hard act to follow. He presented the traditional Captain’s tankard with the promise of the suitably badged team shirt to follow. He also gave George a personal gift in appreciation of their year together as Captain and vice-captain

                        Peter took the opportunity to thank those members who had been particularly helpful and supportive to him during his year as vice-captain. David Sturdy for regularly making the bookings to enable the morning social golf to take place and Douglas Bray and others for standing in as starter on those mornings when he was unavailable. He looked forward to working with Derek Green, his vice-captain and was particularly happy to hand over the “early morning shift” to him.

                        There being no further business the meeting was declared closed at 13.50 hrs.

……………………

Malcolm Earney

Secretary                                                                                                                                  13^th December 2010

SENIORS ROLL-UP LEAGUE

2010 RESULTS for the Douglas Bray Trophy

This year 67 Seniors took part of which the top twenty players averaged 3 points a month with the top three players scoring 5.45 a month. The consistency of the leading league players is quite impressive and which one expects will be reflected in Peter Morley’s match selections.

The highest total compiled in a single month was 14 by Jim Keable.

Only two players scored points in every month - Dave Hills & Bob Khan.

Only one player - Derek Isaac’s, with 22, scored 10 or over in two consecutively months.

3^rd place 55 points         JOHN GRIFFITHS

2^nd place 60 points   CHRIS CAWTHORNE

                1st place 61 points         ROGER   FRY

Next year I intend to record every person’s attendance and then calculate the individual’s percentage success rate. So even if you play only once a week you could still end up with a prize!

If you wish to participate please ensure you inform Ian Smith. Entry £2.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR SUPPORT. Good luck for 2011!