ROMILEY GOLF CLUB

NEWSLETTER

MAY 2015

Aerial View of the 7th Hole

looking SSE towards Disley

and Black Rocks

Victory Cup, Saturday, 2nd May, 2015

1st John Allman 38 pts 2nd Alex Barber-Bennett 36 3rd Duncan Challen 37

And so John Allman calmly picks up another trophy in his illustrious career.

Last year’s winner of the Victory Cup was Alex Barber Bennett in 2nd place.

He came off the course rueing short, missed putts on the 16th, 17th and 18th.

Senior moment no 3?

Parking at RGC

Mr Past Captain’s car—obviously late on the tee!!

Bramhall Vets v Romiley Vets, 9.04.15

The second match of this year’s seniors’

season took place at Bramhall in late April.

It provided our team with a long-awaited

opportunity to give the new team colours an

airing. Those who tried this, however,

didn’t stay in shirt-sleeves for long as the

wind still had a touch of the north in it.

A late change of date for the fixture had

caused a bit of confusion which resulted in

only 7 pairs per team participating. The

course was, as usual, in very good condition

and, despite the chilly wind, the weather

was not bad. The forecast wall-to-wall rain

never materialised, although we did have a

brief white-out following a hailstorm late on. The combination of dark

clouds and strong sunshine provided some striking photo opportunities.

In the first match Club Chairman, Peter Howcroft, and Vets’ Chairman,

Keith Selby, were paired against the two Toms, big and little. This was a

thoughtful touch – anything which makes remembering names easier is

appreciated. Peter and Keith raced, not for the first time, into a 2 hole

deficit. This later became 3, but with good determination and the Howcroft

putter proving hot at 5 or 6 footers, they fought back to lead on the last tee.

A miracle second shot from the smaller of the Toms, however, led to a

gimme birdie, so the match was halved.

The other results were a mixture – some favouring us, but not enough and

the home team won by 4 to 2 with 1 halved. The match result was given

after a good meal of chicken and ham pie, chips and veg, followed by lemon

meringue pie. Keith’s attempt at concluding his (mercifully) brief speech

with a joke was foiled rather, by the fact that Andy Reed had just finished

telling the same story to his table! Never mind – it was another very

enjoyable day.

Keith Selby

Invitation Day, 14th May, 2015

The ladies were taken by surprise by how cold and windy it was for a May

afternoon but they counted themselves lucky that the rain stayed south. It was

lovely to see so many ladies on the course and in the dining room and, despite

the temperature, it was good to see summer dresses.

The format was a better ball so, of course, there was a twos competition, but no

-one could have imagined the magnificent two by Karen Rodgers from Hazel

Grove GC, guest of Anne Harrison, on the 6th!! An eagle for 5 points but, it

wasn’t enough to beat Debs Kershaw and Janet Clark from Buxton and High

Peak who were the winners with 42 points, a tremendous score, especially in

those conditions. In second place were Lady Captain from New Mills, guest of

Denise Booth, who, it was said by Denise, came along as her caddy.

The winners:

Debs Kershaw and Janet Clark (Buxton GC) 42 points

2nd: (cpo) Denise Booth and Brenda

Grimshaw, Lady Captain at New Mills

3rd: Janet Godfrey and Irene Ferris

from Stockport GC

Nearest the pin on the 2nd was Anne Ludford and on the 11th, just pipping

Lady Captain, was Janet Godfrey.

2s winners: Karen Rogers ON THE 6TH!, Deb Kershaw and Pam

Cunnington collecting balls for her partner, Heather Ensor (Heswall)

Professional’s Prize , 28th May, 2015

1st: Carolyn Brinsley

108-36=72

2nd: Denise Booth

87-11=76

3rd: Barbara Leith

97-20=77

Ladies and Juniors Greensome, Sunday, 17th May, 2015

Five 4 balls assembled for the 10 am tee off for the first Junior trophy

competition of the year. The weather was cold and threatening but the rain

held off.

For two of the Juniors, Aaron Bardsley and Harrison Hall, it was their first

18 hole competition and they were partnered by Barbara Leith and Gill

Walker. As they teed off it was not clear who was more nervous, Aaron and

Harrison or their dads, who were watching them! Both had good shots and

acquitted themselves very well, much to the dads’ relief.

The competition was won by Pauline Walker and Tom Swarbrick (now a

member of our greens staff), for the second year in succession, with a very

creditable score of 72.3. Pauline and Tom also recorded the best gross

score. Second, with 75.4, were Gill Thompson and her son, Clark.

Champions!

Pauline Walker Tom Swarbrick

Bob Blundell, Junior Organiser

Harry Audrey

Doyle Jones

Alec Jackie Rachel Brooke

Jones Purcer Broster Snape

Aaron Barbara Gill Harrison

Bardsley Leith Walker Hall

Jordan Carolyn

Walton Brinsley

Matthew Anne Janet Reece

Murray Harrison Worthington Chesworth

Lady and Junior Captain

2nd: Gill and Clark

Thompson

Northenden Vets v Romiley Vets, 12th May 2015

Thomas Gray … Elegy written in a country churchyard

The 8.45 start requested by Northenden for Romiley Vets’ latest match may well

have brought Gray’s elegy to the mind of early-rising golfers, or, to bring it up to

date,

The Romiley vets, as here we tell in rhyme,

Set off at dawn to get to Northenden on time.

On arrival, we were able to see the devastation caused

by last year’s clubhouse fire. There is a selection of

temporary dwellings, to tide the club through, and a

patch of rubble where the clubhouse used to be. We

were told that plans are well-advanced for the new

building to be erected by next April.

The threatened wall-to-wall rain failed to arrive and we spent a pleasant morning

in this relatively peaceful part of the Mersey Valley… or, as Thomas Gray may have put it, had he been playing here,….

‘Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife,

Far from the lorry’s roar and police car’s wail,

We play our golf, ‘cos you can bet your life,

It’s quieter here than Didsbury, or Sale.

They have a very smart set of

embroidered flags as well.

Oft did we see him at the peep of dawn,

Brushing with hasty steps the dews away

To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.

As catering is not possible at the moment, Northenden have come to an

arrangement with Withington, so, after the match, we were taken across the

road and given a splendid meal ….

I’m afraid it’s Thomas Gray time again:

‘The paths of glory lead but to the gravy...’

…with braised steak, mashed potatoes and veg, and a good roly-poly pud to

follow.

After the usual brief speeches, the result was announced, revealing a win for the

visitors by 4½ to 3½.

And so, to final thoughts, on a very good day, in keeping with the Gray’s elegy

theme …

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lonely golfer’s stuck behind a tree;

The visitors turn towards the motorway

And drive, triumphant , back to Romiley.

Keith Selby

Poise and athleticism from Barry Johnson on the

18th ….... but don’t ask where it finished.

During the latter part of April, the Green Staff (with the exception of Dan

who could unfortunately not make it) embarked on an evening’s

entertainment of Go-Karting, joined by their Greens Director, new recruit

(and past President) David Mason, and yours truly.

A rather "interesting" part of Gorton provided the venue, about a par 5

distance from the Etihad Stadium (which just about says it all!).

As can be seen from the photo, it was all smiles as we waited our turn to get

out onto the track, but, rest assured, once we were given the green light

(poor pun intended) it was every man for himself in trying to set the fastest

lap time!

Split into two groups, the guys who put in all the hard work to make our

course look as amazing as it does set off first and it soon became apparent

that young Tom Swarbrick was "in it, to win it!" As it turned out, Tom was

actually the fastest out the four of them (Tom, Mike, Steve and Brendan),

but he was also the one who drove into the tyres surrounding the track,

resulting in the red lights flashing for all drivers to temporarily stop

driving. With a fastest lap time of 15.342 seconds, Tom was followed by

Steve, then Mike and finally Brendan bringing up the rear of their group

with a lap time of 15.726 seconds.

Romiley Greens.......go karting!

David Mason Mr. Captain Brendan Hardman Mike Moore

Steve Clarke Tom Swarbrick

Next the turn of Peter, David and myself, and after I had taken a quick

opportunity to take a snap of Peter and David (or maybe David and Goliath), I

couldn’t help but think that, in his helmet, Peter bore somewhat of a resemblance

to a (now former) BBC presenter - Jeremy Clarkson? I do, however, refuse to be

drawn on any suggestions that they may or may not share similar charactistics!!

Onto the driving fun: after 50 laps of bone-shaking, high speed thrills, I couldn’t

help but feel frustrated by the fact that I had not managed to overtake Peter or

David, and, with the exception of a small diversion into the pits for David, we had

all driven to our limits and pretty well. Upon receiving the times for our group, it

was evident that all three of us had been slower than the 4th place (Ok! Last

member of the previous group). I can, however, hold my head up high and say

that, whilst I may not have overtaken them, I did post the fastest time out of our

group - a fact that delighted me; needless to say, not so the case for Peter!

The apres-karting involved a nice cold drink and lots of talk about what work had

been carried out on the course and was due to be carried out in the near future. All

in all, a great evening of fun, and I would extend my gratitude to Peter for the

original invitation and to all of the Greens Staff for a brilliant evening!

Mr Captain,

Neil Brindley

David Mason and—is that Jeremy?

LOTTERY

Draw on 16th May, 2015

1st: Martyn Wilson £84.38

2nd: Sandra Hewitt £50.63

3rd: Shirley Fletcher £33.75

The next draw Will take place on

Saturday 20th June 2015 at 4 pm

Be in it to win it!

Anne Harrison hand delivered yet another cheque to Sandra Hewitt and was

invited in for a glass of wine which, in anticipation, was chilling in the fridge!

Stableford, 14th May 2015

Sally Hebden, 32 pts Edith Clarke, 30 pts Kathryn Pendleton, 29 pts

Ladies’ Medal, Thursday, 7th May, 2015

1st Ann Jackson 106-30=76 2nd Debs Kershaw 102-26=76 3rd Anne Harrison 104-26=78

Buggies arrive at Romiley!

And so at last RGC has buggies. No longer will we lose society bookings

because we have no buggies available. And they are there for you; our

members. Not everyone can have a “ski mobile” like your editor but these

are tried and tested and will allow our ageing membership this alternative

transport.

Groovy Golf Club Rockers at Captains’ Charity 60s and 70s Disco

On a pleasant spring evening, fellow

members and guests joined the Lady

Captain and I for what promised to be

an evening full of fun and dancing,

whilst at the same time raising money for

two extremely worthwhile charities!

With Ray 'Hollywood' Hayes hosting

and Alan Walker selecting the tunes as

DJ, the room had been set out with lots

of balloons and chocolates along with

literature. This outlined some of the

inspirational reasons behind the

choices of the causes, the Teenage

Cancer Trust and the Neonatal Unit

of UHSM.

Whilst some individuals decided to adopt a more conservative dress code, others chose to

dress for the 60's and 70's theme, and there were some great costumes on display, including

(amongst others) hippies, characters from musicals and even one appearance of an

extremely famous footballer........

Whilst I myself commenced the evening dressed as a 60's hippie, when the music turned to

the 70's, a quick trip to the locker room was made, followed by my reappearance as a

famous player from my football team of choice, Arsenal. A brief explanation during a

thank you speech made reference to the first ever football match I had watched on TV (and

the reason I became an Arsenal fan at the tender age of 6), and many United fans present

who remembered the match quickly realised my guise was that of Alan Sunderland who

had scored the 89th minute winner in the 1979 FA Cup Final after United had come back

from 2-0 down!

Fortunately, no offence was taken at my reference to this event that must have been heart

breaking for both the United players and their fans, and I even managed to grab a selfie

(even though my moustache had by this time fallen off) with a staunch Mcr Red - our Vice

Captain!

All in all the evening proved to be a great occasion, and really big thanks go to Ray and

Sandra Hayes, to Alan Walker, and to everyone who contributed prizes towards the raffle

(and those who bought tickets) which helped contribute to a tremendous fund raising total

for the evening in the region of £900!!!

On behalf of our Lady Captain and myself, I thank everybody involved in both organising

and attending the evening. All the money raised both on the evening and throughout the

remainder of the year is going to two fantastic charities, and will hopefully help them in

achieving their goals.

Mr Captain, Neil Brindley

Evening Mixed, Friday May 2015

Following suggestions from members of the Club, the first event of the season

was held on a Friday evening. This proved to be very popular and 7 teams

entered. The format, which was a waltz, “1, 2, 3”, was unfamiliar to the men so

the ladies had to explain and dance them round the course.

As usual there was much banter in the Clubhouse afterwards and we all

enjoyed our hard earned fish and chip supper – catch of the day from Bury

market!

The winners, with a fantastic score of 42 points:

Gordon and Jan Harman and Chris and Rachel Broster.

In 2nd place with 38 points were Ken and Ann Jackson with Guilio and Pam

Santopaolo.

Congratulations to our winners. The bad news is they will each be docked a

shot for the remainder of the season.

Gordon Harman was delighted with his team’s win and proudly talked us

through their match, the highlight being on the 9th hole where Chris Broster’s

tee shot pulled right and into the trees, the second went over the stream, the

third sliced left over the big tree heading out of bounds but then hit the tee

marker and bounced onto the green within 12 feet of the pin, and the fourth

shot went in the hole, making 4 for 4 points.

If you’d like to try any of those trick shots, the list is up in the main hallway for

our next event on Saturday, 13th June, 2015.

Nellie Oldham, 21st May, 2015

Nellie Oldham’s competition is the least favourite of all, a bogey, but that’s

the format that Nellie decreed for her competition and beautiful cup, so the

ladies gritted their teeth and played.

The course had dried out nicely—probably due to the high winds! - so there

were no excuses, well, hardly any. Putting was the most talked about

problem, balls skimming the hole or going in and coming out again, but as

usual it wasn’t a problem for the winners and Pauline Walker finished 1 up,

reducing her handicap from 15 to 14.

The winner, Pauline Walker, 1 up

2nd: Lynn Nuttall, 1 down, cpo 3rd: Sally Hebden, 1 down

Ken Clarke, 6th December 1930—12th April 2015

Ken was born on 6th December 1930 and

lived in Hollingworth from then until 1985,

with the exception of his two years’

National Service and the first five years of

his married life with Edith in Hyde.

He left school aged 12 and started an

apprenticeship to become an electrician.

He did his two years’ National Service as a

storeman in the Royal Electrical and

Mechanical Engineers, or REME.

He met Edith shortly before joining the

army and they were married on 17th April

1954, shortly after he came out. Living

with Edith in Hyde, Ken resumed his work

as an electrician until Edith became

pregnant with the first of their three

children.

At that time Ken and Edith returned to

Hollingworth, swapping homes with Ken’s

Auntie Clara, moving into her two-up/two-down house in Woolley Lane and taking over Clara’s

adjoining off licence business. Through the next 25 years until 1983 Ken worked every day in the

shop, from 8.30 in the morning until 10.30 at night. He had afternoons off at weekends and the

only day in the year the shop closed was Boxing Day.

During his life Ken played many sports. He took up basketball and shooting whilst in the army,

winning a medal for his shooting. In his brief amounts of time away from the shop he played

tennis for Mottram Tennis Club and badminton for Hyde St George’s, and then took up golf, first

at Glossop and then later at Romiley, joining the club that Edith had moved to. He represented

both clubs in competitions and won the President’s Prize at Glossop, but, as far as he was

concerned, his best golfing achievement was to beat Edith and Ian Firth in the mixed doubles Club

knockout at Romiley with his playing partner, Kath Stafford.

After many years of long hours in the shop Ken’s decision to sell up may have been hastened by the

armed robbery he suffered in 1962. In any event, he did sell up and went back to working as an

electrician where he had a lot more control over his working hours. In 1985 he and Edith bought a

dilapidated bungalow in Charlesworth and, whilst living in a caravan in the front garden and with

the help of friends and family, he restored it. That was where he passed away.

After he left the shop he felt like he was a free man and carried on working as an electrician until

he was 71. He had more time to play golf and was able to go on camping and other holidays

abroad with Edith and on golfing holidays with friends.

Unfortunately, ill health caught up with him in his 70s and he was incapacitated by a stroke. The

last ten or so years have not been made easy but they have not been without memories to savour,

not least Ken and Edith’s 60th wedding anniversary last year.

Ken enjoyed playing a lot of his golf at Romiley with the Wanderers and he did a lot of electrical

work for the Club in his spare time.

Denise Booth

Harry Hall ( Garry’s dad), Ken Clarke and

Chris Harrison

Bramhall G.C. Exchange Day, Saturday, 23rd May, 2015

1st: Paul Wagstaff, Nick Gorman, Kevin Jones & Ian Smith - 82

(He looks well for 82!)

2nd Joe Smith, Paul Mellor, Rick Evans & Nick Madden - 80

3rd: Mr. Captain, Alex Barber-Bennett, Mark Kitchen, Richard Hale - 78

Romiley Vets v Ashton, 8th May 2015

The match took place rather belatedly due to a ‘misunderstanding’ about

start times, many of the Ashton team arriving after 9 when Romiley expected

the match to be up and running by then. In addition, Ashton were unable to

field the full complement of 16 players, so Malcolm Booker was drafted in to

help them out and turned out to be one of their star players!

Romiley’s team was also deprived of several of their original members but,

such is the level of enthusiasm at the moment that those unable to play found

little trouble in arranging for substitutes.

Having finally arrived and had a look around, the Ashton players were

unanimous in their praise of the course, an opinion which they repeated later,

after they had been able to have a closer look.

In defiance of the showery forecast, the weather was perfect; if only the same

could be said for the golf. Time-honed frailties were on widespread display

but, fortunately, more so from the visitors than the home team. At the end of

a fairly close-run battle, Romiley prevailed by 4½ to 3½.

The teams then retired to the dining room for a lunch of steak pie and chips

followed by apple tart and custard. As the results were being given and the

brief speeches ignored, the players were able to look out at the course and, as

the rain finally arrived, sweeping in sheets across the scene, count themselves

lucky that they were safe inside.

Keith Selby

Romiley Golf Club Juniors versus Hazel Grove Juniors

Derbyshire and Cheshire League

Monday, 25th May, 2015

In 2011, because of lack of members, the Junior Section was obliged to

withdraw from the Derbyshire and Cheshire Junior Golf League.

Following this, a vigorous recruitment campaign was launched and

policies introduced that made the Club much more junior-friendly. Our

professional, Alex, and his assistant, Graham, injected a lot of impetus

and we now have a healthy and active Junior Section with about 35

members.

As a result of re-admission to the D and C League on Monday, 25th May,

2015, we hosted Hazel Grove Juniors in the 1st Round of the K.O.

Competition. The competition was individual match play and I am

delighted to say that we won 3—2. Tom won 4 & 3, Jordan won 4 & 3 and

Reece won 2 up. It was, however, a lot closer than the score suggests with

Reece being 3 down after 9 holes. He used his 4 shots on the back 9 to

great effect, winning his game and indeed the match on the 16th. This was

an excellent win for an inexperienced team and the Club can be very

proud of their achievement.

The match was played in the most sporting of manners and this is as

important as winning. Congratulations to both teams.

Bob Blundell

Vets’ Exchange Day, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Thursday, 28th May, 2015

28 stalwart vets turned up to battle a tough course in very strong winds. The

course won comfortably!! The winning score from Bill Swindells was just 32

points. Derek Young was astonished to receive second prize with 31 points. With

16 bottles of wine being given away there were winners who had scored only 23

points! Most were disappointed with their golf. However, your editor would

have been delighted to rise to such dizzy heights as he scored just 2 points on

the back 9! Shame!! Keith Selby, Chairman, thanked Chapel-en-le Frith for

the opportunity to “enjoy” their most scenic of courses and, as always,

entertained his fellow vets with his amusing and witty speech littered with

literary references, limericks and laughter.

Mike Andrew, adorned in a peerless, white ensemble, appears ready to drop

kick his golf ball into the green. Barry Hughes and Ian Bainbridge watch in

awe.

Ian Bainbridge, a fairly

new member of the

Vets, was obviously

moved to tears by some

of the golf he saw. The lowering clouds threatened rain all day.

Cheese and Wine Evening RGC Friday, 22nd May, 2015.

A select gathering of around 30 members and guests assembled to taste the

wines on our new wine list. On hand to help was Morgenrot’s wine expert

Mr. Nick Reed who gave a short but illuminating discourse on what to look

for when tasting wine. After he had finished we got down to the stressful

task of walking up to the table where all the bottles were displayed and

choosing our first wine of the evening. My first was a delightful Argentinian

Malbec which I can heartily recommend, actually I would recommend all

the wines on the wine list, as try as I might, I was unable to find one I didn’t

like!!!

Soon the room was abuzz with the noise of people having a super time and,

of course, the noise level grew as the night progressed, Can’t imagine why!

Along with the wine, Yvette had provided a magnificent selection of cheeses

with biscuits and sticks of fresh carrots and celery. There was also a large

jar of assorted pickles and olives, provided very kindly by Pauline and Alan

Whitehead, which emptied very quickly.

Up and down we went bringing samples for ourselves and our guests with

everyone remarking on how nice the atmosphere was and what a good idea

this had been.

As usual, the bar staff were amazing and many thank to them for looking

after us all.

Chris Broster

Nick Reed, from Morgenrot, sampling his wine

St Anne’s Old Links vs Romiley GC Friendly Match

Match report from the Professional

The month of May is always a very busy time at the Club, with everyone hopefully back into

the swing of things after the start of the new golfing season at the end of March.

May also heralds the annual friendly match between Romiley and St Anne’s Old Links GC,

and this year saw the first leg take place away from home at St Anne’s on Sunday 17th May.

Although our team has seen somewhat of a change in personnel since Barry Broadhurst

handed over the organiser’s reins to Colin Davies a few years back, the match is still played in

keeping with the history and traditions intended and remains a competitive battle filled with

plenty of fun and humour along the way.

It didn’t take long for the antics to start this year, as our Captain, Neil Brindley, was being

barracked from both sides for being the last to arrive and nearly late on the tee for his morning

round with Vice Captain, Gary Williams, and their counterparts from St Anne’s.

I, of course, arrived nice and early at the Club and was greeted by their Professional, Daniel

Webster, who had great pleasure in informing me and the rest of our team that the weather

forecasters had predicted winds of 20 odd mph and that on the previous day 90 odd St Anne’s

members had NR’d in their Saturday competition due to the wind, so we knew we all had our

work cut out.

Partnering our Club President, Peter Wagstaff, we had the pleasure of matching our skills

against Daniel and their team organizer, John “I’ve Been To The Masters” Murray, in the

second match of the day.

I also took some stick from the home team for my Nike Golf matching

#VOLT wind shirt and beanie, but we had the last laugh by winning 1up.

With the morning’s quick FUN 9 holes to warm up or be blown away done, both teams sat

down for a brief refreshment pit stop in the clubhouse before the series business of trying to win

our point in the main match of the day started.

Even at this stage the Captain was still being ribbed for being late, and I’m guessing after he

was told he was playing against a 2 and 20 handicapper he might have wished he had stayed at

home, lol. Seriously though, Neil did tell me afterwards that their Captain, Colin Nicoll, has

recently purchased a new custom fitted Nike Vapor driver and set of irons from Daniel and

couldn’t miss.

In my match, it was a real pleasure to play my first game with Peter and even better that we

managed to defeat Daniel and John who tried every trick in the book to put us off and even

tried hiding my clubs at one stage, but the cream rose to the top, as they say, and despite their

best efforts we held on and closed out the match 1up to put the first point on the board for

#TeamRGC.

The rest of the team didn’t fair quite as well but, good victories from Alan Costello and Tony

Fitzpatrick and a cheeky half a point from Ian Smith and Peter Kimber meant the match

finished a 6.5 – 2.5, giving us a chance of turning around the deficit in the home leg at RGC in

September.

Despite the result, it was a great day out and I would like to thank Daniel and the members at

St Anne’s Old Links for making us feel as welcome as ever, and I’m pretty sure there would

have been a few sore heads on both teams come Monday morning after the evening hospitality

and antics had finished.

Alex White, Professional

Fate was never on the Captain’s and Vice Captain’s side. As you can see

from the picture, even the road signs were against them #20

Vets’ Match v Davenport, Friday, 22nd May 2015

Another resounding win makes it 5 out of 5 for the Romiley Vets’ Team. It

was the turn of Davenport’s Senior squad to visit Romiley and suffer a 5.5 to

2.5 defeat.

On a cool and dull morning with occasional drizzly periods, the team was led

out by Vet’s Chairman Selby and Vice Chairman Wykes who led by example

with a convincing 7&6 victory. Five more rubbers were concluded before

reaching the 16th holes making it 5-1 and 2 rubbers went all the way to the

last hole with Harvey Purcer and “rookie” Ian Bainbridge securing a half

and Mike Andrew and Jack Thomasson narrowly losing 1 down in a game in

which neither pair was more than 1 hole up throughout the game.

Mike Andrew

Rod Powell Ron Farrington Keith Selby Ken Wykes

Davenport Romiley

Joan Mary Catherine Kelly

7th May 1929—15th May 2015

St Paul’s Church was filled to capacity with friends and family to celebrate the

life of Romiley Golf Club’s Past Lady Captain Joan Kelly.

Joan was brought up in Barrow in Furness and excelled at school. After the

war, very unusually for a woman in those days, she studied medicine at

University College, Dublin, and graduated top of her class. Fellow students

voted her the most likely person to succeed but, unfortunately, she was not

awarded the prize because she was a woman and because they thought she was

Irish. Joan went on to become a Paediatric Consultant at the Royal

Manchester Children’s Hospital and later was one of only three people selected

to go to Baltimore, USA, to practise.

Barney and Joan first met at UCD but it wasn’t until they met again at an

Alder Hey Hospital doctors’ residence dance that their romance blossomed and

they married, 56 years ago. Joan was devoted to the whole of her extended

family, but especially her brother Bill, her four children, Mark, Caroline, Paul

and Philip, and 11 grandchildren. She will be missed by them all.

Joan was an immensely popular, caring and well respected lady who always

had time to speak to everyone and help with anything and everything. She had

a passion for politics and literature. She was Lady Captain in 1999 and all who

came into contact with her will remember her fondly; a true lady.

Division 1

1st Duncan Challen 75-5c=70 2nd Simon Hebden 73-2c=71 3rd Nick Madden 75-3c=72

Division 2

1st Andrew Wisedale 83-16c=67 2nd Joe Pannett 86-17c=69 3rd Tony Fitzpatrick 83-14c=69

Division 3

1st Alan Walker 93-20c=73 2nd Barry Johnson 95-22c=73 3rd Richard Manock 93-19c=74

Monthly Medal and All Winners Round One, Saturday, 30th May, 2015

Captains’ Corner

Mr Captain

At the time of this Newsletter “going to print”, you may have noticed that my

car has been absent from the Golf Club for a week, as my wife, our son and I

enjoy a short break over in the hopefully sunnier climes of Morocco!

Our family holiday caps what has been a busy month of May, with

knockouts, interclub matches, Charity Disco and an Exchange Day all taking

place.

As reference was just made to the Charity Disco, whilst it is mentioned

elsewhere within the newsletter, very large thanks are due to Ray and Sandra

Hayes, Alan Walker and also the Lady Captain for all their work in

organising and running the 60’s and 70’s disco in aid of the Teenage Cancer

Trust and the Neonatal Unit of University Hospital of South Manchester!

The evening was indeed great fun.

I hope to see some familiar faces, along with new ones, at the upcoming

Midsummer Ball event where there is an absolutely fantastic artist who

performs two completely different sets, the first as a Neil Diamond tribute act

and the second a party set that is guaranteed to get people up on the dance

floor.

From a golfing perspective, you will read in this month’s edition about our

unfortunate exit from the Men’s Alliance Competition and also that,

following the away leg of our annual match against St Anne’s Old Links, we

find ourselves needing to overturn a 6.5 – 2.5 deficit during the home leg in

September. I would extend my thanks to Mark Kitchen, Derek Worthington

and Richard Hale for organising the Alliance matches this year, and to Colin

Davies who has once more been our man in charge of organising the St

Anne’s Old Links match.

I would like to extend my congratulations to Messrs Wagstaff, Jones,

Gorman and Smith for their victorious score in the Exchange Day at

Bramhall Golf Club. I enjoyed the course (and the courtesy extended by all

involved within the Club) and if either myself, Mark Kitchen or Richard

Hale could have matched Alex Barber-Bennett's four birdies, then we might

have found ourselves higher than 3rd place - but then I guess we ALL have

our "if only stories."

One event that I did, regrettably, miss this month was the introduction of our

new wine list, as part of the Cheese and Wine evening on 22nd May. As soon

as I was made aware of this event I had to send my apologies for absence

due to a prior commitment with my family to see (what is left of) Take

That. Whilst my Son (Oliver) enjoyed singing and dancing along to Gary,

Mark and Howard, I understand a very enjoyable evening was shared at the

Club, and I look forward to sampling a wide range of the new wines - and

that is probably just going to be on my next visit to the Club!

Reference was made in last month’s Captain’s Corner to the arrival of

buggies being imminent and you will by now have most certainly noticed

these at the Club following the delivery of four buggies on 20th May. It is

great to see the addition of these at Romiley, helping to bring us into modern

times!

I also referenced last month that I wanted to make Mr Captain’s Junior

Prize a day for everyone and, whilst more details will be advertised in due

course, Sunday, 5th July, is promising to be a day for everyone (members

and non-members), with a mobile crazy golf course due to be part of

attractions of the day, along with other golf related activities in which

everyone can take part. All of this will be followed by a prize presentation

for the Juniors, and I would encourage as many members of our Club as

possible to pencil this into their diaries and come along and support the

future generations of our Club.

As the summer months fast approach, I wish you all a successful, healthy

and happy June!

Mr Captain,

Neil Brindley

LADY CAPTAIN

Yet another busy month and the weather not really summery.

Invitation Day was played on 14th May, 2015 and was won by Deb Kershaw

and her guest Janet Clark. We had the first Major on 21st May, 2015, the

Nellie Oldham Trophy. This is a Par competition and was won by Pauline

Walker with a score of 1 up.

I would like to thank all those who supported the Charity Disco on Saturday,

9th May. This was hosted by Ray Hayes and nearly £900 was raised for the

Captains’ charities. A big thank you also to Ray and Sandra Hayes and Alan

Walker. This was a fantastic evening and enjoyed by all.

The Summer Ball will soon be here. It would be

great to see lots of you there.

The Mixed Blades competition is fast

approaching where I will be in action again with

the Captain.

Our last match was our mixed knockout which

we won. Yes! I was the winner in our house on

that occasion!

Happy Golfing!

President’s Ponderings

Having recently played a number of rounds on both rural and coastal golf courses, I

suppose I could be forgiven for thinking of Romiley as a suburban parkland course. But,

how lucky we are to experience our own level of wild life to be seen regularly every day.

In the evening of the mixed golf the grey heron patiently sat on the 2nd green as we

approached and then courteously moved to the opposite side of the pond to observe our

putting out. It can also be seen preying on the moorhens in the right hand pond of the

14th.

Meanwhile, the buzzard continues to soar overhead around the heights of Werneth Low

and is indeed a spectacular bird.

For pure beauty the Mandarin ducks, which are quite a rarity, seem quite at home on the

pond adjoining the 10th green and are a great pleasure to observe.

Apart from the many other species of birds, the various mammals often seen, with the

foxes, badgers and squirrels, we are indeed fortunate to have such a variety of wildlife.

The Llamas in the fields above the 16th tee cannot be considered as wildlife but they do

contribute to the interest of parkland golf.

On the social side we have enjoyed the Captains’ Charity night hosted by Ray Hayes and

Alan Walker with the usual "don't join in at your own risk". An amazing, successful

evening with a great atmosphere. The Club was rocking and nearly £900 was raised for

both Captain and Lady Captain's charities.

The cheese and wine night for those participating was a huge success. With the

opportunity to try the new wines being introduced to the Club, the samples offered by our

supplier, Morgenrot, quickly degenerated into a brilliant free for all. As a favoured red

drinker I can recommend the Australian Shiraz and, a bit more pricey, the full bodied

Argentinian Malbec.

Golf wise I have to say my crowning moment was playing with our Professional, Alex, in

the St Anne's match away and beating their Professional and organiser on their own

patch.

I enjoyed the company of Matt Reid and Mark

Worsley in the Entwistle Cup and "Shot of the

Month" goes to Matt who, after a drive into the

fierce wind against on the 9th, then hit his second

shot with his driver off the deck again through a

similar wind about 230 yards to the far side of the

green.

Peter Wagstaff

President