Brokenhurst Manor Golf Club lies in the heart of the New Forest and the course was presented in first class condition. A great day’s golf unfolded as did the weather – bright but crisp in the morning with brilliant sunshine throughout the afternoon & evening.
The greens were fast but fair with challenging borrows and undulations being very receptive to good approach shots. Anything short resulted in very long putts with the threat of 3 putts on the card.
The morning’s 18 holes was a medal competition playing for the following;
– Captains Cup (Lowest Net Score)
– Scratch Cup (the Lowest Gross Score)
– The Bandits Bowl Stableford (for playing Handicaps of 19 or more)
The captains Cup was won by John McCabe with a conclusive net score of 65. In second place was David Green with 68 and third was Steve Elliot with 73. Well played John and everyone as there were also rans with 8 other players hitting rounds in the 70s and the rest in the 80s.
The Scratch Cup was also won by John McCabe with a gross score of 80 with Steve Elliot second on 85 and Mark Jones third on 88.
The Bandits Bowl was won by David Green with a very good 38 stableford points and Nigel Linfield was runner up with 32 points. Well done chaps.
A welcome lunch awaited us with a departure from the traditional Ham, Egg & Chips replaced by a very tasty Shepherds’ Pie and judging from the ‘feedback’ received, went down very well.
The afternoon 18 holes was a Texas Scramble playing for the Loving Cup in teams of 3. The winning team was John McCabe, Dave Cousins & Mark Jones with a very competitive score of gross 71 and net 62.5. Well done guys really good golf on a challenging course. The runners up were David Green, John Hartley & Steve Jenkins with a score of gross 76 and net 63.9. Third place was team Stu Keen, Nigel Linfield & Richard Jackman with a gross score of 74 and net 64.3.
Nearest the pin winners were Dave Cousins, Mick Quigley, Tom Sturley and Matt Kockott on holes 3, 5, 10 & 12. The longest drive was won by Adrian Crossley who also took home our club mascot Boris with his new summer hat.
Dinner was preceded by the traditional Captains Drive where members and guests (for a small fee) estimate the length of a one-off drive by the captain from the first tee. The measurement in strides was performed by Mick Quigley due to his stature being similar to that of the absent incumbent Mike Gillies. Mick counted out 266 steps and was treated to very raucous jeers and calls of ‘fixed’ when it was announced that he had guessed the nearest with his estimate of 265. Being totally innocent of any wrong-doing, he quickly pocketed the winnings and made a quick exit.
Dinner was served with a delicious braised steak on a confit of potato served with vegetables followed by an apple crumble and custard and finished off with tea and coffee.
This was a truly remarkable day’s golfing entertainment at the highest level made possible by the very diligent and accomplished organiser Nigel Linfield who had to juggle last minute cancellations and re-organise handicaps and teams to provide us with an unforgettable Hursley Golf Society event.
So my special thanks, as Captain, goes to Nigel for giving us all a real day to remember. I wish to also thank all those who turned out to support our club in this inaugural year of being totally independent of IBM.