Joshua wins JoG's February Stableford

There was a debut for Alasdair Large in the 18 hole competition, while Jasper Hare and Oliver Joannou took part in a 9-hole expedition, learning more about the John O’Gaunt course.

Scoring was difficult for most of the field, with only a few bettering 30 points. Fourth place went to Paul Smith and third to Rachel George. Joe Clark recorded 35, but the winner on 38 was Joshua Bareham, who has now trimmed three strokes off his handicap this year.

There was another well-attended roll up session for John O’Gaunt juniors on Sunday with 16 playing and a couple of others at the club for lessons and practice. In total, 30 juniors have engaged in some golfing activity.

The competition took the form of a Texas Scramble, mainly in teams of three. James Playford, Joe Clark and Tom Sennett finished second behind an excellent score of 30 gross for the first seven holes on JOG, scored by Alex Zavodov (handicap 5) with Oliver Joannou and Connor Adams (both 54).

Romance was in the air as on Saturday, February 11 as 36 couples took on the challenges of the John O’Gaunt Course with a Valentines competition. The day brought rather inclement weather, however some goods scores were still recorded.

Coming in with 42 Stableford points and winning on count back were Jackie Lansdown and Phil White. Beaten into second, also on 42 Stableford points were Chris and Tim Ellis, and coming in third with 40 Stableford points were Pauline and Peter Wade.

The Ladies of John O’Gaunt continued their winter programme of fun competitions. On February 9 the ladies took on another team Stableford, but scoring with a difference. The name of the game was Cha Cha Cha, with 14 teams of three playing Stableford format and one scoring counting on the first hole, two on the second, three on the third, then back to one on the fourth, continuing through the 18 holes.

The twist in the game was each score had to be the worst score of the hole, not the best.

The winning team, and coming in with a fantastic score of 65 were Yvette Bunker-Dare, Jacqui Bunker-Dare and June Evans, In a distant second with a good score of 50 were Sue Colledge, Lesley Lewin and Pauline Aubigne and beaten into third by just one point with a score of 49 were Sue Firby, Penny Staveley-Smith and Terre Leech.

The fun continued on February 16 the ladies were treated to a beautifully mild sunny day when they took on the challenges of the John O’Gaunt course in a nine hole Greensome Valentine competition.

There were 26 pairs who entered the competition and some good scores were recorded. Coming in first with 22 points and playing four under their team handicap was Pauline Aubigne and Sandra Gardner. Second with 18 Stableford points were June Peacock and Val Cooper, and in third with 17 Stableford points and beating Hilary Pearmain and Anita Isaacson on count back were Jan Murphy and Sylvia Showan.

The ever popular Spring Texas Scramble brought together 25 teams of four on Sunday over the Carthagena course. With low handicap teams taking the honours and playing off a combined handicap of 1 were Gavin Armitage, Morgan Darnell, Michael Round and Paul Wharton who came into win with a score of 53, their winning round included three eagles, nine birdies and meagre six pars.

Closely behind in second place were Andrew Chappell, Euan Gill, Simon Hutchins and Chris Saunders with a score of 53.7 and a shot further back were Paul Beasley, Philip Blackburn, Richard Dilley and Tony Newman.