MEN'S CAPTAIN WEEKLY NEWS
The Old Course continues to improve following the first period of heavy maintenance in May. A few rain showers and humid weather have probably assisted grass growth. The greens are now back to somewhere nearer their very best and we are finding that good putting is being rewarded. The greens should continue to improve this week.
PLEASE SIGN UP FOR MEN’S CAPTAIN’S DAY ON SATURDAY JULY 1.
PREFERRED LIES HAVE NOW CEASED. THEY WILL PROBABLY RETURN FOR 3 WEEKS FROM 18 JULY 2023 ONWARDS FOLLOWING THE SECOND PERIOD OF HEAVY MAINTENANCE ON THE OLD COURSE.
THE JULY MONTHLY MEDAL HAS ACCORDINGLY BEEN MOVED TO SATURDAY 5 AUGUST WHEN THE OLD COURSE WILL BE IN MUCH BETTER CONDITION HAVING ALLOWED FOR A 3 WEEK RECOVERY.
Results
Tuesday 6 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford
First: Andrew Rogers (38 points)
Second: Paul Cambridge (37 points)
Third: Stu Burrell (36 points; on handicap)
Fourth: Chris Hutchin (36 points)
Nearest the Pin on Hole 7: Gary Ward
Twos Club: None
Best Gross: David MacGregor (+4)
Tissue: Paul Symonds (19 points)
Congratulations to Brian Arnott on a score of 40 points, winning a sleeve of PRO V1s from the Captain; this was Brian’s first federated Stableford Competition since the WHS system began.
Thursday 8 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford
First: Aaron Schaal (37 points)
Second: Gary Ward (37 points, on handicap)
Third: Sandy Casofsky (36 points)
Twos: None
Nearest the Pin on Hole 12: Andy Rogers
Best Gross: David Steele (+5)
Tissue: Tony Maycock (25 points)
Good scoring, despite the drizzle and a couple of heavier showers; 12 players completed 18 holes; nine of these had 32 points or more. Yury had 22 points after 9 holes but gave up at that point. He was joined in the Nigerian Railways ranks with 0.2 addition to their handicaps by Jeremy Sibbons, Mark Squire and Peter Myers. Going forwards two NRs will equate to a tissue.
Saturday 10 June: The Club Professional’s Day
Before play commenced on the Old Course, all participants were invited to take part in a Skills Challenge on the practice range and putting green with a maximum of 36 points available to add to their individual Stableford score. Thank you to Mark Emery and Gonzalo Sanchez for a great format and for all their help throughout the year. The results were as follows:
Men
First: Jim Jenet (29 + 35 = 64 points)
Second: Dan Bannister (32 + 32 = 64 points; on handicap)
Third: David Tyler (26 + 36 = 62 points)
Fourth: David MacGregor (27 + 34 = 61 points)
Fifth: Bill Fletcher (25 + 36 = 61 points, on handicap)
Nearest the Pin on Hole 5: John Hunter
Short Game Skills Challenge Best Score: Dan Bannister (32)
Putting Challenge: Duncan Quigley (11); Dan Bannister (10), David Tyler (10);
Ramón Martinez (10), Enrique (10)
Best Stableford Scores: Sebastian Desoisa, Graeme Willis, Duncan Quigley and Seamus Desmond all had 37 points.
Course Information from Ben:
Ladies
First: Svetlana Friedl (27 + 37 = 64 points)
Second: Caroline Rogers (25 + 34 = 59 points)
Third: Sabine Hochschorner (20 + 37 = 57 points)
Fourth: Nicky Triay (19 + 37 = 56 points)
Fifth: Yvonne Chu (17 + 37 = 54 points)
Nearest the Pin on Hole 16: Debbie Richards
Best Stableford Score: Andrea Myers (40 points)
Good try Klas!!
Summer Charity Music Gala in Sotogrande
On Saturday evening the Captains joined a group of Members and friends at this picnic and musical extravaganza. Highlights included the Camerata Sotogrande Choir who were magnificent, several cello pieces and the ever-popular Tunas troupe. A charity raffle was held to fundraise for Age Concern, the local St George Charity and Collective Calling which supports families affected by poverty in Spain and Tanzania. Thank you to Andrea and Peter Myers for their help in organising our two tables at this event. Well done to Linda, Kay, Andrea and Tina for the ‘Summer Christmas Theme’ which won us best table display.
Sunday 11 June: The May Monthly Medal
This Monthly Medal had been postponed because of the recent maintenance work on the Old Course. Glorious weather this weekend! Thank you to Richard Bell-Young at Vinomarket in San Enrique for their generous sponsorship.
First: Sandy Casofsky (69)
Second: Patrick O’Sullivan (70)
Third: Jim Jenet (72)
Fourth: Mike Cowburn (74)
Twos Club: Tim Duerr
Nearest the Pin on Hole 5: Duncan Quigley
Best Gross: Jim Jenet (+7)
Tissue: Joachim Friedl (+17)
Raffle Winner: Andy Rogers
Course Information from Ben:
The range tee will be top-dressed on Monday morning, we haven’t managed to achieve this since the closure so expect this to be a little heavier than normal.
Greens on the New Course will receive a light top dress on Tuesday Fairways on the Old Course will receive a light top dress on Tuesday/Wednesday,
fairways will be mowed again on Friday as normal.
The Driving Range fairway will be mowed on Tuesday morning. This will be open for play at the normal times though. Tuesday Morning, we will be hollow tining the putting green collar (Bermuda grass) and topdressing with green sand. This is struggling with compaction and wasn’t done during the closure as I didn’t want to risk any contamination. Mulch spraying will be happening throughout the week. All Bent grass will be sprayed on Thursday this week. Bunkers will be fly-mowed twice this week to tighten up the surrounds of these, roughs will be also be mowed again. The team will start to clean out the nursery area on Hole 7 this week, the plan is to extend this and re-seed over the coming weeks to allow us a bigger bent area to utilize this winter.
Thought for the week:
Let’s make sure we as Members look after the putting surfaces and ante greens as they continue to improve. Please repair as many pitch marks as possible.
Calendar Change
As stated earlier, the Monthly Medal for July has been moved to Saturday 5 August to allow the putting surfaces adequate recovery time following the second period of heavy maintenance on the Old Course which is scheduled for 10 – 17 July inclusive.
Looking Ahead to the next 4 Weeks...
Tuesday 13 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford
Thursday 15 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford
Saturday 17 June: Monthly Medal – June
Monday 19 June: Men’s ACL Match v Sotogrande (Home)
Tuesday 20 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford
Thursday 22 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford (Mixed)
Friday 23 June: Men’s Inter Club Match v La Zagaleta (Home)
Sunday 25 June: Ranking
Tuesday 27 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford
Thursday 29 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford
Friday 30 June: Men’s Inter Club Match v La Zagaleta (Away)
Saturday 1 July: Men’s Captain’s Day and Dinner PLEASE PUT YOUR NAMES DOWN
Monday 3 July: Men’s Inter Club Match v Real Club de Sevilla (Home)
Tuesday 4 July: Midweek Competition – Stableford
Wednesday 5 July: David Steele Speed Marathon PLEASE PUT YOUR NAMES DOWN
Thursday 6 June: Midweek Competition – Stableford
Saturday 8 July: David Steele Charity Golf Day and Auction PLEASE PUT YOUR NAMES DOWN
Sunday 9 July: Ranking
SATURDAY 10 JULY TO MONDAY 17 JULY INCLUSIVE: Old Course closed for the
second period of heavy maintenance. We anticipate the need for a three-week recovery
period after 17 July.
Golfing Anecdotes:
The next Major, the 123rd U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club, begins later this week on Thursday June 15. Against the background of the recent joint announcement by LIV, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, it will be interesting to hear more on how commentators feel the world of
professional golf will be redefined, reimagined and improved for both players and spectators. The ramifications of all this are sure to run for some considerable time and Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour Commissioner, has certainly been catching a huge amount of flack. Will he be forced to resign?
More immediately it will be interesting to see how the USGA set up the North Course at LACC. What will the rough be like? How will the field cope with a tricky course they probably haven’t seen much of before? What will the winning score be?
With all the hullabaloo about LIV, PIF and the two main Tours, many may have missed the following story. Movie magic is made in Hollywood, and if any creative script writers are looking for their next subject, one contestant in this year’s field might be the perfect fit. This is the Uber driver and Asian Tour member Berry Henson. The 43-year-old’s story is way too good to be true, except it is. Henson found his way to the 123rd U.S. Open thanks to playing 7-under-par golf on June 5 at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, New Jersey, but his path to the year’s third major championship has had more detours than a nineteenth century missionary. “I always felt my game was perfect for an Open,” claimed Henson. “I made some great swings down the stretch.” Seven times he has tried to get his PGA Tour card. Seven times he has come up just short.
When asked by Golf Channel’s Jimmy Roberts how many times he has attempted to get into the U.S. Open, Henson, a Southern Californian who was born in Thousand Oaks and grew up in Palm Desert, revealed that his quest had begun in 1998 “and I’ve tried on almost every continent other than Europe.” That includes final qualifiers in Japan, Hawaii
– yes, the state once had a qualifier – and California. And when severe wrist injuries side- lined him 7 years ago, Henson started driving for Uber, first for charity and then as he grew to love the gig, as a means of paying off his rental car during the 10 weeks he spends every year in the Coachella Valley, Riverside County, Southern California. With half a dozen or more attractive golf courses, I can see why he likes this area, a throw- back to his youth.
For the majority of each year, Henson lives in Thailand at the Black Mountain Golf Club in Prachaubkirikhan. It’s a top course in Thailand, with 27 holes, including the exciting 4th hole which plays to an island green (see below left) and the tricky par 3 11th hole with water waiting to catch any errant shots (see below right). Henson carries the Club’s logo prominently on his golf attire.
A career bachelor with no kids, Henson enjoys easy access to most Asian Tour events. In fact, it was a tie for second place at the International Series in Oman earlier this year that moved Henson inside the top 500 of the Official World Golf Ranking,
making him locally exempt in Asia from U.S. Open qualifying.
Normally one to sign up for West Coast qualifiers or Japan, Henson chose to come to the Northeast U.S. on the advice of another golf journeyman and Asian Tour friend, Andy Pope,
who had previously qualified for a couple of his five U.S. Open appearances in Metropolitan New York. Pope was in the field but failed to advance.
Berry Henson, pictured above, seemed headed in that direction too, after making a double-bogey at the opening hole of the South Course, yet with the assistance and guidance of his local caddie, Narayan Murti, Henson righted the ship to post an impressive 6-under 64. He grinded out a 1-under 71 on the North Course in the afternoon to earn one of the four available spots for LACC. Perhaps anything is possible if you try for long enough?
To further whet your appetite for this week’s U.S. Open, here are a couple of photographs of the approaches to Holes 8 and 17 on the North Course at LACC:
Swing it well this week. The Spanish sunshine with temperatures easing into the low thirties will make for good playing conditions! Paul H will no doubt be getting ready with the next sweepstake.
