Having been very unlucky with the weather for our customary first event for the Fix-Up trophy the CGS season finally got underway with our Good Friday event for the Founders Day trophy. The weather has been the main focus from the start of 2018, it’s been unusually wet due to rain and snow. We were lucky to even be holding this event with weather reports predicting another cold spell with snow but fortunately it didn’t happen.

The event on Good Friday was held at the well-established and quality venue Robin Hood Golf Club in Solihull. It was a venue most were looking forward to from the moment it was added to the schedule, however due to the conditions the course wasn’t in the best condition and as remarked by many attending shouldn’t have been open.

The fairways were sodden and the rough even worse, wellies should have been the recommended footwear for play, if you were allowed to wear metal spikes they still wouldn’t be able to prevent your feet from slipping. To say the whole experience was disappointing is an understatement, it’s such a shame because it’s such a fantastic golf course, a proper golf course with a testing layout.

Anyway, we arrived to play and play was completed for the 24 players which included two guests, with Dave Ward and Dave Walker both returning as guests.

Having played with several formats for this event it’s now been established as a stroke play event so It’s now a straight shootout with only 3 prizes available for the first three places, no longest drive or nearest the pin, just player against the course.

Considering the unfavourable condition of the course the scoring wasn’t too bad, some were able to play well, scoring near their handicap with the winning player actually playing to his handicap of 9 with a gross 81 and a net 72. The rest of the field struggled which set the competition scratch to 76 showing overall how difficult it was.

The CGS was formed over 10 years ago and attendance at our events haven’t been an issue and this continues to be the case, we are fortunate to be able to have access to a good pool of people wanting to play our events . As mentioned before Dave Ward and Dave Walker attest to this both having played with the CGS on prior occasions. During the 2017 season Carlton Donald was the proverbial guest at a CGS event, he wasn’t ready to join but was very keen, this year he’s pushed the boat out and made the commitment in becoming a member and it was a timely decision. In his first event as a member he posted a gross medal score of 98 with a net 76 off a 22 handicap which was good enough to take the 3rd place spot and bag himself some vouchers for his trouble and anything else he may have entered on the day, hopefully he backed himself for the school fund, so well done Carlton keep up the good play.

Another player on the day who wasn’t affected by the conditions and manged to just play through it was Micky Taylor. Mick played some solid golf on a course which is tree lined much like his home club of Soundwell. His gross score of 86 net 75 off an 11 handicap was one hole short of a winning total, his nemesis was the 13th a hole which only conceded four pars to all those in attendance, it was where he posted a nine, a number that would lead to 2nd place overall. Well played Mick a good score on a difficult day.

On a day when there was no run on the fairways the course played longer so there were several holes were the second shot required a much longer club and ball striking off a soggy lie was an advantage and this was demonstrated very well by the winner on the day Trevor Lammy. Trevor hit some solid strikes from the tee but more so hit some excellent shots from the fairway and the rough to post the winning score of 72 net playing off a nine handicap and a difficult day. So congratulations Trevor on winning your first Founders Day trophy.

Thanks to all who attended it was a shame about the course condition, we hope the club will look at this and allow us back mid-season when conditions are better so we can give a better account of the venue.