The LEGS August game was played at Knebworth GC on Thursday 20th August. Knebworth is the home club of our Captain Colin Oates and he nominated the game as his Captain’s Day. He was supported by the best turnout of the year with 20 players, 19 members and one guest, and he welcomed them with a Knebworth ball marker as a memento of the day. The usual fines were suspended for Captain’s Day but £10 was requested for one mulligan and an entry into a prediction competition. This involved predicting the winning player and the winning score, a tie breaker of prediction the winners back 9 was also included. In addition, a challenge to each group was that the last player who went out of bounds or was in a bunker during the round was asked to contribute £5 to the charitable funds.
Knebworth has a great club with a bar area looking downhill over the fairways and greens. The view was of a brown savannah with green oases where the greenkeepers had sensibly allocated their watering. Like many local clubs preferred lies on the fairway were in play. The bone hard fairways gave a lot of run but in many cases this proved to be sideways into trouble or backwards when a drive did not quite reach the top of a hill. The amount of run as well as desiccated leaves made finding errant balls a continual challenge. The greens were in great condition and a credit to the greens staff. They were not quite as fast as the putting green but a continued challenge. The amount of ball searching did not encourage a rapid round despite Colin’s encouragement to play quickly to avoid incoming, much needed, rain. Despite these delays we were enjoying our meal when some heavy but short lived rain did arrive.
Knebworth’s catering staff lived up to their well-deserved reputation with an excellent fish and chip supper. It was much appreciated after the round.
The captain was congratulated by the President, Mike Webb at the end of a meal. He extolled his origins and captaincy while presenting him with a flat cap as well as a Newcastle FC shirt and scarf. The captain then announced the prize winners.
The largest cup in the LEGS collection is the Boddington Trophy. This is awarded to a randomly drawn pair and the pairing is unknown until after the game. This was won with a combined score of 75 points and is shared by Hanif Patel and Andrew Randall.
There were no correct answers to the prediction quiz. 4 players predicted 39 with 20 on the back 9. A supplementary question of how many pars were scored was invented and this gave the prize of a fine bottle of wine from the captain’s cellar to Graham Shennan.
The afternoon ended with a short auction of a bottle of champagne, a 2 ball for St Neots and a 4 ball voucher for Pavenham GC. These lots combined with the other fundraising, which included some very generous donations from members who could not attend raised the fantastic total of £574 for the Captain’s Charity of Primrose cars. This is a great result due to the generosity of this society and is the highest single game total of which I am aware.
Well done to all of you who supported the day. I look forward to seeing many of you on the tour and at our next game at The Bedfordshire GC on Thursday 17th September.
Our return to Hertfordshire saw 15 players turn out at Mid Herts GC for our July outing. This included John Greevy, as a guest of our Treasurer. It was very pleasing to see Henry, Pete & Ray return to the fold, as well as seeing our former Treasurer Howard Smith join us for dinner at his home club. Although the course, like most, has suffered an exceptionally dry period, the tees, greens and approaches were in great condition giving a vivid splash of colour to a desert-like backdrop. We enjoyed another fine dry warm day that encouraged a range of scores that were significantly better than those seen in recent months. The weather can be seen in the gallery of photos, together with potentially disturbing evidence that some alleged Bryson-like behaviour may have been about to take place involving a misplaced tree !
At the end of the day our worthy winner, albeit on countback, was Richard Sharpe with 39 points. In second place was Pete Schofield who, despite his 'Infantino-like' shoes, did not contest the result ! Filling the 3rd podium position was Brian Bamber with 36 points. Much to his amusement, Pete Sayers, was the recipient of the 'Last Leg' trophy with 21 points. A summary of the scores is shown below together with the appropriate handicap adjustments.
While Andrew Stevenson grabbed the prize for nearest the pin in 2 at the short 14th, Andrew Randall was nearest at the par 5 9th, our last hole of the day having started at the 10th tee. Brian Bamber was nearest the pin at the par 3 2nd hole, but as he'd already won a prize, the bottle of Rioja was quickly rebadged as 'Best Guest' and presented to John Greevy with 33 points.
After dinner, John gave a very eloquent description of his voluntary work as a driver for this year's charity, Primrose Cars. This insight into the operation was very engaging and provided an excellent lead into the role of our Finesmaster, Martin Lavansch. You can see Martin on the 10th tee sporting his 'Doddy Weir' charity shorts. We were all thankful that he didn't go for the long trousers ! He made a great job extracting funds for the Captain's Charity and this, together with some absent members' donations, led to a terrific total of £300 being added to our charity pot.
We will be staying in Hertfordshire next month for our annual visit to Knebworth GC. Not surprisingly, this is the venue for our 2026 LEGS Captain's Day. More details will follow in due course but I hope you can join us. The entry form is on our website and our account awaits your entry fee.
The LEGS game at Pavenham Park GC was planned for Thursday 25th June. The forecast for that day was for temperatures of 34° feeling like 38° and the Met Office issued a red weather warning. It was decided to postpone the game for 2 weeks in the hope of more clement weather! The climatic improvement was marginal with temperatures reaching 32° at the end of the round. This postponement at short notice reduced our numbers to 12 from 15 but it did allow our President, Mike Webb to join us. The members of Pavenham were most generous to the LEGS membership, with Bernard Henry sponsoring the buggies and Richard Sharpe bringing 2 iceboxes full of water bottles, donating 2 bottles per person. Both these acts of generosity were much appreciated.
The group gathered for a very welcome bap and coffee and were entertained by warnings of how fast the greens were. This proved to be an understatement. The course was in great condition with a good amount of grass on the fairways and well cared-for bunkers. The challenge, as ever at Pavenham, were the greens, particularly the first 6. An example of their pace was that a putt uphill that stopped close to the hole would then run back downhill into the fringe. Most frustrating! One of Alan Horn’s fines was for 4 putts, and even 5. This alone raised a significant sum! Despite the speed we did have to admit that the greens were true and the grass coverage excellent.
The club continued to look after us well with an enjoyable meal and a gracious free provision of cheesecake desert. Paul Jones rose to the challenge of Grace with a thoughtful and amusing celebratory ode. The meal was followed in traditional fashion with the loyal toast and prize giving.
The speed of the green was the excuse for the nearest the pin in 2 and 3 prizes not being claimed. Some balls had clung onto the fringe but the surface remained unsullied. The nearest the pin in 1 prize had 3 names on the sheet with the winner being Paul Jones.
The overall prizes were closely completed. Pete Schofield won the wooden spoon on countback and is looking forward to his extra shot at Mid Herts in 2 week’s time. Mike Webb celebrated his return to LEGS with 30 points and 3rd place (cut 1). Andrew Stevenson was just ahead of him on 31 points (cut 2) and came second. The overall winner was Tom Inskip with 32 points (also cut 2 shots). Alan then rose to the challenge of fines including the restoration of forgotten clubs along with mislaid phones as well as the more usual fines for errors such as scoring an eagle – looking at you, enviously, Paul. The fine for having a pee on the course had fewer takers than normal. Perhaps we needed even more water.
The Captain's charity benefited from donations, fines and wine auction to the sum of £250. An excellent figure and a transfer of £1000 has been made to the Captain's charity - Primrose cars - from the sum raised so far this year.
Despite the heat it was a very enjoyable day with excellent camaraderie amongst the LEGS members. Long may this continue.
Our annual trip to Cambridgeshire attracted 13 members to St Neots GC. We enjoyed a dry day with the levels of sunshine and the temperature gradually rising as the day went by. You may think that such good golfing conditions would help generate good scores but, as ever, there are no guarantees in this game.
Given the dry spring, the golf course was in good condition, and the greens were not as speedy as they have been in previous years. However, a fiendish collection of pin positions did create a difficult challenge for everyone, as indicated by only 3 of our players scoring more than 30 points. In 3rd place was Andrew Stevenson with 31 points. Trevor Horwood scored 1 more with 32 and was 2nd – as he was last May at St Neots. Completing a nice arithmetic progression with 33 points was our winner, Brian Bamber - his 1st LEGS trophy. He was presented with the May Cup by its co-sponsor, Jeff Wood - the other being Ian McLuskie.
At the other end of the scale with 19 points and winner of this month’s “Last Leg” trophy was Andy Pohler. This was his first appearance for some time, and we expect our “Webmaster” to make the most of his freshly gained 1 extra shot in future outings.
On the scenic par 3 8th hole, that crosses the River Kym, we found that the willow trees on the right are slowly covering more of the green as the years go by. However, this did not distract the aforementioned Andy Pohler, who took advantage of being left-handed to win our nearest the pin prize. At the par 4 12th hole, nearest the pin in 2 shots went to our Treasurer Jeff Wood – who confirmed to all that he did not make the birdie putt. The green at the par 5 14th hole proved too tricky for anyone to hit in 3 shots, so the prize was auctioned. Subsequently it was also taken home by Andy P !
Following a memorable delivery of Grace from Bernard, not only did we enjoy our planned main course but also a complimentary Chocolate Brownie for dessert, thanks to the under-attended or over catered wake going on downstairs. To complete our day, Finesmaster Andy Pohler used some very inventive and amusing methods to collect funds for this year’s charity. When added to donations received from missing members, a terrific total of £220 was raised. Your generosity has already gathered more than £1,000 for “Primrose Cars”. Well done & thank you.
Next month, our schedule takes us into Bedfordshire, Pavenham Park GC to be more precise. I hope you can join us to play and if not, perhaps for dinner. Buggies will once again be kindly provided by Bernard Henry to encourage more members to attend this always challenging course. The June entry form on our website is now open for business and our account awaits your entry fee.
Until then, enjoy your golf and the approaching summer!
Yet again we were treated to a wonderful sunny day at this excellent venue. It was unanimously agreed that the golf course was in the best condition we've ever had the joy to experience. It is very close to becoming most members' favourite outing of the year.
Unfortunately, the scores of our 14 players did not reflect the quality on show on the course or in the beautiful clubhouse. The greens were fast and true and proved challenging. It was no surprise that only 1 player managed a score in the 30s. Trailing in 2nd & 3rd places with 29 points were Richard Sharpe and David Steel. Although David finished 3rd on countback, you can see the joy on his face on discovering that he was only to lose 1 shot rather than 2 had he finished 2nd !
The worthy winner of the April Cup by a margin of a mere 7 points was Jeff Wood. The highlight of his round was a birdie 3 at the 3rd hole. He hit his second shot through the trees, over the bridge & water to a few feet from the hole. He then knocked the putt in for 5 points. Fortunately, as you can see, his approach onto the green was captured by our on course photographer. The winner of the "Last Leg" was Graham Shennan with 15 points. This award was greeted with much relief by several players who thought that they would be the one taking the spoon home.
Our nearest the pin prizes were won by Paul Jones at the par 3 4th hole, David Steel at the 8th in 2 shots and Hanif Patel in 3 at the par 5 12th hole. Hanif started his round as a guest but finished the day with his first prize as our newest member. The good work of our Finesmaster David, together with generous donations from non-attendees, raised an additional £180 for this year's charity - Primrose Cars.
Thanks to all. Next month sees our annual visit to St Neots GC on Thursday 21st May. The entry form on our website is now open for business. We look forward to seeing you at your next event.
We're having a BBQ to raise money for Marie Curie in memory of Margaret. As it says on the flyer ... open garden from 2.00pm. Bring your own drinks/chairs or blankets. Food will be prepared by Martin Jr so will be up to his usual excellent standard. Normal BBQ Fare but I'm sure he'll add in his spacial ribs, brisket etc. All food is being funded by an anonymous benefactor so 100% of the monies raised will go to the charity.
Please use the top QR code to let us know if you can attend. The second code takes you to the donation page.
The LEGS golfing season 2026 started on 26th March at South Beds. The course was in excellent condition with firm fairways, an absence of mud and true, fast greens. Less welcome was the weather. March lived up to it’s reputation of coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion. Our Captain Oates led an intrepid group of 17 LEGS member out for a short walk and we were certainly some time. During the game we all had to battle the weather as well as the course. This meant being challenged by almost every climatic variation including cold air, 40+ mph winds, showers, hail, as well as a few patches of blue sky. The weather and winter rust were the excuses most used for the variation in the scores recorded. I think that all were relieved to return to the club house where the staff made us very welcome and served a hearty meal of steak pie to revive us.
Jeff Wood, last year’s trophy winner at this course celebrated his birthday on the 25th. The assembled throng offered him their warm congratulations on the day. He also managed to remain a trophy winner although he changed the trophy, returning home with the wooden spoon. One effect of the weather was that there were limited numbers of names on the nearest the pin prizes. The worthy winners were.
In third place, with 31 points, was Martin Lavansch. On second place, on countback, with 34 points was Pete Schofield. Our March winner was Paul Jones. Congratulations to him. Local knowledge must have been helpful. The winner’s trophy was presented to him by President Mike Webb who joined us for the meal.
The Captain’s Charity pot had had a great start with generous contributions from 3 absentee members. Pete Schofield acted as fines master for the day and emptied the pockets of the crowd and we raised a grand total of £278. An excellent result to round off an enjoyable day.
The next LEGS meeting is at Wellingborough GC on St George’s Day, 23rd April. .
The LEGS 2026 season started on Wednesday 18th February with a social evening of 10 Pin Bowling at the Eat’N Bowl in St Neots.
A select group of 12 members and spouses gathered for an evening where socializing and camaraderie was more important than the sporting competition. There was a variety of expertise on display including from our president who found that his expertise on indoor bowls did not automatically translate to 10 pin bowling. It was, however, a delight to see that his health has returned so he could join us for a full session.
We played 2 games on adjacent lanes so that all could see each other’s scores – even if they did not bear publication. In the first games there was a tie between Tom Inskip and Bob Broomhall. This game was obviously treated as a warmup by our resident professionals – team Simpson. John and Sue both found their ancient skills in the second game and triumphed over all competition. It was an education to all to see how the game should be played.
Congratulations to both of them.
Tom Inskip
Sign Up for Bedfordshire Sep 17th
Form submitted to the secretary.
If you can make it, look forward to seeing you. If not, hopefully next time!