Unfortunately, a sudden back muscle tweak proved too severe for your captain to take part in our last golf event of the season. However, local knowledge from B & C members Mike, Ivor and Tom directed me to the half way house at the 5th /11th where I was able to witness some of the play.

With a pessimistic forecast threatening to break our good run of fine weather, 14 players tee'd off in sunshine.  Photographs taken at the first showed a happy bunch (but a few unorthodox swings!)

By the time our four groups reached the 11th (the longest drive hole) the heavens were beginning to open - Andy hit a wonderful drive, miles up the fairway, but as he reached the ball his team were hit by hailstones and a vicious gale that turned brollies inside out! The three following groups, wisely, sheltered in the half way hut until the storm had passed. Needless to say, when they all reached the final hole... the sun was shining!

Despite the weather, some good golf was played, . past Captain, Andy coming out top with 38 points and Tom, runner up on 35

Richard's guest, Bob Bramhall, won the guest prize for the first, and last, time as he was so impressed with LEGS that he promptly paid over subs for next year - welcome to our newest member!

Only two players vied for the Nearest the Pin on the 5th .......  Mike Stockford just bettered Andy.

By not playing, your Captain happily relinquished the TIT to Richard, who now has the dubious pleasure of keeping it well rubbed through the dark nights of winter

We were treated to a wonderful buffet meal which was, probably, the best of the season, with plenty of "seconds"

During the AGM the Calvados Cup was presented to Howard as recognition of his 11 years as our Treasurer and Mike Webb (Mr Consistent) took the Player of the Year award

As retiring Captain, may I thank you all for your help and support that made my year so memorable, and for the magnificent £2252 raised in fines for my Captain's Charity, Help for Heroes.

Welcome to our new Captain, Andrew and Secretary, Colin Oates - I am really looking forward to next year

Have a very Merry Christmas

Ian

Yet another LEGS outing with perfect golfing weather - let's hope we can keep the sequence through to next month at B & C  (maybe that's tempting fate a bit too much?)

22 players were entertained handsomely at PP - the course was in first class condition, greens quite fast, but true, and the wandering ditch seemed to be present on every hole. This led to some excellent (and some not so excellent) golf.

Stuart, who is going through a big purple patch at the moment, carded a brilliant 39 points - this was after he confessed to our Secretary that he should be playing off 20, not the 24 he had been given. Nevertheless, he has been cut another 3 shots for B & C.

Paul Davy was runner up - well, he should know the course by now - playing his usual low handicap golf

Longest drive went to Craig, and Andy, once again, took Nearest the Pin

Alas, your Captain played very inconsistent golf and qualified to take home the TIT (it now has a permanent place on my mantelpiece) - however, as I was TIT guardian last month, it passed down the line to Andrew, who was not terribly amused.

The new LEGS polo shirts were available and did a roaring trade at £20 each (available in 3 colours). The quality is excellent and a big thank you to both Andy and Andrew for design and procurement.

Regular fines master, Alan Horn did his magic and extracted over £300 for Captain's charity .....  sometimes I think this is the best time of the day!

After a golfer's meal of proper sausages and mash, followed by very filling fruit crumble the general consensus was that we had been looked after well and would like to return to Porters Park again next year

Andrew reminded us that there will be no fines at our AGM meeting next month, but all attending should bring an envelope containing a crisp £10 note (or two plastic fivers)  to start your new Captain's charity.

Also, please remember to bring a wrapped present worth approx. £10 for the secret Santa

I cannot complete this report without mentioning that LEGS was represented by Mike, Tom, Ray, Paul and me at Bob Davy's Captains Drive in at Potters Bar on Sunday - we had a super day and, once the fog lifted, some reasonably good golf. Bob dressed for the part (I am not sure if he wanted to be John Daly as he tried to hit the ball out of sight) you will see what I mean when you see the pictures!

See you on the 17th

Another great day out with the weather being kind to us

Despite a slightly damp start, the sun fought its way through the clouds giving us ideal golfing conditions on a fine course, in excellent condition.

The tricky greens kept scores in check, with only one member, Bernard Henry (36 points) , playing to handicap and walking away with this month's cup, presented by Club Member, Mike Stockford ...... Mike's local knowledge gave him the runner up spot with 32 points. Guest prize went to Tony Bird with a creditable 31 points

Longest Drive went to David Steel, who managed to keep his Ball on the fairway ...... both Tom Inskip and Ron Knox hit their balls a little further but suffered from the left to right slope and just edged into the rough stuff Consolation came to Ron who claimed the Nearest the Pin prize

Needless to say there was little competition for the TIT (or TOT as David preferred to call it) and, once again, it returned home with your captain (do you keep it if you win it three times?)

In the absence of regular fines masters, Andrew and Alan, Colin Oates took up the challenge and extracted over £130 for the charity .... thank you all.

There was enthusiastic discussion on venues for next year, with strong support for returning to both Letchworth and South Beds .... food for thought for next year's captain and secretary - the aim will be to have a mixture of value and premier courses so that we can keep a standard fee for all events.

The design of the proposed new shirts was approved - Andrew, we should firm up on this at the next meeting so they will be available for next season

The next meeting will be at Porters Park on the 27th October - we had a disappointing turn out for this excellent course last year, so I would ask you all to make an effort to boost the numbers this time - I know you will enjoy it

Another wonderful day .... the weather gods are certainly shining down on us this year (maybe this is tempting fate?)

Anyway, first things first - as reported above our LEGS Team of Jeff, Mike and Henry did us proud coming in second at E. Herts. Well done!!

I have to admit that Knebworth is one of my favourite courses and it did not let us down again this year. The course was in excellent condition resulting in some good scores (even your captain managed to scramble 29 points (playing off a very unfair 22)

Nick's winning score of 36, playing off 24, confirmed his "bandit" status and has been duly cut 3 shots to 21. Colin, playing off a very respectable 10 came in with 33 points so he, too, suffers a one shot cut to 9 for our next outing. Poor Jeff - winner of the TIT - can rejoice in a one shot handicap increase to 25.

I was delighted when the TIT was presented to Jeff as it meant that I would not be taking it home again this time .... only to be told by Jeff that he will not be with us next time and "would you like to look after it " ........ I fear that the TIT is destined to follow me forever!

Andy obviously has no shame as he took the Nearest the Pin prize and Ray scooped the Longest Drive on walk back

Guest Rob Sifton shamed us all with a great 37 ..... as he won the guest prize when last with us he insisted that his bottle of wine be auctioned and proceeds given to the Captain's Charity ......... Rob should be a member!

We now come to the Fines......

Our Secretary, Andrew doubled up as fines master and,  of course, our Past Captain,  Andy felt the heat having missed E.Herts..... He was fined, and cross fined, mercilessly  ..... Andrew has had plenty of practice honing his fiendish skills in this area on your current captain

Fines and donations totalled £316 ......... Brilliant!

A special word for Knebworth for the quality of the food, (they do the best fish and chips), the attitude of the staff and their kindness in not charging for Colin Barrett meant that we felt a tip of £20.00 was well deserved.

Next official outing will be at the Bedfordshire on the 22nd Sept- it was in great condition a couple of weeks ago - and we now have two LEGS teams entered into Pippa's Help for Heroes Day on the 8th .......  thank you, Paul for helping to make up the numbers

Another great day at E. Herts. - it really is a very nice course!

Unfortunately, our past captain, Andy, got the day wrong and was not with us. Your current captain is mightily relieved that someone else has memory loss and will be the subject of much derision and heavy fines at our next outing!

It was hot, very hot, when we finally got underway. The heat and humidity certainly took its toll on the walkers and those enjoying some relief in buggies, but it was exacerbated by some slow play, leading to rounds of nearly 5 hours! Please endeavour to keep up with the group in front, or let the following group through if you fall behind.

Despite the heat, our winner, Mike Webb, once again, rose to the occasion with a good round, scoring 33 points.... proving that he is still managing to control his backswing and is now looking forward to a further cut of two shots.

Another two shot cut was earned by runner-up, Alan after coming in with 31 points .... he never fails to surprise.

A great longest drive by David Steel secured another bottle of fine wine, but the nearest the pin went begging as no-one managed to stay on (or reach) the green - the prize bottle was added to the auction and raised a further £20

Charles Lacey, who was with David, won the guest prize.

Your captain was delighted when it emerged that he had just scraped past old rival, Bob Davy and did not have to take the TIT home; only to discover that Bob will not be with us at Knebworth, so he now has the pleasure of looking after it until then. (I am not sure that Pippa believed me when I tried to explain that I had not, actually, won it this time)

A change in fines master brought some fresh banter, and some interesting penalties, with Colin extracting some £201 for H4H, the Captain's Charity - well done and thank you all!

See you on the 18th

Despite a rather pessimistic weather forecast promising heavy rain and thunder during the afternoon, we all enjoyed perfect golfing conditions, warm, slightly overcast, little wind and DRY. Ray must have had a direct line to the gods, as the last time we played PB it chucked it down!

Sixteen members, including newly joined, Mike Lennox, took part. Mike was a guest last month at JOG which highlights the importance of introducing like-minded golfers to our society.

As usual the course was in excellent condition, but the slow greens took time to understand, resulting in a few puts left short (and one or two fines for inappropriate comments).

Ron had a good day with 35 points, playing off 18. He has, obviously, recovered from his buggy accident and broken shoulder at the end of last year – he does, however have to suffer being cut 3 shots for our next outing at E. Herts (or is it Knebworth?)

Runner up was…. Guess who? …… Paul Davy also with 35, but playing off his 2 handicap …. How does he keep doing it?

Nearest the pin prize was taken by Paul Ralph who we do not see often enough at our outings

Mike Webb took the Longest Drive bottle, on Walk Back – both Paul Davy and Ron out drove him, but rules of LEGS do not permit more than one prize per outing (it was a good drive, Mike - he eventually managed to control his backswing!

Both your captain and Bob Davy were relieved that the TIT changed hands to a devastated Mike Stockford who achieved a miserly 15 points – Mike claims his concentration was ruined by the constant noise of passing trains……. This was the first time in nearly 20 years that he has taken it home ....... everything come to he who waits.

Two bottles of wine were auctioned, raising £12 each and Alan’s devious talents, as Fines Master, extracted a further £160, another £25 cross fine from absent Andy brought the contribution to H4H captain’s charity to over £200 - thank you.

Looking forward to seeing you all at E. Herts (I checked it).

Once again we were blessed with good weather – ideal for golf, slight cloud and just a little wind. The Carthagena was in excellent condition but the greens were fast and tricky which accounted for not one of our members playing to their handicaps. Guest, Rob Sifton showed us how it is done with a fine 37 points

Winner, Martin came in with a good 34 points (playing off 22) so suffers from being cut 3 shots at Potters Bar. Andy had a very creditable 33 …. playing off 9 - Andy is always so consistent.

Using Captain’s prerogative, we did not have a “longest drive” this time (I expected Paul to win, yet again, but he confounded the issue by not playing) and substituted “nearest the pin in 2” at the 14th, -another guest, Mike Lennox took the prize…. he is a JOG member so had local knowledge, but has promised to join our LEGS group as penance!

“Nearest the pin” was won by guest Mike Henderson who I usually play with in our JOG Monday group…. this time, I’m pleased to say, it didn’t cost me any money.

Your captain surrendered the TIT to Bob Davey …… this is becoming so regular that I am going to suggest that we just share it in future.

While munching our bacon butties, our Secretary, Andrew made the rounds, furtively asking members to pick a number – this was used for the secret pairings for the annual Boddington Cup, which was won by Andrew himself and partner Andy, with a joint total of 63 points.

I had the pleasure of playing with Mike and his guest, Bernard Henry. Bernard, obviously, enjoyed himself so much that Mike has signed him up as a new member and will be with us again in July. Well done Mike!

That just about sums up the day, except for me to thank you all for your excellent support for Captains Day – I understand that it was one of our biggest turnouts and the £300 raised in fines for this year’s charity, H4H, was a record (great job Andrew and Alan) Brilliant! Brilliant!

I had a great day – I even hit one or two good shots!

Thank you, again

Despite many wagers to the contrary, your captain got it right this time and managed to arrive at Whipsnade before all others - Mike expressed his surprise and even suggested that I had turned up on the Wednesday, and stayed overnight just to be sure!

We were blessed with the weather, although it was a little cold (and windy) at times but the course played well and we had an enjoyable day

Once again, we were all outgunned by Paul who scooped the day with 32 points, with Mike as a more than worthy runner up on 30. Paul also had the longest drive, but the prize, was given to Colin on walk back. Paul was the only player to be on the green for nearest the pin so his prize bottle was donated to the charity auction.

I believe that only leaves "the Tit" .... the winner is holding his head in shame as he writes this report!

Andrew showed off his auctioneering skills by raising bids totalling £55 for the three bottles and our renowned fines master, Alan, once again came up trumps, extracting some £211 for H4H - this included £20 kindly donated by Andy who, unfortunately, had to withdraw to sort out some IT problems.

Next month will be Captain's Day at John O'Gaunt where we will be playing 3 balls on the Carthagena Course - if you have not played the course before you should enjoy some of its challenges - hopefully, we will have some members with us to help with advice on some of the trickier holes.

On a good note, it was pleasing to hear from Howard that he came through his examination (medical, not academic) with flying colours and will be with us at JOG..... double good news as he tells me that Pat has also had the all clear on her tests!

See you on the 19th May.

Your captain was obliged to grovel to the assembled members who arrived, as scheduled, to play our first outing at Pavenham

Regrettably, it has become an inexcusable and shameful habit that I have now managed to screw up the playing dates, at least once, during each of the last 3 seasons! I will quickly pass over my only excuse that I had originally booked for us to play on the 24th and had not registered that the date had been changed - needless to say that I was mercilessly fined an outrageous amount of money for my sins!

I have checked the Website and am confident that I now have all the correct dates, and venues, in my 3 diaries, for the rest of the year (However, I may ask our Honourable Secretary to phone to remind me ..... just in case)

Pavenham treated us very well as a Society and was a good place to start the year off in what can be a difficult time of year condition wise for many clubs in the area but we were blessed with wonderful weather and the course was in good condition for the time of year and had dried out well since February.

We unfortunately did not have any guests at this game, but 15 members had originally asked to play although Ron Knox had to drop out the day before due to Jury Service and one member did not make it on the day. So 13 members actually Teed off including a not so well Henry so was just recovering from sickness. The weather obviously agreed with many members as some very good scores were submitted even for some members who started off over coffee setting the scene by saying they had not picked up a golf club since November!

Following the round we enjoyed an excellent meal which really filled up anyone who was feeling at all hungry. The three bottles of wine that Pavenham had kindly donated to us as part of our package were auctioned

Prize winners were as follows:

Our newest Fines Master, Mr Pohler did a fantastic job of relieving those present form the hard earned cash and this together with generous donations from Craig (for forgetting to return the Tit on time) Henry, David Steel and Howard plus the amount raised from the wine and champagne auction, meant that a magnificent sum of £216 was added to the Charity.

Our next outing is on April 21st at Whipsnade and invite is open on the website now. Please do come along and try to bring a friend or guest if you have any!