2017: Christmas Present Day (20.12.)

Yuletide Greetings from Mr. and Mrs. President and Mr. and Mrs. Captain

Wednesday's golf and post-match festivities appear to have gone off very well, judging by the full-throated, enthusiastic singing which brought lunchtime to a close. It was lovely to see such a good crowd of international golf enthusiasts and their friends playing, then eating, drinking and toasting each other with best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

The three 3ball teams and the five 4ball teams went ahead promptly in the Texas Scramble competition which occupied our morning. Results in full below. This was followed by a Christmas lunch at the clubhouse after the prizes had been awarded and our mutual presents exchanged. Sandra is to be called upon to teach the kitchen staff how to make a proper Christmas pudding since, although they had had the best of intentions, what turned up on some dessert plates was below expectations, to say the least.  Better luck, or better training, next time.

Nevertheless, nothing could dampen the jollity of the carols and the general good feeling which prevailed as we left for the car park, with We Wish You a Merry Christmas still ringing in our ears.

Allow me simply to echo this with my good wishes to you all for the festive season and for a happy, healthy and golfingly-successful New Year.

Gordon

Texas Scramble Results

Nearest the pins:
Hole 4:   John Brook
Hole 8:   Roger Hunger
Hole 11: Michael Davison
Hole 14: Eddy Fagg

Birdie 2: Eddy Fagg on Hole 14

3ball teams:
Runners-up: 69,3 net score -  Richard Davis, Graham Sutton and John Brook
Winners:     67,5 net score -  Eric Pages, Stan and Christiane Tarabula 

4ball teams:
3rd place: 65,5    Roger Hunger, Chris van Bemmelen, Luc Verhaegen and Marie-Jo Lesot
2nd place: 64,3   Greta Biersteker, Santi Hung, Eddy Fagg and Keith Preston
Winners:  61,8    Erik Paesmans, Edi Rogers, Jan Boultbee and Gordon Burton

2017: Team Game (25.1.)

The Winning Team

Venue: Bonalba Golf & Spa, 25 January 2017

Today we played our last competition under the Captaincy of Jan Boultbee.  We had a full house of 40 members and 4 guests and the format was a Team Game where the best two Stableford scores on the front 9 and the best three scores on the back 9 counted.  In addition, there was prize for the best indiviudal Stableford score.  Luckily, the weather had improved from last week.  It was still quite cold when we started our round but the sun soon turned it into a pleasant day for golf.

We were able to tee off from both, the first and tenth tee which reduced the waiting time not only for the prize giving but also for our AGM which followed thereafter.  It was good to see that our members made a special effort to stay behind after golf and we welcomed members who came especially to attend the AGM.  Looking out to the terrace of the Club House, everyone seemed to enjoy a drink and a chat with their friends in the warm winter sun whilst waiting for the proceedings to start.
The par for today’s team event was 90 points which was achieved easily by the winning teams.  They came in with scores well above that.  Also there were some excellent individual scores. Edi leading the way with 41 points, followed by Les Wilkinson with 38 points and Kate Hurley with 37 points.  Although this was a non-qualifer for handicap purposes, the Captain suggested that some players might want to have their card considered for a handicap adjustment.

The final task for Captain Jan will be the Presentation of the Yearly Prizes which will take place on Saturday, 28 January at 7.30 pm at the Hotel Bonalba.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Jan, for all your time and efforts you have given us to organise our weekly competitions, at home and away, a wonderful Captain’s Day and Dinner and not to forget, the very enjoyable Away-Trip to the Mar Menor. It was all very much appreciated.

Summarising the results:

Individual Stableford winner:  Edi Rogers with 41 points off 16 hcp

Nearest the pin:

Hole 4      Pascale Leroux
Hole 8      Martine Bernois
Hole 11    John Garnett
Hole 14    Rudy Krimmel

There were no twos awarded today.

The main competition results were as follows:

3^rd place with 98 points – Helmut Treiber, Graham Sutton, Kate Hurley, Moe Farouky
2^nd place with 101 points – John Garnett, Angel Centenera, Rudy Krimmel, Gordon Burton
1^st place with 102 points  – Michael Davison, Maureen Fanti, Brian Wakely, Les Wilkinson

2016: Texas Scramble (14.12.)

Venue: Bonalba Golf & Spa, 14 December 2016

Christmas is approaching fast and the Christmas spirit had also reached our Society as members arrived this morning each bringing a present with them which went into the pool and raffled later.

We were 34 players and the competition was a Texas Scramble with each team member having to complete 4 drives, so tactics of how to utilize each players drive played an important part. It was an enjoyable game of golf and the pleasant weather also played its part.  As there were last minute cancellations, two teams found themselves with only three players.  In true Christmas spirit, the Captain decided to award a prize for the best 3-ball team. The results of these were very close indeed but congratulations to JC, James and Pierre for coming first.

The results of the first three 4-ball teams were not quite as close and the winning team came in with an excellent score. Well played Bob, Stan, Chris and Santi! The fourth team with Roger, Edi, Dave and Doris narrowly missed out on the prizes by 0.2 points.

After the prize giving and the Christmas present raffle, we proceeded to the Bonalba Hotel for a very enjoyable Christmas Party Lunch finishing with renditions of various Christmas songs.  (See photos in the Gallery)

 

Many thanks go to our Captain for all her hard work in arranging this very enjoyable “Christmas Present Day”.

Summarising the results:

Nearest the pin:
Hole 4      Pascale Leroux
Hole 8      Santi Hung
Hole 11    Eddie Fagg
Hole 14    Brian Wakely

No twos were awarded as it was a team game.

The main competition results were as follows:

Winner of the 3-ball team: John Coubrough, James Burnet, Pierre Lesot
3^rd place with a net 63.3 – Eddie Fagg, Jan van Spellen, Peter Corbett, Neville Woodfine
2^nd place with a net 61.8 – Richard Davis, Graham Sutton, Brian Hines, Christiane Tarabula
1^st place with a net 60.9 – Bob Crow, Stan Tarabula, Chris van Bemmelen, Santi Hung

2016: Team Game (23.11.) CANCELLED

TODAY 23rd NOVEMBER was CANCELLED
Rain stopped play for most of us. However, a few very hardy members ventured out in the pouring rain to play only a few holes. They soon returned to the clubhouse to take a well deserved drink or two.
Chris Van Bemmelen and Jim Hurley played their CBGS singles match quarter final. It was very close. They had to play 4 extra holes to get a result, still in the pouring rain. Well played both players. Chris eventually came out the winner but only after being 3 down and Jim hitting the flag on the last hole.
Next week, 30th November, Gordon is in charge. It is an individual stableford and he will take down the entry sheet as usual on Friday so please make sure that you have signed up before then and please contact Gordon if you have any golf queries.
I will see you all again on the 7th December for the CBGS monthly medal. Meanwhile John and I are going to England to get away from all this cloud and rain!

Thank you Jan

2016: Team Game (21.9.)

Texas Scramble

Jan arranges the bottles, Peter thinks he's got one - and he's right!

On another gloriously sunny day and a day when there was no pressure on guarding one's handicap, 34 members and 5 guests set out on a Texas Scramble. All teams comprised 4 players, except that on the day one member unfortunately called in sick and had to withdraw - so get well soon, Ricky. 

Each team had to have a range of handicaps amongst its players, and their combined handicap rating would be deducted from their total gross score. Jan had therefore to work hard to achieve a good and fair balance across the groups - no easy task, so well done captain.

Decision-making can be tricky in this format - whose drive shall we take, bearing in mind each player has to provide a minimum of four? which ball has the better lie? can someone reach the green from here? is this a good time to try for the birdie?...  Because there are plenty of chances to improve on shots at each stroke, not to mention possibly four attempted putts on every green, final scores are expected to be quite low. And so it proved today.

Members of the top three teams clutching their bottles

A look at the results will show how the top 5 teams (and probably others) all returned net scores well below par, and all their team members can be proud of these performances. It was suggested that Ninolito, who played off a handicap of 1, gave his team the clinching advantage;  your correspondent, however, would beg to suggest that others in the team made some very timely contributions as well.😀

Bottles of cava (see photo) rewarded the top three teams, and more wine bottles were awarded as usual to those who got nearest to the flags with their tee-shots on the par 3s.

Here are the full results:

Nearest the pins:

Hole 4     Chris van Bemmelen

Hole 8     Luc Verhaegen

Hole 11   John Garnett

Hole 14   Greta Biersteker

Team Prizes:

5th place,    net score 64,7     

     John Garnett, Angel Centenara, Ann Brook and David Payne

4th place,    net score 64,2      

     Greta Biersteker, Chris v Bemmelen and Jim Reid

3rd place,    net score 62,1     

     Richard Davis, James Burnet, Santi Hung and Luc Verhaegen

2nd place,   net score 62,0    

     Nino Andres Alores, Peter van der Mee, Edi Rogers and John Brook

1st place,   net score 59,8,     

     Ninolito,  Stan Tarabula,  Les Wilkinson  and Gordon Burton

2016: Texas Scramble (20.7.)

The Winning Teams

Venue: Bonalba Golf & Spa, 20th July 2016

 

This was the last stint organised by the surrogate Captain Doris as Jan is returning from the UK and is resuming her Captaincy next Wednesday, 27 July.  So please remember to address any tee-time requests to her after today.  Gordon, our Vice-Captain has also returned from his holidays in Canada, so he is back to organising the Monday games.

Our competition today was a Texas Scramble.  Because of attendance numbers, we had three- and four-ball teams and consequently had one prize for each team format. Each player had to make 3 drives or 4 drives respectively.  The playing handicap for the 4-ball team was 10% of their combined handicaps and 15% for the 3-ball team.  The winners of the 3-ball team where nearly 10 shots ahead of the second place. The difference between winner and second place of the 4-ball teams was much closer.  There was only 0.1 dividing first and second place to the disappointment of Eddie, Graham, Pierre and Doris and the delight of Jeff, John and the family Leroux.  Congratulations to both winning teams.

As usual there were 4 prizes for nearest the pin but holes 4 and 14 were reserved for the higher handicap players only.  Unfortunately, neither of these two holes could be allocated as on hole 14 nobody reached the green and on hole 4 somebody did reach the green but was not eligible!  So these two prizes were raffled off along with our weekly raffle.

Before prize giving, the Vice-Captain directed some kind words of thanks to Brian and Doris who were holding the fort on Mondays and Wednesdays and presented them each with a bottle of wine. Thank you Gordon, your gesture was very much appreciated.

Summarising the results:

Nearest the pin:

Hole 4      (hcp 22+ only)        nobody
Hole 8      (all players)            Pierre Lesot
Hole 11    (all players)            Elwyn Price
Hole 14    (hcp 21+ only)        nobody

There were 2 two today. They came from Graham on hole 4 and Nino on hole 11. They both received the customary golf ball.

The Texas Scramble winners were as follows:

3-ball:  Michael Davison, Elwyn Price, Jim Reid with a net 62.6
4-ball:  Jeff Murten, John King, Jean-Paul and Pascale Leroux with a net 63.2

2016: Team Game (20.4.)

1st, 2nd and 3rd

Venue: Bonalba Golf & Spa, 20^th April 2016

We had a full house of 35 members and 4 guests for today’s Team Game which consisted of the best two Stableford scores on the front 9 and the best three scores on the back 9 and, in addition, there was a prize for the best overall Individual Stableford score. 

 

The other players were not quite sure what to make of the all-girls team as  they had decided to add a touch of glamour to the proceedings and turned up wearing very colourful wigs which gave rise to comments of “The Spice Girls are back” and not so favourable “The Witches of Bonalba”.  Having said that, the girls had something to prove and so they did, by being in the prizes and securing runner-up position.
At the prize giving they somewhat stole the show to the detriment of the actual winners Richard, Chris, Peter and Neville who came in with a magnificent score of two under par. Very well done!  They tried to pinch the girls’ wigs for the winners’ photograph.  Hey guys, get your own!
Special  congratulations go to Jan, our Captain and one of the “witches”, who secured the individual Stableford prize with an impressive score.

Before today's prize giving, the Captain took the opportunity to remind everyone that next week will be “President’s Day” and the prize giving for this will take place at the Presidents Dinner on Friday, 29^th April.

We were happy to welcome our new members Eddie Fagg and Klaudia Martinez and are saying good-bye to Jan van Spellen and his wife Thea who are returning to The Netherlands for the summer season.

Summarising the results:

Nearest the pin:

Hole 4             Edi Rogers
Hole 8             Roger Hunger (back to back from last week)
Hole 11           Michael Davison
Hole 14           John Garnett

There were two twos today from John Garnett and Chris van Bemmelen, both on hole 14.  They receive the customary golf ball.

Individual Stableford: Jan Boultbee with 37 points off 20 hcp

     

The team competition results were as follows:

3^rd place with 95 points – Roger Hunger, Jan van Spellen, Pascale Leroux, Eddie Fagg
2^nd place with 96 points – Greta Biersteker, Jan Boultbee, Doris Shearman-Earp, Thea van Spellen (guest)
1^st place with 102 points – Richard Davis, Chris van Bemmelen, Peter Corbett, Neville Woodfine

2016: Team Game (27.1.)

Venue: Bonalba Golf & Spa, 27th January 2016

This Wednesday was the last competition our Captain Angel Centenera had to organise, before the AGM which took place after today’s prizegiving.  Again we had a full house with 40 players.  We played a team game where the three best results counted.  In addition, our Captain also sponsored the best individual scores for ladies, men and guests. Again, the weather was amazingly good. This January is turning out to having  the mildest weather for many years.  Special thanks go to the two flights of players who agreed to go out very early in the morning as we were oversubscribed and had to squeeze in two extra tee-times on an already full course and who then had a long wait to attend the AGM.

The final task for Angel will be the Presentation of the Yearly Prizes which will take place on Saturday, 30 January at the La Cova Restaurant.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, Angel, for all your time and efforts you put into organising our weekly competitions and not to forget, a very enjoyable away-trip to Aguilas. It was very much appreciated.

Summarising the results as follows:

Best individual lady: Gay Brooks with 33 points, she beat Greta Biersteker on the back 9.

Best individual man: Ricky Nelson 2 with an excellent score of 39 points.
Best guests from 4: Francois with 36 points

Nearest the pin:

Hole 4             Sandra Woodfine
Hole 8             Greta Biersteker
Hole 11           Gay Brooks
Hole 14           Michael Davison
                   
There were no twos today.

As for the main competition results:

2^nd place with 111 points, Greta Biersteker, Stephen Grey, Doris Shearman-Earp, John Brooks
1^st place with 114 points, Kate Hurley, Ricky Nelson, Luc Verhaegen, Francois (guest)