Yet another Summer meeting completed (the 61st at Thorpeness) and as ever a terrific time was had by all. The weather was very kind to us, the hotel had improved a lot of the rooms with new showers which I for one was very happy about and there was some good golf played by numerous BEGS golfers.

Everyone arrived at various times on the Friday, excluding David Knights who was hacking his way through the longest day of golf where the challenge is to play four rounds of golf in a day in order to raise awareness & funds for a brilliant charity – Macmillan Cancer Support (should anyone be interested in making any contribution here is a link. Well done David. I believe they have already raised over £5k, maybe we can push this a shade higher?)

Some played 18 holes in a scorcher afternoon either for fun or as part of the Gold Cup and were taking copious notes regarding driving lines, wind direction, shot apex, clubhead speed and borrows on the greens. All very useful until the wind kept changing direction most of the w/e…….. On Saturday morning suitably fuelled with a full English, we set about the morning foursomes, which given the slow pace of the various member’s 4-balls in front was maybe optimistic (next year we will play 4-ball singles in the morning). The first group included the resplendent Nick Simmons with a strong “shout-out” for his Coral/Rose/Hot/Salmon pink ensemble and a decent swing to compliment it.  There were some competitive pairings and excellent golf played, notably from the all Essex crew of Neil Harper & Mark Stafford who won the foursomes with 35 points. Neil spent most of the w/e defending his handicap and the World Handicap System, having gone up a shade in recent months. No doubt WHS will be aware of his successful weekend and normal service will be resumed. Hot on their heels and with a creditable 33 points was Bob Childs & James Greenly and in joint 3rd place it was Chris Cox/Peter Hirons and Simon Cox/Andy Powell pairings with 30 points.

The foursomes were followed by a swift round of sandwiches, Sauvignon Blanc and a jog back to the course to start the afternoon singles games in order to finish in daylight! The Cox bruvs together with Andy & Bob led the way in style in their turbo charged buggies. The weather was patchy and some tricky wind directions ensued combined with sporadic light showers, which had most of us remembering various pieces of equipment were languishing in the car or hotel room. Nevertheless, in true Baltic style everyone fought the conditions and whilst scores were lower than usual, the cream rose to the top. With the conditions perfect for a controlled fade, Andy Powell romped home as the singles winner with an impressive 32, which is not bad for someone not far from 80 years old – congratulations to Andy. Our President Robert Gemmell was 2nd on 30 points and skipper Simon Cox one point behind in 3rd place on 29 points.

It was a bit of a rush for the late finishers to grab a shower and change into jacket & tie for the dinner, which was held in the main dining room and was excellent. There was plenty of time for everyone to chat about their rounds over some pints of various Adnams brews (beer, stout & cider) as well as Rioja & Sauvignon. The pairings for the Sunday Greensomes were picked by the traditional method of one player from the high singles scores together with a player from the low singles scores, some very interesting pairings emerged, but would the evening medication play havoc on good scoring? Sadly, the hotel now closes the snooker room and dart board at 11p.m., so there were no late night games held there, which likely saved some people a few quid in various wagers! One by one everyone retired with the last standing well into the early hours.

The next morning brought good weather and feverish activity as we all had to clear our rooms and check out. Nick “Down Under” Simmo was not playing the Greensomes as he was preparing for his return back to Australia (no doubt he didn’t want to breach his temporary release terms… and Kevin Coughlan had an injury which hampered his ability to comfortably swing, so the round started with the pairing of Hon Treasurer Coxie and Hon Sec Penders. The fight for first place was not much of a contest as President Robert Gemmell and Thorpeness stalwart James Greenly scored a very impressive 40 points and won by quite a few lengths over 2nd place team of Skipper Cox & rookie Luis Berea who scored 35 points and won on a count back due to their stonking 22 inward points, thereby consigning Neil Harper/Colin Lawrence and Peter Hirons/Antony Grenfell tied for 3rd also on 35 points. 

Once everyone had returned to the clubhouse, we had a roast in the private dining room together with the prize giving, beautifully conducted by Chris Cox. Other notable winners for Saturday’s rounds included, nearest the pin and longest drive (not on the same hole) was won by Bob Childs. The world-renowned longest drive in the ruff was won by Peter Hirons and nearest the pin in two shots was won by Madone and Ray Nicholls. For Sunday’s Greensomes, President Robert won both the nearest the pin and longest drive, whilst the Bryson de Shampoo award for longest drive in the ruff was won by Ray Nicholls. Nearest the pin in two was won by Knightsie & Andy.

Looking at the aggregate scores over the two days, the NW Spratt (best total by a player under 45) was awarded to Peter Hirons who managed 93 points (it would have been quite hard for him not to win as he was the only eligible player!). Neil Harper won the Graham Birch award for best total in the age bracket 45-60 and in the Veteran’s category (over 60), Andy Powell pipped James Greenly by one point with a total of 96 points thereby securing the Sexty Salver. Overall Viktor Ludorum was Neil Harper on 98 points, with Andy Powell a creditable 2nd place only two points behind and James Greenly in 3rd place with 95 points. It should also be mentioned that James Greenly was the closest to the pin on the Par 3 7th using a driver – majestic shot, which won him the coveted Nobby’s Nuts award! Bob Childs won the Bob Bird tankard, which again was presented by Jonathan Bird. After much deliberation, the final decision was for skipper Cox to decide on the recipient for the Noddy Collins award, which although still in the Duncan Brown household was “given” to Graham Baldey, which was well received by all and no doubt he will actually receive it just before next year’s Summer meeting.

Another cracking weekend of golf, so a huge thank you to Chris Cox for his impeccable organisation. Next year’s dates are 16/18 June 2023, anybody interested in registering should contact Chris Cox. Thanks to all the players, some coming from a long distance (shout out for Down Under Simmo who won the longest distance travelled to the Summer Meeting with 18,326,880 yards, which won him a Baltic eye mask & ear plugs and a bag of Murray mints for the flight home).