Dave Gallimore - Past Captain's charity success

Thanks to the support and the generosity of our members, I am delighted to inform you that a total of £5,750 was raised for The Captain's Charity during my year in office. The monies will be split between two worthwhile causes that I know many members have a close affinity to. I am proud to announce that Leek Golf Club have been able to provide a specifically designed motorised wheelchair which will be presented to a young man at Horton Lodge Special School in the near future. I am also very pleased to have been able to assist Past Captain Tony Brindley and his wonderful family in raising a substantial amount of money for the Ronald McDonald Charity House in Birmingham. As many of you will know his Grandson Harry was born with a serious heart defect and even though he is still only 2 years old he has had to undergo many difficult operations in his short life. If any of you do get the opportunity to meet Harry, I am sure that, when you see his smile light up the room, you will agree with me that we are very fortunate to be in a position where we can make a donation to the professionals who have made it possible.

It would be very remiss of me if I didn't acknowledge the efforts and expertise of my Captain's Charity organiser Ivor Povey. I maintain that my decision to ask Ivor to assist me with the fundraising during 2014 was one of the best and most rewarding decisions that I made. He works tirelessly on behalf of Leek Golf Club and every year he tries to raise more for worthwhile causes than the previous year. I will be forever grateful to Ivor and his lovely wife Margaret for everything they did last year for The Captain's Charity. I also wish our Captain for 2015 Trevor Eccleston every success during his year in office.

Quiz Night

Thursday, 26 March saw the third quiz in the series of six held in the club house, again enthusiastically contested by those who competed. Some interesting team names were offered including "Filth", which raised the temperature of some collars each time it was announced! The eight categories ranged from Science, Pot Luck to Food & Drink and ran along-side three 'Booster' rounds, which included map locations, ordering groups and naming fish! A comment made by one competitor was "they're not battered so I can't recognise them!" Tension mounted as the final scores were being collated and the winners announced were 'Brackendale's best?' made up of Jen & Roy Williams and Barry & Gwen Turner, with 185 points. Closely following them, with 177 points, were 'Filth' whose members were Morag & Gareth Jones and Jane & Derek Fallows.

As previously, the winning team then went on to choose at random their Roll-over question worth (on this occasion) £150! Silence fell as Andrew Baxter (quiz master) read out:- 'Paul Cummins & Tom Piper designed the "Blood Swept Lands & Seas of Red" ceramic display at the Tower of London. Exactly how many poppies were created for this display?'

There was huge applause as the correct answer of 888,246 was given and the winning team were delighted (if not a little shocked) to receive the winning envelope containing £150. Generously, £50 was given to Lady Captain's Charity which, together with the raffle, earned over £67 for the Donna Louise Hospice, on the night. Thanks were expressed by the Lady Captain for all Andrew's hard work not only over the night but also for the two previous quizzes. Henow has a well-earned rest until Quiz 4 on Thursday, 17 September at 7pm. Thanks was also given to those who had supported the evening and if you've not yet been able to join us please make a note of the above date in the future, a really enjoyable night out for £8 per team of 4. Pictured below are the runner's up "filth", and also the Raffle winner Nick!

1st Team vs Wychwood away - Satruday, 28 March

We secured promotion last year from Division 1 to the Premier League which pits the 10 best players from each club in the league with NO shots given. In the first match of the season we were up against last year's Premier League champions Wychwood in their own back-yard and the team put on a great performance by winning the match 6-4 (a feat no team managed last year)

Results:
Ross Salmon & Rob Furmston - Lost 3&2
Ian Curley & Liam Hancock - Won 3&1
Dunc Stott & Dave Gallimore - Halved
Phil Davies & Chris Flavell - Won 1up
Gareth Salt & Warren Alcock - Halved

Leek Ladies vs Astbury away - Monday 30th March

On Monday LGC Ladies played a friendly match away at Astbury GC. Unfortunately, we were interrupted by the Air Ambulance circling overhead and were dismayed to find out that one of our own, Ursula (Smith), was the object of their search! It transpired that Ursula had fallen awkwardly in the muddy, wet conditions and now finds herself in Macclesfield hospital, facing an operation to repair a fractured right ankle. We all wish her well and a speedy recovery. So be warned, in these unfavourable playing conditions, it only takes a second for accidents to occur. The match resulted in a 2-1 win for Astbury, however grateful thanks go to all players for their participation.

Lady Captain - Jayne Baxter

The Winter Cup - 2014-15

The Winter Cup competition has just completed its 28th season. It is a very sociable league that takes place every Saturday between the beginning of October and the end of March. It is an individual Stableford competition with results based on the average of the best 10 scores from the 26 possible starts. The members now have their own handicapping system that adjusts handicaps each week. There are currently 18 members and partners for the day are drawn out of the hat just before 10am on Saturday morning. Therefore, over the course of the season, everyone probably gets to play with all the other members. As I said it's very sociable.

As an added bonus the last Saturday of each month is Prize Day (known locally as 'bottle day' - so you can guess what we play for!). The top four on the day win a bottle ranging from a litre of spirits to a bottle of wine. However there's a sting in the tail because winners are severely handicapped for subsequent prize days. This ensures that the prizes are shared around amongst most of the members.

The competition for 2014-15 ended on 28 March. It has been a very competitive season. New members over the last two years have brought some extra competitiveness. Over the course of the 26 weeks several different people were in the lead and up to the last weekend any one of half a dozen players could have won. Club Captain Trevor Eccleston had a Jekyll and Hyde season with 3 scores of 40 points or more and 7 scores in the 20's. Nevertheless the average of his 10 best scores was 36.8 which was good enough to win the competition. David Smith was in 2nd place with 36.4 having just pipped Graham Cook on the final day who was 3rd with the same score. On the evening of the 28th the members were joined by their wives and some 'Honorary Members' for the annual 'Awards Dinner' in the Clubhouse. A fitting end to a thoroughly enjoyable Winter Cup season.