Thirty-two intrepid explorers met early one September morning at a frantic Gatwick airport.  By lunchtime, they were basking in the warm Greek sunshine and gazing on the azure Ionian Sea as it gently washed the beaches of Navarino Bay.

What a fabulous hotel we arrived in.  We all imagined that we had been upgraded.  The rooms were spacious and magnificently equipped.  The staff were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.  We were ready for welcome drinks and the Welcome Dinner.  The food choices were astonishing.

The next day we nursed our sore heads and prepared for golf.  There are two courses at Costa Navarino.  We started on The Dunes which simulate a UK links course with mounds and treacherous hollows and undulating fast greens.  The second course is The Bay course with stunning and breathtaking views over Navarino Bay.  No wonder our scores were low!

Our games were team events with indecipherable rules resulting in resounding successes for the female participants.  They do get generous yardage advantages on European courses.  On the final day, The Massacre of the Innocents, the Ladies were victorious in the match-play event too.  Congratulations were uttered through gritted teeth.  And so on to the prize giving evening.  The much coveted Spoons of Nike and Zeus were awarded to Sue Devine (Nike, the Goddess of Victory) for playing brilliantly and Pete Carpenter (Zeus, the god known for being lucky with his partners).

We all enjoyed the excellent food at the hotel’s eight restaurants and the wine deal of £13 for two hours of unlimited consumption.  This enabled us to forget our inadequate golfing efforts of that day.   But we were ecstatic when we found the restaurants at the local village that enable us to watch stunning sunsets over the bay whilst we drank and laughed our evenings away.  Trips were also made to local places of interest and guided tours at the hotel were excellent and informative.

All in all, it was a fabulous trip.  We all agreed we should repeat our joyous experiences sooner rather than later before property development and popularity will spoil the fabulous feel that it now has.  Well done everyone, you were a great friendly group that enjoyed it all.  It was a pleasure to be with you.

Giles Hinchcliffe

The GSGB September Meeting straddled the county lines of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire when we visited Moor Park, playing the High Course on day one, and Beaconsfield on day two. Moor Park has a long association with the Society going back almost 60 years and as well as providing two fine courses, it has one of the grandest and most impressive clubhouses in world golf.

Day two took us to Beaconsfield GC, a new venue for GSGB and one that will almost certainly be used again in future years. Beaconsfield also has a wonderful old clubhouse and a golf course to match with a recent bunker renovation elevating its status even further.

Fifty-one members played over the two days and although there was a little rain at Moor Park it was wall to wall sunshine the following day to round off another enjoyable season for the Society.

After Dinner we were joined by the current Moor Park Captain John Phillips and his wife Tricia. John spoke of the club's excellent junior programme before GSGB Treasurer Robin Moser presented him with a £500 donation towards the club junior section.

The men’s Barlow Seniors Trophy was won by Derek Lyons from Royal Wimbledon with 71 points, the runner-up was Terry Jones from the Warren with 66 points.

The next GSGB event is the September tour to Costa Navarino in Greece.

We begin our 2020 season with a spring tour to Dublin which is followed by the May meeting at Seascale and Silloth on Solway.

The full list of 2020 fixtures can be found on the home page of the website.

Brian

St Annes Old Links / Fairhaven Report   August 19 ^th – 20 ^th 2019

The GSGB August Meeting took place over two of Lancashire's oldest and most famous links courses when we visited St Annes Old Links GC and Fairhaven GC, one of the GSGB's more recent participating clubs. Good weather was enjoyed on both days by the 70 members who attended with any rain showers disappearing before play began. A stiff wind helped to create difficult playing conditions on the first day and the numerous bunkers only added to the test. Despite the wind, the superb greens and the excellent conditioning of the course made for a very enjoyable day for all.

Day 2 turned out to be a beautiful day at Fairhaven with a very light breeze and at times warm sunshine. The greens were once again in wonderful condition and despite having even more bunkers than St Annes, the scoring was better, particularly from the ladies.

At Fairhaven, we were joined by club captain Mike Franklin who accepted the £500 Junior Section cheque from GSGB Chairman Giles Hinchcliffe before helping with the presentation. Fairhaven has often been ranked in the list of England's top 100 courses and it's not difficult to see why.

The King of Morocco Cup was won by Ian Chamberlain from Frinton with 69 points, beating David Evans from Chelmsford by 1 point.

The Society Salver was won by Anna Clark from Belton Park with 67 points, a much more comfortable 6 point winning margin over Pat Hone from Highgate.

Congratulations to all prize winners. A full list can be seen below.

The next event will be held on September 16^th –17^th  at Moor Park (High) / Beaconsfield . 

There are still places available so please contact the office if you wish to take part. 

The 2019 Golf Society of Great Britain AGM was held at East Sussex National on 23rd/24th July. Seventy five members enjoyed good weather for the duration of their stay. With temperatures reaching 35 degrees on the first day some would say that it was possibly a little too good! Thankfully the heat reduced by 5 or 6 degrees on Day 2 and a light breeze helped to make the golf much more comfortable for all. 

Both golf courses are relatively modern American style parkland designs. The East course is a slightly more open and mounded design with the West generally thought of as being a more attractive layout. Members had differing views on which course they preferred which suggests that they are of a similar standard. The bunkers were out of play on Day 1 following thunderstorm damage and in all honesty, they need to be completely refurbished which the hotel plans to do during the next 6 months.

The Hotel accommodation and food were very good indeed, prices were reasonable and the venue may well be visited again by GSGB in future years.

At the AGM Chairman Giles Hinchcliffe presented Liz Clark and David Latham with leaving gifts in recognition of their time spent on the Committee. Alan Golbourn was unanimously voted in as our new President but unfortunately, outgoing President Nigel Dickson was unable to attend due to a hip injury which made a long car journey impossible.

The Handicap Cups for the best two-day aggregate scores were won by Alan Golbourn (Chelmsford) with 80 points and Gillian Curley (Northants County) 71 points. Paul and Yogi Jackson with 135 points, claimed the "Enjoy Golf Together Trophy" by compiling the best husband and wife aggregate score over the two days.

Chairman Giles Hinchcliffe presented the prizes and the full list of winners can be found below.

Our next Meeting will take place at St Annes Old Links and Fairhaven on August 19th/20th.

The 2019 AGM will be held at Carden Park in Cheshire.

RESULTS SHEET – East Sussex National AGM MEETING  23 – 24 July 2019

Middlesbrough/Cleveland Report   June 20th – 21st  2019

After a rather damp start to the summer, a more settled spell of dry weather greeted our group of 41 members in North Yorkshire, much to the relief of everyone who took part.

At Dinner, we were joined by the Middlesbrough club captain Mr Jim Taylor and his wife Hilary. Mr Taylor gratefully accepted the Society donation of £500 to further junior golf at his club from GSGB Chairman Giles Hinchcliffe.

The Founders Trophy for men was won by Paul Collier from Astbury with 69 points over the two days, narrowly defeating Ian Chamberlain on countback. The ladies Founders Trophy was won by Linda Cusack from Camberley Heath who scored 66 points, including an excellent score of 39 points on day 2. Kathy Ogden from Bath was the aggregate runner-up with 64 points.

A full list of all prize winners can be seen below.

The next event will be the AGM meeting at East Sussex National on July 23rd/24th.

Brian

Title	Prize	Club	Score	Name
Aynsley Bridgland Founders Trophy Gents	PROVENCE VASE	Astbury	69	Paul Collier
Aynsley Bridgland Founders Trophy Ladies	PROVENCE BOWL	Camberley Heath	66	Linda Cusack
Handicap Prize– Gents Aggregate	TANKARD	Frinton	69	Ian Chamberlain
Handicap Prize– Ladies Aggregate	GLASS BOWL	Bath	64	Kathy Ogden
DAY PRIZES DAY 2 –Gents – 1stPrize	PAIR RUMMER GLASSES	Sand Moor	36	Robert Brown
Gents – 2nd Prize	HIGHBALL GLASS	Sand Moor	34	Giles Hinchcliffe
Ladies – 1stPrize	PAIR WINE GLASSES	Bath	33	Linda Hill
Ladies – 2ndPrize	HIGHBALL GLASS	Sand Moor	32	Jen Cusack
DAY PRIZES DAY 1 -Gents – 1stPrize	PAIR RUMMER GLASSES	Alnmouth	33	David Archibald
Gents – 2ndPrize	HIGHBALL GLASS	Bath	32	Mark Moorfoot
Ladies – 1stPrize	PAIR WINE GLASSES	Sand Moor	35	Clare Jenkins
Ladies – 2ndPrize	HIGHBALL GLASS	Sand Moor	32	Delyse Wadkin

Woodhall Spa Report   May 21st - 22nd 2019

The GSGB's first meeting of the 2019 season was played at Woodhall Spa, home to the relatively modern Bracken layout and the world famous Hotchkin course which is currently ranked 78th in the World. The Hotchkin will always be linked to the society through Neil Hotchkin, designer and owner of the course and GSGB President between 1989-93.

Forty three members enjoyed glorious weather over the two days of competition as they battled the notoriously well bunkered Hotchkin layout. A three year course renovation programme was recently completed by world renowned golf course architect Tom Doak and his team. Thousands of trees were removed to help with heather regeneration and bunkers have been both refurbished and added to create a more open heathland feel and a much improved golf course.

At Dinner, we were joined by the Woodhall Spa Captain, Mr David Hilton and the Ladies Vice-Captain Cynthia Treharne. GSGB Chairman, Giles Hinchcliffe, presented David with a £500 donation to be used to support the club's junior section.

The Day 1 prizes were won by David Kerr with 33 points and Vanessa Adams with 28 points and the Day 2 winners were George Clark with 37 points and Christine Hinchcliffe with 30 points.

The aggregate handicap prizes were won by Alan Golbourn with 67 points and Kathryn Archibald with 63.

David Archibald had the honour of being crowned this year's Men's Scratch Cup winner fending off challenges from Alan Golbourn, Lorne Smith and last year's winner Tim Russell. David adds his name to the Cup for the fifth time. Gillian Curley won the Ladies Scratch Cup by one shot over Pat Bennett with Kathryn Archibald a further two shots back.

A full list of prize winners can be seen below.

The next meeting will be held at Middlesbrough and Cleveland on June 20th - 21st.

Day two found us at Dainfern Golf Club, on the outskirts of J’burg, only to be told the course was closed – fortunately this was an administrative error, as all courses are closed on Monday’s for maintenance, but we had the course to ourselves and the Proshop had an excellent Sale that kept the Ladies and some Gents happy.  A toughie with six crossings of the flooded river to contend with.

The next day was a rest day, but our driver Norman took thirteen of us on a tour of Johannesburg visiting the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Presidents House and the Apartheid Museum.  Lunch followed in a nice suburb followed by retail therapy at a nearby African Crafts Centre.

Glendower Golf Club, home of the SA African Open in 2018 greeted us the next day for the 1^st Round of the Individual Stableford.  Some good scores were returned, but the highlight was Alan Golbourn getting a Hole in One on the 3^rd Hole – both the Golf Course and the Hotel were suitably impressed. 

Our final day in Pretoria was spent on the delightful Pecanwood Golf Course after a pleasant hour + drive to get there.  Despite threatening skies and a sharp downfall, we all enjoyed playing an easier course against each other in the Couples Swapsie.....even those who were not couples!  We elected to have a Bar-B-Q that evening at the nearby lakeside which did not quite work, but it was a lovely venue and we returned late to pack up ready for an early start the following morning to Kruger.

Leaving before 8.00am we drove through fairly flat landscape for two hours before coming into some beautiful countryside with steep gorges and rolling hills.  We finally stopped for lunch at HazyView where a much needed break was enjoyed.  Another few hours we arrived at the Hans Merensky Resort stepping out into a different climate entirely – very hot and humid.  After such a long day the first impressions of the hotel were not great, with air conditioning issues, changes of rooms etc.  However, waking to see impala grazing and monkeys playing outside our rooms soon lightened the mood.  

We stayed at Hans Merensky for the remaining week interspersing four golf days with a 5.00am Game Drive followed with an afternoon river cruise.  On another day we drove into the Drakensburg Mountains on the Panorama Route visiting Blythe River Canyon and Bourkes Luck Potholes with pancakes for lunch at Harries in Graskop.  Our final rest day, most played golf again followed by an evening Game Drive where some of us were lucky enough to get really close to a pride of lionesses with one cub – quite magical.

Our final golf day was interesting as we were mixed up with a large Am-Am, but managed to play the final round of the Stableford.  The Tour Winners were Gillian Curley with rounds of 29 and 34, and Terry Jones with 38 and 34 with the respective Runners Up being Paul and Yogi Jackson –  the Rookies!  Our final evening was very jolly with the Prize Giving and an impromptu African display by the chef on drum, and the waitresses and kitchen staff all singing, and Michael Pring doing an impressive African dance!

We set off early on the last day driving back to J’Burg this time taking in more lovely scenery through the Highland Way stopping at Dullstrom for a lovely lunch at Critchley Lodges, and arriving at the Airport in good time.  This Tour was certainly a full itinerary, but in true GSGB style everyone took it in their stride and despite the heat and malaria pills, we all coped !

Liz Clark

The Fifty four members who participated enjoyed light winds and plenty of sunshine, particularly at Bradford, but more importantly two days of dry weather to round off another enjoyable season for the Society.

After Dinner we were joined by the Moortown Captain Malcolm Slinger ,who spoke of the club's junior programme before GSGB Chairman Giles Hinchcliffe presented him with a £500 donation towards the club junior section.

The Bradford golf course is an undulating Harry Colt parkland design with tree lined fairways, excellent greens and some fine views. Improvements to the clubhouse were very noticeable since our previous visit and Bradford now makes an excellent venue both on and off the golf course.

The men’s Barlow Seniors Trophy was won by Alan Percival from Astbury with 73 points and the runner-up was Ian Chamberlain from Frinton with 68points.

The Ladies Trophy was won by Gillian Curley from Northamptonshire County  who scored 61 points and the runner-up was Yogi Jackson with 65 points who had to settle for 2nd place as she is too young to take home the Senior Trophy.

A full list of all prize winners can be seen below.

Photos of the prizewinners and a group photo can be viewed here.

The next GSGB event is the February tour to South Africa and the 2019 fixtures can be found on the home page of the website.

Brian