The Late Autumn Meeting is now well established as the Captain’s event, but also retains its heritage as the Committee and Past Captain’s Meeting, where traditionally a Committee Meeting was held, followed by a round of golf and a few beers. Whilst the Committee business is now largely conducted on line, this fixture retains its place in the calendar and once again was very well supported.

The Secretary clearly has connections and therefore organised the weather well. In spite of a slight “mizzle” half way round  we enjoyed almost perfect conditions for early October. Coupled with the welcoming support of the Club and excellent catering, we had a great day. Importantly we also enjoyed the  company of three ladies - one member and two guests - as well as one of our newest recruits, who was awarded his tie. It was also great to see Ron Jones - now an Honorary Member  - who accompanied Brian and joined us for the post-match meal. Overall a fabulous day for the Society.

Following on from the amazing scores at Minchinhampton the week before, expectations were high.  However, the testing back seven holes at Sherborne were the measure of many and whilst scores were good, we had none in the forties! This year the winner of the John Spencer Trophy was Alistair Morton,  and the Committee and Past Captain’s Trophy was won by Tom Lyons.

With only our match against Boscombe Down to come we now draw to the end of our season. I hope you have enjoyed the year as much as I have and I look forward to seeing you at the AGM and lunch in London in December.

Full result

What a contrast to last year at Minchinhampton when we fought with the elements in the morning and had to cancel the afternoon because of lightning. This year we were blessed with near-perfect conditions; a gentle breeze and warm sunshine coupled with a course in good condition following its late summer maintenance. With the legendary rough cut back and balls easy to find, scores were impressive, both in the individual stableford in the morning, and the greensomes in the afternoon.

It was pleasing to see both long-serving members and new joiners attend the event, and after some last-minute changes, we were also joined by the Minchinhampton Ladies Captain who kindly helped balance the groupings. Along with an excellent lunch, it made for a great day.

With four scores of forty or more vying for the morning prize, the winner of the Hunting Trophy with a gross score of 1-under par was Stephen Riley. The afternoon Graeme Smith 12-hole greensomes trophy was also well contested and eventually won by Tony Gunby and George McCaffery.

A very popular fixture, we look forward to returning in 2026.

Full results

The tour to Suffolk began at Felixstowe Ferry, which met our President’s desire to try and play a links course if we could. A great links course it was too and, despite a fresh(!) breeze of 40kts, there were some very good scores as well as some interesting second shots! A great start.

On Tuesday we played Woodbridge – a championship heathland course just a few miles from Felixstowe. What a treat. Superbly presented and in fabulous condition it was the one course that everyone wanted to play again. Once again some very good scores on a challenging and stunningly beautiful track.

Our third day was a complete contrast. Ufford Park is spa hotel and golf complex with a long parkland course with a monster 567-yard uphill into wind par 5 and plenty of water. Having rained heavily until just before our first tee-time there was less run which made it a bit more of a challenge, but the course drained well and once again there were some good scores.

The tour concluded at the famous James Braid Purdis Heath course at Ipswich, where once again we were very well looked after by the club. Although another heathland course, it was very different from Woodbridge with some testing greens and semi-blind dog-legs. The fourth hole was quite stunning, with a well guarded approach and 50-foot sharp descent to the green. A surprise to us all and a hole we will all play differently next time.

As always, the tour rewards consistency, and this year the two most consistent players over the four days were Barry Thornton and Nigel Dowdall. Taking the best three of the four rounds it was eventually Nigel who took the honours, just two shots ahead of Barry.

So having concluded a most enjoyable sojourn to Suffolk, next year we are off to Shropshire with Stu Butler. We are looking forward to it already.

Our Late Summer Meeting at Huntercombe continues to be popular fixture, and this year we saw twenty-five members vying for the impressive Brabazon Trophy in the morning and sixteen for the Greensomes Stableford prize in the afternoon.  We also enjoyed the company of three guests.

Once again Huntercombe Golf Club looked after us very well, providing an first-class lunch that either made an excellent conclusion to the day’s golf, or steeled us for the afternoon.

Conditions were perfect. The scorching sun and high humidity that has been a feature of our weather over recent weeks had given way to light cloud and a gentle breeze which made it much more comfortable. The greens were in superb condition and with fairway watering it was the first time in a little while where we were not playing off concrete! As a result scoring was impressive, with almost 30% of the field playing to their handicap or better and 50% scoring thirty points or more.

The Brabazon Trophy was won this year by George McCaffery with forty points on count back from Nigel Dowdall. In the afternoon Greensomes Simon Fenton and Nigel Dowdall posted an equally impressive twenty-six points - four ahead of the field.

We look forward to seeing an equally strong field next year - once the fixture list is out, get it in your diaries.

Anthony

The full results are available here.