Shrivenham Park AwayDay - 17th Aug 2021

Our August away day took us to Shrivenham Park Golf Club after our enjoyable mini away day there a few weeks prior.

Again we were lucky with the weather, a bit dull and overcast for most of the day but warm enough and most importantly no rain !

Another great turnout of 19 TOFS arrived where we were again warmly welcomed. We should have been 20, an impressive number in peak holiday period, but unfortunately Mike I had done his back in playing on Friday and was still lying prone on his back. For a while I thought that we were only 18 but Peter finally tuned up after his Sat Nav sending him to the wrong address and having to go to Wragg Barn for the correct address for Shrivenham. Maybe time you got a mobile phone Peter! We were however delighted that Davinder joined us for his first TOFS away day, and also great to see Des L, who has moved away, joining us for the day.

We sat down and had our coffee and bacon rolls, sorted out the tee times, agreed to play both NTP and HI2 , and then settled on the practice putting green for our “Famous Grouse Tipple on the Tee”, this time kindly provided by Phil E.

A few practise swings and putts later we then set out in 5 groups. I think most will agree that the picturesque course was in excellent condition with at times quite narrow fairways, no shortage of trees, a lot of dog-legs and some very challenging holes on fairly severe slopes.

After the round we were unable to have our usual meal but gathered outside in the sun to enjoy a welcome drink from the bar and to have the prize giving.

Chris Smyth - Best Stableford Score

A lot of good scores were posted, but surprisingly no one achieved either a Hole in Two, or landing on the green on the 15^th! Hence we allocated prize monies to 2^nd place in both main comps.

The winner of the TOFS Trophy and stableford on the day with an outstanding score of 43 points was Chris S, a reversal of his last away day performance! Chris won £13 and a 3 pack of shiny new special edition embossed TOFS golf balls. In 2^nd place was Dave B with 41 points, who picked up £6.

Don’t forget the winners “away day handicap “will be reduced by 2 for the subsequent days out.

The winner of the lowest number of putts was

Dave Bolus - Lowest Putts

 Dave B with a new TOFS record of just 25 putts, beating the previous 26 achieved by Terry S. Terry also performed well again coming in 2^nd place with 27 putts. Is it a coincidence that Dave played with Terry on the day and learned some of his tricks! Dave B won £13 and Terry £6. We are just waiting for the new putting trophy now Terry!

Brian White - Special Prize

And finally the days special prize, sponsored by Chris S for Most Golf Played. And the winner was Brian W with 26 points. Another reversal, as Brian was the Trophy winner last time!

Brian becomes our special prize sponsor for our next Away Day at Kirtlington GC on the 14^th September. Put that date firmly in your diary!

All in all a great day, and a course we should return to at a future date.