Mapledurham Awayday - 19th Oct 2021

Our October away day took us to Mapledurham Golf Club, just over the border in neighbouring Berkshire, where we last visited in 2017. 

A full complement of 24 TOFS , many of whom were very keen and had arrived early,  met in their spacious clubhouse where they had set apart a separate room for us  to enjoy our coffee and bacon rolls, sort out the tee times, check on local rules, and prepare ourselves for the days golfing ahead.

 Somehow again we seemed to have   dodged the rain and we set off for our “Tipple on the Tee”, this time a White Port kindly provided by Clifford.

A few practise swings and putts later we then set out in 6 groups of 4. Again a very picturesque course and given the time of year and recent weather conditions in good condition, just a little heavy underfoot in places.  And, in some ways not to dissimilar from DPGC with no two holes the same and a mixture of open fairways, trees and water hazards.

After the round we all met in the clubhouse to enjoy a welcome drink and to have our meal. They had again set up the room for us with the tables being laid out in  fours and quickly served us a very delicious homemade Lasagne, Chips and Garlic Bread.  I only wish DPGC would learn a thing or two about how to treat guests and members alike

And now to the prize giving. A bit of a mixture of results this time but with most scores in the low 30’s. We did have a winner for the HI2 but no nearest the pin (a longish 175yd par3). 

The winner of the TOFS Trophy and stableford on the day with an impressive score of 43 points was Alex, but how he achieved this along with 44 putts is a mystery to me. Alex won £14 and a 3 pack of shiny new special edition 2021 embossed TOFS golf balls. He also promised to wear a sombrero (bandit’s) hat during the round at the next away day!! 

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

As we didn’t have a winner in NTP the prize money is allocated to the next best Stableford scorer, and in this case 2 joint second places shared by Brian  M and Terry S, who both picked up £5 for their scores of 39 points.We had two joint winners for the lowest number of putts, Ian M and Terry S, who both achieved a respectable 30 putts, and for this picked up £7 each.  The target for putts to win the new trophy currently stands at 25

Our only Hole in 2 winner was a familiar winner today, Terry S, who picked up another £10. Well done Terry!

And finally the days special prize, a bottle of wine, sponsored by Davinder for “Most Golf Played”. And the winner was Rob S with just 24 points! Rob becomes our special prize sponsor for our next Away Day at Hennerton on the 23rd November, which is as far as I know a new hunting ground for the TOFS. Our lunch will be of a 2 course Christmas variety.  Put that date firmly in your diary!

All in all a great day, a good course, great company and great hosts.