Hadden Hill AwayDay - 14th December 2021

Our December 2021 away day took us back to Hadden Hill GC for our annual Xmas visit to play for the John Stanley Trophy. When I say annual, because of Covid-19 we didn’t manage to get there in 2020 despite several aborted attempts!

We had a full complement of 24 players comprising 23 TOFS and Andy Stocks from Hadden Hill. This time an easy trip, especially for me and we all arrived in good time to enjoy our bacon roll and coffee and sort out the days order.

For this Xmas event we had extra competitions and added best back 9, best front 9 and best combined score for the groups of 4 to our normal schedule. We did however have to make clear which was the front and back 9’s as we started from the 10^th Tee to avoid any clashes with the Didcot ladies.

We then set off to get ready for our “Tipple on the Tee”, this time a Dalwhinnie Winters Gold Single Malt Whisky, served super chilled from the freezer, kindly provided by Terry Rapple.

A few practise swings and putts later we then set out in 6 groups. Again I had managed to secure good weather for the day and although a little heavy underfoot the course was in good condition considering the time of year.

After the round we all met in the clubhouse to enjoy a welcome drink and record all the scores. Graham P had even created a QR scan code for us to use on our phones which linked directly to the TOFS online score input system. Amazing !!

We then settled down to enjoy our 2 course Christmas meal complete with Xmas Crackers and Coffee and Mince Pies for afters. Thanks to the wonderful serving staff for getting this all organised so timely, and serving such a lovely meal.

And now to the prize giving.

David Roberts

John Stanley Trophy - Again a lot of scores in the 30 ‘s but our winner with 39 points for the Trophy
was David Roberts. David keeps this for a year and is asked to add his name to the trophy holder.

TOFS Trophy - David is also awarded the TOFS Trophy as this is his first best Stableford win this year. David is awarded £10 prize money, a pack of TOFS Golf Balls and a pack of tees.

Lowest Putts – The winner of this was Mike Stevens with a very respectful 29 putts. Mike is awarded £10 prize money, a pack of TOFS Golf Balls and a pack of tees. The target for putts to win the Putting Trophy remains at 25.

Nearest The Pin (Hole 7) – Only 2 names on the board with Dave Bolus narrowly beating Graham Plested. Dave is awarded £10 prize money and a pack of tees.

Hole in 2 – Only one winner here with Eric Jackson managing this on the 14^th (168 yds). Eric is awarded £10 prize money, and a pack of tees.

Best Front 9 – Won by Davinder Ghatora with an excellent 24 points. Davinder is awarded £5 prize money and a pack of tees.

Best Back 9 – Won by Graham Plested with a good score of 21. Graham is awarded £5 prize money and a pack of tees.

Winning Team

Best group Score - A closely contested competition with one score of 127, one score of 129 and two scores of 131, with the winners on count back being Alex Fraser, Brian White, Chris Smythe and David Roberts. They are all awarded £5 and a pack of tees.

Most Golf Played – (or as the winner prefers to call it “Lowest Stableford score”!) was Robert Strange. Rob is awarded with the traditional bottle of wine.

And finally another great day which concludes the 2021 away days.

I do hope that you have all enjoyed our away days together and I thank you for your support in coming along and making them so much fun.

Let’s all look forward to the next year with hope that we don’t suffer the unfortunate circumstances caused by Covid-19 that have been with us now for 2 years.

Over to the New 2022 Captain!

All the scores :

      Stableford Points                      Putts

Captain Dave (2020-21)