Less than a month ago our game against Silves International was unfortunately cancelled, and that left us with a gap in our calendar.
Bravely our intrepid competition secretary, Eddie Kassner, stepped into the breach and organised a replacement competition - “not (quite) the Presidents cup”. Please don’t underestimate the logistics of organising this type of competition and many thanks to Eddie for saving the day.
Rain intervened but failed to disrupt a very successful event with “Not (quite) the Rest of the World” team (19 1/2) narrowly losing to a “Not (quite) the USA” team (22 1/2).
Our very own Poor Man’s Band entertained us (indoors due to the weather) for over an hour, and the celebrations lasted well into the afternoon.
Congratulations to Mel Huxtable who won the 11th annual Past Captain's Trophy, his first victory in this prestigious event.
15 past Captains were welcomed by present Captain Dave Darling who immediately demanded money, allegedly for prizes!
So under grey skies, and after the obligatory photo, three four balls set off into the gloom, remarkably the weather stayed dry and in decent conditions some truly poor scores were recorded, with the notable exceptions of Les Smith 34 pts and Mel with 37.
Today we had a visit from Carvoeiro Golf & Country Club ladies, vying to retain hold of the converted trophy for the winning team.
It was lovely to hear the buzz of activity in the clubhouse first thing this morning as we all prepared to do battle on the course.
The conditions for the match were great. Not too hot, not too windy, although several holes had you thinking did you have enough club?
This time, the SDM Ladies came out on top, winning 4 out of the 6 matches, two by considerable margins. The matches were fair and shots given reasonable and the games were played in our usual friendly spirit. Lunch was shared afterwards in the clubhouse.
Many congratulations to both our men's and ladies club champions, both of who defended titles they won last year.
Men's winner was Ronnie Wraith with rounds of 78 and 79.
Ladies winner was Ria Raap with scores of 88 and 87.
While much of Europe suffers with torrential rain, wind, and other freak weather, it was a lovely sunny day at Silves GC in the Algarve. The organisers made a wise decision to hold the event there !
Thanks to all of you who attended one or both of the events last Saturday.
The morning started at 8AM with 76 participants teeing off in the Captain’s cup
Congratulations to all the winners, especially to Bob Cutt and Les Smith who lifted the Captain’s trophy with a brilliant score of 50 points.
Many of those involved stayed back afterwards in the club house to watch the presentations for the various nearest the pins, straightest drive and a free raffle.
Thanks to everyone who donated prizes; Lesley Cowell, Rob Veltman, Eddie Kassner and John Hall who all donated bottles of wine and Les Smith who gave a bottle of gin that raised 41 euros in the now customary “Toss the Euro” competition.
The evening event was incredibly supported with ninety one people registering. If those numbers proved a trifle challenging for the venue, the entertainment and dancing generated a great atmosphere that hopefully compensated.
Thanks to everyone for making the weekend so enjoyable for Merja and I and congratulations to everybody who won something including special awards for Des Briggs (shooting his age in a competition) and Declan Byrne (most improved golfer 2024).
What a fantastic day we had! 120 ladies dressed in all shades of pink playing golf at Silves.
The team of Sdm guys did a superb job of looking after the registrations, cards and selling Mulligans. Not to mention setting up the course with pink tee markers and flags. They happily served us with fizz, water and nibbles. Certainly a special day to remember.
The event has raised in excess of €9,500 for the Algarvean Oncology Association, fantastic!