CLUB NEWS 2011 Champagne A hard fought battle, played on a beautiful, sunny day,between Jonathan and Don with the latter dominating the opening half of the match but with Jonathan the eventual winner. World Under 21 Golf at Hunstanton Don't miss the World Under 21 Golf at Hunstanton, 12 - 15 July. Support young Tim Race! In the event, Tim reached the quarter finals - not bad against a strong international field. Will Gee from Nottingham made it to the semis but the final was contested between two very accurate young Eqyptians. They hit the balls very straight and very hard! Barrett Pot 9 July 2011 A well fought contest involving the pairs of Charlie and Ruby, Don and Kathleen and Martyn with his daughter Rosie just down from Glasgow and playing in her first competition. Some close games with Mr and Mrs Butters emerging as clear winners of this year's Pot.  Peggy's Plant 11 June 2011 On a lovely, sunny day there was a good turnout with ten members competing in this Singles Golf tournament named in memory of Jonathan's Mum. (She was a great gardener so the winner receives a plant).   There were lots of close tussles with young Angus doing well in his first foray since returning from university in Edinburgh. He managed to win one more game than his Dad, Martyn....nothing like a bit of friendly, familial rivalry. The clear winner though, with 4/4 wins, was Charlie Blyth, who gets his name on the pot again. Coaching Coaching sessions will run from mid May onwards on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. This series has now run its course but please contact Jonathan if you would like some coaching on a one off basis. Stow Pan 21 May 2011 The mower is fixed and the grass is short and brown after a dry start to the summer so the balls fairly fly about. The opening (Association) tournament of the season saw some competitive play between Martyn, Ian and Jonathan. We settled on a restricted time of 1 1/2 hours per match with roughly half the bisque allowance. Jonathan beat Ian in the first game. Ian beat Martyn. And Jonathan narrowly beat Martyn by 1 on time to clinch the first of our club tussles. INDOORS GOLF CROQUET @ SOHAM - 12TH/13TH MARCH 2011 Why not kickstart your outdoor season with some friendly yet competitive enjoyable Golf Croquet on the carpet at Soham? There are vacant slots for the level play on Saturday and a limited amount of space for the handicap on the Sunday. (Handicap play could be arranged on Saturday if there is sufficient demand). To enter please contact Chris Howell on E.mail: cmhowell@waitrose.com or tel: 01284 0787728 It is important that these events are actively supported otherwise their future could be in doubt. USE IT OR LOSE IT   2010 Sunday 22nd August Golf League versus Hunstanton This game was played at Hunstanton for convenience. With two wins under their belt the table indicated Hunstanton had won this area ,however if Downham beat them, there could be several possibilities. We started as the underdogs and by the lunch break we trailed 8 - 4, with one singles round to play and the two doubles. The final round of singles Downham won three thus closing the gap to two. If the doubles was to go favourably for Downham, having lost all previous doubles, the golden hoop would be played. Playing what seemed to be our best performance both doubles recorded victories taking us into the golden hoop. Downham won the toss and decided to play doubles . It was agreed for Chris and David to play. A close tussle for a considerable time finally saw Hunstanton Blue victors and now move on to the semi finals against Enfield E. Semi finals to be played at Bury St Edmunds. Saturday 21 August Hipgrave Shield Much to the relief of the Club Secretary, four players arrived to compete for the Hipgrave Shield this year. (The last time was 2005). One of the competitors, Dave Randall, had only just joined the club and had experienced his preliminary introduction to the game only three days previously. Dave had been expecting to watch and learn but in the event was persuaded to participate. Kathleen Butters, Martyn Browne and his son Angus and Dave fought out some pretty good matches though Martyn had a couple of big wins and as a result had his handicap lowered. He was the eventual victor but congratulations to all who took part. It's good to see the Hipgrave (named in memory of a late member and aimed purely at beginners) featuring on the Honours Board again Saturday 14th August Golf League away to Hunstanton David, Heather, Chris and Carole journeyed to Sunny Hunny (where it was raining) for the second game in the league calendar. With four courts being used it was constant play until the break before the doubles. During the last singles game a made dash was needed to don our waterproofs. this only lasted for a short while . At the break honours were shared so once again it was going to be decided on the doubles games. With full bellies we ventured out after the heavy shower during lunch to continue the ‘battle’ unfortunately it was a repeat of the Norwich encounter and both doubles went to the Hunstanton side, thus we lost 8 - 10. Thanks were given to Hunstanton for their hospitality and friendly demeanour.