Halford Hewitt Draw

[Tue 24 Jan 12]

Cranleigh have drawn Highgate at Royal Cinque Ports in the first round of the 2012 Halford Hewitt. The two sides last met in the Plate in 2010 when Cranleigh were victorious 2.5-0.5.

The full draw can be viewed here.

Ferguson-Jones Secures Air Mauritius Trophy

[Mon 12 Dec 11]

Marcus Ferguson-Jones has won the Air Mauritius Trophy after a tough battle at the Constance Belle Mare Plage Resort. The following extract is taken from www.mbctourchampionship.com:

'Ferguson-Jones managed to amass 33 points in the opening round after only arriving the previous day and he improved to card 38 points to remain in close contact with Bolla. Opening round leader Shaun Pollock performed less well on the Links, the former South African Test cricketer slipping down the leaderboard with a disappointing 32 points. So, with Bolla on 72, Ferguson Jones on 71 and Pollock on 67, the scene was set for a tense and nail biting climax. There was never much between the two leaders as the duel moved to the final hole while Pollock was unable to make any significant progress. As it was, Ferguson Jones, who holds the course record for the Links course, emerged with a single-point advantage that lifted him level with his rival. That one point margin – the Englishman scored 31 points to Bolla’s 30 – proved critical because it earned Ferguson Jones the title on countback. South African Pollock’s 32-point total placed three points away in third. '

Mark Burridge Secures 2011 Matchplay

[Mon 07 Nov 11]

Mark Burridge finally has his name on this prestigious trophy having come agonisingly close in previous years. The final was played over 18 holes at Sunningdale (New) and his opponent Garrett O'Reilly put up a fierce fight eventually losing 2&1. Congratulations to both players for battling their way through several tough rounds. Mark and Garrett are pictured following the trophy presentation at the Annual Dinner at Boodles.

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Match at Royal Ashdown v Old Johnians

[Tue 27 Sep 11]

Tim Kemp reports: We lost 5/3 but it was a match of 2 halves. At lunch we were 1/3 down but we rallied in the afternoon with a 2/2 so maybe we should meet at 8.45 and have a boozy lunch with two rounds afterwards and see if we get a better result. The morning result would have been better had not the Captain of the Society refused to accept a half on the 18th green to be followed by an appalling three put from 10 feet to lose the match. Hey ho its only a game - next year will be different !

The David Bluett Cup

[Fri 23 Sep 11]

Graham Williams reports: The David Bluett Cup was battled on the green fairways of Tandridge Golf Club between The OCs Golf Society and The Choppers.

David has done so much for the OCs and especially OC rugby and golf so this was a fitting day to remember him and to celebrate his support of OC golf and as a founder member of the Choppers.

Unfortunately the weather was not with us and it rained for much of the round but we persevered thinking of what Bluett would say if we even thought of cutting the round short. With thirteen on each side and the Stableford score of each player counting for the final result, the OCs squeaked home by six points, winning the Bluett Cup, but the day was more about remembering Blu.

We all agreed that this should become an annual fixture, hopefully in August 2012 so please look out for further details next year. Do join in a great day, with great chums and in memory of a wonderful man.

Singles Matchplay - Semi Finals

[Mon 19 Sep 11]

The 2011 Singles Matchplay has reached the semi final stage. At the top of the draw Mark Burridge will play Dominic Instone, whilst at the bottom Tim Sweetland takes on Garrett O'Reilly. For all results so far please follow this link.

Autumn Meeting - Worplesdon

[Mon 19 Sep 11]

Graham Williams reports: We had a superb day's golf at Worplesdon yesterday. Great weather, a good lunch and the course was in superb condition. The star of the day was Garrett O'Reilly who scored a gross 71 off a handicap of 12 to win the Scratch cup. He made up for being an outrageous bandit by kindly buying everyone a Kummel at lunchtime.

Nobody was allowed to win more than one prize therefore the other winners included the following:-

The Rhodes cup for the best stableford score - Mark Burridge 41
Stableford under 55 year's old Vice President's cup - Tony Whitty 34
Stableford over 55 year's old Veteran's prize - Ian Borrow 35
Aggregate scores for Spring and Autumn John Oxer Cup -Martin Riddiford 70
Lovell Garrett House salver - Loveday

At the AGM which followed the prize giving. David Powell was elected Captain for 2012 He is a much better golfer than I am and I am sure he will be an inspired captain Three new vice presidents were elected as a mark of the service they have given to the club over many years Mickey Moore, Philip Truett and Jonathan Williams Jonathan Williams was elected to become a committee member.

The accounts were approved and it is pleasing to note that we are back in the black on an annual basis and that we have money in the bank both for the society and in the student fund.

Andrew Cronk - President asked everyone to consider making an annual donation to the Student Fund. We now have some very promising school boys and younger members who need to be encouraged to attend OC golf Society matches and events.

Vs West Sussex

[Mon 1 Aug 11]

Matthew Hansford reports: Another wonderful day at West Sussex, as ever the weather was perfect and the early bloody mary's very welcome. The course was in perfect condition with greens that looked like carpets which obviously inspired the OC Golf as we went into lunch 3.5 to 2.5 up.

After a wonderful spread for lunch and plentiful wine, there was confusion on the first tee as several OC's went missing, but Mitchell and Connelly were eventually found rooted to their chairs in the dining room making sure no wine went to waste! OC's obviously overtrained at lunch and went down 5-1. Well done to Rosie who won 2 points, the rest of us will have to do better next year!

OC's 4.5 V West Sussex 7.5

Vs Royal Ashdown

[Mon 1 Aug 11]

Tim Kemp organised an excellent 33 hole foursomes match against the Royal Ashdown last Saturday 23rd July It was somewhat confusing as to who was playing for which team with Paul Kemp playing for one side in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

After the morning round the OCs were one down and Tim then put out a singles of Martin Riddiford and David Hobden announcing that the winner would be considered to be in the OC team ! ( both being OCs and both being members of Royal Ashdown ) David Willis arrived at lunchtime to reinforce the OC team. As he was running late he incurred a speeding fine on the way but some very generous OCs donated about £2.50 towards the penalty!

The end result was 6-4 in favour of the OC's under Tim's rules. It was disappointing that Tim was not present to congratulate his team as he left after lunch with a feeble excuse of having to attend a party

The Mellin Salver 2011

[Wed 27 Jul 11]

Max Hunt reports: I thought it appropriate to confirm this year’s results in the three tournaments.

The Mellin Salver: We had a good win in the first round against Bedford 2/1 but succumbed to a strong Haileybury side in the second 2/1. Our first pair of Richard Williams and John Schofield had impressive wins in both rounds but regrettably Tony Mote and I playing third pair were unable to contribute any points. This was entirely due to MPSH’s extremely poor performance as Tony was his usual consistent self! Haileybury went on to win an exciting final against Oundle 2/1.

The Peter Burles Salver: We went down against Bedford in the play-off in the first round but the team then progressed to the final of the plate against Bradfield but lost in an exciting play-off. Mickey Moore and Ian Borrow playing first pair remained unbeaten throughout the three days and were very unlucky not to have won the play-off in the final. The final of the Peter Burles itself was won by Loretto.

The Bunny Millard Salver: Bobby Stovold and Robin Elsdon-Dew qualified in second place for the knockout stage of this tournament with an impressive 25 points. They came up against a strong Downside pair in the semi-final however and were defeated 2/1.

It only remains for me to express my thanks to those of you who represented the OC’s this year and to say how very much I have enjoyed your excellent company. The spirit with which we all enter this tournament is not only with dogged determination on the golf course but also with good humour and this is what makes this such a very special event for us all.

Royal Ashdown - Grafton Qualifying

[Mon 06 Jun 11]

An OC team of six took part in yesterday's Grafton Morrish qualifier at Royal Ashdown., There were 5 places available out of the 12 teams that played. Unfortunately we had 79 points (3 pairs scratch stableford) and the qualifying score was 81. Four of the side were under 30 so good experience for them and it was Jaimie Richards' first outing for the OCGS. The remainder of the team was Marcus Ferguson-Jones, David Hobden, Fraser Moore, Giles Pickford and Tony Whitty. It's pretty tough to qualify and the likes of Watsons (this year’s Hewitt winners), Harrow and Merchiston did not qualify at other venues. AJW

OCGS Invitation Day - Woking

[Mon 06 Jun 11]

The invitation meeting at Woking was a great success. The weather was perfect (even if some our golf was not - particularly mine) It was sunny but not too hot and the course was in great condition in spite of the dry weather. Many thanks to Jonathan Williams for organising the day and to David Willis/Andrew Williams for allowing OCs to be seen at their club! The winners of the prestigious prizes were as follows: Morning and Afternoon 1st Jonathan Williams (OC) and Neal Hughes ( St Georges Hill ) 72 points. Runner up: Cavin Gaffney and Jonathan Hickling 66. Morning: Mickey Moore (OC) and Alastair Watson 36. Afternoon: Tony Whitty (OC) and Mark Connelly (OC) 32. For some reason the scores in the afternoon appear to be less good than the ones in the morning! I look forward to seeing many of you at our Autumn meeting on September 14th at Worplesdon. Tony Whitty ( tony@cabotaviation.com ) will be sending out details in due course. GW

The Spring Meeting - Liphook

[Fri 20 May 11]

A very select group of OC's had a very enjoyable Spring meeting at Liphook. As ever we were made very welcome by the club and were not held up at all both in the morning and afternoon. Though the whole course was very dry the greens were true so there was no excuse for not playing to handicap. Martin Riddiford had a splendid round of 75 to win the scratch prize and the coveted Scratch trophy (which your Captain left at home so Martin will receive it on some future occasion). He also won the handicap competition but it was decided that it was unfair to win two prizes so the Hugh Orr Trophy was won by Adam Wilson on a count back from Paul Jackson.

In the afternoon a very select group of 6 OCs played a fun three ball foursomes competition for the prestigious Dudley Moore Cup. Paul Jackson (ho played exceptionally well throughout the day) and David Willis (ho has decided to enter the putting competition at Royal Wimbledon to hone his putting skills) won with 29 points over 16 holes. As nobody was under 55 year old the Birds Eye cup was not awarded!

I look forward to seeing everyone at the invitation day on 3rd June at Woking. Contact Jonathan Williams if you want to play and have not yet registered. (GW)

2011 Halford Hewitt

[Sun 10 Apr 11]

An excellent first round win against Canford! A young team, with many fine golfers (including an international from Barbados!), Canford beat Epsom in the first round of last year's Hewitt, and progressed only to lose to Charterhouse in the quarter finals. It was therefore extremely pleasing to thrash them! Whilst our first pair limped home, our 'rookie' pair, David and Harry played some faultless golf to brush aside the opposition. Craig and Tony won comfortably, whilst Willy and Adam overcame a hole in one at the 3rd by the opposition (James Lovett), to win 7 holes in a row to round off their match. Giles and Martin were all square on 16th tee and confident of victory when the match was completed.

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Whilst Cranleigh spirits were high after our first round victory we were under no illusions that Bradfield, semi finalists of the last 2 years would provide a stern test. The surnames of Torrance, Rafferty and Gallacher on the team sheet are impressive. Cranleigh pairs 2 and 3 ground out victories, whilst pairs 1, 4 and 5 fell just short of the high levels of play on the Thursday. All 3 pairs felt that their opposition were eminently beatable and ultimately we were undone by the 'knack of winning ugly' that some of the Bradfield pairs have acquired as a result of repeated runs in the Hewitt.

Obviously this was our first Hewitt for decades without the presence of David Bluett. He would have been proud, throughout both matches we enjoyed excellent encouragement from our supporters which was much appreciated by all of the team. A special thank also to you to Matthew for performing the role of 11th man so graciously.

All in all it was an excellent Hewitt. The weather, the craic and in particular the clear evidence that over the next few years we have the potential to build a strong team who will undoubtedly be able to help us progress into the weekend. Roll on 2012! (MFJ)

2011 Matchplay Knockout

[Mon 04 Apr 11]

OCGS Winners 2006-2010

[Mon 31 Jan 11]

John Brazell's excellent tome on the OCGS contains all results from 1920 to 2005. He has since compiled the results for 2006-2010 and these can be found at ocgs.org.uk.

Please click here for details.