SENIORS MATCH HOME AGAINST OUNDLE 18th Sept 2025 - Result W 5 -3

 it was good to return to winning ways for the final Seniors match of the season. Having lost 6 1/2 to 1 and 1/2 at Oundle earlier in the season, it was good to get revenge, But Winning has  not been the main focus Over the past five months.

Ironically, after Peter Hickman and myself winning against Colin Stanyon at Oundle, Colin was able to return the favour with he and Chris Dix winning one up against myself and Rob Sorrell. Chris and Colin combined well Chris playing particularly well on the front nine and Colin playing particularly well on the back night. A stunning long putt on the 14th placed us 2 down with 3 to play and we were unable to recover over the next few holes. Rob however played the 18th quite beautifully with two excellent shots down the fairway but his approach shot was held up at the top of the slope with the grass being slightly lusher than expected. Rob was rewarded however, for his good play on the back line with a nearest the pin win on the 16th.

A very good win by Mark and Richard followed although their opponents were a tad upset by Mark’s excellent play, and questioned his handicap!!!! but if they had seen him over the past few weeks they would’ve known that he’d been playing well and is slowly returning to the good form he had a few seasons ago. A close for victory from David and Phil followed by halves from Mike and David and Clive and Mark meaning that we were in a good position going into the last three matches. Keith and Niel played very well to beat the consistently good Peter Izod and his partner Mike 2 up and then Michael Earl and Kevin won with a very comfortable 5 and 4 to give Burghley Park victory on the day.

In the final match, Peter and Saj lost on the 17th Though both played well.

Afterwards in the clubhouse, we were treated to a delicious chicken curry courtesy of Aziz who has worked extremely hard for the club over the past three weeks. We thank him for his brilliant efforts. I would also like to thank Joan Hickman and her team for supporting us at the halfway house.

It is appropriate for me to say at this point that being Captain of the Seniors has been a real pleasure this season. I have no doubt that we are the friendliest Club on the circuit and the camaraderie between our players and their opponents is 2nd to none. On occasion I have had to request late substitutes and without fail people have stepped in at 24 hours notice to play in matches. The support from every player has been excellent and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to play with so many different members. 

Paul

SENIORS MATCH AWAY AGAINST GIRTON 12th Sept 2025 - Result L 21/2 - 51/2

 Burghley Park slipped to its sixth defeat in a row at the hands of Girton Golf Club but there were a lot of positives to take from the match with two close defeats that could’ve gone either way. Before the match, Captain Paul had mentioned that preparations for winter teas had gone on recently and unfortunately we had a couple of bad bounces of these winter tee areas. Nevertheless, the course played well, although I think Burghley Park greens are in much better condition.

Congratulations to Kevin and Neil who won three and one in the final match. Niel once again proving that arriving early and practising before a match is totally unnecessary. Neil was spotted by quite a few players as he strode over the First and 18th fairways to get to the 17th tee, with helpful directions from several of the Girton members. 

Congratulations to the two Michaels, Earl and Marriott who won the third match one up. One of our other Michaels, Michael McCarthy and Rob Sorrel, had a very close match losing on the 18th.

Richard and myself could arguably have won, although our opponents Paul and Dave played very well, scoring a better ball 74, 5 over.. I three putted two greens, including the 18th, where two putts would’ve given us the hole. Our better ball of 77 include some really good holes and in fact, Richard and I won the back 9 1 up.

It was good to see Peter Hickman back to his winning ways with the nearest the pin prize.

Paul and Dave were exceptionally friendly opponents and we had a good chat long after most people had left for the long journey home. Thank you to Girton for being such excellent hosts

Onward to next Thursday when we play and Oundle Golf club in our last match of the season. A home win would be nice

Paul

SENIORS AWAY MATCH AGAINST RUTLAND WATER 9th Sept 2025 - Result L 7 - 1

We were indeed fortunate that the weather held off for our match against Rutland Water. Earlier in the season, the members of Rutland Water had suggested that their course was in quite a lot of trouble and was struggling with the early season dry weather, however when this match came up the course had much improved. The fairways had certainly recovered and the greens were in a good condition. Very well done to Rutland Water ground staff.

Arguably the good state of the course was the only major positive Burghley Park could take out of this fixture. Four of the matches were over before the 16th tee was reached. The only positives were the halves achieved by Tim Chapman and Peter Hickman and Mark Hotchkin and Pip Kirby, so very well played to them.

In my match, Richard Cook played exceptionally well, but it was not enough against Chris Mallon and Bill King Smith. Chris and Bill combined brilliantly to finish with a better ball score of three over gross, a 75. Captain Chris in fact had an 82 including a seven at the difficult part three.  Richard and I were beaten easily but on glancing at the scores after the match I realised that we had had a better ball score 6 under our Par. Richard had indeed played well, including a birdie at one of the Par fives, but we won only 2 holes.

Nearest the pin for Burghley was Peter Steele and Mike Martin for the hosts

I have no doubt that local knowledge at Rutland Water and experience of playing the course helps considerably. 

The conversation in the clubhouse after the match was extremely convivial and I think everybody had a most enjoyable day certainly George playing with an old friend Robin Old  was a highlight as was one of our opponents buying several bottles of white wine! 

Paul

SENIORS PARSONAGE BOWL MATCH 18th Aug 2025

 

Parsonage Bowl 2025

This years winner Past Captain Pip Kirby’s Team  

Nearest the Pin winners

               3rd Hole.   Lynn Collen  (Ladies)

              13th Hole.  Alan Gray      (Gents)

              16th Hole.  Phil Hunt.       (Mixed)

SENIORS AWAY MATCH AGAINST MIDDLETON HALL 27th Aug 2025 - Result L 5 - 3

Middleton Hall located a few miles out of Kings Lynn is our furthest destination on the Seniors Tour. It is so far that I actually threatened to Wild Camp to make sure I was there for the 8.15 meet up, as it was I left home at 6:30 AM, for me a very early start. 

In the lead match, Mark Hotchkin and myself played very well to beat Declan Byrne and Stephen Vincent. At Burghley we had halved our match but a gross 79 better ball by Mark and myself led to a comfortable five and four victory, Mark’s birdie on  the tricky 14th sealed the win 

Steve Wilcox and Peter Steele then came in with a two and one win which gave Burghley hopes of a surprise team win at the notoriously difficult Middleton course. Unfortunately the only other win we had was from Dave Lennie and Jim Scutt, two very determined players, with a hard fought one up against Kevin Scott and Robert Croxford.

Four convincing wins for Middleton and a close win by Ian Hind and Simon Brown over Burghley’s Richard Martin and Neil Cheddar  gave Middleton a 5-3 victory.

There is no doubt that the handicap system is a very fair one but giving on average six shots to home players makes it quite tricky for an away side. Middleton seldom lose Home matches so full credit to Burghley for running them close.

This was unfortunately, our fourth defeat in a row and whilst our mission is to play good golf in a friendly and positive way it is also nice to get a team victory occasionally. I know Declan enjoyed both his matches this year and he was an excellent host.

Paul

SENIORS AWAY TRIP AUG 2025 @ FOREST PINES

2025 Seniors Captain – Paul Coates

 

 

Although small in numbers, the Seniors away trip to Forest Pines was undoubtedly a BIG success. The course combo proved a challenge to all, particularly Tuesday when the wind blew.  Phil Hunt’s trolley did not hold up well to the high winds, Tuesday it ran away, toppling into a deep bunker and Wednesday a branch fell on it and broke his integrated satnav device. Thankfully, Phil came out of it unscathed. The handicap slope, at least, gave us lots of shots to help with scoring round tricky courses.

 

The prize table Wednesday evening was a delight with a prize for everyone….a lovely gesture by Captain Coates.

 

6 Teams played in three balls, best two to count.

 

Third place went to Joan Hickman, Alan Kinch and Janet Roberts Coming in with 76 points

 

Second place went to Keith Duff, Marilyn Marriott and George Clayton-Jones with 77 points, and the winners…

 

Stephanie Crook, Brian Ross-Jones and Michael Marriott with 81 points

 

 

Poet extraordinaire…..Chris Harrison-Smith penned an amusing poem to conclude the day and our enjoyable time away…..it says it all…

 

… Captain  Coats … 

 

I’d like to say a word to    … Captain Coats,

Cause he’s the one that got our votes,

In fact some call him two coats Coats,

Undercoat or top coat - whatever floats your boats.

 

Coats is caring and considerate to all,

Nothing it seems is trouble for Paul,

Arranging matches, and who to call,

Seniors away - and we’re having a Ball !

 

Who plays with who, then there’s scores to do,

His flippin quiz - I hadn’t a clue!

Getting prizes, and a few surprises,

And the aftershave that he advises!

 

The winning teams - so it seems,

Lots of laughs, and smiley beams,

Brian and George are tops once more,

Most lost balls, and on the green once more.

 

So thank you Paul - you are the man,

These couple of days have gone to plan,

The weather, the golf and this hotel,

All your arrangements have gone well.

 

So one coat or two - our Captain’s a star,

We’ll join him later - in the bar,

In the meantime, let’s raise a cheer,

Cause Burghley Park golfers are loud and clear -

 

  … Hip - Hip - Hooray… 

SENIORS AWAY MATCH AGAINST St NEOTS - 31st July 2025 Result L 2 - 6

 Driving down to St Neots through some pretty heavy rain made me think it was going to be a tough day at the office but apart from a shower at the beginning of our round the weather was very good and by the end of the round the conditions were excellent .

 

it was my first to St Neots and I was made very welcome by the extremely affable Mick Mitchell their Seniors Captain. Equally affable was his partner Adrian Dack and it transpired the Adrian I shared mutual friends that we had both made in our time in Asia in the 1980s and 90s. Perhaps this was a deliberate ploy by Mick and Adrian and  I should’ve spent more time concentrating on Golf than chatting. Mick Marriott and I were soundly beaten five and three although we didn’t play that poorly it was just that Adrian hit some tremendously good shots to the Green and Mick was quite outstanding with his chipping and subsequent single putting. Well played to those two.

 

A good win from Phil Hunt and Michael Wright which included Phil winning nearest the pin on the very tricky eighth hole much to the chagrin of our pin supremo Peter Hickman, who had previously hit a really good shot. Also a good win from David Shales and Kevin de Trafford. David has had three matches this week and has played well in all three. This included a Pairs Match on Tuesday. Kevin fresh for his win against Middleton Hall once more played below his handicap and as I said yesterday he is a dangerous player on his day, especially if he doesn’t drive straight. 

 

St Neots ran out comfortable winners 6 points to 2 our only close defeat was Richard and Peter H in the final match . Michael Whitlock was Nearest The Pin for the Home Team and the outstanding performance was a run of 10 holes where Martin Forster was 2 over par wresting the initiative from Stephen and Mark, who had been 2 Up, finishing 4 down with 2 to play.

 

We had had a 3 Tee start the eight matches all finished within a relatively short time of each other which enabled us to dine together. I have to say gammon is not my favourite choice of food but it was very tasty as was the spotted dick which I certainly would never choose, too many inedible school puddings. There was very animated conversation on all four tables during dinner which was testament to how well the players had got on with each other. Captain Mick made reference to the camaraderie on show. It was a most enjoyable day despite the result.

 

Finally, a very very big thank you to Michael McCarthy who stepped in after recent injury to play for us. All playing squads need people like Michael a very steady player one with a great sense of humour and a very wide knowledge of rugby as the chat on  our table showed.

 

We now have a rest for a couple of weeks until we play at Toft on the 20th of August . In between we have the Seniors Away trip at Forest Pines Golf Club next week.

 

Please signup for The Parsonage Bowl on the 18th. 

Paul