Willmotts Update – 8th April 2020

Dear Willmotts

We hope you are coping with the social distancing regime and finding things to keep you occupied. The good weather has enabled us to get those gardening jobs done but we are all missing the golf course and the opportunities to socialise together. Let’s hope the good weather continues and we can all enjoy being back on the golf course in the near future.

The Willmotts Committee had an on-line meeting on Monday to review our current situation and this communication is being sent to update you on a range of issues.

Membership renewals

Thanks to those who have renewed their golf club membership. This will help to sustain the golf club’s financial position at this difficult time. If you haven’t yet paid your annual subscription, we would urge you to do so.

Our golf course

The Greens Staff are continuing to work on the golf course and it is reported to be in very good condition. We will place photos of the course on the Willmotts website where you will be able to see the many improvements which are taking place.

Future mini-breaks

This year’s mini-break at the Dale Hill Hotel & Golf Complex has been postponed to next May, when the dates will be Tuesday 4th May to Saturday 8th May 2021. All those who planned to participate in 2020 have been informed of the new arrangements and deposits are being held.

The re-scheduling to next year does provide the opportunity for others to attend. The format of the 4 night break at the 4-star hotel will be golf on two days (Wednesday and Friday), with trips organised for the non-golfers and evening entertainment. Thursday will be a free day to allow participants to visit the south coast or some of the many other local attractions. Contact David Gamble at david.gamble7@btinternet.com for further information.

Malcolm McGregor and Bill Vorley had been planning the 2021 mini-break with the preferred venue being Chipping Norton. This will now be the likely venue for the 2022 mini-break with further details to follow in due course.

Keeping in touch

We want to support regular contacts between Willmotts at this difficult time. We will continue to e-mail updates and use the Willmotts website to keep all in tune with developments. It has been suggested that we should also set up a WhatsApp Group to enable more regular social contact between all of us. The first step is to ask you if you would wish to be involved and provide help for you, as appropriate, in downloading the required App. We will send out a further communication by email asking you if you want to be involved with more details of what you need to do to join the WhatsApp Group.

The Willmotts Committee

Jim Gales has left the club but will continue as a social member. We will find a time when the lockdown is over to give formal thanks to Jim for his contribution to the work of the Willmotts.

We still need to recruit new members to the Willmotts Committee. Although the post of Administrative Secretary is being covered on a temporary basis by Malcolm McGregor, the permanent post is still vacant and we need someone to step forward to take on this important role, working in tandem with Phil Duckering who is our new Competitions Secretary. Malcolm is also covering the role of Willmotts Vice-Captain for this year but we do need a Vice-Captain for 2021.

Under normal circumstances next year’s Vice-Captain would already be a committee member, but this is not the case at present. Next year’s Vice-Captain would also be expected to organise the mini break for 2022, during his captaincy year. However, as the 2022 mini-break is now being organised by Malcolm and Bill Vorley, this removes this particular responsibility from the 2022 Willmotts Captain.

As with the Administrative Secretary position, we do need someone to step up to this crucial role and join the committee this year. If you are interested in being Vice-Captain in 2021 and Captain in 2022, please contact David Gamble or another committee member for further information.

Winter Eclectic Competition

Following the lockdown of the golf course in March, we took the decision to include the October to February eclectic scores, and not those in March, in deciding on the prize winners. We hope those who submitted an exceptional scorecard in March will understand the rationale for doing this.

Thanks go to Eric Abbott for managing this competition so well and for producing his brilliant monthly spreadsheets. Eric will be in contact with participants in the near future with the full list of prize winners. Prizes are being awarded to those in first and second place for:

·         18 holes gross

·         18 holes nett

·         Front 9 gross

·         Front 9 nett

·         Back 9 gross

·         Back 9 nett

·         Over 80’s 9 holes

With the proviso that a player can only win one prize.

Following Eric’s communication with participants, we will display the full list of prize winners on the Willmotts website.

However, special congratulations go to:

·         Mark Simpkins winner of 18 holes gross competition with a score of 69;  &

·         Roger Gillespie winner of 18 holes nett competition with a nett score of 57

Prizes will be available when the lockdown is lifted, as will those for the Winter Pairs Competition won by Jeremy Holt and Chris Price, who beat Jim Sweeney and Tony Widmer 2 and 1 in a very close final on the day before the lockdown.

Planning for the rest of 2020

The regular and helpful communications from the Club’s Contingency Planning Group (CPG) are keeping us informed of developments, with the CPG drawing on instructions/advice from central Government and England Golf. At present there is uncertainty about when we will be allowed back on the golf course and under what conditions and whether there will be some sort of phased return.

It appears highly likely that some sense of normality may be several weeks or even months away. The Club has put back the date for the Club Captain’s Day to late June, extended timelines for knock out competitions and re-schedule Finals Day for 31st October.  We have postponed our mid-May mini-break and suspended all of our club matches until further notice.

The Willmotts Committee has agreed to re-start our social roll ups on Mondays and Thursdays when the CPG announces we can return to the course, but ensuring we observe fully the safety protocols that are placed on us.

We will re-start our competitions when we are given clearance, potentially playing as 2-balls. With this in mind, the May Medal is scheduled for Thursday 7th May and entries are currently open via the website. This may be over-optimistic but will only take place if the course closure is relaxed by that date.

We are looking to re-schedule the Willmotts Captain’s Day and Charity Cups Day with the Ladies but are unlikely to try to re-schedule any other competitions that cannot be played on the dates in the current diary.

With regard to club matches, we will liaise with other clubs to see what is possible once the lockdown is relaxed. We need to be mindful that sign up for club matches usually starts about 4 to 5 weeks prior to a match and that we would want our catering facilities to be fully available.  Likewise with internal competitions, particularly those for which we have a sign-up sheet, we again need to be mindful that a 4 to 5 week sign-up timeline is the norm.

Phil Duckering has done the draws for the JES Brookes Singles Knock Out and the Sir Norman King Doubles Knock Out competitions– both shown on the website. Timelines for the rounds have been extended.

Finally, the Committee wants to extend its warmest wishes to you all at this challenging time.

Stay safe, keep healthy and let’s look forward to happy golfing days together sometime soon.

Willmotts Committee, 8 April 2020.

Willmotts Captains’ report for 2016

With over 50 events in the form of medals and Stableford competitions, matches against other clubs, and the joint events with the ladies it has been a very busy year as seniors’ captain. I’ve managed to take part in all but six of the club matches, enjoyed watching the juniors section and presenting them with their cups. Our joint events with the ladies have I think gone particularly well and their support on my Captain’s day was most welcome.

I must begin my Captain’s report by saying some important thank you’s. Our year has run like clockwork because I have been very lucky to have an outstanding team backing me up through the year. First, Secretary, David Gamble with his attention to detail and organisation of our fixture list, medals and other competitions, Treasurer, Bob Barton with his finger firmly on our financial pulse:  Vice Captain Bill Vorley, selecting every team and standing in for me as captain in my absence: Vice Captain in waiting, David Seymour who has ensured all our trophies are engraved and tracked and past captain John Murrer keeping an eye on continuity and contributing to the club newsletter. John will be standing down after four years on our committee with a particularly memorable year as our captain.  Last but not least, Roy Healey for auditing our accounts and Rod Fairclough who has kept all our seniors’ information up to date on the club/Willmotts web site.

The biggest thank you must go to all of you who make up The Willmotts, for giving me such fantastic support over my year. This like last year was always going to be a challenge for me but you have made it a real pleasure. Nothing demonstrated this better than the support you gave to my recent ladies night on the 11th of November. Some 92 people supported the event with some very positive feedback from many who attended. Jerry and The Atrics was obviously the right band to have!! Willmotts generosity on the night means that we were able to donate £200 to Captain Steve’s charity and give a further £270 to my charity, Cancer Research UK. We added in the £70 raised as a result of raffling the golf bag very kindly donated by Nita McCarthy on Charity Cups Day.

As the year draws to a close I’d like to think that I have kept my promise to make golf with the Willmotts as inclusive as possible. We have welcomed in several new players, had a much wider number of Willmotts included in our matches and seen the two divisions introduced this year open up the chance of success to a wider number of Willmotts. Far from being over the hill we have a range of golfers from single to double figure handicaps and several in their eighties who still play competitive golf.  I am pleased that in the true spirit of the Willmotts everyone can and does take part.

So what will I remember as the highlights of my year?

 First must be our mini break at Holme Lacey in May. I will not forget the fun and friendship that was so evident each evening at the dinner table and the wonderful sunny end to the break on final Thursday evening with drinks on the terrace. The generosity of those attending raised a significant sum for Cancer Research UK.

The opportunity for me to play in 24 of the Willmotts matches against other clubs and the opportunity to promote our club to a wider audience, all of whom have been singularly impressed with our course this year even if they found it a little challenging at times!

The sporting way in which everyone kept smiling at The Captains Day, that wasn’t, due to a power cut!

Our big achievement of the summer was winning The Rhys Richards trophy, a four way competition between Stowe, North Oxfordshire, Leighton Buzzard and ourselves. The only team I was allowed to pick! It had been eight years since we were champions but we achieved a convincing victory with 187 points from our team of six players!

I almost forgot there was of course another highlight, a notable win by myself and vice captain Bill in the club versus Willmotts match! Off the white tees of course!! Steve Ling and Grant Brooks are still getting their legs pulled!!

Other things I will remember are the number of Willmotts who turned up one morning early to work with ground staff to repair divots on all the fairways and the positive response from Willmotts for ball spotters at The Willen Hospice event. Both these are good demonstrations of our supportive ethos as a seniors’ section.

The most embarrassing moment! Well that has to be changing at the end of a match at Harpenden common only to find that although I had a blazer, shirt and tie in the suit carrier, the nicely pressed trousers were still at home in the wardrobe!! Check shorts and a smart blazer are definitely ‘On Trend’!! 

Thank you all, it has been a privilege to lead you in 2016 and help contribute to a great golf club, I feel sure that in handing over to Bill we can look forward another great year ahead of us.

Captain Mac

MalcolmMcGregor

Willmott Captain’s report December 2015

In this first year of our second century as a golf club, I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to be Captain of the Willmott’s.  It has been a very busy and successful year, I have outlined some of the highlights in this report.

Before I start, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have helped make this a successful year.  Our office manager Karen has been very helpful and supportive of me, the bar staff and kitchen have served us very well in the matches against other clubs and in the Willmott competitions.  The standard of food for our matches has been good and the kitchen should be congratulated on their performance.  The Willmott committee have worked tirelessly to support me in all the year’s events and I would like to thank David Gamble our secretary for his excellent work, Mac McGregor for picking the teams for club matches and for all his help, Bob Barton for keeping our finances in good shape, Bill Vorley for keeping tabs on all our trophies and Ron Rawlings for writing the amusing newsletters.

Our match season started with the Willmott’s v the Ladies for the ‘Clock’ trophy. This we won and we then found out that the clock needed servicing and new batteries! It is now in good working order.

This was followed closely by our Willmott’s and Ladies Texas Scramble. Eighty four people entered in teams of 4 and the golf was followed by a rolling hot meal in the clubhouse.  It was clear from the fun that was had playing this format of golf and the atmosphere in the clubhouse after the event, that this was far more popular than the ‘clock’ match.  After consultation with the Ladies section, we have now changed the second ‘Clock’ match due to be played in October, to an Autumn Texas scramble and have purchased a new trophy for the event.

The Monday and Thursday morning ‘roll ups’ have been as popular as ever with more than 40 people attending on many occasions.  The numbers are weather dependent, but even on foul days there are still some hardy souls wanting to play.  We have had several new members join our section, and some of them have been included in our teams for inter club matches.

Our medals and Stableford competitions have been very well attended and as a result we have been able to increase the prize money and the number of prizes awarded for each competition.  Several existing club members who hadn’t previously played with the Willmott’s are now entering these competitions on a regular basis.

I have been very lucky with the weather throughout my year and on my Captain’s day we had another bright and sunny morning. The Lady Captain Beryl and Lady President Gleniss acted as starters for the day and the Ladies section produced a superb array of home cooked cakes and made us tea and coffee at the halfway house.  A huge thank you to them for helping to make the day very special for me. In the late afternoon we had a big sit down meal, followed by the prize giving with the Club Captain Roy, President Mike, Lady Captain Beryl and Lady President Gleniss attending as my guests.

The Willmott’s played fifteen local golf clubs in home and away fixtures during the year. This year’s results were better than usual with 12 wins, 2 halved and 16 lost, and we managed to win two away matches for the first time in many years.

The annual four night mini break was held in mid-May at Thoresby Hall near Nottingham. Sixty nine people attended, including a group of seven from the ladies section.  This year we booked a Warner’s hotel with golf at the nearby Rufford Park.  The weather was fine for the whole week and we all had lots of fun, including for the first time, a bowls competition which attracted 48 players, most of whom had never tried bowling before.

Every year we play against teams from Leighton Buzzard, Stowe and North Oxford for the Rhys Richard’s trophy. This year the event was held at North Oxford and was won by Stowe. Rod Kupczyk from our team was winner of the individual prize.

Our Charity cups event with the ladies was another very good and well attended day and the raffle raised £400 which was given to Club Captain Roy to support his charities.

During the year several teams of Willmott’s have entered other clubs’ senior invitation events. This year we have been very successful with wins at Stowe and South Beds and runners up at Buckingham, Harpenden Common and St Neots.

In October we were given the opportunity to purchase an original Charles Willmott ‘Niblick’ golf club, this will be displayed in the clubhouse and will be used for the Willmott Captains drive in / out each January.  It will also be awarded as a prize for an over 80 year old member in one of our club competitions.

On the 5th November we had an informal Texas Scramble in place of the normal rollup, there were four teams of 4 and three teams of 3 taking part, there was no entry fee and the winners of each group were given a bottle of wine.

The ’Ladies night’ on the 13th November was another very good event with 81 people attending, the three course meal was excellent and was followed by live music and dancing.

The Main club committee have given us approval to obtain and display two new honours boards in the hallway, Ron Rawlings has managed this task and the boards will be put up later this year. The new boards will display the winners of the Charity cups (men and Ladies), the Midsummer Cup, the Sir Norman King trophy and Willmott Captains’ day winners.

I would like to say a big thank you to Derek Spilling who has used his exceptional woodworking skills over the years has made us lots of items for the Willmott’s.  This year alone he has made the Niblick trophy board, a new base for the McCarthey tankard and a replica Sir Norman King trophy.

As my captaincy draws to an end and as I look back on the year, I will always remember the fun we had on the mini break and the great atmosphere in the clubhouse following my Captain’s day and the Scrambles with the ladies.  Our first away win at Harpenden Common was another highlight of the year.

On the 1st January 2016 I will be passing the Willmott captaincy into the very capable hands of Mac McGregor. I hope that he enjoys his year as much as I have enjoyed mine.

John Murrer

Willmott captain 2015

CAPTAINS REPORT TO WILLMOTT  2014

I am now approaching the end of my tenure as your Captain and I am delighted to have had the honour holding the office for this Centenary year of the Club. Not unusually it has been a busy year made busier than normal with the Centenary involvement.  On January 1st I pass on the Captaincy of the Willmott’s to John Murrer and I wish him every success in the office with the knowledge that I am passing the baton to safe hands.

The Willmott’s are not run or organised by one man so before I continue with some of the detail I take this opportunity to offer my grateful thanks to the members of the Willmott’s Committee all of whom have made an enormous contribution to the success of the year. However my thanks also go to you all for the manner in which you have supported me throughout the year in playing in roll ups, domestic competitions and matches against other Clubs together with your attendance at social functions.

It has been difficult to pick out highlights as, for me, the whole year has fallen into that category considering such events as the Minibreak, Horwood House, the Centenary Golf and Social events, Captains Day, Charity Cups, Ladies Matches and Ladies Night just to mention a few. For brevity I will not go into the detail of these as there are other things that require mentioning.

First amongst these is that in the past twelve months we have gained a number of new members playing with us regularly. To those I give a warm welcome as indeed many of you have when already with them. New participants are always welcome and I hope we have a similar if not better increase next year. The numbers taking part in competitions has increased substantially in the past twelve months.

From next year we will be increasing the number of Club matches by four by introducing home and away matches with Letchworth and Harpenden Common. The introductory matches played earlier in the year were played in the same spirit as with the established Club matches. Needless to say they were our only away wins!

With the increase in the number of Willmotts taking part in the Medals and Stablefords consideration has been given to the number of prizes presented with the result that we have increased the number of prizes from three to five for each competition.

A new competition, the Winter Pairs, has been introduced on a new format of leagues followed by knockouts for the semi-finals and final. Looking at the number of entries this looks as though it will be popular competition in the future. 

I offer my heartiest congratulations to all the Competition winners and receivers of trophies and prizes this year.

I cannot complete this report without offering our congratulations to Tony Lee and his ground staff who have presented the course to us in superb condition on every occasion.  I also offer my thanks to the Club Secretary, Karen Evans, and the ladies in her office and to Kevin and the bar and catering staff for their support and help this past year.

Lastly I once again offer my thanks to you all for allowing me to have this very enjoyable year and my hope is that you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

Thank you

Ron Rawlings

Willmotts Captain 2014

Willmotts December Report 2013

As I approach the end of my year as The Willmotts Captain I am pleased to report that it has gone extremely well and I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The strength of the section has increased this year with a number of new members and we have reduced the age of eligibility to 55 in line with the accepted norm. Competitions, medals, and stablefords have been very well supported and the numbers of entrants have been generally on the up. Congratulations go to the various winners and a special mention to Terry Green and Bob Collet for their consistency in this season’s medals.

The introduction of Intelligent Golf has been widely welcomed and the Club’s excellent web site has proved a most useful addition and is especially helpful to Secretary David Gamble in both controlling and closing the competitions.

Our home and away matches against thirteen other clubs have been enjoyed by a good cross section of Willmotts, with 51 having taken part. Results have been similar to past seasons and, although we have lost exactly half the matches, we have in fact won ten matches, one more match than last year. The noticeable thing is that all our wins have been at home, which confirms that our course is more difficult than its lack of yards might otherwise suggest, especially for those who are not used to it. It is pleasing to report that our visitors, without exception, have been full of praise about the course and I am happy to say that they have also spoken highly of the quality and value of the meals they have received.

 The two matches against the Ladies for “The Clock” were keenly fought. The original scheduled match had to be postponed due to snow and was then hastily rearranged with reduced numbers and played on 26th April. It was won by the ladies. The men took their revenge when they triumphed in the return match, which took place on 14th October and the event, and excellent meal afterwards, were hugely enjoyed by a field of 56 players.

The Midsummer Cup was held on May 9th. Congratulations to Jim Elton who won with 40 points.

The Captain/Vice Captain better ball challenge on 16th May was something of an embarrassment. In anticipation that all the pairs would beat Ron Rawlings and myself, I purchased enough wine to cover that eventuality. As only one pair actually bettered our score on the day, I was then left with a Merlot wine mountain in my garage.

Thirty seven Willmotts, wives and partners enjoyed the mini break towards the end of May, which this year was at the historic, grade 1 listed, Hintlesham Hall Hotel, near Ipswich, noted for its fine dining in elegant surroundings. Next door, the Hintlesham golf course provided a good test for the twenty nine golfers who played on Monday and Wednesday. Remarkably, the rain threatened on Wednesday kept away for the golfers. However, the non playing ladies who went on their mystery day trip around the Suffolk Coast, were not so lucky and they got a little wet. Nevertheless they returned having had a good laugh, a super fish and chip lunch, only to be confronted by a huge cream tea in the hotel’s garden room, leaving little room for the gala Night Dinner

Willmotts Captain’s Day on 6th June saw a field of more than 50 entrants competing in glorious sunshine. Congratulations to the Captain’s Trophy winner, David Harris, who joined the club only this season and whose magnificent winning score of 42 points saw his handicap cut to eleven.  Many thanks go to members of the ladies section who did us proud by providing a selection of delicious home baked cakes and for feeding and watering the players at the half way pit stop. It was greatly appreciated.

The Greensomes Pairs took place on July 4th and was won by Derek Moxom, partnered by Keith Evans, who only stood in at the last minute. Well done to them.

On July 15th a team of six Willmotts competed in the annual The Rhys Richards Trophy, this year hosted by Stowe Seniors, which included teams from Leighton Buzzard, Buckingham and North Oxfordshire. All players’ scores counted and in the end there were only seven points separating the teams in which North Oxfordshire were triumphant.

We were joined by the Ladies for the Willmotts Charity Cups on 19th August and thanks to every one’s generosity we were able to present a cheque to Club Captain Duncan White towards his charities making a total of £500 for the year. Congratulations go to Geoff Smith and Irene Simpson who were the individual winners of the two cups.

The Vic Hill Cup took place on September 2nd. I am pleased to report that the worthy winner was Club Vice Captain Fred Mercer with 37 points. Fred has taken the opportunity to play in a good number of Willmotts Competitions this season and it has been much appreciated.

The 19th September saw the Present Captain and Past Captains versus three teams made up from the Rest. It was a personal embarrassment as I effectively played for The Rest, my Stableford score being so poor it dragged down the Captain’s Team aggregate and all three teams from The Rest beat us. It cost lots of sleeves of golf balls!

The Willmotts Putter on 3rd October produced the round of the year, an outstanding individual performance from winner Andrew Stock. Playing off a handicap of eleven he amassed a magnificent score of 45 points, which included one blob. Many congratulations go to Andrew who must be thankful that, due to work being carried out on holes 15 and 16, the competition was changed to a non qualifier. Unfortunately for Andrew his performance has not escaped the attention of handicap Secretary Heddwen Molloy.

Two knock out competitions ran throughout the summer and were keenly contested. Congratulations to Keith Mason who won the singles J.E.S Brookes Trophy beating John Murrer in the final, and to Andrew Stock and David Gamble who defeated Jim Elton and David Bowerman in the final of The Sir Norman King Trophy in the inaugural year of the competition.

On Saturday 5th October we competed in the annual match against the club, comprising teams of six pairs for each side. Meeting  for a bacon butty at 10.0 am the competition commenced at 11.0 am. Afterwards sandwiches and chips were enjoyed, together with the normal friendly banter. In a closely fought match the club were winners by 3 1/2 to 2 1/2.

My thanks go to Keith Davies who retired as treasurer at the end of September after eight years in the post. Keith has done an excellent job keeping The Willmotts accounts in order and his sterling work has been much appreciated. Keith nominated myself to succeed him as Willmotts Treasurer and this was seconded by the committee. There were no further nominations, so I have accepted the post and hope to continue where Keith left off. My thanks go to Roy Healey for carrying out this year’s audit. This year has been financially successful and we have more than consolidated our finances. Consequently the committee will be proposing significant improvements in prize money for 2014 at the AGM.

I am very appreciative of the cooperation I have received from Karen Evans in ensuring that all Willmotts fixtures, club matches and dining arrangements went off so successfully.

Since the last AGM David Gamble has taken over the position as Willmotts secretary and I know the committee would join me in congratulating him on the great job he has done. Thanks go to Keith Mason who now leaves the committee after four years. There are more Willmotts in line to join the committee and I am confident that they will be endorsed by members at the AGM.

It has been an honour to be The Willmotts Captain and, in closing, I would like to thank my fellow Willmotts for entrusting me with the opportunity and to my committee for their valued support throughout the season. I know that The Willmotts will be in safe hands under next season’s Captain Ron Rawlings and I wish him every success.

Bob Barton. Captain, The Willmotts 2013

Willmotts June Report 2011

The Year started well with more new members joining the Willmotts and the season getting under way with a mixed Texas Scramble

that was won by Tony Widmer,  John Hall,,Carole Jones and Gill Richards

Closely followed by a match against the Ladies with the Willmotts winning 7 1/2 - 4 1/2

Matches against other clubs have been coming thick and fast and so far this year we have won 4 lost 9 and drawn 1, We plan to do better the rest of the season

The course is in excellent condition and receives deserved praise from all the visiting teams.

The Willmott Mini Break was well supported and 55 went to Sprowston Manor in Norwich to enjoy the hotel and golf.

The weather stayed fine and some great golf was produced, Congratulations to all the event winners

Queens Trophy.

1st  Rod Fairclough 42 points, 2nd Roy Kenyon 35 points c/b, 3rd Bob Barton 35 points c/b

Trixie's Trophy

1st Karen Hough 37 points 2nd Pauline Hansen 36 points c/b 3rd Moira Mason 36 points c/b

Jasper Trophy

Karen Hough, David Hough, Pam Archibold, Keith Mason

Old Men Trophy

1st Ron Rawlings 44 points 2nd Roy Kenyon 40 points 3rd Captain Rod 37 points

Jubilee Trophy

1st Pam Archibold 40 points 2nd Karen Hough 34 points 3rd Ann Taylor 33 points

After the Gala Dinner the prizes were presented by Ann Taylor the Aspley Guise Lady Captain. This was followed by dancing provided by ChrysAL a duo comprising of Chrissy Caine and Alessandro Calce and was enjoyed by all. They were such a hit that Rod has no hesitation in booking them for the Willmott Ladies Night in November.

Our Midsummer Cup was won by Terry Hamilton 43 pts 

Willmott Captains Day was an enjoyable day with the top prize going to

Maurice Whitehouse with an excellent 41 pts.

Willmotts December Report 2010

The year has come to a close with a strong following from previous years, to which has been added a number of new members.

Our results against the thirteen other clubs we play throughout the year were somewhat lacking; we won six, halved five and lost fifteen.

We finished our competition season with our match with the Ladies which resulted in a win for the Willmotts.

The remaining competitions were well supported:

The J.E.S. Brooks Knockout was won by Alan Moore, with Bob Barton runner up.

The Summer Eclectic was won by David Gamble once again.

Our Ladies Night on the 12th November was very successful, and enjoyed by all those who attended.  Manager Karen accepted the donation of a cheque for £250 from the Willmotts to the Captain’s Charity.

Our Christmas Shotgun competition was held on 9th December, finishing with the usual   mince pies and mulled wine. The winner was Geoff Smith with Brian Perry second and David Higgs third.

The AGM then followed where much confusion ensued, as the Captain had lost his car keys with most of the prizes (and his speech) locked inside.

Apart from that there were few surprises and the nominated candidates were elected en mass.

Welcome and good luck to our incoming Captain Rod Fairclough and Vice Captain Keith Mason.  Bob Barton has also joined the committee.

Many thanks to the committee, especially the long suffering Secretary Colin Hosker, and Treasurer Keith Davies, for making my year as Captain such an enjoyable experience.

David Hough

Willmotts Captain 2010