Breezy but bright weather greeted the 34 members making the trip north to Alenda golf, our thanks go to Alenda for arranging a game for us at such short notice after the days before cancellation of Alicante Golf because of water problems.

Fairways were in good condition and many tees brought forward, but greens unusually woolly and therefore slow, causing some players major problems, as did the swirling nature of the wind, often the case at this course. Only Chris Hamblett (38) and Ken Flaherty (37) managed to break par.

The final of the SMGS 2016 Roger Pearson doubles matchplay competition was played between The Wizard & Oz ( John Osborne & Darren Hancock) and The Dumpers (Steve Davis & Ivan Hanak) after a hard fought match  Wizard & Oz won on the first  extra hole which was exactly the same outcome as last year’s final between the two teams.

The day’s stableford competition results, by category and in reverse order, were the following:

Bronze Category: 5th, Mary Cleary (34), 4th, Gratten Forber (35), 3rd, Brian Mulligan (35), 2nd, Ray Ewins (36) & 1st with the best score of the day Chris Hamblett (38).

Silver Category: 5th, Ron Stenhouse (32), 4th Steve Davis (32), 3rd Charles Jones (33), 2nd Richard Cleary (35) and 1st, Ken Flaherty with 37 points.

Gold Category: 5th, Darren Hancock (30), 4th John Osborne (30 on CB), 3rd Steve Higgins (31), 2nd Andy Imrie (32) and 1st, Robin Eastman with 35 points.

The Abacus highlighted how fortunes can change in golf in such a short time, with last week’s third top scorer in his category Norman Cahill taking home the bottle of wine.

Nearest the pins on the par 3’s (open to all) went to Richard Cleary (3), Norman Mcbride (5), Gratten Forber (13) and Chris Hamblett (16).

Our thanks go to the staff at Alenda golf course for their contribution to the day.

Keep up to date with all SMGS matters by logging on to our website www.smgs.org or simply give Barry Roehrig a call on 966 731 033 to find out more about the society and its weekly golf get-togethers. Next Wednesday, July 20th, we will be at Las Colinas.