Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Simmons has Boxing Day edge
David Simmons was delighted to win one of his favourite competitions of the year, scoring 27 points from 11 holes for victory in the Boxing Day Cross-country Stableford competition at Canterbury Golf Club.
Simmons (WHS 9.2), who is suffering from long Covid, came out on top from the 38 players who braved the rain, mud and murk.
Sam Curd (12.3) scored 26 to take second place on countback from 2022 club captain Scott Lindsay (20.2). Simmons said: “I played very well, to be honest. I dropped shots here and there but I went round in about four over. “Despite long Covid some of my golf has been very good. It’s one of my favourite competitions. Obviously we didn’t have it last year so to win it was brilliant.” Clare Mills, Val Lucas and Jacklyn Barons won the prechristmas Ladies’ Yellow Ball fun Stableford in freezing conditions and with the 15 open holes covered in frost. Each team nominated who played the yellow ball on selected holes and two scores counted, one of which had to be the yellow-ball player. With the 11-13 holes closed for safety reasons, Mills (playing handicap 15, 85% allowance), Lucas (20) and Barons (23), scored 49 points with 38 on the outward nine, including a haul of eight points on the fourth where Mills chipped in for birdie with the yellow ball and Barons made a four-points par. Mills said: “We were delighted but shocked” as they won by four points from Angela Jones (3), Heather Hardy (20) and Sarah Wetherell (23), Jones scoring birdies at the ninth and 14th in their total of 45. “We really were in total shock to win because we didn’t feel we played the back-six well,” Mills added.
“It was very icy, they weren’t greens, they were whites today but we were the winning ice maidens.”
Jen Rutherford (8), Val Binns (10) and Barbara Plews (21) scored 40 points for third, holding off Sue Jones (15), Fran Fearn (18) and Di Florence (18) on countback in a field of six teams.