County Jottings May 2011

Introducing the County President – Max Kaye

J M (Max) Kaye was voted into Office at the Annual Council Meeting at Maidenhead on 24^th March 2011. He was born 1937 in Sheffield and the Family moved to Lincoln in 1953. He attended Grammar Schools both in Sheffield and Lincoln. He then went on to serve articles with a local firm of accountants and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1959 after which he did two years National Service in the RAF from 1960-2. He left the accounting profession at the beginning of 1963 to go into industry and held various posts in Clayton Dewandre Group and Rank Group before joining Airmec (part of Controls & Communications Group) in 1966. Controls & Communications was bought by Racal Electronics Group in 1969 and the subsidiary of which he was Financial Director was sold to Plessey later that year where he spent two years consolidating the UK Numerical Controls industry with some financial assistance from the Government’s Industrial Reorganisation Corporation. In 1971 he was approached by Racal to return as Financial Director of their Instruments company and remained with them until his retirement in 1995 during that time he became Financial Director of the whole Group. He was heavily involved in the acquisitions of Decca, Chubb and the US companies which formed the Data Communications Sub-Group. Racal created Vodafone in 1984 and joined the consortium which formed Camelot, where he was a Non-Executive Director, to bid for (and win) the licence to run the National Lottery. A sure bet then!

He has dabbled at golf from a young age on the par-3 course in Graves Park but cricket and football were the main interests. He played golf over the years, being a member of Carholme Golf Club in Lincoln from 1957-62, where he was also Honorary Secretary for a couple of years; joined East Berkshire in 1974 and was elected to the Committee in 1987, becoming Captain in 1990 and President in 2003-6.

Max first got involved in County golf when he joined the Executive Committee of the BB&O in 1998 and went on to represent the County on the EGU Council and Executive from 2002-4. In 2003, he was approached by the EGU with the view of taking over the Honorary Treasurership of the EGU and as a result, joined the Management Committee of the Union. In that role he was heavily involved in the incorporation of the Union in September 2005 and was a member of the initial Board. He took over as Chairman of the Board in February 2007 and retired from that position in February 2009. Since his retirement from the EGU Board he was co-opted onto the BB&O Executive Committee in July 2009 and became President-Elect in March 2010 during which time he acted as Chairman of the BB&O Golf Partnership.

BB & O County Matches

We have played a number of Friendly warm up matches against our stronger Clubs with the Captain, Malcolm Reid (Royal Ascot), blooding a few youngsters to ensure they get the experience they need to step up to the next level. He has been very encouraged by the performances of these lads and will almost certainly include one or two of them in the League matches later in the year. Once again, diary clashes will prevent us from fielding our first pick players on all occasions, but it is something we are working on with the English Golf Union to mitigate as many of these as possible.

Our first ‘serious encounter’ was against Surrey on 9^th April at Windlesham. The Captain picked a very young side with just Ashley Walton having played regularly for the 1^st team, three others had only made one appearance. This was in comparison to the Surrey side who probably had a hundred or more ‘caps’ between them. We had a great morning and were leading 3-2 after the foursomes. A much tighter series of singles games saw the afternoon points just go Surrey’s way 6-4 and we narrowly lost 7-8, an excellent result, despite the loss and great experience for the players.

Team at Windlesham: Ben Cotton (The Oxfordshire), James Foster (Newbury & Crookham), Matt Johnston (Chipping Norton), Dean Newbold (Frilford Heath), Joe Richardson (Frilford Heath), Josh Stanners (Hazlemere), Ollie Tite (Witney Lakes), Ashley Walton (Frilford Heath), Ashley Watkins (East Berkshire), Luke Williams (Frilford Heath).

We then took on Dorset at Calcot Park on 24^th April and gave an outing to a couple of new faces in Andrew Lynch and Ross Mitchell who had recently become eligible to play for us. Fairly one sided foursomes results left the honours even at lunchtime but we managed to scrape through in the afternoon singles to beat their top side 6½-5½.

Team at Calcot Park: Steve Barwick (Stoke Park), Andrew Lynch (Stoke Park), Dean Newbold (Frilford Heath), Ross Mitchell (East Berkshire), Malcolm Reid (Royal Ascot), Ollie Tite (Witney Lakes), Luke Williams (Frilford Heath), Dean Wright (Reading).

BB & O Juniors Matches

The BB&O Elite boys played their annual season-opener against Wellington College on a dry but chilly day on March 5^th.As usual the hosts were well prepared and determined. The course was in excellent condition for the time of year and for the new Squad players it proved a tricky test.

The top order was a repeat of last year's match between Jordan Mann and Josh Stanners and the result was also the same with Jordan winning a closely fought match by a single hole. Then came the two England Girls Alex Peters and Heidi Baek who once again despatched our boys convincingly. James Foster played well but experienced a barrage of 6 birdies in 7 holes - and from being all square did well to hang on to Alex who eventually won 3/2. Will Cooper then met the golf machine that is Heidi Baek and didn't fare any better with a heavy defeat. But further down the order the BB&O boys began to assert their authority with convincing wins for David Langley, Luke Fitzpatrick and Ben Beach. Matt Milligan enjoyed a close match but narrowly lost 2/1 and George Abbot holed an important 5 footer on the last to take his match by a single hole. George Bell made his debut in the Elites with a narrow win also and it was great to see him smiling all the way through his round.

The match was played is superb spirit amongst players who are beginning to know each others' games pretty well. There were some generous putting concessions and a good competitive atmosphere. BB&O eventually ran out narrow winners on the day. We look forward to the return match later in the season.

Team at Wellington College: George Abbott (The Oxfordshire), Ben Beach (Burnham Beeches), George Bell (Harewood Downs), Tom Butterworth (Harewood Downs), Will Cooper (Woburn), James Foster (Newbury & Crookham), Luke Fitzpatrick (Stoke Park), David Langley (Castle Royle), Matt Milligan (Sand Martins), Josh Stanners (Hazlemere).

 Next up, we took on Hampshire at Newbury & Crookham on 3^rd April. This used to be a 3 way match including Wiltshire but they have had a lot of problems getting a side organised and we have decided to drop that in future. The weather was fine and breezy and the was course in pretty good condition for the time of year. Hampshire were without three of their better players but  they still managed to edge a narrow victory by a single point. At the top of the BB&O order both Josh Stanners and David Langley were solid and reliable as ever and notched up a couple of fine wins over their classy opponents. The pressure told on James Foster who, on his home course, suffered a heavy defeat and was sadly never really in the match. We then experienced something of a middle order collapse with the next four players in the order losing. Both Will Cooper and Luke Fitzpatrick had good chances to win or half but lost it over the closing holes. Then came something of a rally with Matt Milligan holing a twenty footer on the last to take a great win after having been three down with six to play. A good lesson to all the team on fighting until the end!

Jordan Williams managed a half and both Ben Beach and Jake Dines edged out their respective opponents for good wins after very close and enjoyable matches. Sadly by this time Charlie Butler had already lost his match and so we finished with a narrow defeat. Overall it was a good day to blow the cobwebs away but we will have to be much sharper if we want to win against Hertfordshire on our next outing!

Team at Newbury & Crookham: George Abbott (The Oxfordshire), Ben Beach (Burnham Beeches), George Bell (Harewood Downs), Charlie Butler (Newbury Racecourse), Will Cooper (Woburn), Jake Dines (Hinksey Heights), James Foster (Newbury & Crookham), Luke Fitzpatrick (Stoke Park), David Langley (Castle Royle), Matt Milligan (Sand Martins), Josh Stanners (Hazlemere), Jordan Williams (Hadden Hill).

Then we came to the Hertfordshire match at The Lambourne on 11^th April. The course was in very good nick and the greens were the best anyone had played this year so far. We had a disastrous foursomes with some boys looking like they had not played golf for months. In fact 7 of them had played a practice round (kindly given gratis by The Lambourne) the day before. We lost 5-0 - so you can imagine the gist of the half time team talk! Well, as luck would have it, most of them remembered what good players they are and came out in the afternoon to blitz the opposition with 7 boys winning and one halving. This was enough to halve the match overall. Most of the wins were substantial. It's hard to pick out the highlights as they all did so well but if I had to, I would say Jordan Garnish winning 5 and 4 playing Number 1, Matt Milligan grinding out a half whilst playing high up the order and George Abbott holding his nerve up the last with a terrific drive and iron to 8 feet for a narrow win - were some of them.

Team at The Lambourne: George Abbott (The Oxfordshire), Chris Aubry (Temple), Tom Butterworth (Harewood Downs), Will Cooper (Woburn), James Foster (Newbury & Crookham), Luke Fitzpatrick (Stoke Park), Jordan Garnish (The Oxfordshire), Matt Milligan (Sand Martins), Josh Stanners (Hazlemere), Harry Wetton (Woburn).

Our final match during the Easter holidays was a real tough one against Surrey. Frilford Heath kindly hosted us on 23^rd April. At all levels we seem to struggle against one of the strongest Counties in the Country, but this time the worm turned! The course was in outstanding condition and all of the boys, with one exception played to the behavioural standards we discussed off season. They were superb and some played their way into the 6 man team. Outstanding performances were had by Joe Richardson and James Foster. James was 6 under for the afternoon round and Joe was 4 under. James (and Chris Aubry) also won their foursomes having been 3 down at one stage. Maximum points go to: James Foster, David Langley, Tom Butterworth and Josh Stanners. Surrey did not quite have their best team but they were beaten by a hard working BB&O Boys team who demonstrated desire and hard work – they did not give up. Except for the top matches all could have gone either way and had to be ground out. We edged the foursomes 3-2 but were totally in control of the singles winning those 6½-3½ and the match 9½-5½.

Team at Frilford Heath: George Abbott (The Oxfordshire), Chris Aubry (Temple), Tom Butterworth (Harewood Downs), James Foster (Newbury & Crookham), Luke Fitzpatrick (Stoke Park), Jordan Garnish (The Oxfordshire), Matt Milligan (Sand Martins), David Langley (Castle Royle), Joe Richardson (Frilford Heath), Josh Stanners (Hazlemere)

BB & O Championship & Trophy Meetings

Junior Champion Club

For most of the day it looked like a one horse race as Drayton Park, with the local knowledge, held a commanding 5 shot lead over defending Champions Castle Royle. With just one group left out on the course it still looked as if Drayton Park would win with 135 despite Royal Ascot’s first two players posting 139. They would need an excellent score from their 3^rd player to stand a chance. No question about it as young Joshua Downey produced the round of his life off 15 handicap for a net 61. Added to his brother’s net 67 and their score of 128 blew away the rest of the field.

All the players were a credit to their respective Clubs and the event was played in great spirit and everyone wished Drayton Park the best of luck in their attempt to become English Junior Champion Club in August. It was good to see Eddie Pepperell a current England player and member of the Walker Cup Squad, give the boys some good advice on the hard work they would have to put in to achieve the standards needed to turn Pro. 

Royal Ascot

BB & O County Union Annual Dinner

The 49^th Annual Dinner of the County Union was held at the Blue Mountain Golf Centre on Monday 7^th March Some 275 people had an excellent evening listening to our three Guest Speakers. Anthony Abraham, President of the EGU and Sir Paddy Hine, Captain of the R&A were the Principle Guests and Ian Richards was our final - and very amusing - speaker.

 L to R – Ian Richards, Anthony Abraham (President EGU), Iain MacCaskill (President), Sir Paddy Hine (Captain R&A)

David Langley (Castle Royle) won the Boddington Trophy in 2010. This award, given by the Honourable Company of Oxfordshire Golfers is to the most improved Junior in BB&O. Kevin Freeman (Stoke Park) was the Captain’s choice to receive the Player of the Year award and Ashley Walton (Frilford Heath) won the Order of Merit Trophy – again!

 David Langley (Castle Royle)

 Kevin Freeman (Stoke Park)

BB & O County Union Annual Council Meeting

A turnout of over 70 attended the Annual Council Meeting on 24^th March. Iain MacCaskill highlighted the achievements of the year and the County Secretary/Treasurer presented the Annual Accounts which were approved. Nomination of Officers for 2011 had been announced at the October 2010 Half Year Council Meeting, they were agreed as follows:

Max Kaye (East Berkshire)

In accordance with the Notice sent to all affiliated clubs in November 2010 – J D Low (Harewood Downs) J Fulton (Woburn) were unanimously elected to the Executive Committee.

Keith Lane & Darren Smith

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