J u l y 2 0 1 6

DID I GET THAT WRONG! ‘The weather has settled now, with long periods of dry weather, a bit more EVE run on the ball’ - This was how I started last month’s newsletter, did I tempt fate or what! June has been one of the wettest on record for the south east and the course th has really suffered, with lakes appearing and bunkers flooded. The poor green- Wednesday 6 keepers are working their socks off to get the rough down to manageable levels Midweek Medal - Strokeplay + 9 Holer but the wet weather has made this even more difficult. No forecasts this month, surprisingly! Maybe I should forecast heavy rain all month, what do you reckon? Tuesday 12th Lots happening this month so hang on and enjoy the ride. Match vs Benton Hall (a)

Wednesday 1st June 2016 - Midweek Medal Strokeplay - 31 players for the Wednesday 13th 18 hole medal with both winner and third non seniors. Alex Ullmer was the 18 and 9 Hole Championship Round 1 best of the morning senior scores with a net 73 followed by Mike Freeston on 76 and Steve Barry on 77. Not impressive scores generally but conditions not Wednesday 20th easy. Steve Walmsley took the medal with a fine net 68. 18 and 9 Hole Championship Round 2 14 hopefuls tackled the Manor with serial winner Howard Watson again taking the wine with 19 points. Bernie Lees was a couple back and Dave Thursday 21st Muldoon was third on countback with 16 points. Match vs The Burstead (a)

th Wednesday 8 June 2016 - Early Start Stableford - 27 players not playing Sunday 24th to Tuesday 26th in the match contested a very close round. All three at the top had 34 UK Tour to East Sussex National points but the leader of those was that laughing cavalier by the name of Mike Line, Ray Hagger and Dave Bennett respectively took second and th third. Wednesday 27 Another 9 holer for this week and leader of that particular pack, was in Stableford and Committee Cup form Malcolm Price with 22 points. Ken Cox was second with 19 and Bernie Friday 29th Lees third on 18. 3 Captains Charity Day

Wednesday 15th June 2016 - Memorial Trophy - Our first ever Seniors Me- morial Trophy - played for on a wonderful morning with almost 40 en- KNOCKOUT trants. Shoky started the day by remembering our dear, departed colleagues - leading a 1 minute hand-clap in remembrance of those we Please be reminded that have lost in the Seniors over the years. As for the golf that followed, the scoring was reasonably high, due in part to the good weather, but also the knockout matches are NOT to tees being more blue than yellow on most holes. A great day, with Roger Mills, playing off 12, coming in with a score of 41 points (and a gross 36 on be played as part of any other the back 9!) - with Mike Prince, a not too shabby 2nd with 39 points and Wednesday competition. Terry Buck 3rd on 38 points.

Wednesday 22nd May 2016 - Terry Lewis Stableford Trophy - A drizzly day WEDNESDAY SENIORS RESULTS SUMMARY

1st June - Midweek Medal - Strokeplay 1st Steve Walmsley (non senior) - Net 68 2nd Alex Ullmer- Net 73 3rd Eric Buckle (non senior) - Net 75

9 Hole - Manor - Stableford 1st Howard Watson - 19 Pts 2nd Bernie Lees - 18 Pts 3rd - Dave Muldoon - 16 Pts C/B

8th June - E/S Stableford 1st Mike Line - 34 Pts C/B 2nd Ray Hagger - 34 Pts C/B 3rd Dave Bennett - 34 Pts C/B

15th June - Memorial Trophy 1st Roger Mills - 41 Pts 2nd Mike Prince - 39 Pts 3rd Terry Buck - 38 Pts

22nd June - Terry Lewis Trophy 1st - Chris Henry - 39 Pts 2nd - Jim Watson - 38 Pts 3rd - Mike Smith - 37 Pts

29th June - E/S Stableford 1st - Mike Prince - 35 Pts 2nd - Jim Watson - 34 Pts 3rd - Steve Barry - 33 Pts that brightened up later. 37 hopefuls for this one and it was left to Chris Henry to show us the way with a fine 39 points. Just behind was that great competitor that is Jim Watson on 38 and consist- ent Mike Smith on 37. Maureen Lewis again presented the spoils and we thank her for that. A popu- lar event, enjoyed by all. Wednesday 15th June 2016 - E/S Stableford - 22 early starters for this one. The winner really did have an early start, as he had to walk to the club first…bugger that! Yes it’s the man who shows that you get out what you put in……Mike Prince, and his score - 35 points. Close behind was Jim Watson on 34 and Steve Barry with 33.

INTER CLUB MATCHES In June we had two home matches, winning convincingly against Boyce Hill (5½ to 2½ ) having lost the same fixture last year, and winning against Langdon Hills (5 to 3). We are now at the half-way point in the season have completed 7 of our 14 planned inter club friendly matches. Results to date are good with 5 wins, 2 losses, and 0 draws. That compares favourably with the same point last year when we had only won 2 of the 7 matches played (al- though that included two more away matches). Within these results, Stock Brook pairs won 67% of games played compared with 47% last year. Until the last match it had seemed to be a lot easier than last year to assemble a team for each match. For the latest match against Langdon Hills however a combination of holidays, injuries, and conflict with the rearranged Over-55’s match, made it very difficult. I would like to record special thanks here to Richard Glasby who stood in as captain and rescued the fixture by bring- ing in more players. I have looked at the participation statistics over the last three years (that is the number of members appearing in at least one match). At the same stage in 2014 it was 46, in 2015 it was 45, but this year has seen a sharp decline to 38. Speaking to people who used to appear but do no longer, the main reason seems to be illness/injury. This suggests that if we want to maintain a healthy programme of inter club matches in the future we will need to do more to encourage new members. In July we have two away fixtures: at Benton Hall on Tuesday the 12th and at The Burstead on Thursday the 21st. I am pleased to say that the list for the Benton Hall match is already almost full. Peter Jepson

ESSEX SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP 2016 Wednesday 29th June saw the re-arranged fixture vs Three Rivers due to our course closure after the deluge last Thursday. A great winning result was posted of 7-4 and a very stoic and not very well Tony Lovell was hero of the day……….just for playing! This means that a quarter final awaits, away at Five Lakes…a great effort.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE - Some one liners supplied by George Denton Did you hear about the fat, alcoholic transvestite? All he wanted to do was eat, drink and be Mary. My mate just hired an Eastern European cleaner, took her 15 hours to hoover the house. Turns out she was a Slovak. Since the snow came all the wife has done is look through the window. If it gets any worse, I'll have to let her in. I've been charged with murder for killing a man with sandpaper. To be honest I only intended to rough him up a bit. After years of research, scientists have discovered what makes women happy………………..Nothing. Just had my water bill of £175 drop on my mat. That's a lot. Oxfam can supply a whole African village for just £2 a month: time to change supplier I think! JUNE WINNERS

Midweek Medal Runner Up - Alex Ullmer

8th June E/S Stableford Winner - Mike Line

Memorial Trophy Winner - Roger Mills

Terry Lewis Trophy Winner - Chris Henry with Maureen Lewis

29th June E/S Stableford Winner - Mike Prince PRO TIPS with Paul Barham This month we look at - Driver set up and impact position

Hi guys

I bet like me you are fed up with the recent weather! All courses have suffered after our wettest June for years. The rough is thick with the fairways fairly soft which has made the course a lot longer and tougher than recent years. In this month’s article I would like to help you improve the length and accuracy of your drives. With 85% of us hitting a slice off the tee, I want to talk about the set up needed to hit a driver longer and straighter. All top players swing differently but if you look at the set up of Rory McIlroy and Jason Day (top pics) you can see a few similarities.

Please note; 1. The width of their stance ( at least shoulder width) 2. The ball is positioned just inside their left heel. This will create a sweeping action through impact. 3. The left arm and club form a straight line. 4. The left shoulder is higher than the right shoulder so the spine is slightly tilted to the right. This position is the most im- portant of the set up to hit a straighter drive with less back spin or side spin. If you look at the lower pictures please note how the spine is slightly more tilted away from the target at impact to create that sweeping action. So if you are one of those people who loses distance off the tee, you may be hitting the ball too much on the downswing so try tilting slightly to the right so your head remains behind the ball throughout your swing. I promise you that if you improve your set up then your swing will change!

Good luck everyone.

To book lessons or for more information contact Paul Barham Mobile: 07713 304523 Email: [email protected] UK Tour and 2016.

In July, some Stockbrook Seniors may choose the route to East Sussex National via M25 to Junction 6 (Godstone) and A22 which will take them through East Grinstead and Forest Row village, home of the Royal Ashdown Golf Club. There lies a connection between Ashdown Forest and the Ryder Cup that you may not be aware of.

I hope this little piece of history is of some interest, especially those going to East Sussex National.

Best regards

Stephen Chambers

The top of the Ryder Cup trophy has a statuette of a golfer which is often assumed to be of but is actually modelled on Henry Abraham Mitchell known as Abe, arguably the most successful English Ryder Cup player and the greatest golfer never to have won the Open.

Abe was born in 1887 at East Grinstead Union Workhouse. His mother Mary had been working as a domestic serv- ant. His grandparents lived in Forest Row and they took him in to their own family in spite of having another child themselves later the same year. He was treated as a son rather than a grandson. His mother later married and had seven children.

The Mitchells of Ashdown Forest formed a dynasty of four brothers and seven cousins who were Professionals or keepers of the green. Abe’s half-brother Mark Seymour became a successful professional golfer, and was named as reserve for the Ryder Cup team of 1933.

Abe played golf from an early age initially using a stick as a club. His golfing ability was recognised by the com- mittee who ran the Cantelupe (Artisan’s) Golf Club based on the Royal Ashdown Forest Club and he became an invited member. He worked as a chauffeur, gardener and tree feller and also caddied for members.

He was an excellent amateur, and played for against the Scots in 1910 and won. He won the Golf Illus- trated Gold Vase twice in 1910 and 1913, and played in two Open Championships before turning professional in 1913.

Abe enlisted in the Royal Artillery Company for the duration of the First World War. After the war he returned to Forest Row and was welcomed at the station by the village band.

In those early days amateurs played the tournaments. Artisans were really amateurs but from working class back- grounds. Professionals were regarded as lower class and were mostly not allowed to compete in the amateur competitions. Abe was an artisan and a professional.

In 1920 he took a five year contract to be the professional at North Foreland Golf Club in Kent. As a professional he won many golf tournaments in Great Britain and toured the United States frequently, winning the 1924 Miami Open, and entered three U.S. Opens.

Continued next page Samuel Ryder had been running his very successful ‘penny seed packet’ business (Health & Heather Seed Compa- ny) until ill health due to overwork forced him to take fresh air and exercise. He took up golf to fill his time and soon became obsessed by the game. In 1910 he joined the Verulam Club, and within a year was elected Club Captain.

A proposal for a team golf competition between Britain and America was put to the PGA of America in 1920. An unofficial international competition was initiated in 1921 at Gleneagles, Scotland. The matches were played just before the 1,000 Guineas Match Play Championship, with the British soundly defeating the U.S. Team, 9-3.

The Walker Cup was founded for amateur golfers in 1922.

In 1923 Ryder sponsored the first event restricted to professionals, held at the Verulam Club. played in both the 1921 and 1923 competitions and was later employed by Samuel Ryder as his personal tutor.

The R&A decreed that there would be regional qualifying rounds before 1926, which forced overseas competitors to make their transatlantic trek earlier. With extra time on their hands, the Ameri- can contingent agreed to form a team for a match against the British professionals at the . This was declared unofficial because the American team was chosen by Hagen, from only those who had made the journey and included several players who were not native-born. This time, the Americans' defeat was worse, a 13.5 - 1.5 rout. Abe beat the reigning Open Champion , 8 and 7, in the singles, and then partnered with in the foursomes to beat Hagen and Barnes, 9 and 8.

After the match Ryder, Duncan, Mitchell and Hagen discussed the merits of an ‘official professional tournament’ between teams from Britain and the USA. Ryder agreed to donate a solid gold cup, worth £250. The first Ryder Cup competition was arranged for June 3-4, 1927, at the in Worcester, Mass. (America won 9.5 to 2.5).

Abe was selected for the first British Ryder Cup team in 1927 and in a victory of real talent over privilege he was made Captain. Sadly he had to withdraw from the team on board the RMS Aquitania on the eve of departure with symptoms of appendicitis and his place was taken by .

To assert and re-iterate his support of Abe, Ryder had commissioned the Cup with a statuette modelled on him at the top. The cup was designed by Mappin & Webb Company.

Abe Mitchell went on to play in the three subsequent Ryder Cups 1929, 1931 & 1933 and was elected PGA Captain 1933–34. He died in St Albans in 1947 at the age of 60. His legacy remains.

The following link is worth the short time to watch:

Forgotten Great Theorists : Abe Mitchell - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hknEBYGk6i0

Stephen Chambers 21 June 2016