**please note next weeks event at Vale Royal is on WEDNESDAY**
Full greens were in use on this sand based gem for 363 days last year.

Maxitours Shotsaver Classic at Prestbury Golf Club

A stunning December morning greeted the full field of competitors at Prestbury Golf Club this morning.

My first job in golf was working as Assistant Professional at Prestbury and I will always have a special affinity to this lovely traditional Club. Each year Prestbury continues to improve the golf course and facilities and it is now firmly recognised as one of the premier members clubs in the country.

Despite frozen ground conditions all the competitors enjoyed playing a beautiful course on such a stunning day. ‘I’d rather be pushing my trolley round here than pushing one around Sainsburys with Margaret any day’ said a relieved David Kelly.

Travelling to Conwy last week, a wealthy but badly dressed Joe Kirwan was devastated when he stopped off for a bacon bap in McDonalds. Much to the amusement of his team he was mistaken for the local tramp by a member of staff. Today ‘Hobo Joe’ had a close shave and only narrowly missed out on the prizes.

A terrific imagination is required to play good golf in the frozen conditions. Stoke City fan Brian Mottram(16) has a wild one – he sometimes imagines the Potters playing in Europe next year. Today he played some terrific shots alongside Derek Fulluck(14) as they finished in fourth place and also won the seniors first prize.

Martin Firth(5) and Andy Bethell (15) are excellent ‘cash rich’ scaffolders from Macclesfield. They were unable to work today due to the cold conditions, instead they constructed a great score of 37 points at Prestbury to finish in 3rd place.

There are only twelve days left until Christmas and Santa came early for Didsburys John Bent and Phil Vokes who won a lovely Cleveland carry bag after a terrific 39 points earned them second place.

After a trophyless year last year it is good to see Manchester United back on their perch as the real footballing force in Manchester . John Reilly(9) is also a class act who has struggled this summer but he also showed his true colours as he picked up first prize today playing alongside Pete O’Neill(4).

Many thanks for all who played, I hope you enjoyed your day. Thanks also to Shotsavers Steven and Jason Ballard for their continued support. (Shotsaver have just brought out a new GPS watch which is fantastic.)

2’s sweep £87.50 7pro V1s each or 14 AD333s
Mark Breiley Phil Vokes John Russell John Walton

N Pin 17th Charles Herbert Dozen AD333s
N Pin 7th Rob Tabbron Dozen AD333s

Prestbury 10.45am shotgun start

Pairs betterball

***spaces for 2 x 4 balls and 1 x 2 ball****

Dear Maxitours player,

Tomorrows event at Prestbury is most certainly on and Anthony the experienced and highly respected Greenkeeper has kindly put us on full greens.

Things should be a little bouncy but the course is very playable and an enjoyable day should be had by all.
Merry Christmas!

Tim

Maxitours at Conwy

A glorious sunny day on the seaside links was enjoyed by the full field of Maxitours competitors at beautiful Conwy today.

On the drive to the land of the sheep there was continual drizzle followed by torrential rain and then hailstones. I was also inundated with phone calls and text messages ‘Is it still on?’ As I approached the golf course gates the clouds parted and Conwy was bathed in sunshine.

Incredibly not one of todays competitors experienced any rain whatsoever during play as there were clear blue skies and just enough wind for classic challenging seaside conditions.

Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and all of todays top golf stars have to suffer trans-atlantic flights, they travel through many different time zones and yet they still manage to play great golf. Unfortunately the 55 minute drive over the border to Wales combined with some sausages played havoc with Max Hendersons body clock and he struggled today as his team of millionaires managed just 70 points.

Before playing today Bernard Fee went to Bangor University to pick up one hungry son and four bags of dirty washing. The lectures seemed to be paying off as Business student David carefully managed his outgoings and allowed his Dad to pay for his entry fee, full english breakfast, a fizzy drink, mars bar and a bag of tees.

In todays competition John Broadhursts team were struggling in the wind. They were over par when charismatic Roger Carter holed his second on the tough 16th, he also birdied the last as his team were inspired and picked up eight shots on the last three holes to finish in a commendable fourth place.

The main attraction of Conwy Golf Club to the very average golfer Paul Hodgson(11) is the full English breakfast. Today he also enjoyed the golf as his low handicap team of Laurie Cole(4) Bobby Aston (scr) and Gary Sinclair(8) finished 3rd with 81 points.

The Didsbury team of Malcolm Wells(3), Barney Ross(3) Bob Vickers(8) and Adam Hart(8) recorded a terrific 84 points to take the early clubhouse lead. Their score could have been much better had they not dropped two shots on the last after playing towards the 10th green by mistake.

Paul Crisp(8) was delighted to hear this week that Kate Middleton is expecting her first baby. He can also sympathise with her as he normally gets a bit of morning sickness most Saturdays after a good night out with the lads. The Royal good news inspired him and his patriotic Ashton on Mersey team of Mike Lynch(10) Trevor Golds(7) and Gordon Hamlett(12) to score a terrific 84 points to take 1st place on a card play off. Well played chaps!

The short 2nd hole was playing tough today. The pin was tight to the front of the green on this tricky downwind hole. A high soft shot loaded with backspin was required. John Royle has never hit a shot like that in his life so he decided to scuttle his 7 iron through the bunker instead. He won his second nearest the pin in as many weeks. David Smith was closest on the 15th hole.

Many thanks to the full field of players who travelled today, once again despite a dodgy forecast there were no late withdrawals which is really appreciated. Yours in Golf, Tim.

Nearest the pin 2nd Dozen Balls John Royle
Nearest pin 15th David Smith FJ Shirt
2’s
£100 7 pro vs or 14 srixons each
Gary Sinclair Bobby Aston Guy Hall Andy Hallowes David Smith

Maxitours at excellent Ringway.

Well draining Ringway Golf Club looked like a Christmas card scene this morning with lovely clear blue skies and a thick covering of white frost.

Ringway is a terrific forward thinking Club with a great team of staff. The secretary and barmaids are all incredibly attractive, the new steward makes an impressive bacon bap and the Club Professional Nick Ryan is a local legend.

The highly respected Ringway Head green keeper is also refreshingly positive in his attitude ‘Of course you’ll be on the greens, no problem. We’ll try and brush the frost off for you’. Absolutely brilliant.

Deciding which tee to allocate people on a shotgun is always tricky and I try and do it on a first come and age basis. Many Maxitours players have their own strategies to try and secure a good starting point. Ian King very often complains of a bad knee in the winter months and Colin Roberts can feel another dose of gout coming on. Alan Clough claims to have an old war wound which plays up in the cold.

Brigit Bardot lookalike Elaine Sloane came out with a new one today to avoid the long walk to the 12th tee. ‘We can’t start on that hole its haunted’ she claimed in all seriousness.
‘A horse called Hercules had a hard life working on the course 100 years ago and was promised to be put out to pasture, due to Golf Club cut backs he was shot instead. He now terrorises the golfers on the 12th hole where he is buried’. Luckily the horse didn’t appear and her team of well shoed female thoroughbreds managed to start with a 5 point haul.

Ringway has an elevated clubhouse lounge and I always enjoy assessing the different swings on display. I struggled to analyse big hitting and wild swinging Charles Herberts fast motion as he managed to hit a 300 yard cracker down the first. Fortunately I could analyse him later in the day after his hooked tee shot on the 17th narrowly missed the Pro Shop.

Pete Coughlin travels all the way from Halifax each week to play badly on Maxitours. After every event he normally faces a long drive home with nothing to show for his efforts. Today he was absolutely delighted to drive back over the tops with a new shirt after his team of Gary Conroy(6) Garry Smith(9) and Mike Wilson(10) finished in 3rd position. They scored an excellent 78 points.

Sixty year old Ex European table tennis champion John Hilton(10) enjoyed watching his ball pinging off the frosty greens and his team of Richard Blackwell (14), Tony Jennison(5) and Andy Hamlett(9) scored a terrific 79 points to take second place.

Todays winners were Jim Caldwells(9) well spoken team. ‘Loaded Jim’ sponsors the Sale rugby club and his team of ‘Sharks’ played great golf to take their first victory in two years. A solid team performance saw John Leighton(14), Charlie Williams(18) and John Kelsall(10) all contribute for a very commendable 81 point haul. Very well played chaps!

Thanks to the full field who turned up today, I really hope you enjoyed your golf, Tim.

Nearest the Pin 13th Hole Jamie Greenwood Dozen AD333s
Nearest the Pin 16th Hole Gary Conroy Dozen AD333s

2’s 9 Pro V1s or 18 Srixon AD333s each Martin Firth x2 Barney Ross Harvey Mattinson