Invitation Days at golf clubs are always a much looked forwards to event as members can invite visitors from another club to share the delights of their home course and enjoy a meal afterwards in pleasant company. Or so the plan goes. Apart from bad weather and awful golf, the aforementioned usually holds true as was the case at Wrexham last Saturday when the second invitation day of the season was played.
The format of the day changes from club to club with the most clubs just having a straightforward starting sheet for the whole day and having a presentation in the evening.
With many players and guests devoting only half a day to the game, this can mean that the early starters play their game, dine at leisure and then go home leaving the players occupying the final hour or so of the day’s start times to be present at the presentation, as well as the prize winners who have been contacted by phone and invited to return to the club for the ceremony.
Many clubs, Wrexham included, have changed their format to two separate events, morning and afternoon, both shotgun starts which means that all eighty four players dine together and all are present for the presentation of their respective competitions. The eighty four players represent a fourball on every hole of the golf course as well as three extra fourballs on the par five holes. They play the tee five minutes earlier and the their second shots to clear the fairway for the following players before the air horn goes off to formally start the round.
With all that in mind, the winners of the morning round were Craig Matthews and G Jenkins of Llangollen with 44 points. They were followed by S Evans and K Evans, also of Llangollen with another 44 point card whist Chris Hughes and Chris Platt of Llangollen came third with 42, first names players being the Wrexham hosts for the day.
The afternoon round was won by Darren Humphreys with D Alcock with 43 points followed by D Duffield and R Jones of Henlle Park second with 42. Keith Barwise played with S Meredith of LLanymynech for third place with a further 42 points .
Club Captain Tony Brunyee was assisted by R Paul Williams, Match and Handicap Chairman in the presentation of the prizes on both occasions.
Wrexham ladies played the qualifying round of the Daily Mail Foursomes last Tuesday in an event which featured a win for Hazel Parry and Gwen Griffith with net 72 followed by Janet Brand and Mary Bainbridge.
The previous week, with results just to hand, the ladies played a four ball betterball in which Shirley Williams partnered Sue Burgess to 43 Stableford points followed by Jessica Jones and Jane Mullett Prandle on 42.
Jim Johnson