GC Open Singles 17th October 2026

Thirty players gathered on a chilly morning for our penultimate Singles competition of 2026. The temperature increased notably as the morning wore on and Dom was able to justify his decision to wear shorts. However, the afternoon was different as the wind increased and the temperature dropped (so thought the manager). The leaves on lawns 10 and 11 added an extra dimension to the play.

There was a good range of handicaps, from -2 to 10, spread across 5 divisions of 6. It was the strongest field I can remember in my short time at Southwick with 13 players of 2 handicap or below.

Division 1 was perhaps not surprisingly won by Dom Nunns, winning all 5 games with a net hoop tally of +17. David Dickins gave him a good run for his money, winning 4 games and only narrowly losing to Dom 5-7.

It was closely fought in Division 2, where Martin Daniels, Steve Collett and Douglas Shand each won 3 games so it went to net hoops. Martin & Steve were neck and neck on + 5 but as Martin had beaten Steve he was declared the winner.

The third division was another close affair, Tim Bick and Jill Richardson winning 4 apiece but Tim's +13 hoops against Jill's + 10 saw him home. Jill had actually beaten Tim in their head-to-head.

Mike Pudney cruised home in Division 4, winning all his 5 games (+18), with Richard Ellis hot on his heels with 4 wins (+11).

It was very evenly matched in division 5, where three players won 3 games and three won 2 games. It was settled by net hoops with David Round on +5 and Janice Frohnsdorff +3, with Richard Law finishing third.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for taking part. Thanks are also due to Jackie Thwaites and Anne Thirsk for serving a warming bowl of soup (kindly made by Linda) with bread and cheese at lunchtime.

Vincent

Thanks to Vincent for managing the event.