Aren’t we doing well with the weather?! Another beautiful day with a nice breeze to keep the golf interesting. Thetford has delivered yet another excellent event for the society. I thought the course played very well and thoroughly enjoyed my day with my team of Tara Davis, Gary Hanson and Michael Campbell. Thank you for the great company. The event was also incredibly well attended with 55 players made up of 42 members and 13 guests which we managed to squeeze in upstairs for yet another outstanding carvery and generous helping of profiteroles!

Despite the wind there was a good scoring average on the day an overall average of 29.5. This was made up of 1 eagle, 14 birdies, 180 pars, 348 bogeys, 392 doubles or worse and 55 pickups. I think some golfers had much better days than others…

Ashtons Legal were again the sponsors for this event and Fiona very generously provided some fantastic prizes. There is also the small matter of the Ashton’s Cup which was returned by last years winner John Lawes following his outlandish showing at the event last year.

On to the prizes;

Skills Prizes

Nearest the pin on hole 3 – Paul Shadrack
Nearest the pin in two on hole 12 – Andrew Coury
Nearest the pin on hole 16 – Andrew Coury

Team Event

3rd place (almost miraculously) – Team Butterworth
2nd place – Team Altomonte
And taking first place, with 126 points, were Team Sponsors, Ashton’s Legal! Congratulations to Fiona Richardson, Lee Green, Anthony Davidson and Mike Barker for an outstanding team performance.

Individual Guests

Guests are always welcome at CBGS events, and once a guest has played one event, they’re eligible to apply for membership the following year if they are so interested. It was a good showing from the guests this time with some respectable scoring across the board.

In second place, with 39 points was Charlie Owen.

Taking first place, with 39 points on a back 9 count back, from a handicap of 25, was Anthony Davidson. Excellent golf on the day, congratulations.

Individual Members

Words cannot do justice to what is to come next…

3rd place, overshadowing the achievement of Team Butterworth, went to Kari Sewell with an excellent 36 points.
2nd place with another excellent round went to our sponsor Fiona Richardson on 38 points.

And taking first place, with what must be considered a staggering performance in the conditions on the day was Simon Vowles with 41 points! He walks away with the Order of Merit Shield until the next event and also the Ashton’s Cup. Congratulations and well done.

Wooden spoon

Our wooden spoon winner at Thetford was Harry Lygoe with 19 points. A tough day but better than being in the office.

Cuts and shots back

Slim pickings again this time, however, Fiona Richardson finds herself one shot worse off and Simon Vowles will now have to find another 3 shots at the next event.

Five people found themselves struggling and are rewarded for their efforts with a shot back; Karl Gjertsen, Philip Gilbey, Harry Lygoe, Tara Davis and Josh Hatton-Farrow.

Fines & Misdemeanours

No CBGS day would be complete without the obligatory fines for daft behaviour. I’m very pleased to say that you all once again excelled yourselves raising £207.50. All in good humour and well received for a great cause. Every penny raised supports Mind CPSL, who do fantastic work and are hugely appreciative of our support. Here are a few of the standout fines from this round:

Fiona Richardson for once again failing to book her own event…
Greg Butterworth for assuming he can park anywhere and blocking off the overflow car park
David Mills for not requesting a buggy and;
Kari Sewell for legitimately requesting the use of a buggy, but sadly finding himself sharing an illegitimate buggy with Mr Mills

Also a special mention to Jeremy Wager for very kindly photographing the prize-giving and providing an excellent selection of photos from the day.

I hope you all enjoyed the day. The season is coming along thick and fast and it is only two weeks now until our next event at East Hertfordshire on the 14th of May. This is followed with the Summer Ball at The Graduate in Cambridge on the 15th which you can still grab tickets for here: https://cbgs.co.uk/event/the-8th-cbgs-summer-ball/

It’s a fantastic event and the guest speaker of Dion Dublin this year should be very entertaining. I hope to see you there.

Once again, thank you all so much for your support.

2026 CBGS Captain – Paul French