GEORGE TAKES THE HONOURS AT A COLD BONALBA!                                       

It was a very cold start to our game at Bonalba on Friday 3rd February with an icy north wind giving a wind chill factor of what felt like below zero! As the morning progressed and the sun started to shine, most players were able to take off one or two of their many layers of clothing but it never really got warm. The course was playing long with most of the tees well back and the pins well on the greens. This course is never easy to putt on and today proved no exception with too many three putts (or more) too mention. These factors coupled with the fact that most rounds took over five hours had a detrimental affect on the day's scores.

One player who did not seem particularly concerned about any of the above-mentioned conditions was George Braddick who came in with a level par 36 points from his 13.2 handicap but with the new Computer Buffer adjustment coming into play, the buffer zones were all reduced by one shot, so George will receive a handicap cut!. Two players were just a point behind our winner with John Feek (16.5) taking second spot ahead of Ron Steele (17.1). If John had managed to play the front nine, like he did the back nine (22 points,) the result could have been so different (If only-that great golf terminology!)

Today's event was sponsored by Rob and Ed Wallace and in addition to the placings there were two nearest the pins won by Stella Fox at the 8th and Geoff Willcock on the 14th. Stella, our only lady playing today, landed about 12 inches from the pin. She was playing in the second group and all those who followed, including husband Simon, thought the marker was next to the hole and she had scored an ace. Wishful thinking on our part in the hope of a brandy when we reached the clubhouse! There was also a nearest 2nd shot on the 3rd which was won by Ron Steele. The longest drive which took place on the difficult stroke index 1 hole-7th much to the amusement of our sponsors although this did not deter John Day who took home the bottle.There were five guests playing today and their prize was won by Richard Fox with 30 points from 21.0. Coveted Montgo balls were taken home by Stella, Ron and Tony Carroll for twos.

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SINGLES COMPETITION-DRAW                                                                              

The draw for the first round of the Singles Competition was made at Oliva Nova on Monday 30th January by Norman Howell, Tony Carroll, Neil Carter, Bob Marsden and Gordon Gleeson. There are 31 contestants and therefore there was one lucky bye into the second round!!

The full draw can be seen on the appropriate web page which can be viewed by clicking the picture. The first round must be completed by 30th April and whilst this seems a long way off, experience shows that it is best to complete these games the first time that both players are available to play. It is the responsibility of the first drawn player to make the arrangements to play and of course you need to notify the date to be played via the email booking in form, all games having to be played on a Society day. As previously advised, all games are played off full handicaps this year.

EGA (European Golf Association) HANDICAP SYSTEM

The EGA have published a new booklet outlining the revised system for handicapping effective from 1.1.12. At this stage we are not sure that it has been totally embraced by the Spanish Golf Federation, who have used the previous EGA system with one or two tweaks! The EGA have said about the new system that it is mandatory but we wait to see-the main difference that Spain adopted was a greater adjustment of handicap when a player scored 41 points or more.

The main change to the new system is the abolition of the Competion Stableford Adjustment(CSA) and the introduction of the Computed Buffer Adjustment (CBA). The old CSA, in simple terms, adjusted scores based on the number of scores of 34 points and above and the categories these were scored by, trying to evaluate the difficulty of the course on the day of the competition. The CBA is not that different really except that it uses the performance of the field relative to the "buffer zone" rather than increasing or decreasing individual scores. This new system has now been written into our handicap program and will be used effective from our next competition. If you wish to look at the EGA booklet, click on the picture on the right  hand panel of the website.

COSTA BLANCA LEAGUE                                                                                        

We played our third league match of the season at Bonalba on Friday 23rd January against Marina Alta GS really needing a win to get us away from the foot of the table. Unfortunately things did not go our way with the result going to our opponents by 7-3. Our only winners on the day were Simon Sprosen and Richard Morris with John Day and Paul Edwards halving their match. Of the three losses, two of these went down to the 18th and the score is not a true reflection of how close the match was

However we are up against it now to retain our first division status and we will need to pull out all the stops in the remaining three games with the next against Oliva Nova GS at Oliva on Friday 24th February.

SIMON OUTFOXES THE FIELD AT OLIVA NOVA                                                        

It was a chilly start to our game at Oliva Nova on Friday 20th January but as the morning progressed, the sun shone and most of us were down to shirt sleeves by the time we completed our rounds. Considering the amount of rain that fell on the course in the early part of the week, it was in remarkably good condition with only a few areas still on the soggy side! Today's game was kindly sponsored by Trevor Colgate and we had a very different outlook to the second shot nearest the pin holes with Trevor selecting 7 & 13. Our runaway winner of the Stableford was recently joined member, Simon Fox, with a great 41 points from a 20 handicap which will now receive the appropriate cut! Second & third places were decided on handicap with three members all scoring 35 points. Norman Howell took the higher position from his 15.7 handicap with third place going to Mike Saull by dint of a better back nine than Peter Twine, both of them playing off 18.5.

The two nearest the pins on the par 3 third and sixteenth were won by Ian Wiffen and Geoff Willcock respectively and the two second shots were both taken by our overall winner, Simon Fox. There were two 2's today for coveted Montgo balls with Sally Burrowes and Geoff Willcock the lucky recipients.

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CHANGES TO RULES 2012-15                                                                                      

The R and A and the USGA have made some changes to both The Rules and Amateur Status for 2012-15. What is also quite unique is that both bodies have now unified their rules and the only difference in the two rules books is the cover!

The principal change to the 2012 code for the Rules is the definition of "addressing the ball" and the these changes can be viewed by clicking here.

As regards the Amatuer Status, the updated changes can be viewed by clicking here.

An updated rule book has been published and the book contains the Rules of Golf, which will be effective worldwide from 1st January 2012. It represents the culmination of four years work by R&A Rules Limited and the United States Golf Association (USGA), following consultation with other golfing bodies throughout the world. While it is considered important that the Rules be faithful to their historical principles, they must be clear, comprehensive and relevant to today’s game, and the penalties must be appropriate. The Rules need regular review to ensure these goals are met. This set of Rules is the latest stage of this evolution. The principal changes are summarised on pages 6 and 7.Both R&A Rules Limited and the USGA wish to preserve the integrity ofgolf at all levels and to stress the importance of respect for and adherenceto the Rules.

To view The Rules of Golf click on the picture.

BONALBA WINTER CHALLENGE                                                                                     

The second round of the Bonalba Winter Challenge was played on Tuesday17th January. In the first round of the competition played in December, which was a fourball better ball pairs stableford format, we were placed third. Our team for that round was John Day, Ed Wallace, Ron Steele and Richard Morris. The second round was  Greensome Chapman medal competition and our team of Ed Wallace, John Day, Neil Carter and Mick Farmer finished in second place. The final round takes place on Tuesday14th February when we will be fielding the same team as for the second. Format for the final competition is Copa Canada with combined stableford scores for each pairing and team. In the overall placings we are lying third with 18 points behind Levante who have 20 points and El Patio 1 on top with 22 points.

IT'S JOHN'S DAY AT OLIVA NOVA                                                                          

Our first game at Oliva Nova of 2012 proved to be a tough test of golf with the course playing very long making high scores very difficult. The prize winners were very close indeed with John Day coming out on top with 34 points from his 11.6 handicap. There were four players on 33 points with the positions decided on handicap-second was Neil Carter (9.2) with Geoff Willcock (12.1) in third place and Richard Morris(18.0), the player to miss out. Today there were four nearest the pins with Geoff taking the honours on the 3rd and John on the 16th. John also took the prize for the nearest 2nd shot on 18th (Securicor were notified of the need to provide an armed van to take all his spoils home!) with Brian Redfearn having the nearest second shot on hole 18. There were no twos today so Norman was able to preserve our stock for another day.

This was also the first round of the Eclectic competition and also the Player of the Year but obviously it is too early to give any details of the meaningful scores although of course John Day sits at the top of the latter competition!.

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