Something exceptional happened at Moor Park this year a hole-in-one by Jason Wood. Only the third in Epic History. Congrats to Jason who joins Steven Barker and Martyn Rowlands in  that “Hall of Fame”.

It happened on the 12th which as we all know is the notoriously difficult (Uphill, 197 yds off the yellows and SI 4) par 3. 

Jason hit a 3-Wood and of course Jason knew it was a good shot but he couldn’t see the hole from the tee!!!! What a surprise to find it in the hole. 5 Stableford points was a bonus!!

Jason also managed to keep his game going after such excitement and added the Spring Cup to his trophy cabinet with 36 points (Cut 2) from Digby Hebbard 35 points (Cut 1). He looks pleased with himself doesn’t he!!

Members Digby Hebbard and Iain Stevenson won the Nearest the Pin in Two and Nearest the Pin respectively and Guest Lee Compton and Neil Meixner picked up the Team Prize .

Congratulations to all the winners.

The year ended at West Herts where we held our traditional “Family and Friends” event. The greens were magnificent and the layout challenging. The fairways were suffering from the after-effects of the long hot summer which made play all the more difficult. 31 players (11 members and 20 Family & Friends) attended and enjoyed the day which concluded with a late lunch/early dinner of Steak and Kidney Pie followed by Bread and Butter Pudding. A few more calories to add to the Christmas fare!!!

“Family and Friends”  Jeff Cowup and Yvonne Davies won the Nearest the Pin and Nearest the Pin in 2 respectively, whilst the “Waltz” team prize was  secured by Chris Anderson with guests Dave and William Stranders and John Stanley with a magnificent 92 points some 8 points ahead of their nearest rivals.

William Stranders (42) won the guest prize from Phil Rex on 38.

The Recessional Bowl was won by Neil Meixner (38) – Cut 2, from Joel Evans (36) – Cut 1.

Well done to all.

Wishing you all a prosperous New Year!!

Neil Meixner – Secretary

We were blessed with a great day. Sun and “lightish” winds for November.

This was our final qualifying event for the coveted “Player of the Year”. An extremely close fought thing this year!! More later

17 members and 11 guests set out with high expectations on this great course. The greens were understandably slower than in the peak season and there was little run on the fairways, so many found it a challenge.

However skill will out and our guest prize went to Chris Elwin who scored 39 points playing off 6 so 3 over the course! Well played indeed. If I tell you that the winning team score was 40 and Nick Archer and Chris Elwin didn’t win ……………..then you can draw your own conclusions!!!!!!

Anyway, Nearest the Pin and Nearest the Pin in 2 competitions were won by Jason Wood and Neil Meixner respectively. Well done to them.

The team prize was the closest I can ever recall with no less than 9 of the 14 teams returning 38 or better!!

However Jason Wood and Andrew Richardson won on 40 points from both the Neil Blundy/Michael Hodson and Luke/John Molyneux combinations on countback. Great scoring guys.

The Presidents Cup for EPIC Members was hotly contested as ever with Gavin Tuck (cut2) prevailing on 34 points from Jason Wood (cut 1) who pipped Rob Seeley on countback both on 33 points.

So the final arithmetic has been done after the 5 qualifying events for the player of the year which rewards the most constant player over the summer. The best 3 scores from the possible 5 are added to provide a total stableford tally.

In reverse order Jason Wood and Steve Davies 100 points, Chris Anderson 101 points with Iain Stevenson taking the title on 102 points. Many congratulation to Iain .

The next event is the friends and family golf day this year at West Herts on Friday 28th December 2018 starting at 10.30.  Member can find an attendance form in the members section but an  invitation email will be sent in the usual way to members shortly.

A great day out was had by 13 members and their 5 guests.

Scoring was quite good on this testing course with the guest prize being won on count-back by Philip Rex from Phil Bowyer both on 33 points.

The team prize went to Joel Evans and Ian Abley who were well ahead on 44 of two other teams on 41 points.

The Nearest the Pin went to Jason Wood and the Nearest the Pin in 2 to Joel Evans.

Joel also won the Autumn Cup with 34 points (cut 2) from Neil Meixner (cut 1) on count-back.

Congratulations to Joel who  pretty much cleaned up!!!

The next event is East Herts on 8th November. Please try and make it even if its without a guest!!

Despite the good weather there was a poor attendance this year so the committee has decided to bring this event forward one month in the hope that more members will be encouraged to attend!! See you at Sandy Lodge next year!!

The day threatened rain and despite a dry start the rain duly came. A shame as it was the only wet day forecast for days before and after the event.

But did this dampen the enthusiasm of the 47 participants – Not at all!!

19 Members took part (plus Ken Adams nursing a sore hip) and 27 guests.

The course was magnificent and a real challenge to all with anything wayward being punished severely by the heather which either swallowed the golf ball or made it near impossible to play, certainly a real penalty!!

The score reflected the difficulty. It will be interesting to watch the Masters contend with it in early October (11 – 14 to be exact)

A fine meal was enjoyed by all

Guests Steve Chason and James Woolcott won respectively the “Nearest the Pin” and “Nearest the Pin in Two” competitions.

Team Winner were Captain Darrell Lewis and Jeff Lewis with a massive 47 better ball score from Neil Meixner and Digby Hebbard who came second on the back of an eagle on the par 5, 8th by Digby securing 5 stableford points!!

The guest runner-up was Stewart Le Boutillier on 36 points with inevitably Jeff Lewis on 38points taking the top spot! Well done Jeff who has now joined the society.

The Captain’s Cup as usual was hotly disputed with 5 players within 2 shots of the winner, but David Jenkins (34 points – 11 on the last 6- Cut 1) was just pipped on countback  by Steve Haley  (Also 34 points – 13 on the last 6 – Cut 2)

Congratulations to Steve on a great performance.

The hand-picked team to take on the old enemy were primed and ready to go!!

However our opponents once again proved to be much too good and triumphed by an impressive margin!!

What a day we had at Ashridge on Wednesday 4th July!!

15 EPIC members and 12 guests took to the course in high anticipation. The course was dry as was the weather. The greens and tees had been well watered but the pace of the greens was difficult to read. Uphill slow and downhill lightening quick by all accounts.

As usual Ashridge did us proud with a beautifully set up course, a ploughman’s lunch to set us up for the round and a magnificent three course dinner to end a beautiful day.

The ball travelled a long way on the parched fairways which might in some way help to explain the generally high scoring.

Congratulations to Martyn Rowlands on achieving all golfers target in getting his first hole in one on his second hole (11th at Ashridge).

The scorer had some difficulty in assessing the winners in the various categories. Thanks to those who lent a hand in checking cards!!

So to the results – 5 of 7 teams returned the yellow ball but the team of Robert Seeley, Paul Lewis, Charles Gjertsen and John Gale won with 42 points some 9 points ahead of the rest!!!

Nearest the Pin in 2 was guest Tim Percival with another guest Stephen Hyde  picking up the prize for Nearest the Pin .

When it came to the team prize after adjudication Martyn Rowlands and Robert Currie posted a magnificent 50 points. 4 teams on 46+ points must have thought they’d taken the prize. Congratulation to Martyn and his guest Robert on their stellar round!!

Our Guest Winner was Giles Korner with 42 points ahead of second place Paul Lewis on 38. Great scoring once again.

Now to the EPIC Finlinson Cup where two fantastic scores were posted. In runner up spot (cut 1) was Chris Anderson on 41 points but our worthy winner (assisted by his hole in one for 5 stableford points) was Martyn Rowlands on 43 points. His achievement is all the more remarkable as he said he hasn’t played golf since the Charity day exactly one year ago.

Congratulations to Martyn!!

Remember to put Walton Heath in the diary – 12th September!!!!