The Togsters waited with bated breath to find out if the course had been opened after wet weather had caused it to be closed the day before. Our prayers were answered and we were greeted by a sunny day with little wind. 

In order to get some data on the pace of play, the team Captains were asked to record the time they teed off, the time they arrived at the halfway house, the time they teed off on the 10th and the time they finished their round. The Elves are in the process of analysing the results which should give some interesting insights. 

The Senior Mens’ Vice Captain was, again, in the winning team partnered by Debbie Godsell and Ron Cannings with 67 points. The format of the competition led to a wide variation in scores, the range was 67 to 41. 

Well done to the winners who can collect their prizes from the pro-shop from this Thursday, 24th November afternoon. 

Any prizes not collected by 6th December will be donated to next month’s TOGS. 

The full results and prize winners can be found HERE.

A grey, damp and drizzly early morning greeted the Togsters, many of whom would have preferred to have remained curled up in bed. A quick committee meeting decided that the competition should be limited to nine holes if only to help prevent drowning. In the event our worst fears did not materialise and we were rewarded by mild temperatures and some spells of sunshine.

It was interesting that most of the ladies selected ‘hearts’ as their chosen suit of cards, and coupled with the fact that seven of the nine holes included ‘hearts, they were on to a winner.

Unfortunately, for the first time in the history of TOGS we had a non-return of the team card so I’m afraid “no cigar” for that team.

The winning combo was Dorothy Harker, Iain Cottingham and Peter Drummond with 45 points. In second place were Ann Lawson, John Headland and Andy Skelly on 43 points – much helped by Ann’s score of 12 points on the 7th hole!

The beer was convincingly won by Isabel Ember,Alan Ravenhall and Dave Lawson. I think Ann has bragging rights in the Lawson household.

Well done to the winners who can collect their prizes from the pro-shop from this Friday, 21st October afternoon. Any prizes not collected by 3rd November will be donated to next month’s TOGS.

Full results can be seen HERE

Congratulations to the winners for 2022
For the Ladies Toni Prince
For the Men Nick Hills

Please see the links below for full results

A lovely summer’s day greeted 30 Togsters who had studied hard to master the convoluted rules of the competition.
The course was in great shape having benefitted from the welcome rainfall over the last few weeks.

The winners, out-stripping the field by 5 points with a score of 149 points were – Isabel Ember, Neil Cook and Mike Pritchard (well done Mike, it makes a change from the beer).

The battle for the beer was hard fought but winning on countback were – Lydia Rayne, Dave Lawson and Alan Cairns.

Well done to the winners who can collect their prizes from the pro-shop from this Friday, 23rd September. Any prizes not collected by 15th October will be donated to next month’s TOGS.

The full results and prize winners can be found at www.dgseniors.wordpress.com

Entry Fee £50 Per Pair - Enter in Proshop

Deadline for Entry Friday 9th Sept 17.00

To be played as a Pairs Betterball Stableford

85% Handicap Allowance

Pairs can be 2 Men, 2 Ladies or Mixed

There will be Tea/Coffee and Bacon rolls from 07.30
Shotgun Start at 09.00
Starting holes to be Drawn at Random

Two Course Buffet After Play

Nearest the pin prizes for Men and Ladies, Member and Visitor

Team Prizes from First to Fifth Place

A lovely summer’s day greeted a great turn-out of 38 Togsters. The greens had been hollow tined and sanded but after they had been ‘ironed’ ran surprisingly true.  

The format was considered by some to be a bit unfair when a low handicapper was in the same team as a very high handicapper. However, rather surprisingly, this proved not to be the case as the competition was very close. In fact, 10 teams with widely differing handicaps were within 9 shots of each other. 

The exception to the above was our winning team of Isabel Gowers, Mike Coxhead and Tim Brunsden who came in with a magnificent 118 points, beating the rest of the field by a clear 9 points!  

It was a delight to welcome Alex Ford, Ray’s son, to the Togster’s fold and an even greater pleasure to award him and his team a prize for coming fourth. Alex, I’m afraid you won a bottle of wine, but if you get your Dad to collect it, I’m sure you will be able to negotiate an exchange for a prize of your choice.  

The Elves scratched their heads and used their super-computer to think of a fair way to compensate Chris Tobin and the Togmeister for having only two in their team, but the computer blew up and the Elves went down the pub. So, no compensation, bad luck lads, it’s a bottle of Covid Beer for you. 

Well done to the winners who can collect their prizes from the pro-shop from this Thursday, 25th August. Any prizes not collected by September 14th will be donated to next month’s TOGS.
Full results can be found here.

It was the hottest day of the year with temperatures reaching nearly 40 degrees when a rather depleted number of Togsters took to the fairways. The fairways looked very much like and played just as good as the ones on the Old Course at St Andrews where the Open had just finished. Our merry band ventured forth covered in sunscreen, big hats and fully hydrated to complete the competition which had been reduced to 9 holes.

A special thank you to Tom who supplied life giving water on the 6th tee, which was much appreciated by all the players.

Unfortunately there was one no-show, so the Elves had to scratch their heads and come up with a cunning plan to salvage the situation. A player was selected at random to provide the missing score. Luckily the card chosen was Ann McMahon’s which increased the team’s score by 8 points and put them in the prizes.

In first place with a magnificent 45 points, and winning a bottle of bubbly each were Katherine Hartwell ,Bob Batchelor and Frits Mans-Cornwell.

In second place were Dorothy Hawker and Nigel Thorne who with the help of Ann McMahon’s card win bottle of red wine. The Elves decided that it would be appropriate to award Ann a special prize of a bottle of white wine. Lucky Ann.

Well done to the winners who can collect their prizes from the pro-shop from this Wednesday, 20th July. Any prizes not collected by July 31st  will be donated to next month’s TOGS.

The full results cam be found here.

It was the longest day of the year but fortunately it was not the longest round of the year. Thanks to all Togsters who are playing ‘ready golf’. It really speeds the game up and enhances the enjoyment of everyone. The day was sunny and warm – what’s not to love! 

Unfortunately, there was one no-show which meant one team was short of a player. This of course discombobulated the remaining two players for the first few holes but they settled down when they realised the Togsmeister had come up with a cunning plan to circumvent their disadvantage. The plan was so cunning that after much reviewing, the bubbly eventually went to the disadvantaged two man team. A plea from the Togsmeister – if you can’t make it please let the pro-shop know as soon as possible so the start sheet can be modified in time. 

In first place with a magnificent 90 points, a full 6 points clear of second place, and winning a bottle of bubbly each were John Headland and Richard Deal. 

Second place with 84 points and winning a bottle of wine were Brad Bolwell, Jon Williams and IainCottingham. 

Our esteemed Seniors Captain Mike Pritchard and his team once again won a bottle of Corona virus beer for the most use of the course. 

Even though the prizes went all the way down to 5th place the Togsmeister once again missed out. 

Well done to the winners who can collect their prizes from the pro-shop from this Friday, 24th June. Any prizes not collected by July 11th will be donated to next month’s TOGS.

The full results table can be found here.

A very  BIG THANK YOU to all the seniors and ladies who turned out to play in this year's Charity Bowl pairs competition.
As you will know, the objective for the day was to have some fun playing golf and to raise money for our Captain's Charities.In terms of fundraising - the event raised a whopping £637 so thank you all for your generosity.

In terms of fun golf, the pair who undoubtedly had the most fun were Chris Leeson and Steve Martin who returned a whopping score of 48 stableford points.

So, many congratulations to Chris and Steve who have now been presented with the prestigious Charity Bowl trophy and their even more prestigious wine. 

Full results and photos can be found here.

On Friday 27 May we had 45 players enter the champagne roll up and gave out 8 lovely bottles of bubbly. You needed 18 points to win a bottle.

Congratulations to Maria Tillett with an impressive 20 points achieved with a points deduction after a previous win!.

The cash draw stood at £555 and would have been won by Grant McNey but instead rolls over to £585 next week. It was great atmosphere in the bar.

Look forward to seeing even more members last week.

Graham & Geoff.

Congratulations to the winners :

The Membership draw was won by Harry Gent
2nd place was Rick Paull Winning £200
3rd Place was Mark Gimingham Winning £100


The members cash draw was at £465 and would have been won by Frits Mans-Cornwell. this will be rolled over to next Friday to £495

It was a game of two halves. The weather on the first nine holes was very ‘iffy’ but on the back nine it brightened up into a perfect spring day. I am pleased to say that the speed of our golf has improved and we all got round in reasonable time. Thanks to everyone and long may it continue.

The ‘666’ format was a team of three event. Unfortunately due to injuries of various kinds two teams had only two players. The Togmeister and his Elves determined that a 10% increase in their posted score was appropriate in the spirit of fair play.

The competition was a close run affair, with only nine points covering all eleven teams. Winning the bubbly with 69 points, on countback, were our Ladies Captain Sarah Fowler, Richard Deal and Iain Cottingham. Missing out on countback were Mark Richardson, Maria Tillet and Chris Tobin. In third place, with an adjusted score of 67 points, were Kim Richardson and Ian Gaskell, an excellent score for two players and a fine haul of prizes for the Richardson Family. Fourth with 65 points were Christine Palmer, Alan Ravenhall and Jonathan Williams. Winning the coveted Covid beer on countback were Ted Shaw Brian Maisey and Rob Leeson.

We look forward to seeing all again for the next fun filled TOGS on Tuesday 21st June.

The full results can be found HERE. Prizes will be available for collection at the pro-shop from Thursday 12th May.

The May Medal competition at Donnington Grove on 7th May will
be used as a qualifier for the National Pro-Am.

The lowest overall Net score from the competition will be entered
into the National Pro-Am with a professional from Donnington
Grove.

Entry is optional alongside the Medal, and there will be an extra
entry fee on the day of £3 per player.

The winner and Pro will then play in a regional final at either Kings
Hill on 28th September or West Surrey on 6th September.

The Final will be contested in Turkey from 27th November to 1st
December 2022.

Its that time of year again the Champagne Roll Up is here!!!!!

This competition is a Donnington Grove favourite and is a weekly competition through the summer every Friday

It is great competition to get to play with some new people and a fun way to end the week

Played over 9 holes stableford (alternating each week front 9 to back 9)

Entry is £3 and the bar and restaurant will be running 2 special menu choices every week for £8 from 17:00 - Winners will of course all get a Bottle of - you guessed it Champagne.

Over the past 2 years with Covid we have not really been able to have the roll up part of it so this year we want to make a big effort to get this back.

Tee times will be reserved every Friday from 16:00 - 18:00 expressly for the roll up part of the event but you can enter if you happen to be playing earlier.

Meet outside the shop or on the 1st tee

Sandtrend will also continue to run a members draw every week for £30 which will roll over each week it is not won. Note you must be in the bar at 20:00 to have a chance to win it

It would be great to see lots of people joining in and enjoying their Fridays down at the club

On this first Friday we will also be announcing the winner of the membership draw. So one lucky member will have their membership fees returned to them. To be eligible you need to be fully paid up by this Friday.
Hope to see you there.

Graham & Geoff

A chilly start but clear blue skies awaited our Togsfolk as they approached the first tee.  With the course beginning to dry out and the fairways starting to suggest they might run, hearts were full of hope and expectation, negating the nagging doubts supplied by the brain and based on weeks of exasperating experience.

The Jolly Jokers format proved to be enjoyable and thought provoking and could well form the basis of some future competitions.

It was difficult to judge the success of the team scoring,so much so that the eventual winners left the ninth green convinced they were serious contenders for the booby prize!

TOGSY had taken a well-deserved day off leaving a humble apprentice in charge of proceedings.  Sadly, the issue of prizes hadn’t been much discussed between the two of them, so no one knew how many prizes were being awarded nor what the prizes were, all of which made the awards presentation rather interesting!

That issue has now been resolved and the prize winners and their prizes can be seen here.

As usual, winners can pick up their prizes from the pro-shop between 10^th and 31^st March, after which time any unclaimed prizes will be put back in the pot for next month’s TOGS which will be held on Tuesday 12^th April – put the date in your diary.

Storm Dudley had passed over and storm Eunice had not yet arrived so the Togsters were greeted by sunshine and a pleasant south-westerly breeze. It was a fine day for what turned out to be some very challenging golf. 

The nine-hole format was much appreciated and will be used for the rest of the winter season or until we get some decent weather and conditions improve. 

After some confusion about the scoring system and much scrutinising of the score cards by the elves, the winners were declared. 

In first place with a magnificent 29 points, a full 4 points clear of second place, and winning a bottle of bubbly each were Ann Maisey, Peter Russell and Davide Aagaard.

Second place with 25 points and winning a bottle of wine were Andrew Skelly, Lydia Rayne and Dorothy Hawker. 

Third with 23 points were Roger Tillet, Alan Ravenhall and Sue Foot. 

The final winners for the “most use of the course” and winning a bottle of Corona beer were our esteemed Seniors Captain Mike Pritchard, Jan Torrance and Jonathan Williams. 

Well done to the winners who can collect their prizes from the pro-shop from this Sunday. Any prizes not collected by March 11th will be donated to next month’s TOGS. 

The full results can be found HERE:

The Christmas Extravaganza TOGS Competition got off to boozy start with a shot of Chilli Tequila for all, kindly donated by Yards Distillery based in Fowey, Cornwall. The spicy beverage put hair on Ladies chests and put 30 yards on everyone’s drive! 

The Monthly Stablefords from January to March and from October to December ( Generally the first Saturday of month) have been set up as bookable competitions.
They will be 3 balls at 8 minute intervals. This will assist with a consistent pace of play as all groups are the same size.
The competitions will show on ClubV1 members App one week before booking opens.
…………………………………………
The Monthly Medals from April to September have all been set up as zoned booking, with start sheet draws to be made the day before the competitions commence.
…………………………………………
We will be introducing a Gross Score ‘Order of Merit’ competition in 2022. There will be a separate Gentlemens and Ladies competition. There will be no separate entry fee for the ‘Order of Merit’.
We intend to use all six Monthly Medals from April to September, both club championship days, the midweek championship and the Parasampia cup as the ten qualifying tournaments.
Points will be awarded to top Ten places (Gross Score) descending from 10 points to 1 point. Standings will be posted on the notice board.
There will be a prize for the winners of each Order of Merit.
…………………………………………
We will soon circulate a bullet point list explaining the rules when inclement weather affects competition play. A copy will also be posted on notice board.
……………………………………………
We will be providing Starters for all Board Competitions in 2022.
The function of the Starters will be to provide competition information to competitors and to ensure the timely progress of tee times.
All starters are volunteers giving their time to enhance your golfing experience, please listen to them and communicate in a respectful manner.
……………………………………..
Finally, please take care to fill in scorecards correctly with all necessary information. This is still a requirement under England Golf rules which we have a duty to enforce.
Ensure both Player and Marker names are on the card and that both names are clear. Along with competition played, date, tee time and handicap.
At the end of your round, double check the marker has correctly recorded your scores, BOTH marker and player to sign card.
Deposit cards in box under PSI after entering scores.
……………………………………..

Remember to maintain your golf course, repair pitch marks and divots, rake bunkers.

Enjoy your golf and play well - Competitions Committee.

A chilly start to November’s TOGS, but some of the golf soon raised the temperature with some very respectable scores given the conditions. Congratulations go to Maria Tillett and John Headland who topped the leader-board with a terrific 37 points. Also to Ray Ford and Helen Lake, just behind in second place with 36 points. 

Thanks to the generous nature of your TOGsMeister, there was an impressive prize pool this month, but commiserations must go to Peter Russell and Rob Martin who peaked too soon and therefore missed out on a prize on count-back ! 

A full results table can be found HERE. 

The “American Scramble” format seemed to work well although it did nothing to help speed-of-play which was, again, well below par with rounds of up to 5 hrs 20 mins. Your TOGsMeister is going to have to get his thinking cap on to see what we can do to improve on this as it rather takes the edge off the day’s enjoyment, both for the TOGS participants and for the poor folks stuck behind us ! 

Till next time when we’ll be running a TOGSmas Spectacular to celebrate the season. 

TOGSY

A gloriously sunny autumn day greeted the Togsters for our individual 3,2, 1 competition. This was truly remarkable as the night before torrential rain was threatening to close the course in the morning. Despite the heavy rain causing some flooding of the bunkers the course held up remarkably well and it was a pleasure to be out playing.

Captain Plate winner Alan Ravenhall 40 Pts
Runner Up Andy Storer 39 Pts

1st Men Graham Attridge 39 pts
2nd Men Peter Drummond 38 pts

1st Ladies Alison Lillywhite 38 Pts
2nd Ladies Ann Lawson 35 pts

Nearest the in Men Malcolm Kingham
Nearest the Pin Ladies Kim Richardson

The September Red, Yellow and White TOGS Competition got off to a shaky start when a suspicious package was discovered at Newbury Station. It just turned out to be a pack of fried chicken, but that did not stop Newbury grinding to a halt. The gallant TOGsters battled through the traffic and the appalling early morning weather to arrive almost on time at the course. At the end of the day some players had still not arrived so must have disappeared in the chaos. The Competition was won by Maria Tillett with an impressive 38 points closely followed by Rob Carville and Rob Martin with 37. Dave Lawson must have cured his S***K as he was 4th with 36 points.  All won a bottle of bubbly.

Prizes of red or white wine went down to 16th place and of course there were bottles of Covid beer for those who found the conditions a bit tricky. 

A full list of placings and prize winners is on the website. 

I’m afraid to say there was still some evidence of slow play. We TOGsters must try to keep up with the group in front by playing ‘ready golf’ when necessary. This means being ready to play when it is your turn, spending only 3 minutes looking for a ball, playing a provisional ball when yours has disappeared into the rough and playing your ball before helping others to look. 

The Prize winners can collect their prizes from the pro-shop for the next two weeks.

See you all next month for another mind-bending TOGS experience. 

 Your TOGmeister

The yellow ball competition encouraged a full house turnout on a lovely sunny day.

The intimidating effect of the yellow ball was mastered by few but many battled through to a creditable score even after losing their yellow friend. 

The Champions with a super score of 165 points out of a possible par score of 180 were Sally Ottaway, Teresa Talmage, Michael Margetts and Chris Webb. The Togsmeister’s team, who shall remain nameless, kept their yellow ball to the end but still managed to win the wooden spoon prize of a bottle of COVID beer. 

I’m afraid to say it was a bit unfortunate that some slow play meant it was quite a long round for some of the later starters. We TOGsters must try to keep up with the group in front by playing ‘ready golf’ when necessary. This means being ready to play when it is your turn, spending only 3 minutes looking for a ball, playing a provisional ball when yours has disappeared into the rough and playing your ball before helping others to look. More guidance on avoiding slow play can be found HERE. 

Prize winners (a full list here) can collect their prizes from the pro-shop for the next two weeks. 

In all though a great day’s fun was had by all and we look forward to another devilish TOGS next month.

It was a hot and humid morning when 40 Togsters arranged into 10 teams took to the course.
After some brain numbing calculations, the Elves arrived at the team handicap.

Amazingly all teams were given a handicap of 10 or 11.
It was good to see that a few teams had stayed for the prizegiving and were able to be presented with their prizes by the Togsmeister. 

In first place with a magnificent 51 points and winning a bottle of bubbly each were Geoffrey Hawkins, Scott Holland, Judith Whittle and Robert Martin. 15 net birdies in the round is some going, well done. 

Second place with 48 points and winning a bottle of Malbec were Rob Leeson, Gill Lane, Alan Ravenhall and Sandra Bruce. 

Third on countback with 46 points were Kim Richardson, Ian Cottingham, Jonathan Williams and Ann McMahon.

The final winners for the most use of the course and winning a bottle of Corona beer were Fay Unsworth, John Brazendale, Brian Maisey and Maggie Smith. 

The prizewinners who have not received their prize can collect from the pro-shop. Any prizes not collected by August 11th will be donated to next month’s TOGS. 

The full results can be found HERE.

11 pairs of carefully matched Donnington Seniors were pitted against 11 pairs of Donnington Ladies on Thursday 8th July.

Many of the matches were extremely close and everyone reported that they had had a really good time not least because the weather remained dry throughout.

Things were looking close after the first four matches with one win each and two draws. Thereafter the Seniors rather ran away with it winning 6 of the remaining seven matches and drawing the last. The overall result being a resounding victory for the Seniors by 8.5 to 2.5.

There was some muttering from the ladies about 'bandits' and a need for some practice before a return match but it was all played in very good spirits!!!

Played this year with a very large field 60 players including a few committee members, on what threatened to be a stormy afternoon but in the end it only rained and many players completed 18 holes.

The competition was played over the front 9 in case the threatened lightning came.
So individual stableford over 9 holes the winners are as below

1st with 20 Points Mathew Goddhead

2nd with 20 Points on countback was Berni Martin

Joint 3rd all on 19 points Adrian Chapman, Joe Hicks, Frits Mans-Cornwell, Alex Mauree

Well played to everyone and welcome to DG we hope you had a good day

DG Committe

June’s TOGS was designed to encourage peace and harmony between playing partners, or possibly a very frank discussion, as partners stableford scores were multiplied together to get the team score! 

A big "Thank You" to everyone who played in this event for your great support and particularly to those who gave more than the minimum entry fee.

It was a day of changeable weather when 68 TOGsters turned out for a diabolical 666 competition. Teams of two played six holes greensomes, 6 holes foursomes and six holes better ball. Competition was fierce but clear leaders emerged with a winning margin of four shots. Well done and congratulations to Daniel Boyce and Ann Maisey with a score of forty one points. Prizes of fabulous bottles of Laithwaites wine go to the first eleven teams and the couple who made the most use of the course.  

 The full set of scores is on the Seniors website so you can see who the prize winners were and how you fared. If you were not lucky enough to win this time – better luck at the next TOGS.

The mixed match season got off to a fantastic start yesterday when the following members played in a friendly against Sandford Springs.
Ali & Steve Lillywhite, Gill & Tom Lane, Ann & Brian Maisey, Maria & Roger Tillet, Rob Hinson, Jan Williams, Sarah Fowler & Ted Shaw.

The weather was kind and the matches well fought & it was a very close call

with the final result being all square.

Thank you to all that played.


Many Thanks

Ali

47 Points – 25 on the back 9 - Ian Panting/ Josh Bosley 1st – Voucher and Prize sponsored by Kevin Beasley
47 Points – 22 on the back 9 - Steve/Alison Lillywhite ( unlucky skipper) 2nd – Voucher and Prize sponsored by Kevin Beasley
46 points – 26 on the back 9 – Ewen Thompson/ Sandy Byfield 3rd – Voucher and Prize sponsored by Kevin Beasley
46 points – 23 on the back 9 – Nick Monger/Rhys Williams
46 Points – 22 on the back 9 – Giles Bennet/ Chris Mobbs-McQuilkin
45 Points – James Percy/John Bishop


Nearest the Pin on 7 Men – Tom lane - prize sponsored by Gary Rinaldi
Nearest the pin on 7 Ladies – Toni Prince – prize sponsored by Gary Rinaldi
Nearest the pin on 14 in 2 – Rob Panting – prize sponsored by Ross Hunter

44 teams played and a total of £440 raised for the charity

Prizes can be picked up from the shop

A massive thanks to Kevin Beasley for organising the day

Did you know you can join the various DG teams from the club V1 app available on your mobile phone both Android & Apple as well as the desk top version just search for Club V1 install the app and us your "How did I do" logins to connect with the DG database

From here you can select teams and join any team that suits you.
You can see all the fixtures and make yourself available for selection by the team managers.

For help to login in or any issues please see the DG pro shop staff.

You can see the full 2021 Diary here including golf & social events

We had some great weather yesterday and actually saw the sun for the first time in a long time. The highlight of the day for me was the mulled wine (the best I’ve ever tasted), mince pies, Fererro Rochas and Quality Street at the half way house, kindly donated by Tom and Nigel. Thanks Guys.

The major event was, of course, the best Santa beard competition. The Elves did an astonishing job of photographing all the beards and then by some magical jiggery pokery on the inter-web arranged an on-line vote for the best beard. After several re-counts, legal challenges and referral to the Supreme Court, Santa Number 6 was declared the winner by the Electoral College with 36% of the vote. Santa 6 just happens to be your esteemed Togsmeister so thanks to all who voted for me.

The results of the questionnaire revealed some interesting findings. Nobody felt that they only played in TOGS because they could not get a tee time otherwise. Forty Togsters would like to see enough tee times allocated so all who wanted to play could play, and 34 thought a shotgun start would be good. A surprising number, 32, thought some 9 hole competitions would be fun, especially in winter. We will see what we can do.

Ah, I almost forgot, what about the competition? Well, unfortunately we had a few last minute withdrawals so some teams had only three members. This problem was overcome by the clever Elves who came up with some advanced mathematics which allocated an extra 5% to their score to restore equity.
My playing partner, Alan, had an exciting round. He slipped over twice, fortunately unhurt, but looking like a mudlark, his hearing aids packed up on the 9th and he broke his 5 iron on the third hole and bravely played on with only two clubs and a putter. I think he deserves an award for gallantry.

The competition was ‘aced’ by the penultimate group, Rob Carvill, Peter Robertson, Jan Torrence and John Headland who carded a magnificent one under par 107 points. It was great that they were in the clubhouse to pick up their bottles of Christmas bubbly. In second place, a massive 11 points behind were Jamie Armour, Rosemarie Madden, Luis Iglesias and Trevor Pinder. Third place with 91 points were Robert Maguire, Andy Willoughby, Ann McMahon and Joe Richardson. In forth place on countback was the three person team of Gill Lane, Geoffrey Hawkins and Martin Amour. The coverted COVID beer prize went to David Aagard, Chris Tobin and Sandra Bruce. The full result sheet can be found on the Seniors Hub.

Looking forward to seeing you all again at the next exciting TOGS on Thursday 14th January.
Wishing all my fellow Togsters a very Happy Christmas and a healthy Covid free New Year.

Stay safe,
Your Togsmeister

A wet and windy Grove met the valiant band of some 50 Togsters who donned their waterproofs, braved the conditions and set forth with the dreaded yellow ball.

I am delighted to report that all survived to the 9th hole - (no one drowned as far as we know) when thankfully the competition was abandoned - thanks to the wisdom of the first group out! This had the benefit of more time in the cosy/covid approved bar to relax, dry out and enjoy the prizegiving.

The competition was won with a magnificent 3 under par 57 points by Sally Ottaway, John Sayers, Rob Carvill and your Togsmeister - I promise the result was not a fix. The prizes went all the way to 5th place with a special Coronovirus beer for the wooden spoon. The full results can be found here.

The next TOGS is on the 17th November when another 'diabolical' challenge will meet the Togsters. Watch this space!

We hope you all enjoyed the setup for the Greenkeepers Revenge. As always, the main focus of this day is to say thank you to Dave and his team for the fantastic job they do all year in keeping the course in such a good condition. The majority of the entry fees goes towards this thank you.

But of course it is still a competition and there were some winners. Congratulations to the following teams for taking the top 3 spots.

1st place with 118 points, the team of J Amor, M Amor, A Croxford and A Bell
2nd place with 115 points, the team of R Ford, A Ford, D Howe and S Holland
3rd place with 114 points, the team of N Monger, M Taylor, S Bartholomew and R Lewis

The seniors retained the trophy following a mega match between the Ladies and Seniors involving 56 players (14 pairs matches) by 9.5 to 4.5.

Well done to Gill Lane for winning the Ladies nearest the pin and commiserations to all in the Seniors line-up as no-one managed to get their tee shot on to the 17th green to win the Seniors nearest the pin (!).

The weather and course were the best that autumn can provide and all the matches seemed to have been thoroughly enjoyed by all the participants. Well done to all who played and to those that starred (Isabel Ember, Simon Vines, Juliet Culley and Mike Lewsey come to mind and of course there were others).

This was further evidence of old and new members joining together to ensure that we all had a great day. 
Photos from the day can be viewed here.

We had the Luck-of- the-Irish with the weather yesterday. No rain and even some sunshine.

The major event was the best Irish Hat competition. It was between Mike Pritchard with his genuine Irish tweed cap, reputedly found in a genuine Irish bog, Alan Ravenhall in a number made by his good Wife and Cliff Waller who’s genuine Irish hat was made in China. Mike was the winner, selected by general acclaim of the assembled Togsters. He took home a bottle of quality bubbly.

Thirteen teams competed and most managed to navigate the scoring system, for those that found it a bit Irish our Senior’s Captain sorted it out.

• The winners were Sue Foote, Terry Goodsell, Bradley Bolwell and Chris Tobin with a score of 118 points,
• In second place were Ann McMahon, Brian Maisey, Mark Ottaway and Cliff Waller with 111 points.
• In third place were Ann Maisey, Jan Torrance, David Aagaard and Mike Pritchard with 110 points.
• In fourth place (on countback) were Julie Myall, Rosemary Madden, Dee Tomlinson and Fay Unsworth.

The first TOGS competition post Covid took place on a beautiful sunny day, perfect for good scoring and socialising.

We had a record turn out of 43 competitors who took part in teams of four to count the best score on par fives, the best two on par fours and the best three on par threes. Nearly everybody stayed for the prize giving which was held in great spirits on the club terrace after the event.

The scores were as scorching hot as the temperature on the day. The winners who posted a magnificent twenty under par 92 points were, Ofer Ben-David, Alan Weddell, John Headland and Malcolm Sheppard. In joint second place with 86 points were Iain Cottingham, Andy Willoughby, Ann Lawson, Katherine Hartwell, Graham Falconer, Chris Armitage, Sue Foot, and Andy Madeley. All went home laden with the best bottles of bubbly and wine that ‘Lidl’ could supply.

Thank you to all who took part and it was a real pleasure to welcome so many of our new members.
Looking forward to seeing you all again at the next TOGS on Tuesday 25th August.

Cliff Waller, TOGSmeister

Read a full report of the day and the generosity of the competitors by clicking here.

Did you know you can join the various DG teams from the club V1 app available on your mobile phone both Android & Apple as well as the desk top version just search for Club V1 install the app and us your "How did I do" logins to connect with the DG database

From here you can select teams and join any team that suits you.
You can see all the fixtures and make yourself available for selection by the team managers.

For help to login in or any issues please see the DG pro shop staff.

You can see the full 2020 Diary here including golf & social events

It was a rather waterlogged course that greeted 14 stout-hearted souls who battled the 'Terrible Trio' TOGs pairs competition. Six holes greensomes, then six holes foursomes, finished off with six holes better ball.

The scoring was close but the winning pair with a creditable score of 33 points and winning a bottle of bubbly each were Brad Bolwell and Barry Whittaker (Barry, John R is looking after your prize). In second place were Hugh Powell and Andy Woodley, with Peter Robertson and our Seniors Captain Ian Gaskell in third place. The wooden spoon(actually two large bottles of Moretti lager) went to Steve Gridley and Colin Henley.
Next TOGS is on Thursday 26th March.  Remember, it's open to all members so we hope to see you there

At the third time of asking the course conditions allowed an end of year and now New Year TOGS to take place. Given the last minute arrangements, an excellent turn out of 30 had a thoroughly enjoyable day on a mostly almost dry course.

The format was four person teams playing a better ball mix-up with each team member playing six holes with a different partner. The better ball score from each pair being totalled for each hole.

All scores returned were below handicap and the winners (Sue Foote, Nick Marshall, Geoff Hawkins and Dave Lawson) were 19 under par with a score of 91! Andy Skelly, Daniel Boyce, Mark Buckley and John Headland were not far behind with a score of 88.

Well done to all who took part.

26 redoubtable Togsters faced up to a bit of a gluepot of a course to compete in a Lone Ranger with a Twist this Thursday.

Each member of a three ball team took turns to register a mandatory stableford score to be multiplied by the next best or least best score depending on the hole being played. Scoring was tough given the conditions and Craig Buchanan, Chris Tobin and John Headland were worthy winners posting an impressive 58 points.

Well done all who took part.

DG Ladies win the High Silver League checkout the ladies section for pics and information

One lady and seventeen men ventured forth, despite dire predictions of rain. We played 4 clubs and a putter Greensome pairs. Conveniently the organiser had to go off first in a 2-ball so only got wet on the last 3 holes.

Scores varied from a Nil return to 37 points. The winners were Ian Flack and Alan Ravenhall, with John Headland and Joe Richardson second on 33 points and Andy Woodley and Peter Drummond third, all of whom received their customary bottles of wine.

Thank you once again to all those who braved the weather.

The mercury rose to 28 degrees at DG today but some of the golf was even hotter!

24 turned out for a perennial favourite "Yellow Ball", although the actual yellow balls turned out to be a rather fetching Red as the Pro Shop were selling them off cheap. We soon discovered why - they're impossible to see against the lush green fairways at DG and even harder to spot in the clagging rough!

8 three-balls managed to return a total of three yellow balls - though one of the returns was from the wrong group !!

The "stinker" award went to Brad, Phil and Ian P who returned a creditable score of 49 despite losing their yellow ball with the very first shot of their round.

In third place on count-back were Pete S together with Sally and Mark O with 94 points
Second place was claimed by Graham A, Sue F and Chris T with 99 points
but the outright winners (and fastest round of the day to boot) were Andy M, Lydia R and Roger R with a magnificent 118 points.

Well played everyone. The next TOGS will be on Tuesday 24th September.

Results from today’s Green Keepers Revenge

A good fun days golf with a nice buffet afterwards thanks Simon.

1st Place (111 Points)
Dave Knight
Nick Bowley
Sam Harding
Pete Page

2nd Place (110 Points)
Aaron Henry
Lester Hunt
Steve Wade
Jason Axford

3rd Place (110 Points)
Andy Storer
Alison Lillywhite
Steve Lillywhite
Sean Sargeant

Well done the green keepers for setting an interesting course up !!

We saw a full field of golfers take part in our annual Mid-week Club Championship.
The course was in fantastic condition, considering the past spell of bad weather. Our thanks to Dave Knight and his team.

Results were tight with a superb gross 72 from Aaron Henry (off scratch) leading throughout the comp until our Club Captain Rob Carvill came in late with the same score but with a better back 9

The trophy was presented by our current Lady Captain Ann-Marie Gane, of whom the whole club was delighted to see looking so well.
Men’s result
Robert Carvill 82 - 10c = 72
Aaron Henry 72 - 0c = 72
Tom Fulker 82 - 10c = 72

In the Ladies competition, again one of the very early competitors our 2007 Lady Captain, Jan King, posted an excellent score and tried to hang on as the rest of the ladies tried to better her score, something they were unable to do.

Trophy presented by The Club Captain Rob Carvill
Ladies result
Jan King 99 - 24c = 75
Ann MacDonald. 100 - 23c = 77
Katherine Hartwell. 95 - 18c = 77

Well played to all who took part

Many thanks to the 25 folks who turned out for a bit of TOGS Fun in the Sun today.

Today’s format was “All Mixed Up” or “Medalford” as it’s sometimes known. The front nine holes were played as stroke play (Medal) and the back nine as stableford. A player’s competition score was calculated by subtracting the stableford score from the medal score. Simples !

Well, the sun beat down on a fast running course and it wasn’t just the weather that was hot with some cracking scores being returned. A score of 18 would be a nett par return using this format and seven players beat that number.

In third place, with 16 points was Anthony O’Brien; in second place with 15 was Tom Lane, but out in front by a clear margin was Kevin Walker with a fantastic 11 points. Very well played Kevin.

Kim Richardson and Peter Darwin took home a sleeve of balls for winning the ladies and men’s nearest the pin whilst Ann Lawson was awarded the “value for money” prize of two tokens for the driving range !

Next TOGS will be on Tuesday 27th August and a reminder that, although TOGS is organised by the Seniors, it’s open to all members who’d like to play, so make a note in your diary and come along.

Congratulations to Shey Walder and Justin Shell on both carding a hole in 1 on the 15th in Saturdays Medal. The odds of making a hole in 1 are approximately 12500/1 and to get two on the same hole in the same competition is brilliant.

Congratulations to you both

Texas Scramble
1st Jamie Stephens, Keith Birkin, Steve Call, Ray Ross - 53.7
2nd Miguel Frade, Liam Iles, Luke Morrison, Dave Knight - 57.8
3rd Dennis Sunderland, A. King, Damian Carville, A. Holmes - 59.6

Nearest the pin
7th Bottle of Champagne Men Vince Hanniffy
Bottle of Champagne Ladies Anne MacDonald
15th Bottle of Champagne Men Steve Lillywhite
Bottle of Champagne Ladies Maria Tillett

Guess the Captains drives
Club Captain Bottle of Champagne + £50 TC (donated to Captains Charity)
Lady Captain Bottle of Champagne +£25 each Paul Slatter and Sean Sergeant
Seniors Captain Bottle of Champagne + £50 Katherine Hartwell

AGM Trophy

Thursday 21st March 2019, Yellow & Red Tees, The Oxfordshire

Results Points

1st Andrew Storer(12) Donnington Grove Country Club 37
2nd Peter Condon(16) Castle Royle Golf & Country Club 37
3rd Simon Brown(6) Richings Park Golf & Country Club Ltd 35
4th Clive Bailey(10) Burnham Beeches Golf Club 35
5th David Cowap(4) East Berkshire Golf Club 35
6th Mark Page(20) Forest Artisans Golf Club 35
7th Richard Squires(9) Chipping Norton Golf Club 35
8th Rob Carvill(9) Donnington Grove Country Club 35
9th Ashley Rump(10) 34
10th Mike Deller-Merricks(12) Calcot Park Golf Club

Results from Team Day
A great turn out today with 40 players playing in a little breeze!
Some great scores from the pairs Bogey comp for which you needed to beat the course to be in the prizes.
With some great scores the winners are as follows:
1st Craig Coleman & Luke Morrison 4 Up
2nd John Headland & Davide Aagaard 2 Up
3rd Rob Carvill & Simon Walker 2 Up
4th Phil McTiffin & Rob Panting 2 Up
All on Count Back
Then 4 teams on level
Nearest the pin in to a gale-force wind on the 7th was Rob Panting
Many thanks to Tom as ever for helping to organise this event as well as Andy Storer for overseeing the scores. Tony Coleman for presenting the prizes donated by Sandtrend, Sandy & Myself.
But a very special round of applause to Kim for making not one cake but 3 for the raffle and raising £120 for the Captains charity.