Early in the 2023 season for OT golf there have already been some notable events.

In the third week of March we held our annual three-day Spring Meeting, this year at the two Norfolk venues of Royal Cromer and Sheringham, kindly set up by local resident Mark Allbrook.

The Meeting was very well supported, indeed oversubscribed for the places available, and included first time participants at a Spring Meeting of Adam Smith, Howard and Bradly Ward, Richard Hough and Matthew Hardcastle.

Conditions were demanding throughout, with a very significant cold wind, albeit dry, but that did not deter Richard Stocks, a week before his 83rd birthday, winning, with a three points margin, the singles handicap stableford for the Captain’s Prize and H.E. Steed Cup. An outstanding performance.

Richard Stocks, Jonathan Steed, David Mills, Johnny Allbrook

Adam Smith won the premiere event of the meeting – the Scratch Medal; and the House Cup team competition was won by Park House, comprising Richard Hough, Jeremy Hamer and Peter Saggers, not least as a result of Jeremy’s exceptional individual score of 41 points.

Richard Hough and Jeremy Hamer

At the end of March, our Halford Hewitt team embarked on our annual campaign at Deal and Sandwich. Faced with a particularly tough draw in successive rounds this year, our team battled through the first three matches, mostly in atrocious weather, creditably beating Malvern, Sherborne and Uppingham, but came up just short against Charterhouse in the quarterfinals. The team comprised: Captain Christo Lloyd, Mike Cox, Jimbo Hedges, Calum Mackenzie, James Norris, Richard Partridge, Ed Richardson, Simon Rogerson, Jonny Spurling, George Taggart and Nick Winder.

On other matters, at the Society’s annual general meeting at the Norfolk Spring Meeting, retiring Captain, David Mills, after a supreme two year term in office, announced his successor as William Marle; and Johnny Allbrook, with his move to live in East Lothian, Scotland, and after five years as our outstanding Hon. Secretary, passed on that role to Adrian Cooper.

Adrian Cooper (FH 66-71)
Hon Secretary