Hottest day of the year and well done to everyone for completing the event.

Andy Izod – President’s Cup Champion net 69. Steady golf apart from 5th where the golfing gods found his first ball in the trees otherwise he had already played 7 and probably lost ball with his provisional. That ball also lived a charmed life on several other holes. Dave Harrison was a net 71 with an 11 on the 17th. A 2 part presentation of first the handle of the cup and then the cup – a repair required.

Nearest the Pin on 7th – Andy Izod, it really was his day bouncing over the bunker, cushion the shot on the sandy top only to roll within 10 feet of the hole

Stableford- Dave Harrison with 38 points moving him to the top of the league table. Martin Zebedee on 36 was second but only completed 17 holes due to exhaustion and of note his card also contained a 12 & 10

Bunker Flunker – Well done Alan Wensak with 8 shots and he even questioned whether it was more! Also wearing an interesting bucket hat that was described as good, unusual and odd.

It was Roy Fletcher’s son’s 71st Birthday – remarkably older than some of our members.

Welcome back Gabe Stokes from his annual visit to Rhodes, he certainly brought the sunshine ☀

Report by Les.

Attention now turns to the next society fixture at Thorney Lakes on Friday 25th July. 

Eleven Follies turned up at Old Nene, near Ramsey – an unique course in that it’s only a nine hole course that you play twice – once as normal and then playing the same nine again but from a different tee position. It does pose a new challenge and made for a nice change.

We were still missing the main man as Les’ neck is taking longer to fix than he had hoped. Matin thoughtfully produced a can of the very aptly named Neck Oil, which has been delivered to Les and, I don’t doubt, consumed.

Hopefully Les will be back swinging soon!

After very nice bacon baps and coffee/tea, we began right on 1pm. As is the Follies custom, we enjoyed wonderful weather and the course was in tip top condition. Local boy Dave Harrison cleaned up on the front 9 with two 5-pointers. Apparently the first time he’s managed that on his home course. Everyone seems to have had a good day with high scores throughout. After an excellent Steak and Guinness pie, mash and peas, the scores were announced:

Nearest The Pin on 3 & 12 (same hole played twice) – Trevor Chapman
Nearest The Pin In 2 on 8 & 17 (same hole played twice) – Paul Flanders

Follies Trophy:
1st – Trevor with a fantastic 45 points – but as you can only win one prize it passes to the next:
2nd – Paul Flanders with 38 points (on countback) – but as you can only win one prize it passes to the next:
3rd – Dave Harrison with 38 points – who collects the 1st prize of 3 Fritz Follies engraved balls
4th – David West with 37 points (on countback) – who collects the 2nd prize of 2 balls
5th – Jon Kelly with 37 points who collects the 3rd prize of 1 ball.

Inevitably with such high scores, Les’ handicap knife has been out and the results can be found under the ABOUT tab – Trevor, in particular, may wish to look away😉

Another successful outing for the Fritz Follies, with thanks to Old Nene Golf Club for their hospitality and well-kept course. Attention now turns to the next society fixture at Elton Furze on Monday 30th June when the President’s Cup will be competed alongside the Follies Trophy – with expectations running high and handicaps under scrutiny.

Report by JK.

The day started with an apparently closed up Bar and Lounge, however, the elusive staff at Tydd St Giles GC eventually delivered to us a welcoming Bacon Bap and Coffee. This whilst Trevor Chapman gave the poor woman the Spanish Inquisition treatment about whether the Ham which was to be his post-match dinner had been boiled in Onion Water! Thankfully it had not and this article’s writer was assured a lift home!

The Follies Members gathered around the first tee and noted the absence of a Follies shirt on newbie Member Alan Carpenter who, being clad in a Green Polo Shirt (rendering him all but camouflaged in the tree-lined fairways), put the blame for his lack of follies attire squarely on the shoulders of Les whose absence rendered him unable to defend himself.

At the appointed Noon hour the first group teed off and golf ensued – well a good attempt was made by all anyway. Quickly off the anecdotal blocks was Jim Daley who, upon the event of swapping cards for scoring purposes, declared ‘I’ve lost my scorecard!’ Nice going Jim! The card turned up some 4-hours later when Alan Carpenter declared it had been found abandoned on the course.

Highlights from the course, as with our outing at Blankney, involved plenty of wildlife. A large hole in the fairway bunker on the 2nd had a notice against it stating there was a Badger residing in it!

Andy McHattie bagged himself a Net Albatross – a rare beastie indeed – when he magnificently birdied the stroke index 1 ninth hole with a monster drive, super 2nd and then a 9-foot putt for a birdie 3, less his 2-shots, so effectively a net Hole in One on a Par 4. Five points thank you very much!!

A duck was also clearly heard to laugh uncontrollably when Graham Tooke topped his ball along the fairway after a full backswing.

Once the first two groups had completed their rounds and assembled on the patio there was time for at least two pints before the trailing groups wandered on in.

Not that there was any shenanigans going on at all but Trevor was heard to say, with scorecard and pencil in hand, “Jim, what did you have on 8th and 9th” !!

Nor was any eyebrow even raised when, after six of us on the patio shouted to Alan Carpenter to show him where exactly his second shot had landed in the trees adjacent to the Green, he then casually lifted the ball to inspect it!! It was noted he then chipped gracefully onto the green and putted out for a Par.

Honours at the closing dinner went to Dave Harrison for the Nearest the Pin on the 4th hole and to Graham Tooke for the Nearest the Pin in 2 on the 15th.

The overall placings went to Alan Carpenter who took 3rd place with 31 points (Dave Harrison having had 32 points but already a prize-winner) and Andy McHattie and Andy Izod both having 36 points, the latter winning on countback with 20 points on the back 9. (Ed’s note – upon further examination of the scorecard, Andy McHattie’s actual score is 35).

Report by AI – no not that AI, but our own Andy Izod.

Andy Izod setup the connection for this course, so thank you. Also for supplying 2 prizes for nearest the pin on 7 and 16. The latter of which was a 190 yard monster that we amended the rules to record not only nearest the pin but also nearest the green to ensure a winner. Good foresight as no one hit the green and Les was 20 feet shy of the surface to pick up the prize.

It was noted that Roy did not have any birdies – but his trolley made the sound of a flock of swallows all the way round. To the shops for some WD40 for Roy.

The usual Bottle prize of Port was nicely taken by Richard Parker.

Robin Watts returned to the fold after an absence of 10 years and technically is a defending champion from 2015. He also offered great knowledge of the local wildlife pointing our hares, woodpeckers then the David Attenborough moment of identifying a weasel – apparently easily confused with a stoat, black tip on the tail being the giveaway.

Back to Golfing matters. Jim Daley had a great round and could easily have found a podium finish had it not been for 4 non-scoring holes. Man to watch for the rest of the year on this form.

Blankney was a demanding test and as a par 72 featuring four par 5 holes the top scores were impressive. 3rd place to Paul Flanders 34 points including 2 non-scoring holes. 2nd Place Trevor Chapman 35 points also 2 non-scoring holes. 1st place Dave Harrison with a super 38 points and setting an early pace on the leaderboard following his Rookie of the Year award last year.

A few photos from the day of Jim, Alan and Robin:

We quickly move onto Tydd St Giles at the end of April for our next test.

Report by Les Wells

1st Net 63 – Les Wells, David West & Alan Wensak

2nd Net 63.3 – Paul Flanders, Andy McHattie & Dave Harrison

3rd Net 66.7 – Yim Kong, Dave Ballard & Colin Humphries

4th Net 70 – Graham Tooke, Steve Walker, Trevor Chapman & Martin Zebedee

5th Net 71.2 – Andy Izod, Geoff Delany, Roy Fletcher & Jim Daley

Nearest the Pin

2nd Hole No Winner roll over to longest drive

5th Hole Paul Flanders

12th Hole Dave Ballard

15th Hole Dave Ballard (can’t win 2 prizes) so Martin Zebedee

17th Longest Drive: Andy McHattie (wrong ball orange first) 232 yds then Les 202 yds.

The Shirtie 2024 was won by Martin Zebedee and his photo from Holborn tube station, next to the birthplace of the Fritz Follies.

See you all in March for the first outing (fixtures coming shortly) but we already have a date for your diary:

Friday 7th November 2025 – Fritz Follies Golf Society Annual Supper and Prize Giving 2025.

Happy New Year!!

Our Chairman and Secretary Les Wells hands the Fritz Follies Champion Golfer trophy and the Fritz Follies President’s Cup to Geoff Delany. A splendid total of 112 saw Geoff a point clear of Paul Flanders with Les himself a further two points behind.

Texas Scramble and other results will follow in due course.

Kevin at Uluru and after completing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb.

On a cloudy warm October day
Nineteen golfers went out to play
All were keen with clubs at the ready
But who would falter, who would be steady?

Woolfox was the course today
The first a surprise – a new Par 3 to play
A lake in the front – that’s just mean!
Some balls made a splash, never to be seen

Other balls were hit both fast and slow
Some hit high, some hit low
Some would play well, some would have luck
Some would think ‘YES’, some would think ‘f***’

Geoff D’s trolley was left to run free
Straight into a bunker – oh deary me!
Alan thought he’d hit the drive of the day
But the ball hit a marker and came back to stay

Now down in the sand Richard Cheng found his way
‘Help, I’m stuck in a bunker’ he yelled in dismay
The more that he struggled, his frustration was clear
But gave up in the end and just said ‘Oh Dear’

Trevor’s drive went long, but where did it go?
His partners smiled – ‘that field, don’t you know’
But to his credit and just with a sigh
He sank a 40’ putt and raised two fingers high

Whoever chose the Nearest the Pin
Decided to make it difficult to win
Balls soared and sliced, one even spun
Yet none found the green, not a single one!

To celebrate his 90 years
Roy gave a prize amid loud cheers
With two great shots Graham declared
‘The bottles mine and not to be shared!’

Our man from Waitrose came to deliver
And gave every appearance of being a winner
With 43 points Martin headed the field
His joy at the prize was barely concealed

Thanks to Les for another great day
We’re ever grateful for the chance to play
Now it’s off to the Supper to reveal this year’s winner
Good company, good fun and hopefully a good dinner.

Report by David West.

From the Woolfox website “Thank you to @diverutland for retrieving our lake balls and to everyone who has entered our competition.

We are pleased to announce the winner of 100 lake balls is: Dougie Morton! We’ll be in touch to arrange your prize soon!

Dougie guessed 4350 and the total amount of balls collected was 4096!”

“This week Dive Rutland visited us to retrieve golf balls from the lake on the 1st. Two divers spent the day exploring the bottom of the lake, discovering more than just weeds and frogspawn…. Has anyone lost a club? We are running a competition to guess the total amount of balls collected from the first dive.” 

Winner receives 100 golf balls! To enter – see the Woolfox website.