Sundridge Am Am

Is it The Masters or The Sundridge Park Am-Am that marks the start of the golfing season is a question that has vexed some the worlds great golfing minds. Sunday marked the 30th Anniversary of the Am Am with 50 teams competing over the East and West courses for the desired 'Green Jackets'.

Numerous teams arrived in the spirit, show casing their much thought about team outfits. The Best Dressed prize going to the '118 118' team who were brave enough to play the round in little more than just shorts and a vest making the limbering up all the easier!

The overall winners of the day came from the West Course and the team, captained by Upin Dattani, WEAPONS OF GRASS DESTRUCTION with a fantastic score of -23. The winning team were presented with their Green Jackets by last year's winners.

Overall Winners - Weapons of Grass Destruction -      (-23) U Dattani, D Keeling, B Price, S Wood

Other Results 
East Course - 
1st Back to the Kutcher - (-10) (65 CB) S Bates, S Manser, A Clarke, T Tamiollo 

2nd GT Builders - (-10) (67 CB) T Turner, C Turner, W Silk, J Fanning 

3rd The Constructors - (-10) (69 CB) M Lineham, C Dawson, S Meekings, H Cummins 

West Course - 
1st ALCOPOPS - (-20) A Robb, P Sjoberg, C Pringle, I McCafferty 

2nd May the 4th be with you - (-16) M Peache, M Johnson, J Heywood, R Jennings 

3rd Tree Huggers (-15) S Flaherty, S Labeur, D Moore, P Dunbar 

Bank Holiday Greensomes

There was some keenly contested greensomes golf played by 32 teams over the East course on Bank Holiday Monday. Given the size of the field, prizes were divided into two divisions of 16 pairs each, Winners of Division 2 - those receiving 17 shots or more on the greensomes handicap system - were Jan Boldt and John Dunne with 39 points, who were three points clear of Julia & Jeff Wright.

Division 1 was closer, with Rachel Martin and Michael Lawrence's 39 points (with a handicap allowance of 2 shots) losing out to Kim Morris and Tony Johnson by only one point.

More good play for in form Nancy O'Connor as she represented Sundridge Park in the England Golf South Region Medal Final at Tyrrells Wood on Thursday 24th April after returning the 4 best nett scores at the club in 2013. There were 120 entrants, and Nancy came 2nd shooting a nett 73. The top 10 then go on to the Grand Medal Final at Petersborough Milton on Saturday 28th June. I will keep you informed of her progress.

Karl Morris - The Mind Coach

How much is golf played in the mind? Is it 10%, 50%, 75%? Whatever is your belief the mind plays a role in golf. We have one of the best mind coaches in Europe coming to Sundridge Park on Tuesday 27th May at 7pm, there are still some tickets left for this evening and all abilities will benifit from this evening, please book with us in the shop.

Pro's Day - 25th May

The entry sheet is up in the foyer for Pro's Day on the 25th May, and the weather forecast is perfect for the 9.30 shotgun start over both courses. Your support for both events will be greatly appreciated.

The European Tour reaches a landmark this week at the Madeira Islands Open. It will be the 1,500th official event to be contested on the circuit.

With the majority of the European Tour's leading players in the US for the Players Championship, this event provides an opportunity for a lower ranked golfer to step up a level.

A number of Challenge Tour players are in the field, as are players who narrowly missed out on making it into the top-30 at European Tour Q-school last December.

Challenge Tour rankings leader Jordi Garcia Pinto will tee it up, so will 2013 Amateur Champion Garrick Porteous who is making his second European Tour start as a professional.

Set in the foothills of the towering mountains that span Madeira, Santo da Serra first welcomed golfers in the 1930s. At that time play was over a rough and ready nine-hole course. It wasn't until 1991 that Robert Trent Jones Snr laid out two of the three nine-hole loops currently in play at Santo da Serra.

The Trent Jones loops, Machico and Desertas, are those used when the club has played host to the Madeira Islands Open. It's a famously tricky track demanding accuracy and a precise short game.

The first event was contested in 1993 when Mark James triumphed by three shots over Gordon J Brand and Paul Broadhurst. Since then nine players have claimed their first European Tour title in this event. Past champions include Niclas Fasth, Jean Van de Velde and Michael Hoey.

Last year Peter Uihlein was the winner. He went on to be the European Tour's rookie of the year.

Player Watch:

Ricardo Santos - Winner of this event in 2012, Santos will be the favourite this week. He's shown signs of good form in recent weeks with a tied 10th at the NH Collection Open and a closing round of 66 in the Volvo China Open. He could use this event as a springboard for his season.

Jordi Garcia Pinto - The 24-year-old Spaniard heads the Challenge Tour rankings. He was tied second in the NH Collection Open and should have the game to deal with this tight and testing layout.

Peter Lawrie - He'd been enduring a horrible season until last week in Singapore where he strung four solid rounds together to finish in a tie for 20th. He's been a consistent performer on the European Tour for a number of years and his experience could be a factor this week.

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