Old Tauntonian Golfing Society

Author: rwillacy

  • Thone Cup & School Match – April 2026

    Once again we had wonderful weather at T&PGC and thanks to Clive for arranging the weather and the day.  We had better attendance this year than last with 6 pupils, 3 staff and 13 OTs.  Format for the day was singles stableford with scores from both teams averaged to give one overall score.  The OTs won the match for the sixth year in a row by the tightest margin ever – an average of 30.60 points per player to the schools average of 30.56 points per player.

    The winner of the 45th edition of the Thone Cup was Bob Lyon and the winner of the G B Johnson silver salver for the pupils was Dexter Middleton-Smith.  Sadly, we learnt Liam Demspter is moving on after six years in charge of golf at school to be Head of Biology at Repton School.  We wished him all the best for the future and thanked him for everything he had achieved at TS.

    Clive informed us that with the additional support of OTGS members the school now has a golf simulator – ‘The Westy’ and a brand new chipping and putting area.  Golf is now one of the sports that is contributing to the schools position as a top twenty sports school in England.  The school finished 2025 ranked 26 in England in the ISGA (Independent Schools Golf Association) rankings.  Onwards and upwards!

     

  • Halford Hewitt 2026

    Here we go again!  A few of us arrived on the Tuesday for the first practice day.
    To set the scene the weather was fabulous, blue skies and a moderate breeze.  Our first round was against Stowe late Thursday morning at Royal Cinque Ports Deal.  This year the team welcomed back Mark (Banners) Banham and a new recruit from Cornwall JJ Debenham.  Taunton’s track record over the last 10 years was better than Stowe so a first round win was looking promising.  However, we never anticipated Stowe importing 3 plus handicap players from abroad!  Sadly, we lost 3-2 but to complete the picture we had 2 pairs losing on the 18th green.  Stowe continued to the quarter finals of the main competition.

    Usual hold up on the 5th hole at Deal.  On Friday we played Dulwich in the Plate at Prince’s, who also lost their first round.  We always knew this would be a tough game.  At this stage teams are reduced from 10 players to 6, which like deciding the 10 man team and pairings is never an easy task for our Captain Pete.  Well done Pete you did a great job.  Again sadly we lost to Dulwich 2-1.

    We now had an afternoon free so many of us decided to play the Himalayas at Prince’s, which after so many years in this competition we have never played.

    Team this year was:  Pete Whalley (C), Greg Whalley, Phil Stickler, Gary Hector, Richard Willacy, Mark Banham, JJ Debenham, Jack Malden, Andy Ford, Ed Bradnock, Dave Higginson.

    By looking at HH Scratch page you can see the full statistics of the competition and see who won/lost or drew.

    Another superbly organised event and wonderful camaraderie and again welcome to this scratch competition JJ.

    Some wonderful pictures of Deal.

     

  • Brent Knoll Bowl – April 2026

    And so the team scratch events kick-off with the Brent Knoll Bowl down at Burnham & Berrow.  Team this year consisted of,

    Pete Whalley (C), Gary Hector, Phil Stickler, Richard Willacy, Greg Whalley, Andy Ford.

    The weather stayed dry most of the time but the wind was strong throughout the weekend making conditions and scoring difficult.

    The draw took place Friday evening following the usual auction where Taunton was bid for at £50.  The first round draw was against Old Epsomians which unfortunately we lost 2-1.  Gary & Phil Won 1Up, Richard & Pete Lost 2-1, Greg & Andy Lost 5-4.  1st Round of the Plate Taunton sadly lost to Lloyds bank 2-1.  Gary & Phil Lost 2-1, Richard & Pete Won 3-1, Greg & Andy Lost 5-4.  On Sunday we played in the scratch Stableford with Epsom who lost in the 2nd Round of the main competition.  The team struggled to reach the high eighties which is required to do well.

    Another great weekend despite the result but a good warm up for the Halford Hewitt in two weeks time.

  • Swinley Forest Meeting 10 March 2026

    Another great day at Swinley.  30 OTs and guests enter for the day playing for OTGS Challenge Cup in the morning and Greensomes Cup in the afternoon.  Sadly we seem to have lost the Challenge Cup BUT we do have the base!  Guests competed for a separate prize in the morning but could take part in the Greensomes Cup.  The weather once again was favourable, the course was in good condition given the time of year, the lunch was as good as ever, what was there to not enjoy?!

    Once again a massive thanks to David M for organising and indeed sponsoring the event.  David has indicated strongly this might be his last year of organising the event  after 55 years!  Many complimentary comments have been received confirming  the players greatly enjoyed the day and his generosity.

    Results in the morning, Individual Stableford (Challenge Cup),
    1st      – Gavin Krombas 42 Pts
    2nd    – Dan Trapnell 35 Pts

    Afternoon, Greensomes,
    1st      – Mark Hallas & L. Hill  37 Pts
    2nd    – Jamie Hunt & Mark Bootherstone 36 Pts

    Date for 2027, Tuesday 9th March

    Thanks again David.

  • Marriott St Pierre Golf & Country Club Chepstow – Sept 2025

    Saturday 13th September 2025 saw a new event for the OTGS calendar, a Golf Day at the Marriott St Pierre Golf & Country Club in Chepstow, which proved to be a success and enjoyed by all involved and will hopefully become a permanent annual fixture.  A big thank you to all that came along and made it such a great day.  A special thanks needs to go out to Phil Stickler, for hosting us and helping arrange such a great weekend.

    We had 20 players on the day, a mix of old faces and new, which was great!  A number of different things to play for including the historic Fairwater Cup, the Scratch Cup and a fantastic array of prizes.

    Winner (Titleist Golf Bag) and Winner of the Fairwater Cup – Rob Wickes – 36 Points
    2nd (Footjoy Golf Shoes) – David Higginson – 35 Points
    3rd (Ping Sweater) – Simon Avison – 34 points
    4th (Under Armour Polo Top) – Graham Wickes – 32 Points
    5th (Titleist Cap) – Phil Stickler – 30 Points

    Scratch Cup Winner (Dozen Titleist ProV1 Golf Balls) – Phil Stickler – 29 Points
    Team Winners (Sleeve of Titleist ProV1 Golf Balls and a OTGS Beanie Hat) – 81 Points
    Rob Wickes
    Graham Wickes
    Will Penny
    Ben Tarr

    Nearest the Pins and Longest Drive (Sleeve of Titleist ProV1 Golf Balls and a Titleist Water Bottle)
    3rd – Pete Whalley
    6th – Richard Willacy
    14th – David Higginson
    18th – Tim Blood
    Longest Drive (17th) – Richard Willacy

    A group of us were fortunate enough to be invited to play the Twenty Ten course at Celtic Manor the following morning, which was a real treat.  We all stayed locally and enjoyed a fabulous evening at a nearby pub for an excellent meal and a fun night of catching up.
    A brilliant time amongst great company and looking forward to doing it again next year.

  • Grafton Morrish Finals – Oct 2025

    Successful qualification now three years on the bounce saw us drawn at Hunstanton GC for this year’s Grafton Morrish Finals in Norfolk.  A practice round on Thursday in favourable conditions before Storm Amy paid us an unwelcome visit.

    Friday saw some miraculous scenes from Taunton, with not only a 1st Round victory against Sutton Valence, but going on in the afternoon to beat St Edward’s Oxford to make history of a 3rd Round appearance on the Saturday, an amazing achievement by the boys and 36 holes in very testing wet and windy conditions.

    Having just about dried out, we were greeted by a very windy Saturday morning, gusting at 50+ mph made for interesting playing conditions, especially around the greens.  We unfortunately lost to strong opposition in Glasgow Academy, who went on to beat this year’s Halford Hewitt winners Bradfield in the Quarter Finals, but lost in the Semi’s to overall winners Radley.  Our official score was a loss of 3-0, however Pete and Greg were 2 down with 3 to play when the other games were already over and match lost, but they wouldn’t accept a friendly half, so we conceded our match to get ourselves back in out of the weather.  Of course they would have won the last 3 holes if they needed to! 😉  Seeing the Quarter Finalists teeing off in horizontal rain on Saturday afternoon certainly made the disappointment of defeat very short lived!!

    1st Round – Sutton Valence – Won 2-1
    Gary Hector & Phil Stickler – won 5&4
    Simon Hewitt-Avison & Mark Banham – won 1 up
    Greg Whalley & Pete Whalley – lost 3&2

    2nd Round – St Edward’s Oxford – Won 2-1
    Gary Hector & Phil Stickler – won 3&2
    Simon Hewitt-Avison & Mark Banham – won 3&2
    Greg Whalley & Pete Whalley – lost 4&3

    3rd Round – Glasgow Academy – Lost 3-0
    Gary Hector & Phil Stickler – lost 3&2
    Simon Hewitt-Avison & Mark Banham – lost 4&3
    Greg Whalley & Pete Whalley – lost 3&2

    Fantastic for Mark to get his first points under his belt for Taunton, a formidable pairing with Simon Avison continuing their solid form from last year.  Also yet another outstanding performance from Gary and Phil, with Saturday’s defeat sadly ending their 10 match unbeaten streak in all Scratch Competitions, truly remarkable.

    A great effort all round!  Well done Team!