The 2019 season came to an end on Thursday 21st November with a grand farewell to the outgoing Captain, Allan Kerr. 41 players, together with Peter Pemberton, who came as a lunch guest, thanked Allan for a superb year as Captain.
 
Looking back on the season, Allan recapped the wonderful venues at the RAC Club for Captains Day, Walton Heath for the Autumn Meeting and The Buckinghamshire, where the inaugural International Competition was held and which was won by a Chinese team. He thanked Martin Pratt and Yang Liu as the main organisers and we hope the event will be repeated in 2020. He also recalled with delight the Summer Tour, which was in Portugal this year. Another first for his captaincy was the LMEGA Knockout Competition, which was won by Yang Liu from Tanya Epshteyn in the all lady final. In matches, the LMEGA retained the Beckermet Trophy against the Iron and Steel and the Commodity Cup against the Sugar Association but lost to the Stock Exchange and the Scrap and also failed to hold on to the City Quadrilateral plate. Sadly, and for the first time, the match against the Bank of England was abandoned in the deluge of mid-October.
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The weather turned very cold for the Xmas Fayre, with 4C the highest temperature for the day with a 10mph breeze providing further air conditioning making the “real feel” sub zero. It was also lightly foggy on the day and although the greens were true and firm for the time of year, the fairways were slow but played well despite the stupendous amounts of rain that had fallen in the last few weeks.
 
Rob Draisey pipped Colin Griffith for the Nearest the Pin prize and Steven Smith outdrove Dominic Boyle to win the Longest Drive.

​In the competition, the average score in difficult conditions was just 27 points. The Guest Prize went to Richard Pelly with 34 points by one point from Nick Cartwright.
 


​Melanie Wells, Alison Ellman and Tanya Epshteyn suitably swaddled against the cold

​Third place went to Adam Sussmes with 35 points, Edward Sawbridge coming second, also with 35 points on a countback over the back nine holes but the outright winner with 37 points was John Ambery, who declared in his thankyou speech, clutching the Winchester Cup and two bottles of champagne, that this was the first trophy he had ever won.

​The Captain presents the Winchester Cup to John Ambery

​The last presentation of the day was the Harry Scott Trophy, inaugurated by Triland in memory of Harry, for the highest score by a player who had worked on or around the Ring. This went to Steven Smith with 34 points, despite labouring under a handicap of just 12 following his victory at Captains Day. Martin Pratt, CEO of Triland, presented the trophy.

​The fixtures come thick and fast as we try to cram the Autumn schedule in before the clocks change and the weather worsens.
 
Fortunately, the match against the Sugar Association at Denham was spared the worst of the aftermath of Hurricane Humberto despite heavy overnight rain. Even as we sat in the clubhouse over coffee and bacon rolls, a cloudburst broke over the course dumping half an inch of rain in just twenty minutes. Denham drains like a sieve though, so we teed off on time off two tees in a fourball better ball with just a sprinkle of a shower as we set out.
 
The morning matches were tight for a time, but eventually resulted in wins for Captain Allan Kerr and Chris Edwards over Emilio Weldon and Ian Stephenson, and for Steven Spencer and Rakesh Gupta over Barry Callingham and Howard Jenkins. Things got trickier in the other matches with David Farrar and Seamus O’Connell scraping a half with Alex Homer and Francesco Vincenzini while James Taylor and Dr Colin Griffiths went down 4 and 3 to Harry Harland and Cato Davis.
 
At lunch – and what a lunch! The writer saw at least half the company go back for surreptitious second helpings – the LMEGA led by 2 ½ to 1 ½
 
The afternoon format was greensomes and again started out in a sharp shower. The opening match saw the Captain and Rakesh Gupta halve with Ian and Francesco while Chris Edwards (the only LMEGA member to score two points) and James Taylor recorded a handsome 4 and 3 win over Barry Callingham and Harry Harland. The LMEGA now led by 4 to 2. All was not well in the last two pairs, however. David Farrar and Colin Griffiths fell at the 16th by 3 and 2 to Emilio Weldon and Howard Jenkins and Steven Spencer and Seamus O’Connell went to the 18th green before succumbing 2 down to Alex Homer and Cato Davis, who drove several times more than 300 yards including driving the blind 17th green over the trees.
 
All’s well that ends well, though, as the LMEGA retained the Commodity Cup with the final scores 4 all.

Eleven Past Captains presented themselves at Seaford on 18th September for this entirely self-funded competition. Clem Danin (1989), David Hardy (2005), Alex Heath (1996), David Littlestone (2007), Martin Prevezer (1988), Jan Rommer (1992), Bill Smit (2006), Steven Spencer (2004), Bob Stevens (1997), Brian Woodbridge (2011) and this year’s Captain, Allan Kerr.
 
The afternoon round on 18th September, with the Seaford course basking in glorious late summer sunshine, resulted in a wide range of scores with the leaders on the day being Bob Stevens, Jan Rommer, David Hardy, Brian Woodbridge, Bill Smit and way out in front with a six point lead, Allan Kerr, who suffered a two stroke reduction for the next day.
 
A splendid five course dinner, a peaceful night in the clubhouse and a hearty breakfast saw ten of the players back out on the course refreshed and determined – some to make up for their previous day’s scores and a few with an outside chance of overhauling the overnight leader.
 
The Captain proved a redoubtable adversary and only Bill Smit looked in with a chance of catching him as the sun continued to beat down and a lone Spitfire soared above the white cliffs as the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry steamed across the Channel.  One by one the contenders faded away as Martin Prevezer, David Littlestone and Alex Heath came in without competitive scores, closely followed by Steven Spencer, Bob Stevens and Brian Woodbridge who likewise failed to make up sufficient points.
 
The last fourball saw David Hardy and Jan Rommer produce nothing to compete with the leaders, the Captain and Bill Smit who mounted a late charge. With seven points to make up on the overnight leader, Bill pipped the Captain at the post to steal a well-deserved win, the Captain sadly unable to overcome the two shot handicap reduction. ​

​The weather at Walton Heath proved unseasonably cold, with scudding drizzle, the odd shower and a stiff breeze, which seemed always to be in one’s face. In addition, the greens were fast but true and the fairways were hard, allowing the ball to run, which made it difficult to avoid the myriad bunkers lying in wait for drives and approach shots. Not for nothing did Walton Heath host the Ryder Cup in 1981 and the British Masters recently.

​Third place in the morning singles went to Adam Sussmes (AMT) with 34 points, just two behind the redoubtable Rob Draisey, but the winner with 37 points was Tanya Epshteyn (SocGen), who takes the Gold Cup and who also won the prize for Nearest the Pin. The prize for Longest Drive was won by the Captain.

​The Aggregate Cup, the combined scores for the Spring and Autumn Meetings was won by Steven Smith (AMT) with 72 points and the Johnson Pot for 16+ handicaps went to Tanya Epshteyn.

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​​The afternoon competition was played over twelve holes of the New Course in teams of four with the best three scores to count. The runners up on a count back were Steven Spencer, The Captain, Jan Rommer and Rob Draisey with 76 points from Alex Heath, Edward Sawbridge, Peter Watkins and Brian Woodbridge but the winners by pone point on 77 were Yang Liu (LME), Rebecca Liang (BH Resources), Neil Poulter (Ocean Partners) and guest Tom Richardson

Photo: Brian Collins and the Hon Sec prepare for the afternoon foursomes, umbrellas and waterproofs at the ready

​The three Ws struck at Effingham on Friday – windy, warm and wet – making the rapid change of golf gear look like the action at Portrush in the Open. Dragged away from the television in the clubhouse, all the talk in the morning was whether Rory or Tiger would make the cut.
 
The friendly morning fourball, in which each team fielded one player off full handicap, resulted in an almost unbelievable range of scores.
 
The lowest two scores for each team of 10 are dropped in the fourball. In wet and windy conditions, with greens showing variable pace, the Bank of England posted 205, the lowest total for some years, and the LMEGA and the Stock Exchange posted 242, but the FOREX posted an impressive 275 with a highest score of only 37. That equals the record held by the LMEGA in 2018 but which then included a 41 and a 39. The range from highest to lowest of 70 points was also a record for the competition.
 
The afternoon round was a foursomes competition and in this the LMEGA did very well adding 143 points from their best four pairs, an average of about 36 points, but it wasn’t quite enough to catch the FOREX, who added 140 points to their morning total.
 
So the trophy goes away again after its brief sojourn in LMEGA hands.

​We returned to a summer fixture at Hankley Common for this annual match in an attempt to regain the trophy that has languished in the Stock Exchange coffers for too long.
 
When the team sheets were drawn up we saw that the combined handicaps for the LSE team was 145 compared to our own total of 200! Still, that shouldn’t matter, right? That’s what handicap differences are for, so we sallied forth on a sticky day, hope springing eternal in the LME breast - until we saw the rough and the heather!
 
When the scores from the morning fourballs rolled in, the awful truth dawned. A last minute appeal for someone of the 63 other LMEGA members to stand in for the injured David Hardy fell on deaf ears, so David played despite his injury and he and Alex Heath managed a win, while Paul Lillis and Steven Spencer scrambled a half despite having been three down with three to play. The scores stood 4 ½ to 1 ½ at Hankley’s splendid lunch, but all was not lost – there were twelve singles to come in the afternoon.
 
Sadly, David Hardy's injury prevented him playing in the afternoon singles, so Rakesh Gupta was selected to play two singles matches, which he did extremely well, halving one match and winning the other. Alex Heath also came in victorious, as did David Farrar and Steven Spencer, but apart from two halves by John Ambery and Dr Colin Griffiths, all the other matches were lost, the afternoon singles going 6 ½ to 5 ½ to the Stock Exchange.

The final score was thus 11 – 7 and the trophy remains with the LSE for another year.

​The RAC Club at Woodcote Park was in lush condition on Captain's Day, with rough thick enough to punish any wayward shots and slick greens with some interesting pin positions. The weather was glorious and hardly a cloud dared show its face.

​The club provided an excellent lunch and, duly fortified, the players went out to play the afternoon round, which was split into two competitions; The Charles Davis Salver foursomes for Cat1 and Cat2 member companies over 14 holes of the hilly Coronation Course and a greensomes competition over nine holes of the same course.
​(Photo: Seamus O'Connell, Steve Smith, Paul Day, Colin Griffith, Alex Heath)

​The Charles Davis Salver went to Alex Heath and Steven Spencer for Lonconex with 26 points, in a close finish from Tanya Epshteyn and Edward Sawbridge for Natexis with 25 points. The greensomes was won by Martin Abbott and Bill Green with 22 points from two guests, Tom and Charlie Richardson with 20 points.

​The prizes were generously provided by the Captain, Allan Kerr and your Hon.Sec. is deeply grateful to Bill Smit for his help in the scoring of the results.

​The inaugural LMEGA Friendly International Match took place on Saturday 22nd June at The Buckinghamshire, basking in pre-arranged blue skies and soaring temperatures. Teams of four players from the UK, Japan, China and the Rest of the World arrived eagerly in the morning to enjoy the full-on hospitality one would expect from such a special venue, and to receive guidance for what lay ahead in the morning and afternoon competitions.

​The day was split into a nine hole Texas Scramble in the morning followed by eighteen holes of stableford (best three of four scores per hole) in the afternoon. A well-rehearsed explanation from the Match Manager using the latest British technology ensured all teams were playing to the same rules in the morning. At 10.00 sharp, Team China duly despatched all four of their balls down the middle and out of sight, which turned out to be a good indication for what was to happen in the afternoon session.  Other teams also put some balls out of sight (but only because they didn’t float!) with Team UK performing consistently (including the 8th hole!) throughout their morning adventure.
 
The Texas Scramble session ended in an incredibly close result with just four points separating all teams. The results of the morning session were announced at lunch to ensure the unmistakable air of competitive tension remained for the afternoon. Results for Texas Scramble were as follows (lowest total shots wins);
 
UK = 34 shots (despite collectively putting £20 of golf balls into the lake on the 8th!)
China = 35 shots
Rest of World = 36 shots
Japan = 37 shots  
 
At the end of lunch and to provoke indigestion, all teams were pre-warned of the back nine holes of the eighteen they were about to face. Sure enough, these holes stretched both patience and ball supplies as The Buckinghamshire stole back most of the well-received Triland sponsored golf balls! Scores dipped for most teams in the afternoon with the exception of Team China who went from strength to strength or rather from birdie to birdie! Team China racked up points at a rate of knots normally reserved for Lord’s Cricket Ground and opposition players were quickly exhausting all superlatives. It was clear early in the afternoon session that other teams were playing for second place. After a mind challenging count-up, the results for second place were very close with just a single point separating second and third. As this was the main competition of the day and due to the friendly nature of this match, only the top two teams were announced;
 
China = 125 pts
UK = 106 pts
Next Best = 105 pts

There were many standout performances of the day but special mention goes to Rebecca Liang and Geng Mingjun who both scored 41 points in the afternoon for Team China. Not to be entirely outdone, Colm Brady shot a “net” hole in one on the 13th, which was only a 410 yards, par 4, stroke index one. Go figure!!

​Through astute planning(!), every competitor left The Buckinghamshire with a prize. A dozen bottles of red wine awaited the winners (not each!), with all other players walking off with a coveted pair of LME socks!
 
In all seriousness, the LMEGA should consider expanding this event further next year. The day brought together many different nationalities to have fun, meet new people and make new friends. Such benefits are the key goals of the LMEGA. Let’s aim for teams from US, Germany, Netherlands and many more for next year! Thank you to all those who attended.

LISEGS were so enamoured by the lunch at Denham last year that they demanded we book the course again this year. At last we were blessed with some decent weather after three and a half inches of rain drenched the South East for the previous two weeks.

The morning fourball better ball saw LISEGS register early successes when Dr Colin Griffiths and John Ambery went down by 1 hole and Steven Spencer and Rakesh Gupta also succumbed by 2 & 1. However, Martin Abbott and the recently returned Seamus O'Connell handed out a 6 & 5 beating to their opponents. Unfortunately, Captain Allan Kerr and Jan Rommer also went down 2 & 1, so at lunch, the wonderful lunch, LISEGS stood 3-1 up.

There was all to play for in the afternoon singles and, fortified by the lunch, Seamus O'Connell registered his second victory of the day by 5 & 4. The Captain, likewise, brought in a point making the match all square at 3 all with six singles still out on the course but Jan Rommer and John Ambery were both beaten by 2 & 1, the score now lying 5-3 to LISEGS.

Steven Spencer halved his singles but Martin Abbott beat the LISEGS secretary, Bill Ford by 5&3 as Colin Griffiths took a half, leaving the score 6 - 5 to LISEGS. Everything hung on the last singles as the team waited with bated breath for Rakesh Gupta, who brought home a resounding victory by a dog licence, seven and six, leaving the scores tied at 6 - 6.

As the Beckermet trophy was held by the LMEGA, we retained it, the great lump of iron ore sitting somewhere in the Captain's cabin for another year.

On a day that promised nothing but pouring rain and duly delivered about 3/4 of an inch in a constant drenching drizzle the LMEGA once again took on the Scrap. One look at the BSMA handicaps revealed possibly the greatest work of fiction since Leo Tolstoy put down his pen and said "Finished at last - now do you think I could call it 'War and Peace'?"

However, nothing daunted by weather or the competition, we played an 8-a-side match with singles matches going out in fours, making for a very friendly mix. This year the match was restricted to only 18 holes, followed by the usual excellent Berkshire lunch, although there is a majority vote for next year's match to revert to morning fourballs and afternoon singles.

Sadly none of the younger working LMEGA members applied to play in this match despite this being one of the premier courses in Britain and the venue having been expressly booked to attract more members who said they would only be prepared to take time off work if they could play the top courses. It is to be hoped that the RAC and Walton Heath drag them out. it is a shame that the pressure is consistently put on the old guard.

The first singles between The Captain and Gary Holloway ended in a nail-biting half with Allan Kerr sinking a putt on the last green, while their companion match ended with Edward Sawbridge winning so the score stood at 1 1/2 to 1/2.

The second pair of singles saw the President go down but Alex Heath salvage a good win, the score standing now at 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 to the LMEGA. Surely this could not last, but in the third pair of matches John Ambery recovered form to record a 7 and 6 victory while Jan Rommer gave way, but the score was now 3 1/2 to 2 1/2.

There was all to play for in the final pairs but sadly it was not to be. Colin Griffiths slipped up and Steven Spencer went down 2 and 1, leaving the Scrap winners by 4 1/2 to 3 1/2, the trophy remaining with the BSMA for another year.