Saturday saw this years annual carols in the clubhouse. Again lead by Mags on the keyboard members enjoyed a hearty sing along. With mince pies and sausage rolls in abundance merriment was the order of the day.
56 players enjoyed yet another lovely December day, although when organiser Dave Tweed arrived at Silves golf course at 7.15 everything outside was covered with white frost! So, 14 teams played the Seattles Shambles game in which the best drive from the team is selected, but everyone plays their own ball after that. Please continue reading for the full photo gallery and full report.
Winning team with 105 points were Stu & Maz McGill, Judi Murphy and Chris Nickels - no doubt helped by the eagle 2 on the 1st hole. No mean feat when wearing his Father Christmas "onesie" outfit! In 2nd place with 102 were Ray & Eileen Groves and Ian & Anne Chapman, narrowly beating Jimmy Goodfellow, Charles Bradshaw, Richard Whiteley & Sandy Rumfitt on count back.
As can be seen in the photographs, there were some amazing Christmas fancy dress costumes, especially as most continued to wear them for the full 18 holes. However, organiser Dave was so busy making sure everything went to plan for the big day, that he forgot to wear fancy dress himself! Prizes were presented after the game for the best dressed Christmas attire to Gary & Gill Edwards, Judi Murphy and Chris Nickels with Stu McGill and Lynn Cook as "runners up". Many thanks to Judi Murphy and Mats Bostrom for sponsoring some of these prizes.
Apart from the usual credits being awarded to the winning teams, there were also various additional prizes to the men and ladies for nearest the pin and longest drive. Winners included Pippa Tennant and Chris Price.
The after the game, members brought a fantastic array of buffet finger food along with the usual Christmas related mince pies and sausage rolls - so much so that we had two "separate sittings", to save those with an early tee time having to wait too long before they ate.
Finally it was carol time, with Mags Taylor on keyboard and husband David acting as choir master. The atmosphere was truly electric with many other guests there, and upwards of 70 people were joining in the fun. The clear favourite was "12 days of Christmas" with the now familiar "Taylor routine" of the men standing on the even numbers and the ladies on the odds. It was so popular, there was even an encore - with reverse positions (you had to be there to appreciate it!). Anyway, most whilst regretted the damage to their aching bones (and livers), the next morning - it all seemed well worth it at the time and another great SdM social event!
