At the weekend a Stableford Qualifier was played on the Valley course and there was victory for Bob Scratchford (27) when he scored an excellent 41 points; Bob has been playing very steadily recently and this is his second podium in recent weeks.

The front nine for Bob all seemed very easy as he picked up points on all the par threes and even parred the 5th for a bonus 4 point score; the back half also seemed to going in a similar fashion until he reached the 17th where he ran into all sorts of problems and failed to score but a par on the last lightened his mood.

In second position Daniel Szymanski (15), who played outstandingly well in last week's Medal, was again at the fore as he rattled up 38 points thanks to birdies on two of the most challenging holes (the 5th and 17th) along with 5 pars and a successful score on all holes; following this week's score Daniel's handicap continues to fall and is now at 14.

In third spot Sam Humphrey (11) had a terrific front nine which he completed in only three over gross but, in spite of another birdie on the 15th, too many doubles crept onto his card as he ended up with 36 points.

For the third year the R&A have sponsored a 9-hole challenge in the form of a 9-hole stableford qualifier with the scores of the top two players being added together to give a team score.

The leading nine team pair scores in England will qualify for the final, which will be played on Saturday 13 July 2019, on the eve of The Open, at Royal Portrush.

Pairs from the other home countries and from Australia will also compete.

For Greetham this competition was held on Friday and the top two players certainly have submitted a challenging target as Liz Haughton was the individual winner with 22 points followed by George Brand with 21 to set a challenging total of 43.

Liz (6) was supreme as she completed the nine holes in gross par, thanks to two birdies to counteract her two bogeys whilst George (17) parred the last four holes to accumulate points.

During the week the Ladies played a 9-Hole-and-Supper competition and there was a comfortable win for Gilly Grant (9) as she scored 20 points but her round was notable for the fact that she scored two successive eagles on the 7th and 8th holes and this was after a birdie on the 5th.

Dee Hinch (30) was second with 18 points but this could have been even better had she not encountered water problems on the 6th which lead to a no score.

Sue Clegg was third with 16 points but she, like Dee, had a failure on one hole which knocked her score back.

On the same day the Ladies played their Over-60's competition and on this occasion Bev Dolman (12) came out top with 36 points as she included two birdies on the 6th and 12th holes to go with her four pars; Bev slightly blotted her card as she had a failure on the penultimate hole was was sufficiently clear of the field to hold her position.

As runner-up, Jill Cannings (19) scored 35 with a very steady round but she struggled on the 16th which caused a failure on the card; that apart, Jill was happy with her steady play during the middle part of her round. In third place Jane O'Donnell scored 33 and she, like Jill, also had a failure on the 16th to mar her card.

The First Team travelled to top of the table Spalding on Saturday. For many players this was the first visit for many years and this proved to be a big disadvantage.

Captain Richard Wilson and Rory Smith went out first and, in a closely fought match, missed a few opportunities but ended up with a good half.

Lewis Chisholm, making his first team debut was partnered by Paul Clegg and were close to winning but lost 3 and and 1.

Third pair Trevor Smith and Mark Neave came up against Spalding best pair and lost. This put some pressure on the back pairs and the normally reliable Chris Steele and Darren Sargood lost 2 and 1 as did Leon Wyche and Pete Dickinson.

So, despite having already lost the match, new pairing Russ Aust and Joe Sargood gelled well and had a fine 2 and 1 win.

The final score was a 4 ½ to 1 ½ loss and the team is looking forward to playing at home against Stoke Rochford in 2 weeks team

The Team also has a match this Friday at Greetham in the prestigious Elsham Fours Trophy where Chris Steele, Adam Clegg, Russ Aust, Darren Sargood, Leon Wyche, and Pete Dickinson will take on the tough Spalding team again.

Greetham had an unlucky defeat in the Bramley Trophy against the current holders Belton Park, when playing at home, they lost 2 and 1 with the final (and deciding) match going to the third play-off hole before Greetham conceded defeat.

On Wednesday the Ladies played a Shambles competition on the Valley with some excellent scoring all round. In second place, with 98 points, were Lesley Young along with Izzy, Ellie and Liz Haughton but the overall winners were Gilly Grant, Annie McCulloch, Fay Taylor and silent partner Izzy with a fantastic 99 points.

The Ladies team played away at Rothley on Thursday and the team of Liz Haughton, Jackie Friend, Bev Dolman, Max Kerr, Dee Hinch, Dee Ginnity, Jill Cannings and Rachel Southwell had a fabulous win of 2 ½ to 1 ½.

On Saturday, the Gents Friendly match against Brampton Park was played at home under perfect weather conditions, with both the course and the greens in excellent condition.

The visitors fielded a very strong side, with the majority of players players holding a handicap of below 10 which certainly put the pressure on the hosts but the strength of this squad did not deter Greetham from pulling off their (undoubtedly) best performance with a 4 ½ to 1 ½ win.

There were particular 'standout' performances from the pairings of Craig Allan (repatriated from the B team) and Peter Wood who came home by 5 and 4, Dave O'Leary and Duncan Reilly in winning 4 and 3, Chris Hatch and Malcolm Boyd, winning 2 and 1 and Sam Bull and Ian Cunningham, who were 2 down on the 15th, but came through to win their the match on the very last hole.

The pairing of John Morfee , Club Vice-Captain, (partnered by Packa Risi) ran neck and neck throughout their match against the strongest pairing fielded, but the visitors were unable to match the putting ability of John, who nailed some sizeable putts to keep the side in touch, and thus halved their match.

The pairing of Peter Key and Bill Skinner, whilst losing their match on the last hole, proved a difficult pair to break down, and ultimately this was a commendable performance given the strength of their opposition.

Neil Bradbury, Seniors Vice-Captain, had his first outing as team captain when, standing in for John Taylor who was absent, he lead the Greetham team to a fine 4 and 2 victory against Burghley Park on the Lakes course with wins for Neil Bradbury and Jim Clarke, Stuart Dodd with the in-form Bob Scrafton, Mickey Fish with Dave Isaac and John Morfee and Terry Jones.