Order of Merit
for the Milne Trophy
13th October 2023
Our 1st qualifying competition took place at the Cotswold Hotel & Spa on Friday the 13th a harbinger of doom being the second year in succession that we have been caught out by the English weather. Due to heavy rain the day before buggies were only allowed for the first nine holes and in addition to that for the last 5 or 6 holes the rain lashed down with the ferocity of a storm. Despite the challenges some good scores came in with Tristan on 40 pts, Dave Wiggett 39 and Alex Gretton 36.
However there is plenty of season left to play for the trophy, see below for the current Leader Board :-
Our next meeting will be the Winter Warmer at Donnington Valley on Monday 29 April
1st 2024 Order of merit.pdf13th September 2023
Our 7th meeting took place at Badgemore Park GC with the two leaders John Wyatt and Simon Homens not attending giving our Secretary Andy the incentive to steal a march on the opposition unfortunately he was unable to muster enough points to overtake his adversaries. Thus John Wyatt is our worthy Order of Merit champion 2023 with Simon 2nd and Andy in 3rd place after count back.
The 2024 season kicks off at our next meeting being the end of year celebrations at the Cotswold Hotel & Spa on the 13 & 14th October 2023.
2023 Order of merit Winner.pdf20th to 22nd August
Our 6th meeting took place at the Forest of Arden golf club near Meriden, playing the tougher of the 2 courses first that being the Arden and subsequently for 2 days on the Aylesford.
Well as previously said the competition is certainly hotting up with John Wyatt's lead cut to 1 point but not from Simon H but with Andy who it has to be said did have a purple patch at the weekend, even Gordon has managed to claw his way near the top with 5 players within a 7 point range.
Thus all to play for at our last qualifying meeting at Badgemore Park on Wednesday 13th September.
25 July 2023
Our 5th meeting took place at Rye Hill Golf Club near Banbury Oxfordshire
The competition is still hotting up with Simon in the lead but not attending this time and John Wyatt not adding to his score which allowed Dave Wiggett to close up with a 10 point win and Andy & Alex entering the frame with 25 & 22 points total.
At present only 8 points separate 1st to 5th places.
Our next next meeting is the Annual break this year at the Forest of Arden and may be crucial in determining this year's Milne Trophy winner.
21 June 2023
Our 4th Meeting took place at the Welcombe Golf Club in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire;
The competition is hotting up with Simon extending his lead over John Wyatt; followed by Andy, Chris, Dave Wiggett and Alex some points behind.
23 May 2023
Our third meeting took place at the Springs GC near Wallingford where the society competed in two competitions, one for high handicaps the other for low. Andy Burnett won the McAlpine with Chris Apsey in runner up spot and for the Viscount Horne Cup our newest member Josh Lawrence won with John Wyatt runner up.
For the Order of Merit Simon Homans is in the lead with 22pts closely followed by John Wyatt 21 and Chris Apsey in 3rd place with 15pts.
19 April 2023
Our second meeting took place at Donnington Valley GC where 25 players attended 4 of which are potential new members. The course was in excellent condition given the recent poor weather we have encountered recently, however the temperature was lower than expected and a strong wind was blowing but it stayed dry.
That did not stop Nigel from getting himself onto the Order of Merit table with a convincing win with 35 points closely followed by Chris Apsey who edged out Lee Murphy on count back, however the current leaders are Simon 1st, John Wyatt 2nd and Dave Wiggett in 3rd place its early days though plenty of opportunities for the rest of us.
21 October 2022
Our first meeting of the 2023 season kicked off playing for the Wally Richards Cup at Cotswold Club (formerly Chipping Norton Golf Club) unfortunately the English weather was not at all kind to us on the day with what can only be described as monsoon torrential rain almost all day.
18 Brave souls turned up to play with 17 teeing off, but not for long as the more sensible ones gave up the ghost and either retired after 5 or 11 holes mainly due to flooded greens. Therefore the expectation was those who battled on would probably score only a meagre 30 points or thereabouts.
Not so with Paddy returning with 43 points, Dave Wiggett 39 & Tristan 38, excellent scoring considering the atrocious weather.
See below for whose leading:-
14th September 2022
Our Ninth meeting took place at Badgemore Golf Club on a warm sunny autumn day, perfect weather for scoring well and one of our group did and he is Nigel Bailey - yes him again.
New to the Society this year Nigel has made his mark in the events he played with the upshot being that before today there were 6 contenders for the Order of Merit with the 2 highest scorers being Giuseppe & John Wyatt on 32 points followed by Paddy 30, John G & Rich T 28 and Mario 27.
Those with the opportunity to improve their scores were Giuseppe, John G & Mario as Paddy, John W & Rich T were unable to attend. Amazingly neither of the 3 remaining were able to score sufficient points to get them into at least the top 10 finishers (Tut Tut I hear you all say) talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
So where was Nigel in this otherwise lacklustre set of performances, well not much difference from his previous appearances and once again at the top and winning today's event with 39 points and 7 points clear of yours truly. That win gave him another 10 points for the Order of Merit and took him up to 32 points so now we have a 3 way tie with Nigel, Giuseppe & John so we have to decide who has taken 1st spot.
In the event of a tie we now take the best 4 scoring rounds and this showed Nigel on 31 and John W 31 so now it goes to 3 best rounds giving Nigel 29 and John 24 so this year's winner of the Order of Merit is:-
1st Nigel Bailey
2nd John Wyatt
3rd Giuseppe Lo Bue
Well done to all participants and perhaps Nigel will give us a sporting chance next year especially now he is playing off a much lower handicap.
Please see all updated points scoring on the table below
14_September_2022 Order of merit.pdf14th to 16th August 2022
Our Sixth meeting took place at Belton Woods golf course in Lincolnshire covering 3 days of golf and enduring one of the hottest days of the year on Sunday 14th August.
Leading the pack on day 1 playing the Woods course was Giuseppe on 40 pts followed by Dave Arnall on 39 pts.
Day 2 took us to the Lakes course a much tougher challenge however our 2 new members showed us how to score well with Nigel Bailey on 39 pts and Chris Apsey on 36 pts.
Day 3 took us back to the Woods course where we welcomed back with us after a long break nursing a foot problem, Howard Rowley who stormed the field with 43 pts closely followed by Nigel Bailey (again !) with 42 pts helped by a more temperate climate in the mid 20's.
The competition is now between 6 players able to attain top spot with John Wyatt and Giuseppe on 32 each followed by Paddy 30, John Graham & Rich T on 28 and Mario on 27 with our last meeting for this years competition on 14th September at Badgemore Park.
Please see all updated points scoring on the table below
26 July 2022
Our Fifth meeting took place at Chippenham Golf Club where Paddy took the honours with a stunning score of 40 points closely followed by Phil who had 38 pts and one of our new members Chris Apsey with 34 pts.
The competition is hotting up; Mario still leads but only just with Paddy 2nd, Phil 3rd and John Wyatt dropping to 4th place.
Our summer break may be the defining moment for this competition since it's just after the Glorious Twelfth where some in contention may well get blown out of the sky and come plummeting to earth.
Please see all updated points on the table below
22 June 2022
Our Fourth meeting took place at The West Berkshire Golf Club where Roy Jackson took the honours with 34pts and scored his first points of the order of merit. However Mario has started to establish a significant lead when he stepped up a gear to lead his nearest rival John Wyatt by 9 points who remains in 2nd place; John Graham moves into 3rd, Paddy 4th and Charlie drops to 5th.
Please see all updated points on the table below
24th May 2022
Our third meeting of the season took place at The Springs Golf Club near Wallingford where the Society competed for the Viscount Horne Trophy and McAlpine Cup two separate competitions but combined for the purposes of the Milne Order of Merit. On the day 1st & 2nd place went to John Wyatt (41pts) and Simon Homans (39pts) in Viscount Horne and in the McAlpine Cup 1st & 2nd went to Kevin Davis (34pts) and John Mayley (32pts).
For the Order of Merit table Mario remains at the top however John Wyatt leaps up 6 places to 2nd, Charlie up 4 places to 3rd, Simon up 6 places to 4th.
A special mention must go to John Graham who looked after his mate Phil whom no doubt you must remember was testing out a submersible golf trolley at our last meeting. John did the honorable thing in marking on Phil's card where all the water hazards could come into play, unfortunately Phil was unable to take the opportunity to test out his creation.
Please see all updated points on the table below
20th April 2022
Our second meeting of the season took place at Drayton Park GC a course which we have not played for many years and looked like it had been substantially modified since. However that did not stop Mario from notching up another great score, he's soon becoming the two wheeled Ferrari of the Society racing to the top, coming up behind is our stalwart of the Society Andy who only managed 9 points on the front nine but still able to claim 4th spot on the day with a creditable 29 points. Snapping at his heels though are Giuseppe and Tim, It has to be said that Tim had a bad start due using a new pair of eye glasses which caused him for the first nine holes not to know which way was up.
A special mention must go to Phil Spracklen who due to his ingenuity has been quietly inventing a submersible golf trolley which he demonstrated on the day, however this is work in progress due to the electrics still drying out.
15th September 2021 Milne Trophy Final Results
On an exceptionally pleasant Autumn day in September the Society met at Badgemore Park Golf Club to celebrate Presidents Day and play for the last qualifying competition, The Presidents Cup, in the Milne Trophy Order of Merit.
With Tristan in the lead the only other contender who could have claimed the title was Rich Taylor, however Rich could not make the days meeting thus our new winner of the Trophy is Tristan Gretton, well done Tristan a worthy champion.
2021 15 Sept 2021 Order of merit update.pdf28 August 2021 Milne Trophy Update
Over a very pleasant weekend trip to Wales between the 15th to 17th August the Society met for 2 days at Bryn Meadows and a final day at the Rolls of Monmouth. The intrepid golfers were playing for a number of competitions all 3 of which contribute to the Milne Trophy Order of Merit, how life changes in just a few weeks only then our stalwart of a Secretary was propelled into the lead keeping Simon and Rich at bay. Like life golf is also cruel with our Secretary along with the rest of us cast aside into the bunker of despair with no hope of reaching the leaders with only one more competition to play.
With a stunning performance over the weekend with 3 Ten out of Ten scores for Tristan giving him a head start over two other contenders John Wyatt has to score a 10 with Tristan scoring a nothing just to level with Tris. The only other playing who could manage the feat is Rich who is 8 points behind.
27 July 2021 Milne Trophy Update
On a rather soggy day at Chippenham Golf Club the Society met to compete for the Vice Presidents Cup, unfortunately the weather turned against the 12 stalwarts taking part and were only able to complete the first 9 holes, however it would seem the Secretary is making a comeback with his second win of the season with a score of 20 points propelling him into the lead in the Order of Merit by just one point from Simon and Rich.
21 June 2021 Milne Trophy Update
What a change a day makes whilst playing for the Captain's Cup yesterday John Wyatt and Denzel were vying for the lead now it's the turn of Rich and Simon to slog it out pushing John and Denzel down to 3rd and 4th respectively. Looks like it could be anyone in the top 10 if they make the effort.
20 June 2021 Milne Trophy Update
On Sunday 20th June we had the opportunity on our weekend mini break at The Cotswold Club Chipping Norton to be able to slot in a previous competition we missed in the early part of this year due to Covid-19 restrictions this was the John Prowting Cup; Andy will report on the results of the day however as far as the Order of Merit goes we have two leaders in John Wyatt and Denzel Howard both on 20 points with Simon, Rich and Andy close behind. No doubt Monday's competition may throw up a few more names.
25 May 2021 Milne Trophy Update
Finally after a long lay off due to you know what we had the opportunity to kick off the season with a visit to The Springs Golf Club and considering the recent poor weather during April and May the course was in excellent condition which must have suited our worthy winner of the second match in the series none other than our Captain Denzel. Now with a 2nd and 1st place he's looking to storm the field however John Wyatt is keeping him honest being only 2 points behind..
2020 Milne Trophy Update – 25 October 2019
The new season starts for the Milne Trophy with some familiar and new faces leading the pack, playing for the Wally Richards cup at Magnolia Park GC 18 stalwarts of the Society battled in what can only be described as challenging conditions with frequent showers and strong blustery winds. The points scoring reflects the difficulty of the day however last seasons runner up Denzel was able to muster 31 points for a second place however he was outdone by a player who was obviously born in a croft in the far north – yes a foreign land – and used to such conditions, so well done Andy with a magnificent score of 34.
2019-Order-of-merit-extract.pdfPrevious Year
2019
For the results of this competition in previous years, please click on 'Booklets' and refer to the relevant Booklet(s) or, if before 2013, click on 'Our Society' and refer to the Society history.