With everyone’s mind firmly fixed on the Christmas celebrations there was a wonderful festive feel to life at the Club. In the Monthly Stableford Karl Brown managed to battle through the cold weather, and the rest of the field of players to clinch victory by two points from the in-form Peter Phillips. It certainly had been a difficult day for many of the competitors. Everyone was glad to get back to the clubhouse so that they could revive their spirits in true golfing style.

Conditions were not much better for the traditional, year ending, Christmas Turkey Trot. Players arrived at the Club only to be greeted by a hard frost. However, in the true spirit of the game a strong field took to the course and disappeared up the first fairway. It was obvious that scoring well was going to be a challenge. Just trying to stop the ball on the green was more luck than judgement and the extremely cold temperature made it almost impossible for players to feel anything. Mark Dowling was one of the first players to return home. His score of 31 points under the circumstances was an excellent effort and sat proudly on top of the leader board. As the rest of the field wandered back to the clubhouse it soon became apparent just how good Mark’s score was. In fact only Gerry Smith and Peter Phillips managed to get anywhere close but even their final total was still three points adrift. At the close of play everyone agreed that it was a well deserved victory for Mark. The mulled wine and mince pies played their part in helping to restore a sense of warmth amongst the players before everyone left to enjoy the festivities.