Chiltern Breakfast League 2019
The Chiltern Breakfast League has been operating since the summer of 2002 when 6 local clubs came together and decided they would rather play in a competitive match play golf league. Princes Risborough Golf Club were one of the founding members of the league which by 2019 has now expanded to 16 clubs and has a geography which does rather stretch the definition on the Chilterns. Princes Risborough GC have never quite won the league (as the smallest club in the league that will always be tough) but with a neat golf course nestling as it does within the folds of the Chilterns the club is quintessentially Chiltern and proud to be a founder member of the league.
Last year, the long hot summer of 2018, was a hugely successful year for the team which came within a smidgeon of qualifying for the end of season play offs and a shot at the top trophy. Very close but no cigar-yet. It also saw the team perform brilliantly in the end of season Challenge Cup jamboree at Richings Park and finish third out of 17 participating clubs.
So, 2019 was looked upon with anticipation and time of opportunity and it has indeed been quite an exciting and very entertaining summer for the gentlemen of Princes Risborough.
Division B was a tough call with three of the big beasts and past league champions in Aldwickbury Park, Wycombe Heights and Richings Park all in the mix. Add to that a first time outing with Shendish Manor and the local derby with Weston Turville, and this was always going to be a challenging year.
The Men of Princes Risborough have risen to the occasion however finishing third of the six clubs with only Wycombe Heights and Aldwickbury Park ahead of us. That said Aldwickbury Park, the division runners up, never got the better of us as the both home and away matches were halved 3:3. The division winners, Wycombe Heights, got the better of us at Wycombe Heights but we beat them at Home so once again the spoils were shared over the season. Away wins are as rare as hens’ teeth in the league and our highlight was in the final match of the season when we managed to beat our local rivals Weston Turville 3.5 :2.5 at Weston Turville, thus giving us the double win over the season against them.
Our one blemish was a double defeat home and away at the hands of Richings Park but we got the better of them in the final league positions by half a point and that is the important result at the end of the season.
By comparison with the other cubs we have a small pool of players below the maximum handicap of 18, but we do punch above our weight and at home we are a tough team to beat with our loss this summer to Richings Park being the first for many years. Overall 23 different members played in the matches this year being a mix of all parts of the club. Some like Alan Nunn, Mike Stevens, Mark Tubb, Neil Terry and Stewart Ford made cameo, but vital, appearances whereas others were able to play more regularly. The Cricket World Cup was something of a hindrance with some members of the team seemingly having tickets for most of the matches, and then the Ashes tests too!!
Special mention must go to Neil Martin and Gavin Adams who played together in 8 of the 10 matches and managed to win 7 of them!! Some achievement that. Steve Sargeant, Cliff Pearce, Graham Enfield and Matt Enfield all made their debuts this year and made significant contributions to the team performance. Our Octogenarian Jim Findlay continues to astound the opposition with his rock steady golf and has regularly delivered match wins with his partner Vice Captain Craig Whitworth. Our Captain John Verrall has revelled in the competitive golf as has his regular partner the Welsh Wizard and even more competitive Dean Herritty. The Saturday “Grumpies” continue to be great supporters of the league team and can be relied upon to field as much as half the team on occasions. Pete Major, Richard Aldridge, Jeff Hockley Alan Jackson, Pete Smith, and Dave MacKenzie have all delivered for the team. Bob Darvill, Steve Wagerfield and Richard Bennett have all contributed on numerous occasions throughout the season so all in all a really, really good team effort.
Our course is always complimented by our league visitors and our food and beverage are legendary-the best in the league it appears. The season is not quite finished as we have the Challenge Cup Jamboree to look forward to at Waterstock GC on Sunday 20th October where all 16 clubs in the league will play against each other for the spoils. We are hoping to go two better than last and win.
Barry Woledge, Competitions Secretary.
