Dear All,

I am, as usual, required to send a report of our Spring Meeting to Emma Johnson, Head of External Relations at Rossall, to be included in the next Rossallian Magazine, and I hope you think this is a fair summary? I was also asked to submit a photograph of all those playing on the day, which I hoped to take at 1 1.00am that day, when everyone was begged by your Hon Sec to arrive at the Club. However, as has been demonstrated many times, your Hon Sec has all the authority of a bean bag, and apart from Steve and Anne James, who were staying with Judith and I in the Dormy House, no one else had arrived by the appointed hour, and the photograph was forgotten! Sorry Emma, I will make sure that we do take one at Delamere Forest, when we meet there for our Autumn Meeting in September.

As for Ganton, if anyone has played on such a magnificent course elsewhere, on a sunny, warm Spring day: I'd like to know where it is. The golfing cognoscente rate Ganton among the best two or three courses in the land - and with good reason. On the beautiful day we played, it was glorious - the whole course sparkled: tees, fairways, bunkers ( though some of them fiendishly difficult to play from) and greens were immaculate in every detail. It was truly a privilege to play there and the venue deserved a larger entry. In the event 26 ORS entered , interestingly, the same number as played the last time we were here, two and a half years ago, but very sadly three of our number had to withdraw this time, just a few days before the Meeting, leaving us with 23 players. But within this number special mention should be made of the reappearance, after two and a half years of the Cheethams, Spencer and Jenny, as well as two entirely new faces, Jeremy Lees and Dan Sheahan, from opposite ends of the country, who had found us via the school's website. They were made very welcome, and we dearly hope they will become regular attendees of our Meetings. We were also bolstered by 8 boys and girls from the school's Golf Academy, along with their two masters, who were once again delightful company, and who raised the overall standard of golf played substantially! The superb greens were cruelly undulating, and extremely fast, which only the finest of putters among us (not many) could cope with,

1

but 1 5 year old Molly Campbell from school, with a 0.2 handicap, was round the course in two under par gross! She is already in the Irish Ladies Senior team, and it was a joy for me to watch her play her final six holes, which she played like a seasoned professional. She is clearly an exceptional talent, and a delightful young lady as well. By comparison, most of our ORS struggled with the extremely difficult course, scoring in the low to mid 20s in their Stableford rounds, but our two winners Ross Newton and Michael Blakey, a Ganton member, played very well for their 36 points, Ross winning the Newsome Trophy on a card play off. The Lady's competition was won once again by Tiff Fielden, with a very respectable 30 points.

The golf over, and after the departure of the children from school, who were spending the night in Leeds, prior to playing in a tournament there the following day, 26 ORS sat down on one long table for a splendid dinner of roast pork with ample wine, during which the retiring Chairman of Council, Chris Holt, after ten heroic years of service to Rossall, gave us a brief 'State of the Nation' report on the school's progress. He told us that in recent years there had been a marked improvement in academic standards, as well as in the performing arts and in music. Right across the sporting spectrum our results have been remarkable. Both boys and girls 1 st Xl Soccer teams excelled; the girls winning the National Championships at only their second attempt, and the boys losing only in the final, after beating Shrewsbury, Millfield, Repton, Manchester GS, and Eton (4-1) along the way. Our golfers won the National Championships for the second time.

To sum up: Our Ganton Meeting was a great success: we will go there again, and although it is a difficult place to get to, it would be marvellous to have a bumper entry, when we do.

The following ORS played, and I am most grateful for the loyal support of all of them.

Steve and Anne James, Spencer and Jenny Cheetham, Tiffany Fielden, Guy

Cunningham, Jeremy Lees, Richard Henriksen, Bob Cooke, Richard Marriott, Nick

Ellaby, Neil Corlett, Charlie Hurst, David Wilkinson, Toby Stephenson, Nick Young, Grant Wilson, Will Goodwin, Ross Newton, Dan Sheahan, David James, Chris Holt and Michael Blakey.

Finally, can I remind you all of our Autumn Meeting at Delamere Forest on Tuesday 24th September 2024 - another terrific course, which we have played and enjoyed before. I will be sending out details of this within the next few weeks; in the meantime

Best wishes to you all,

Arthur Stephenson. Hon Sec Rossallian Golf Society.