IGC newFAIRWAY NEWS No. 2

IGC Logo 250x250newFAIRWAY NEWS … IGC’s periodic journal
(Issue 2 … April 16-30, 2019)

And so our winter/early-spring golf came to a close, accompanied by some pleasant April sunshine.

We enjoyed an excellent turnout on Easter Saturday at Royal Limburg (aka “Houthalen”), with five very welcome guests joining the throng … could Arvid Roos and Alexander Winter be the genesis of a new IGC junior division? We also made our maiden “tour stop” at The National, following a match play against them in 2018 ( … for which we are still much indebted to Daniel Darius).

A hardy perennial in IGC’s calendar – our programme of Monthly Medals – sprang to life at the end of April. The first of six 2019 monthly medals was presented to Andrew Budd, with Barry McAlpine, Gavin Watt, Bernard Donck and Peter Mountain also qualifying for the Oct 12 Monthly Medal Final.

IGC now moves up through the gears as we turn the corner into late-spring/early-summer. Our many and splendid itinerary kicks-off in May with the Opening Cup on May 4 at Pierpont, sponsored by Where2Golf. Hot on its heels is a match against Empereur on May 11.

May will close with a happy band of 24 IGC tourers taking the sea air in Le Touquet. As John Betjeman put it, we can look forward to “seaweed smells from sandy caves, And thyme and mist in whiffs, In-coming tide, Atlantic waves, Slapping the sunny cliffs, Lark song and sea sounds in the air, And splendour, splendour everywhere”.

WORTHY WINNERS: of recent IGC competitions:

    • April 20 (Royal Limburg):First: Mark Adams (34 pts); runner-up Bill Purdue (32 pts) and third Dan Coch (31 pts).
    • April 27 (The National):First: David Winter (33 pts) on countback from John Hughes; third was Alastair Fyfe … clearly a case of home advantage for the winner.
    • April 28 (Rigenée):First: Andrew Budd (net 78); runner-up Barry McAlpine (net 79) and joint-third Gavin Watt (net 85), Bernard Donck and Peter Mountain … all qualifying for the Monthly Medal Final in October.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS for your diary: …. plenty more fixtures in addition to these:

  • Sat May 4: Opening Cup at Pierpont (sponsored by Where2Golf) starts our “summer season”; sign-up here for this team aggregate stableford event ( … cards also count for Summer Cup).
  • Sat May 11: Match vs Empereur (GF only €30!). 11 already signed-up (thank you), but we need a team of at least 18 to play the Ryder Cup format of three 4BBB, three foursomes and six singles (please note: h’cap limit of 28). Our hosts Empereur are keen to make this a strong annual fixture and will put up a trophy … which we will take home!
  • Sun May 12: Summer Cup event at Enghien …12 players or more and our GF is cut from €75 to €61!
  • Fri May 24: start of the 2019 Royal Trophy season at Royal Sart Tilman.
  • May 30-Jun 2: Côte d’Opale Stay&Play.
  • Sat June 15: Rinkven … a great day and long-standing IGC event sponsored by the Ginders.
  • Sun June 30: the eagerly awaited President’s Day at Royal Hainaut (sponsored by Rodolphe).

PARISH NOTICES: what the world’s press is talking about:

  • IGC Opening Cup (May 4): what is it actually opening I hear you ask? … traditionally the launch of the Summer Cup, which, this year, actually commenced on April 13 at Falnuée … but we might try and re-align these two IGC milestones in 2020.
  • Côte d’Opale Stay&Play (May 30-Jun 2):24 lucky “tourers” have signed-up for this year’s Stay&Play in Le Touquet. From our base at Le Manoir Hotel (once owned by the colourful financier George Walker and his boxing brother Billy), we will again sample the delights of the La Mer course, Hardelot (Les Pins), Belle Dune and Wimereux … and no doubt a beverage or two!
  • Royal Keerbergen!! … no, you are not seeing things … a club that we dropped from our calendar due to low turnouts, is now a venerable “Royal”. Don’t forget, under the 50-year rule, it will be Royal IGC in 2038 … the same year as Royal Happy Waregem, Royal La Bruyère, Royal La Tournette and Royal Winge gain their “royal” stripes … and a year ahead of Royal L’Empereur.

PHOTO of the WEEK

The Blues Brothers?! … a relaxed Mark Adams, free from the demands of his IGC Secretarial role, receives the winner’s voucher from Captain Barry McAlpine
at Houthalen (aka Royal Limburg).

Barry & Mark

IGC Logo - acting Secretary