NEWS

Ten players have just returned from the successful long weekend of Golf around Chantilly. We travelled out early on Friday the 10^th Sept, some leaving home at 4:00 am! Most arrived on time at Chantilly Vineuil Golf Club to tee off at 2:30 local time for the first round (of 3) being played for the Centurion Trophy, kindly donated to the Society by the Stockton family.
 

The first course had recently hosted the European Amateur championship. It was in excellent condition with fast greens and, as we discovered later, also celebrating their centenary. Mark Bretton won the day with 32 stableford points. After golf we checked into the Hotel, Dolce Chantilly and dined. Most retired early to bed, having had an eighteen hour day, but some stayed up and regretted that decision the next day!       
 

We were booked to play L'Isle Adam at 9:00, a tricky course to find as well as play. The SATNAVs were very useful but we missed our tee slot and had to follow a group of Japanese players. This can make for a slow round but their tee shots looked OK and we were not unduly held up during our round. The Secretary won the day with 34 points. Following a mid afternoon snack the party split into two groups, those who wished to play again hired buggies, the remainder went in search of a restaurant for the evening.
 

Chantilly was hosting a number of equine events, Jumping and Polo so the town was very busy. Mark Stockton found a typical French Bistro and managed to secure a booking for 10, no mean feat when the town was so crowded.  The Bistro named " Le Goutillion" can be recommended, it was magnificent, from the exploding snails to the performance of our waiter. It had a touch of "Allo Allo" about it and we all had excellent food and wine while some of us wished we had paid more attention during French lessons at school some forty years before!
 

On Sunday we had a more leisurely start at 11:00 at Apremont Golf Club. The first 9 holes were tree lined. The back nine holes were a little more open but involved water on a few holes. The winner this day was Greg Matthews with 33 points. Back to the hotel where Martin Lester had found us a restaurant in nearby Senlis called Scaramouche. Both he and Paul Stockton kindly agreed to drive as taxis were nowhere to be found on a Sunday evening. Another excellent meal and a good selection of quality wines enjoyed by all except the drivers! The meal was followed by the inaugural presentation of the Centurion Trophy. The competition was run as the best score over the three rounds of Friday, Saturday and Sunday. To maintain interest it was permitted to discard the worst 9 hole score so effectively the competition was over 45 holes of golf. John Featherstone was delighted and honoured to win the magnificent Centurion Trophy Cup with a score of 80 points from Greg Matthews on 77 points.

So we came, all too quickly, to the last day of golf and travel home. We played Domaine de Raray, set in the grounds of a magnificent Chateau, which was also a little tricky to find! This day we played for the Taylor-Mason Centenary Jug. This is another new trophy donated jointly by Bev Taylor, stalwart member of the OCGS for 50 years and his good friend Graham Mason. This Jug was won by Alex Tapp with an excellent score of 36 points.
 

There were some other competitions running over the course of the weekend, The Secretary's Team vs The Captains (Mark Stockton) was won by the Secretary's team (143 points to 123) The highest aggregate score on Par 3s was won by John Featherstone with 35 points, Martin Lester second with 29pts. Eagles on par 5's was won by Greg as he had one!! Finally the Secretary's Team beat the Captains team in a 9 hole putting competition. Modest sums of local currency changed hands on all these competitions but were used to fund the purchase of local wines. I am indebted to Greg Matthews for organising these comps and keeping the scores.
 

I think it is fair to say that the party of :- Mark, Paul and Giles Stockton, Mark Bretton, Greg Matthews, Martin Lester, Bev Taylor, Graham Mason, Alex Tapp and John Featherstone had a thoroughly enjoyable time celebrating the Centenary in considerable style.