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Last night saw multiple champions crowned with the last round of CITCO Race to Ducal completed and the SHRM matchplay final played out.

For the CITCO Race to Ducal – 26 FROGS & guests were seen off on the GCGD first tee by David Hopwood, and as he was unable to play, they were greeted by him at the bar on their return. While unavoidably dreary, the stories he had to endure were much less ‘if & nearly’ than expected, with standard scratch of 17 & a plethora of seasons bests. Thanks for the chilled refreshments Hoppy.

Craig Ferreira did his best to continue his domination of the longest drive however his arch-nemesis Jess Have edged ahead of him – but only by about 15yards. Steve Brown continued to consistently outdrive both of them, but consistently continued to put it in the long grass! Well done Jess, but now the dilemma of whether to keep using the driver that saw you murder the ball up & down the middle of each fairway, or to unwrap that shiny new Taylormade SLDR that is waiting for you in the shop.

Jess Have secured 4th place on 18 points, but as he had already won a compliment of balls for the LD, his prize was passed on to 5th place. Mark Phillips scored a seasons best 17 points, but was beaten to 5th place by Stef Ayache on count-back, also having hit a seasons best of 17 points. Dennis Robertson equaled his seasons best score of 18pts and edged ahead of Jess on count-back to win third place. Shame on those who questioned Dave Winters’ complex determination of the prize winner shufflings. Surely his ‘Trust me’ should have been enough to allay any concerns. It was sufficient for Bill Clinton, Berlusconi, & other similarly reputable gentlemen, so we have nothing to be concerned with. Willem Van Rooyen scored his seasons best with 19pts to claim second, but could not better Dave Winters, who had to have put himself into contention for the overall title with 21pts – also his seasons best. Time for that bunga-bunga party Dave!

Paul Sweetman scored 19 points to earn him the best guest prize, but as he was unable to attend the prize giving Ivor Johnstone collected the spoils.
[singlepic id=200 w=400 h=400 float=right]Stuart Rowlands & Ian Doherty both gathered up 11pts on their scrappy rounds but Daniel Kaiser, distracted by formal duties on the night, saved their blushes with his 8 points earning him the pink ball
Willem Van Rooyen got his ball inside Ayzo Van Eysinga’s effort to win the NTP honors on the 4th

So… on to the overall race to Ducal
John Sutherland secured 6th place, to find himself just outside the prizes.
Johan Terblanche increased his points tally by two to 77, but dropped back the leader board to 5th place.
Jonathan Hill, stagnating on 78 points, continued his slide down the overall rankings stopping at 4th place
Duncan Tippin’s ill timed holiday meant he could not improve his 80 points, costing him his top spot & earning relegation to the third place on the podium
Dave Winters seasons best was not best enough, and had to settle with second place & 82 points
Dennis Robertson knew he had a chance of overall glory so cut short a trip, caught the red-eye back to Lux, hit his seasons best, and bagged the title of overall CITCO Race to Ducal champion with 83 points – congratulations to you Dennis.

Many thanks to our generous sponsor CITCO.
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There was just one to SHRM Matchplay complete on the night – the heavyweight showdown between two previous champions in the 2014 final.

Johan Terblanche in the orange corner, and Ayzo Van Eysinga in the other orange corner! Terblanche was edgy and focused on the driving range, blasting balls into oblivion throughout his warm-up routine. Van Eysinga was also to be found on the range for his usual warm up, mostly catching the gossip & mocking other FROGS, with the occasional splaying of a ball or two.

The tension was palpable on the 1st tee as both athletes jostled for prime position at the front, however once each had receive their beers they visibly relaxed & toasted the match. Daniel Kaiser joined the pair (late) to allow the SHRM Matchplay final start.

Spectators following the match… sorry spectator… sorry the other person contractually obliged to be in the flight… saw the matchplay pressure yo-yo the lead back and forward. Van Eysinga took it on the first, Tereblanche reigned him back in on the second, Van Eysinga retook the lead again on the third. From that point on, Terblanche scrambled hard to keep his steadier opponent reigned in. His eagerness got the best of him on occasion, such as hitting his ball straight to the 7th teebox, bypassing the 6th green altogether. Once the players on the teebox shooed him back to finish out the 6th, he managed to win the hole with an unconventional par & bring the match back to 1-up Van Eysinga. Terblanche ensured the match stayed at 1-up by missing his short putt on the 7th, leaving Van Eysinga teed off down to the last with the slimmest of leads. Terblanche had a knee-knocker on the 9th green to force the extra hole, but blazed it wide. As he did all day, Van Eysinga calmly popped in his putt for a half, and took his second SHRM Matchplay Champion title – congratulations to you Ayzo.

Many thanks to our generous sponsor SHRM.

General news & house-keeping:
· The MIXvoip FROGS Pairs was rescheduled to Wednesday Aug 13th, but there is a potential shuffle with the Citable 3-club. More to come on this.
· The Ryder Cup is up next, this weekend. Jonny Hill will have given the team their timeslots. We still await confirmation from the Golfaholics on the numbers of their team and handicap details, confirming whether we will be able to use our reserve teams. 2014 green shirts & beige trouser/shorts is the order of the day.
· Full results, standings, etc… will be on the http://www.FROGS.lu website shortly.