CAPTAINS CUP

The Captains Cup, the fourth event of the year for the Cypriot Golf Society was held on Thursday 8th June 2023 at Dyrham Park Golf Club. What a glorious day it was, blue skies and 28 degrees! Not surprisingly, there was a fantastic turnout of 68 golfers competing for the prizes.

The sponsor of the day was Captain Stathi’s brother-in-law Andy Savva from the Garage Inspector. Andy generously included a surprise sponsorship, the Hole in One competition with prizemoney of £10,000 for a hole-in-one on the 14th hole, and £250 for hole-in-one on the other par 3s. Unfortunately, nobody won the prizemoney, although there were constant loud cheers from groups pretending to have the ball in the hole in 1 shot, laughing their heads off even though the joke was wearing thin after the 10th group!

Dyrham Park Golf Club is one of the best local golf courses in North London, and this was the 9th consecutive year that the Captains Cup has been held there. The format of the competition was 36 holes stableford, with lunch in-between the 2 rounds, followed by dinner in the evening. The course was in fantastic condition; however, the greens were not quite as fast as some neighboring courses. Golf buggies and for the first time golf boards were provided for the round.

Winner of the day with an excellent total score of 79pts was Michael Tsangarides.

We asked Michael Tsangarides to write a few words to describe his round as follows………

Delight at Dyrham Park Golf Club

Blue sky the sun on our backs, 4 ball made up of 3 seventy plus stalwarts of the Cypriot Golf Society and me, a sprightly 69 year old. Starting on the 10 th tee we began the first of two rounds we were due to play on Thursday June 8th 2023 competing for The Captain’s Cup. I began well making par on 7 out of the first 9 holes. Sometimes golf just flows but it’s important to be in play off the tee which, with the ball running and flying through the air it resembles a game that we all aspire to play.
Starting the 2nd nine I carried on with a par on the 1st then on the long par 5 sliced my 2nd shot into thick rough trying to go for the green. Luckily one of my main rivals found my ball and I could keep the run going. Golf is probably the only sport that an opponent helps you to beat them and that’s one of the reasons I love it. The rest of the first round continued with a run of pars finishing with a solid gross score of 76.
We had a light lunch and other members were quick to hear that I managed 42 Stapleford points in the morning round and was leading. This brings it’s own pressures and the mind starts interfearing with unhelpful advice, like a caddie who talks too much or a golf pro who has no idea what will actually help you. Despite all these distractions I managed to birdie the par 5 that had nearly wrecked my card in the morning. The front 9 continued with some good golf but with more errors but nothing resulting in worse than single dropped shots. The start of the back nine was greeted with 3 straight bogies which was beginning to be a worry but a solid par on the tough 13th over water gave me a valuable 3 points. Perhaps the defining moment of the whole day was a wonderful birdie on the 17th which smartened up my increasingly desperate scorecard which my mind was in danger of wrecking. Luckily as my playing companions summoned up the last vestiges of their sanity after playing 2 rounds in real summer heat we added up the scores and miraculously, the delight of a 2 shot win after all the interfearing nonsense that my mind could throw at me.

Captain Stathi thanked his sponsor and brother-in-law, Andy Savva, The Garage
Inspector. He then proceeded to hand out the customary fines for indiscretions
raising money for his chosen charities AFK- working with disability, DSA- Down Syndrome Association, and The Chickenshed Theatre.

Durham Park Golf Club have to be commended for their food, staff service and overall excellent course conditions.

Winner of the Day: Michael Tsangarides 42 + 37 = 79pts
Runner Up: Andy Anastasiou 37 + 40 = 77pts
3rd place: Savva Savva 75pts
Best Gross: Ben Webster 70 (-2)
Nearest to Pin am: Pako Karantoni
Nearest to Pin pm: George Economides
Best Team: John Constantinou, Nikos Kyriakou, Sena Mehmed, Andy Anastasiou 212pts
Best Senior: Michael Tsangarides: 67pts
Additional Prizes:
AM runner Winner: Michael Tsangarides 42pt
AM Runner Up: Ben Webster 37pts
PM winner: Andy Anastasiou 40pts
PM Runner Up: Harry Philippou 38pts
Booby Prize: Louis Tsioupra 40pts