Notable results in Creasy Cup

The RMGC competition season is now well under way and, so far, has not been characterised by postponed events due to inclement weather. Hopefully, this will be a permanent state of affairs thanks to the upgrading of the floodwater relief canals leading to and passing through the golf course.

The first round of the most popular knock-out competition, the Creasy Cup, has been played and produced some noteworthy results. Low handicap newcomer Tony Vella was knocked out by Per Bergedahl, while Kim Borg got the better of Yasuhiro Uechi and Nigel Hall fell victim to previous winner Norman Spiteri.

All of the other favourites are still in the running. The next round of all knock-outs has to be played by January 15.

In team competitions, Kim Borg's side leads the Captains' League with 354 points after two rounds. The league runs for seven rounds with only the best five counting towards the final team score.

Team positions: Kim Borg 354, John Lewis 339, Paul Stoner 338, Victor Satariano 337, William Beck 335, Tom Davies 325, Tony Bonello 229.

Three players share the individual scoring lead with 70 points each; Stephen Borg, Mario Aquilina and Joe Sillato. Kim Borg leads the individual captains with a 69.

The other team competition is the HSBC International Challenge which Team Malta E leads with 205 points closely followed by Team England 2 with 204. Team Malta E is made up of Ray Calleja, Simon Micallef Stafrace, Nathan Farrugia and Edwin Busuttil.

In the individual stakes, Nathan Farrugia is gradually attaining an unassailable lead in the Order-of-Merit with 80 points, followed by Tony Vella with a distant 55 points. Nick Urpani, always a good performer on the Order-of-Merit follows closely on 54. The Eclectic score of 62 is shared by three players - Peter Satariano, David Debono and Kim Borg.

The Siemens November Monthly Medal was, as usual, played in three divisions. David Debono took the honours in the first division with a net 70, Jim Boyle carried the second division with a net 66, and Alf Van Den Bichelaer won the third division with a net 65.

The high scoring in the first division is a reflection of the degree of difficulty that the course is playing to at the moment - brought about by the way that the course is set up and the pace of the greens.

World Cup of golf

Wales' victory in the WGC World Cup of Golf in Portugal last week was of little significance in the local golf scene, except for our small number of Welsh members, of course. However, there is a connection between Maltese and Welsh golf.

The last time that Wales had won the World Cup was in 1987 when it was held in Hawaii and on that occasion the Welsh team was made up of Ian Woosnam and David Llewellyn.

David had been the resident professional at the RMGC from 1978 to 1981 and after he left the club he went on to win eight international tournaments as well as the World Cup. He holds the European Tour 4-round record and is currently the national coach of the Welsh Golfing Union.

This year's edition of the WGC World Cup of Golf was played at the Victoria Clube de Golfe in Vilamoura in the Algarve region of Portugal.

Wales were represented by Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge who were awarded the trophy thanks to their score after three days because the fourth round was rained off.

Members' survey

The feedback obtained from the Survey Questionnaire has been analysed. Members were asked to rate the various components that make up the club as 'excellent', 'good', 'fair' or 'poor'.

Perhaps the most significant score was that obtained by the golf course itself with a satisfaction rating of 72%. Considering that half the club membership is expatriate, and therefore very knowledgeable about the standard of courses abroad, this somewhat dampens the argument (mostly put forward by non-members) that the Marsa course needs upgrading.

However, the committee is aware that more needs to be done and its objective is to set a standard at 80% satisfaction.

The clubhouse and its facilities came in at the other end of the scale, with a satisfaction rating of only 40%. Here all are in agreement that the facilities need urgent and extensive improvement.

It is understood that proposals for the financing of the required additions and alterations are to be brought up at a forthcoming EGM in December. Among the other notable points to come out of the survey is the need for a course marshal whose job it will be to ensure that there are no hold-ups caused by slow play on the course.

There were 126 respondents out of a membership of 500 which is considered as a good response and truly representative of the opinions of the general membership.

Extraordinary general meeting

At the last AGM of the club changes were made to its constitution whereby the Committee of Management imposed upon itself the requirement to present the forthcoming year's budget for the approval of the members, and to set subscriptions accordingly.

The EGM for this purpose has been set for December 15 at 6 p.m. A five-year plan will also be presented at this meeting.