Ibaraki Golf Weekend — October 2007
The 2007 Autumn Meeting took place at the beautiful Windsor Park Country Club in Ibaraki, where ten C&O golfers gathered for a memorable weekend of competition, camaraderie, and unexpectedly high levels of wine consumption.
With the Varsity series tied at 15–15, players arrived on Saturday in near-perfect weather and played a relaxed warm-up round. An early sign of Oxford’s intent came when Alex Miller drove the green on the par-4 7th — a shot that unsettled Cambridge and greatly encouraged his fellow Dark Blues.
The warm-up was followed by a lively evening in the clubhouse: twelve bottles of wine, dessert wine, and a bottle of port were consumed — casting doubt on whether anyone would be fit for the early tee-off the next morning. Several members stayed up to watch the Rugby World Cup Final (with England sadly losing to South Africa), further testing their readiness for Sunday.
At 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, history was made: for the first time in its 20-year history, Windsor Park hosted a party in the Oxford and Cambridge Suite for our Society — complete with champagne.
Despite excellent conditions, only two players broke 100. The match itself, however, was decisive. Alex Miller once again drove the 7th green and delivered a superb round of 81 (net 71), securing the C&O Trophy. Strong performances from Yoshi Shimizu and Rupert Middle completed a clean sweep for Oxford.
With this victory Oxford moved ahead in the historic series: 16–15.
Cambridge’s best score came from Jenny Barb in her first Society golf outing. Special thanks go to Alex Miller for organising an excellent weekend at a first-class venue.
Participants
Alex Miller
Tomo Imai
Tim Minton
Simon Lloyd
Rupert Middle
Terry Nakamura
Jenny Barb
John Sunley
Yoshi Shimizu
Toshiro Yamamura (guest)
— Rupert Middle, October 2007