2018 Bailey Cup Final 29th April
Bailey Cup Final 29th April 2018
An intriguing battle between a middle and high handicapper was the story of this years Bailey Cup Final with the course playing long especially given the time of year .22 of the 24 qualifiers for this prized medal competition took part .
Eventual winner 15 hcp Robert W. Kay (Mr. Captain) had a front 9 chatacterised by repeated high-quality scrambling to maintain his score ... he (unusually) didn’t have his first par until the SI 18 9th and got to the turn +2 for his handicap and then consolidated that position by firing 2 more ... steady play but only in the last four ‘championship’ holes did our Captain go into contention with 3 consecutive crucial pars 15-17 and a bogey at the last to score 44/41/85/15/70 ... his only double bogeys had come on the hardest two holes and his consistent play ground out the title on countback in tough conditions .An amazing effort from the man who holds not one but two golf captaincys’ whilst also maintaining his actual golf game ! His handicap was adjusted down by 0.3 from 14.7 to 14.4 !
Earlier that day 27 handicapper James Walker-Kelly had started his round poorly with an opening pair of triple bogey 7s that had left him +3 for his handicap after just 2 holes . He fought back magnificently to be level for his handicap after 9 ... the back 9 also saw him consistently recording ‘net birdies’ on 5 of the 9 holes but a quad bogey on 11 and a triple bogey on 15 meant he could only match the winning score with his 48/49/97/27/70 losing out on countback to the Captain.
JWK curiously has been dealt more severely than the winner by the handicapper and been reduced by 0.8 from 26.5 to 25.7 ! Soooonear but sooo far !
Mark Caffrey had started well and was 2 under his handicap after 6 but successive bogeys on 7 and 8 dropped 3 shots to handicap proving crucial and he finished the front 9 at +1 .A steady back 9 where a par at the last brought him back to level and just one behind ... a very creditable third place to consolidate a good start to the season for Mark .
Gordon Boardman , as befits a 10 hcp golfer , only double bogeyed the hardest two holes and was 2 under his handicap after 4 but couldn’t quite maintain that level to stay with the leaders but finished just one shot away in fourth place .
