2018 Tommy Barlow Trophy 21st July
Tommy Barlow Trophy 21st July 2018
DR ‘the Doctor’ Terris (75/11/64) dealt out the medicine to his 39 rivals with a masterclass in dealing with the unpredictable conditions today with a hard fought victory ... finding himself in joint second at the turn he produced a ‘best in show’ back 9 crucially picking up 3 shots to handicap on the final two holes to win by 4 shots . His gross 75 was his best ever return beating his previous best by seven shots ... the handicapper has cut him by 1.2 to 9.7 for his awesome display .
Keith Walton Jnr ( 82/14/68) is in his first season with us and is the son of multi-major winner Keith Walton Snr ! Junior ( fast approaching his 50th birthday ) had started magnificently and produced a net 4 under front 9 with a birdie on 8th the highlight ... he consolidated his lead with a net birdie on 10th and with 3 holes to go he was locked in a battle with Terris for the major trophy ! The supposedly benign 16th was to be his undoing with a net double bogey 5 ( curiously Terris also stumbled with a bogey 4 to
lead by one ) but he could only play to handicap the final two holes thus finished in a still superb second place 4 shots back . The handicapper has cut him 0.6 to 13.8 for his efforts after his gross 82 which shattered his own competitive best by 5 shots !
Former Alty GC Captain Steve ‘Taff’ Wilkinson (78/9/69) started with back to back net bogeys and was a mid-table +1 at the turn but he responded well to the more difficult back 9 picking up 3 shots with a superb gross 2 over 38 to take third place on countback ! Ultimately it was dropped shots to handicap on 4 of our easier holes that stalled his challenge ! The handicapper has trimmed him 9.2 to 8.9 for his efforts .
4th placed Stuart Mason (84/15/69) has been a regular contender of late and he had got to -1 at the turn despite a triple bogey 7 on 4th and had superbly negotiated the daunting initial 5 holes of his back 9 to stand 3 under his handicap and bang in contention ... a net bogey 5 at the benign 16th and playing to handicap on the final holes left him 5 back from the winner but his efforts were rewarded by an 0.3 cut to 14.8 !
Chester based John Hogan (80/11/69) had an eventful round which started ignominiously with two net bogey 6s but he steadied and regained 3 shots to handicap on his front 9 with a birdie on the difficult 5th the highlight ... he produced fireworks on the back 9 with three more birdies at 11,14 and 18 and but for a triple bogey 7 on 17 was on course to challenge more strongly . Nevertheless a great effort and an 0.2 cut to his handicap to leave him at 10.3 and a fifth placed finish !
Nathan Butterworth (78/9/69) policed his round superbly with a magnificent front 9 ‘equal best in show’ gross 36 to put him challenging at the turn and at 4 under after parring the next 3 holes remained on course but he couldn’t build further and bogeyed his final 6 holes to fall back 2 shots to handicap a still respectable 6th placed finish rewarding him with an 0.2 cut to 9.1
78 years young evergreen Ken Dixon (91/20/71) was the final player to attract the attention of the handicapper with an 0.3 cut to 19.2 given his excellent round was blighted by a quint bogey 9 on the benign 6th and his superb back 9 ( 3 under for his handicap ) had included a triple bogey 8 on 15 !
Special mentions go to ...
Trafford Leisure staff member Glyn Richards ( 74/4/70) is a former pro now playing occasionally but his 74 was the best gross of the day and included 3 birdies !
And finally ... Tommy Barlow defending champion ( and Diggle Trophy winner ) Paul Hackett ( your scribe ) made a decent defence of his trophy and after going 2 over his handicap after bogeying the opening two holes he regrouped and played quality percentage golf to recover 5 shots ( including 4 consecutive net birdies ) to stand 3 under and in a challenging position after 12 holes ... sadly dropped shots to handicap on 13,15 and 17 were crucial in restricting him to 90/19/71 for an eleventh place finish !
