2020 Autumn Cup

Autumn Cup 12th September 2020

The contenders 🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️

Glen Rothwell (70/5/65) has taken his 18th individual and a landmark 20th overall Board Competition of his Alty GC career with a phenomenal performance in the testing conditions today . Rothwell started impressively, parring his first five holes which equated to 2 under his handicap (courtesy of gains on 2 and 5) then took control of the competition with a birdie 3 on the benign 6th. . Inexplicably Glen succumbed to consecutive net bogeys on 7 and 8 in a sloppy end to his front 9 yet his efforts were still good enough to claim a share of the lead with his chum and playing partner Ged Grogan and closest rival John Thompson .Stunned and disappointed by his frailties Rothwell spectacularly made immediate amends with birdies on both 10 and 11 then consolidated that momentum with a net birdie 5 on 12 to open up a 3-shot lead .He cruised through the other Amen Corner holes (having improved his position with a second gain on the difficult 14th) and maintained his excellence parring in with his final net gain on 17 before playing his final hole to regulation to finish with a quite magnificent net 65 . The handicapper recognised his efforts and cut him by 0.7 to a new mark of 3.9 .

John Thompson (86/20/66) is one of the undoubted stars of this post-lockdown season with 3 Board Competition wins . Today he must have started his round in confident mood but he got off to a poor start , inexplicably leaking shots on all of the opening quartet of holes to stand at +4 and way down the leaderboard. On the long 5th JT began to regroup , taking advantage of his handicap and registering a net birdie 5 to start his fightback. He took closer order courtesy of another gain on 6 then a magnificent net eagle 3 on 7 then sensationally got him back to parity with another net birdie on 8 getting him to the turn at -1 and incredibly in a share of the lead . John was to fall foul of the benign 10th hole , a net DB 7 halting his momentum. Such is the mindset of this confident individual that he immediately got a shot back on 11 then started his Amen Corner adventure consolidating his position with a net birdie on 12 and then taking on the intimidating 13 with a sensational tee shot leading to him converting a net eagle 2 from just 4 feet . He then played 14 and 15 in regulation to get himself to the 16th tee having closed the gap to just 2 strokes. Thompson maintained his form with net birdies on 16 and 17 to stand just one stroke away with one hole to go . Could he pull off the most unlikely of victories with a gain on the final hole ? Sadly his regulation 5 meant that he finished on net 66 and one stroke behind in second place doubtless rueing that sluggish start .The handicapper took decisive action and initially cut John by 1.8 to leave him at 17.7 but then taking into his account his phenomenal recent scoring record proceeded to cut him a further 2 strokes under the exceptional scoring reduction to a new mark of 15.7 . A truly remarkable improvement from 25.1 to 15.7 in just over 12 weeks !

Special mentions ....

Brian Cawley (93/23/70) was the only other member to beat his handicap . His front 9 was a rollercoaster ride , making  a bright start with gains on 1 and 2 but then immediately giving them back on the next couple of holes . A net birdie on 6 was cancelled out by a reverse on 8 but despite this he got to the turn just one off the lead . The round continued to be up and down with the joy of net birdies on 13,14 and 17 tempered with dropped shots on 12 and 15 leaving him on a very creditable net 70 . The handicapper was suitably impressed enough to cut his handicap by 0.8 to a new mark of 21.9 . A fantastic effort by this most popular member .

Jason Denton (78:6/72) has undoubted talent but rarely plays in the comps . Today ( after being encouraged to play by your reporter over several weeks ) he finally heeded the call to compete for the first time in over two months. Jason started sluggishly, a sloppy net DB on the opening hole then recouping a shot on 2 only precluding reverses on 3 and 6 but being tempered with further gains on 7 then a spectacular birdie on 9 getting him to the turn at +1 just 2 off the lead . Sadly Jason continued to infuriatingly drop shots to the easiest holes and he  inexplicably suffered reverses on the benign 10 and 11 to tumble further down the leaderboard . Jason regrouped again and magnificently parred all the  Amen Corner holes to regain those lost shots before again succumbing a shot to another easy hole on 16 then registering his 5th and final net birdie of the day on 17 before playing the last hole in regulation for a net 72. Nevertheless a fantastic effort for this returning low-handicapped maestro.

Roy Dickens (88/15/73) has had a good season with his highlight the Captains Boel success earlier this year . He was typical of the vast majority of members who found the front 9 much more difficult today . His rollercoaster +4 front 9 had one undoubted highlight ( his sensational net eagle 2 on 3 ) but sloppy reverses on 4 and 8 and net DBs on 6 and 7 took  him well out of contention .

Roy regrouped immediately with a second net eagle on 10 but he was unable to properly mount a challenge although his -2 back 9 was third best of the day courtesy of further gains on 13,14,16 and 17 with reverses on 11,12,15 and 18 . A hugely rollercoaster round but a fine effort to claim fifth place . 

Lee Lomas (84/11/73) achieved a creditable sixth place after a sloppy front 9 saw him gain only one shot to handicap ( his net birdie on 7 ) as opposed to reverses on 3,5,8 and 9 as he reached +3 at the turn .He was one of only 5 members to beat his handicap on his back 9 , achieving it by net birdies on 10,14,17 and 18 and restricting his mistakes to lapses on 12 and 16 . Lee is doubtless still recovering from the trauma of recently losing a Simmer KO final ( a feeling which this observer knows only too well ) thus has done well to compete so well today .

Gross Watch ...

Our winner Glen Rothwell produces the lowest Board Competition gross round of the season today! Bravo ! 

Defending Champion watch ...

Andrew Window (98/19/79) was trying to defend the trophy he gloriously won last year . The happy go lucky dapper chappy superbly net birdied the opening two holes to force his way to the top of the leaderboard . Sadly , his round then slowly disintegrated suffering net DBs on 5 and 9 with further reverses on 4 and 6 leaving him at +4 at the turn . He fared a little better on a back 9 which saw him achieve gains on 11 and 14 but particularly suffer on the par 5s taking 18 shots to complete those two holes ... a net 79 gave him 25th place of the 46 competitors . 

Overall a day where members bemoaned the different pace of the greens and more intolerant rough as their reasoning for being unable to bring our beloved course to heel as she again enjoyed a day of dominance on our members with only 3 beating their handicaps.