Arthur Cooper 10th April 2022
The Arthur Cooper is one of the most sought after prizes in the Alty GC trophy cabinet with 6 qualifiers usually played during the winter with the best 2 from each division going forward to the final to ensure an elite field of the clubs’ most in-form golfers ... the bogey format is not popular with all but it effectively pitches the golfer against the course hole by hole according to their handicap .
Arthur Cooper himself was an Alty legend in that he won the prestigious Houldsworth Cup in 1950 …
Matt Astbury (+1/+2/+3)
Cameron Arnold (-1/+1/0)
Cameron played the innocuous 16th hole well but securing a par 3 only brought him a half given his current 12 stroke handicap status on Alty … he showed the potential enormity of his talents by securing a second sensational birdie to win the hole and thus stand on the final hole only one hole behind his great friend Matt Astbury . Could he maintain his momentum and hope that Matt would fail to win the hole which would snatch the W on countback ? Sadly not 😨… as Arnold tragically NR’d to finish on level which meant he secured a second place finish and the £25 voucher . A wonderful effort which augurs well for this precocious young member .
Philippe Mekloufi (-1/+1/0) is not personally known to this observer but has had a decent Winter season . Today he started sluggishly with a sloppy loso on the opening hole but he regrouped to win holes 2 and 4 to put himself in early contention at +1 . Unfortunately he snuggled to the turn incurring losses on on 5 and 8 thus finishing 4 holes behind leader Paul MacDonald as he began the journey for home . Whatever nourishment he enjoyed after the 9th hole he certainly showed an appetite for battle in a loss-free opening quartet including crucial gains on 10 and 12 to get to within one hole of new leader Matt Astbury with 6 holes to play . With the intimidating Amen Corner holes to play could Philippe maintain his momentum to take this prestigious trophy so early in his Alty career ?
Sadly not 😨 , as he stumbled to lose 14 and 15 to drop back to third place and 3 holes behind Astbury with just the Championship holes to play . Philippe steadied to halve 16 and 17 with an encouraging par 4 win at the final hole to finish third on countback . An excellent performance by Philippe who is a welcome addition to our membership .
Andrew Window (-1/-1/-2) is this years’ Captain elect and has already grown into the political side of matters in his burgeoning Committee roles , recently impressing in his stewardship of an important mixed inter-club competition ( the Archie Preston) . In regard to his golf he has been finding it tough but today he has shown glimpses of his undoubted talent . His front 9 was steady rather than spectacular dominated by 6 halves with losses at 1 and 5 but a crucial gain on the difficult 8th hole that saw him get to the turn at -1 , 4 holes off the leader .
window maintained momentum getting another gain on 11 to bring him back to level but could the dapper chappy take the Amen Corner holes by the scruff of the neck to take closer order ? Sadly not 😨 as he succumbed to losses on 12,14 and 15 to get to the ’Championship holes’ 4 holes down … Andy continued to fight but although he produced a magnificent birdie 3 win on 17 that effort was spliced between frustrating halves on 16 and 18 to see him finish in an encouraging fourth place and with him receiving a massive 20 strokes right now , he is currently on a very competitive mark .
2022 Captain Danny Miller (0/-2/-2) has already attained legendary status at the club given his incredible record tally of 35 Board Competition victories . The question was … would the pressures of being Captain detract from his quality levels at golf ? Although the great man lost the first hole he showed a ‘gung ho’ approach with a madcap opening quintet of holes where losses on 1 and 3 were offset by disciplined par gains on 2,4 and 5 . Although his momentum dulled and he was only able to record three halves and a sloppy loss on 9 it saw him get to the turn on level , 3 strokes behind his great golfing pal Paul McDonald .
Miller started the journey home steadily with a trio of halves to get to the 13th tee just 2 holes down … could the Alty legend step up to the Amen Corner challenge and intensify his contention ? Sadly not 😨 , as he stumbled to consecutive losses on 13 and 14 with a half on 15 seeing him 3 holes back . A gain on 17 momentarily brought hopes of a higher finish but a last hole loss left him back in fifth place.
Peter Higgins (-2/-2/-4) has not played much this year but today managed to raise his game today. He started sluggishly , losing two of the opening three holes before regrouping well , an excellent net eagle 4 gain on the fourth hole then playing a quartet of halves to maintain momentum before a sloppy loss on 9 left him at -2 . Unfortunately, 😨 , losses on 10,12 and 15 took him out of contention but a welcome win on 17 helped him back up to -4 to give him a top 6 finish .
Paul McDonald (+3/-7/-4) is one of our winningmost members with an impressive tally of 15 Board Competitions between 2007 and his final Divot Party victory back in 2018. Recent years have seen him unable to regularly contend (due to mixture of physical illness and loss of form) and todays elite competition gave him an excellent opportunity to return to past glories .
He started with a half on the opening hole , but stumbled to a reverse on 2 then regroupEd superbly with excellent par gains on 3,5,6 and 8 to help him ease to the turn on +3 which saw him lead the competition by two holes as he set off on the journey home .standing on the 10th tee knowing that he was in prime position to strongly contend for Board Comp number 16.
Sadly 💔 , ‘Macca‘ completely lost form and lost each of 10,11 and 12 to drop back to level , a 5 hole swing against new leader Matt Astbury .Although he steadied the round with a half on the tricky 13th , it was to be a momentary respite as further losses on 14,15,17 and 18 saw him collapse to -4 and drop to seventh place . Golf at its most cruel to one of our most trophy-laden members who will surely bounce back at some stage in the season .
Overall , a day where our beloved course overwhelmingly put the vast majority of competitors firmly in their place as they mostly struggled to come to terms with the white tees despite the dry conditions and bouncy fairways and a day where , incredibly, NONE of the 20 competitors achieved a gain on the short par 4 opening hole with only a quarter of them getting a half .
