Arthur Cooper Final 25th April 2021

John Rossiter (24) (0/+3/+3) has captured the third Board Competition of his Altrincham GC career with a battling display in the chilly sunny conditions today . The wily veteran prevailed on countback to thwart long-time leader Brian Nicholls , who had seemed certain to be victorious but for a crucial loss on the benign 16th whilst Paul MacDonald , Richard Paulson had solid performances one back with evergreen Alty treasure Brian Cawley couldn’t sustain a blistering start but still finished in an encouraging 6th place . A day dominated by (Division 2) high-handicappers where only 6 of 49 members beat their handicap as our beloved course continued to largely have the upper hand .

John Rossiter (24) has produced a back 9 masterclass to outlast long-time leader Brian Nicholls today . These days John presents as a more toned version of his former self due a slight change in lifestyle which has seen 6 inches disappear from his previous self . He freely admits to feeling much fitter and the transformation has clearly had a positive effect on his golf . After halving his opening hole , Rossiter had a rollercoaster front 9 with gains on 2,5,6 and 9 tempered with losses on 3,4,7( an irritating reverse given he had two strokes on it )  and 8 to leave him 3 holes back at the turn . heimmediately took closer order with back to back gfains on the deceptively innocuous 10/11 axis but then continued in rollercoaster fashion as he gave both gains back on the more difficult 12 and 13 . He stood on the 14th tee 4 holes behind but then played solidly to record only his second half of the day then finished strongly with crucial gains on the Championship holes with net eagles on 15 and 17 leaving him 1 hole behind with one hole to go . Once again , Rossiter held his nerve to produce a crucial par 4 on 18 that gave him the trophy on countback . 

Brian Nicholls (19) (+3/0/+3) was making just his 4th white tee outing of the season with his previous effort a woeful 15 point stableford 53rd of 54 in the Remembrance just 8 days earlier . Today he confounded his lack of form with a tremendous front 9 display , He got off to a blistering start with gains on 1,3,4 and 6 with his only reverse on the long 2nd hole . +3 after 6 Brian had taken the lead and he  halved the next 3 holes to get to the turn still in front . He solidified his position on 10 with his 5th gain of the round and then consolidated with 5 consecutive halves to stand on the benign 16th tee at +4 with a 2 hole lead . Inexplicably Brian made a mess of the hole and didn’t even record a score but regained composure to halve 17 to stand on the final tee still a hole in front . Brian had been joined at the top by John Rossiter who was playing just two groups ahead of him which meant that he needed to match Johns par 4 at the last to take the trophy . Sadly , he could only record a 5 to finish on +3 and lose the  trophy on countback . A marvellous effort nevertheless and a good sign that he will contend again this season .

Paul MacDonald (19) (+1/+1/+2) has been in the golfing wilderness since capturing his 14th Board Competition ( DivotParty ) three years ago . ‘Macca’ has struggled and now found himself competing with a 19 stroke handicap as he teed up at this event . Friday afternoon practice rounds with his friend and mentor Danny Miller seem to be getting him back to form and today he has contended strongly . MacDonald had a steady front 9 with his two gains on 4 ( a superb birdie 3 ) and 8 tempered with a sloppy loss on the benign 6th hole which meant he had halved 6 holes as he got to the turn handily placed on +1 , just 2 holes off the lead . Paul halved the seemingly innocuous 10/11 before taking closer order courtesy of a net birdie 6 gain then maintained his position with further halves on the tricky 13/14th . Having played his previous 8 holes without a loss , big-hitting Paul must have looked at the par 5 15th with relish but inexplicably he stumbled to a loss there to lose ground . At +1 he had gone too far back and although he was to par the final hole for a gain he finished 2 holes short . Nevertheless a fine 3rd place suggesting that Paul may be entering the winners circle very soon .

Richard Paulson (+2/0/+2) had suffered the ignominy of a lame defence of his Bailey Cup the previous day but brought his ‘A’ game to the table this morning . He started steadily ,halving 5 of his opening 6 holes ( a gain on 4) before he outrageously holed his second shot on the difficult 7th for an eagle 2  gain . Paulson built further momentum by parring 8 for another gain and joint leadership of the competition but irritatingly suffered his only loss of his front 9 on 9 to get to the turn  at +2 , just one hole off the lead . Once again Richard regained a semblance of momentum with halving his next trio of holes before taking on the tricky 13th hole and parring it for a further gain to get him just one hole away from the leader .Sadly , he was suffer the agony of back to back losses on 14/15 as our Amen Corner holes dropped him back down the field . A final gain on 17 brought him to 18 just one hole back but a half left him one hole behind in a very creditable fourth place , a fine effort considering the horrors of his performance just 24 hours earlier . 

Special mentions …

Andy Mills (+1/0/+1) has had good moments this season ( most notably a fourth place finish in the Remembrance ) but an ugly NR showing the previous day had seemingly stalled his momentum . Not so , as he performed well today . A solid front 9 with gains on 3 and 5 spliced with a reverse on 4 but with consecutive halves on holes 6-9 left him on +1 at the turn in a good position just 2 holes back . His back 9 was rollercoaster and must have been frustrating as Andy followed losses on 10,12,14 and 15 with gains on 11,13 16 and finally 18 to finish on +! and take a credible 5th place which included 4 uncompleted holes that you can only surmise that Mills remains a work in progress and it will interesting to see if he can iron out these lapses as the season develops .  

Brian Cawley (+1/0/+1) is one of the popular members at our club and this evergreen Alty treasure is currently playing with a heavy heart , but ion the company of an  Alty GC family getting through day by day . Today he has shown his undeniable talents which suggest golfing banditry . Brian started steadily and halved the opening trio of holes before exploding into action with consecutive gains on 4,5 and 6 to rocket him to the summit of the leaderboard . Sadly Brian suffered back to back losses on 7 and 8 and got to the turn still placed well just 2 holes off the lead . His journey for home was rollercoaster with losses on 10, 15  offset by his gains on 14,16 and 17 which left him at +2 as he stood on the final hole and in pole position to set a score … sadly his hopes to get to +3 evaporated as he stumbled to a loss to send him back to +1 which was still good enough for a sixth placed finish . A marvellous effort by the great man and it is hoped that Brians’ golf continues to bring him a sense of good cheer in the coming season .  

Defending Champion Watch …

Gorgon (Gigi) Boardman endured an ignominious defence of his trophy today . Still nursemaiding  his long time chum Bernie Wood from the comfort of a buggy  , Gordon had a relatively decent front 9 to get to the turn at -1 , 4 holes off the pace with his highlight a solitary gain on 4 .His back 9 was sadly to see him lose the 10th , regain confidence with a superb win on 12 only to suffer four consecutive losses on holes 13-16 to eventually finish on -4 in 33rd position . 

The Arthur Cooper is usually an elite competition graced with an equal number of low and high handicap golfers .The man himself won the  prestigious Houldsworth Cup in his heyday many decades ago and is forever commemorated here . 

Today , opened up to the whole membership it has seen those higher handicappers totally dominate proceedings with the highest placed ‘Division 1’ golfer Derek Cullen (+1/-1/0) finish in 7th place … he included 2 birdies in his round but like others of his standard simply could not produce golf matching his talent on this occasion . This observer notes the development of new member high-handicapper  Tom Wilkins , out very early this morning , who has produced back to back top 11 finishes these last two competitions suggesting he will properly challenge soon … 

Overall , a day where the course continues to befuddle us with its spongy fairways , tricky bunkers and recovering greens are too difficult for the vast majority of us to cope with … as this dry spell continues to dry out the course more agonies and ecstasies await us as we play this most difficult of games .