Autumn Cup 8th. September 2019

Autumn Cup 8th. September 2019 

Autumn Cup challengers

Andrew Window (87/18/69) is a vibrantly dressed dandy golfer with a refreshingly half-full attitude to his golf . He enjoys his golf the same whether challenging or playing poorly and you never hear any negative utterances from him typified by the graceful way he accepted a DQ (when he had completed a net 61 to dominate the field which robbed him of the August 2018 Monthly Medal ) was exemplary sportsmanship. Today he started sluggishly dropping a shot to hcp on the opening hole which was to be his only front 9 reverse . He regrouped well and recorded 4 net birdies in an explosive 5 hole spell enabling him to reach -3 at the turn joining Messrs Walton Sr.,Thornton , Cullen and Neersoo in a crowded leaderboard ... the back 9 proved to be playing at its most difficult today but Window immediately broke from the pack of with a superb net eagle 3 on 10 although he gave them back with a sloppy net double bogey 8 on 12 . He rallied again with crucial consecutive net birdies on two of our toughest holes to again reach -5 and give himself a commanding 4 shot lead to take total control with just 3 holes to go . Although he finished poorly with reverses on 16 and 18 to endanger his position he claimed victory by a single shot to finally erase the trauma of last seasons near miss . The handicapper cut his handicap by 0.6 to a new mark of 17.0 .
 

Greg Harding (78/9/69) is one of our best ball strikers and is famous amongst his peers for his extraordinary yellow tee albatross 2 on the long 15th last year . Today he started sloppily courtesy of reverses on 1 and 3 but spliced by a net birdie 4 on 2 ... the rest of his front 9 was steady with no more dropped shots to hcp but gains on 4 and a birdie on 9 to get to the turn on -1 just 2 shots off the lead . Harding played the back 9 with suitable respect and played the first 8 holes to handicap which meant that he stood on the final tee a couple of shots back . He responded by a fighting net birdie 4 which made him joint ‘best in show’ -1 on the back 9 finishing his round at -2 and his second place translating to his best ever Board Competition individual finish . The handicapper cut his handicap by 0.2 to a new mark of 9.0 .

John Cullen (79/10/69) is one of our new members having joined us this April ... today he has produced the best round of his fledgling membership with a battling display . He started encouragingly and immediately took closer order with a net birdie on the opening hole but was to lose the shot on the deceptively tricky 3rd hole .He regrouped well and had no reverses on a front 9 with the highlights consecutive  gains achieved on 4 and 5 which got him to -2 at the turn , just one shot off the lead . A birdie on 11 took him to -3 but was offset by a second net bogey 4 on 13 compounded by another reverse on the following hole . Playing the next three holes to handicap he found himself 3 shots off the lead and too far away to challenge but at least a net birdie 4 at the final hole took him frustrating just one shot short and in third place on countback . The handicapper saw fit to cut his handicap by 0.2 to a new mark of 10.1 .

Special mentions ...

Keith Walton Sr (82/12/70) is one of the few members who have won 10 Board Competitions in his career ... that said , since his golden season of 2017 (where he took a trio of victories) he has not visited the winners circle . Today he started steadily playing the opening holes to handicap before roaring to the head of the field courtesy of consecutive gains at 3 and 5 sandwiched with a magnificent net eagle on 4 to get to -4 ... his only front 9 reverse came at the deceptively tricky 8th but that did not prevent him taking a share of the lead at the turn on -3 . He played the initial 3 homeward holes to handicap before succumbing to successive reverses on 13 and 14 . A further dropped shot to handicap on the benign 16th ended his challenge although a final hole net birdie got him to a net 70 finish , one of only 5 of the 44 strong field to beat his handicap . 

Gross Best ...

Glen Rothwell (73/3/70) is our Club Champion but due to his super-low handicap the chances of him contending in non-scratch Board Competitions are few and far between . Today the legend has taken advantage of our beloved course playing tricky to put up a strong challenge in pursuit of his 18th Board Competition ... his front 9 was ‘steady’ by his standards ( stunning by the vast majority ) with his reverse on 2 redeemed by gains on 5 and his first (gross) birdie at 7 to get him to -1 although he was to inexplicably stumble to a net bogey on the benign 9th to get to the turn at level par .Rothwell attacked the course when homeward bound on a rollercoaster ride which included a magnificent net eagle 4 on 12 to get him one off the lead and back into serious contention . Unfortunately he was to have consecutive reverses on the always daunting 13th then stumbling to a net double bogey on the long 14th to put him back to +1 ... our Club Champion immediately regrouped and plundered two more birdies on 15 and 18 to finish just two shots away and doubtless wondering how a player of his calibre (despite 4 wonderful birdies) could lose shots at the shorter , less difficult holes which he would usually play with ease .
 

Defending Champion Watch ...

Andy Miehe (who had taken his Board Competition victories to 4 with his countback win last year) today  (84/10/74) put up a decent defence of his trophy . The noted ball-striker surprisingly succumbed to a net bogey 6 at the opening hole but regrouped immediately with a net birdie on 2 ... the rollercoaster nature of his front 9  continued with sloppy reverses on the easier 3rd and 8th holes partially balanced with a gain on 4 ...+1 at the turn he was guilty of again suffering reverses on benign holes (10 and 13) together with a net bogey 7 on 12 with his only highlight a net birdie 4 on the daunting 3rd. which translated to a fair +3 finish to take 14th place on the day . 

Highest Score ...

On a day where Andrew Window finally broke his Board Competition duck it is perhaps ironic that David Christian , the  man who benefited with a August 2018 Monthly Medal victory that Window had thrown away (despite scoring a superb net 61 because he didn’t sign his card) should have the tragedy of a horror hole on this auspicious day . Christian (102/19/83) has improved his handicap by a massive 8 strokes since joining the club ( with your scribe ) in August 2015. Today he succumbed to a 11 on the 15th after getting a battering from Amen Corner where he had dropped 4 shots to handicap  on the previous daunting trio ... much respect to him for carrying on ( and to his playing partners for whom such a struggle can be comedy at its darkest )  ... but an experience that few of us manage to avoid . Doubly ironic in that 2018 Captain RW Kay (89/12/77)  also scored 11 on that pesky 15th , the man elevated to second place that fateful August 2018 day behind DC . He had played well to that point and was level par for his handicap and on the fringes of contention before he had his horror hole !