Bernie Wood Trophy 17th July 2021
Andy later reflected on moments during his round and was very mindful of the 2nd hole as it was there last year that the ball bouncing out from a gentle 2 foot putt that cost him a crucial point … although he couldn’t repeat his phenomenal 27 points on his front 9 he was aware of his triple blob back 9 showing last year and upped his course management after having a boost on 9 having procured a par despite his tee shot landing under a tree that hampered his backswing which forced him to take on a high tariff 3/4 8 iron which he superbly faded to 10 feet and then 2-putted to get to 22 points … he remained blob free but knew he had only a point more (43) than last year … despite his best intentions to keep the ball in play he unfortunately pushed his drive way right and couldn’t go for the green but kept calm and punched a 5 iron low to get it to 110 yards then factored in adrenaline and got his wedge on the green , two putting for a ’regulation’ 2 points and a 45 point total that got him that precious W.
Philip Wright (20/20/40) presents as a happy-go-lucky friendly face around the club since he joined us last December , an individual capable of putting together good holes without having the consistency to properly challenge … which makes his game more suited to the Stableford format . Today he has produced the best round of his short Alty career with an excellent display today . He started his campaign well , covering the tricky opening trio of holes with regulation 1-pointers on 1 and 3 spliced with a magnificent 4-point par on 2 … sadly , his momentum was stalled with a disastrous blobby 9 on 4 but he regrouped superbly to right that wrong with another 4-point par on 5 then maintained momentum with a 3-point par on 6 to put himself on joint top of the leaderboard as he stood on the 7th tee … a slightly disappointing 5 points got him to the turn at 20 points , 2 off the lead as he started the journey home. Philip struggled to maintain consistency and after an encouraging 3-point par on 10 he succumbed to his second blob of the round , recording a sorry 7 on the benign 11th before again raising his game to the fearsome Amen Corner holes superbly , starting with a regulation 7 on 12 … now 5 points behind he followed that uwith a tremendous 3-point par on 13 then raising his standards further with an excellent 4-point par on 14 with a regulation 2-pointer to leave himself in joint third position , 5 points back with the ‘Championship holes’ left to go . Could Wright produce a top notch finish to challenge for the trophy ?
Sadly not as he produced an average 6-point finish , a regulation 2-pointer on 16 then boosted by a superb 3-point par on 17 giving him hope but swiftly extinguished by his lame single point finish on the final hole. Nevertheless a much improved second place finish and the encouragement that his gross 91 had beaten his Alty white tee best by a massive 5 strokes . Philip can look back on those blobs on the benign 4th and 11th holes with exasperation as he effectively lost his hopes of the trophy there . His WHS rating has reduced by a massive 2.1 to a new mark of 16.4.
John Rossiter (21/18/39) is one of the clubs most wily veteran players , marrying course management nous with genuine ability and retaining the appetite to try to develop his game in the autumn of his golfing journey . Today John has produced the second best white tee gross performance of his life , a quite marvellous 87 which was translated into a 39 point haul in this competition . John had already had the joy of silverware earlier in the season winning the Arthur Cooper and then adding the Greatbanks with partner Andy Miehe . He has had a very good season thus far and it was no surprise to this observer that he contended strongly today . John had an excellent opening quarter of holes , playing 1 and 2 in regulation then built momentum with consecutive 3-point pars on 3 and 4 . Although that momentum was filled by a sloppy 1-pointer on 5 he regrouped superbly and produced further 3-pointers on 6 and 7 with regulation 2-pointers on the deceptively tricky 8th and 9th holes getting him to a top notch 21 points at the turn , just one point behind . ‘JR’ built on those efforts with a further excellent ‘double 3-point’ performance on 10 and 11 with a regulation 2-pointer on 12 leaving him handily placed still just a point behind as he stood on the 13th tee . Although he was to magnificently rise to the challenge of that hole by procuring a 3-point 3 would he be able to maintain his excellent campaign for the final 5 holes and win his 3rd Board Competition of the season ?
Sadly not , as John’s challenge appeared to wilt under the oppressive heat with a measly 7 points achieved in those last 5 holes including 3 disappointing 1-pointers on 15 ( the hole which he took 15 strokes on to tragically rob him of challenging for the Wilsons’ trophies) 17 and 18 and a third placed finish 6 points off the lead . His WHS rating has reduced by 0.6 to a new mark of 15.3 … a fantastic effort from a man in form .
Special mentions …
Stuart Mason (18/20/38) has had an underwhelming season thus far with no Board Competition victories and a dearth of high placings . He has taken the opportunity to play other courses and that effort combined with playing the occasional midweek medal seems to be bringing about an upturn in form . Today Mr. Captain 2020/2021 has finished in an excellent 4th place which augurs well for the rest of the season . He had a steady front 8 which had several regulation 2-point holes with his highlights 3-point pars on 4,6 and 7 to get to 18 points as he stood on the benign 9th tee . Inexplicably he blobbed that hole thus got to the turn 4 points off the lead . He regrouped magnificently with a 4-point birdie on 10 but never properly strung together a good sequence of holes with 11-15 adding only 8 points to send him tumbling down the leaderboard and 8 points behind with the Championship holes to play . A magnificent 3-point par on 16 was bettered by a phenomenal 4-point birdie on 17 to take his total to 37 , 6 points off the lead but only 2 away from the second place . Could he score heavily on the final hole to snatch a second place voucher ?
Sadly not , as the Captain stumbled to a disappointing 1-point 6 which gave him 5th place . His WHS rating has reduced by 0.2 to a new mark of 12.5 .
Bernie Wood (20/18/38) is the ‘tournament host’ for the event that bears his name , an honour bestowed upon him by a Committee who felt that him reaching 50 years of membership during which time he has served as Captain , President and Committee member for a good proportion of those years fully justified it .
Wood came to the tee in good form … he immediately showed his golfing nous by crafting an excellent 3-point par on the tricky opening hole but then frustratingly recorded consecutive 1-pointers on 2 and 3 to lose ground .Although he was to regroup well with another 3-point par on 4 he then recorded his third sloppy 1-point bogey with a 6 on the long 5th , another exasperating turn of events for the host who so wanted to be the ’mostest’. Determinedly , Bernie finished his front 9 strongly with a superb sequence of 3-point holes to the turn highlighted by his magnificent birdie on 6 which he followed by pars on 7,8 and although his par on 9 was just a 2-pointer he had taken his total points to 20 which left him now handily placed just 2 off the lead and ready to strike ?
Bernie maintained momentum by parring both 10 and 11 for 5 more points then consolidated with a 2-point bogey on 12 to find him 3 points back with 6 holes to go . But could the old maestro roll back the years and take Amen Corner by storm and battle to take majestic control of his own competition ?
Sadly not , it was ‘Bernie the blob’ who could not summon up the expertise to cope with the test that 13 provides to even muster one point … but could he then put that disappointment behind him to grab a few points from the difficult 14th ? Unfortunately not , as the failing Alty treasure then stumbled to a 1-point double bogey 6 … although he did at least manage to get a regulation 2-pointer on 15 Bernie now found himself effectively out of contention .
With the pressure off Bernie returned to form and gathered as many points as any contender courtesy of a regulation 2-pointer on the benign 16th followed by excellent 3-point pars on the final 2 holes to finish in 5th place with 38 points , 7 points away from his own trophy but doubtless regretting his blob and stumble on crucial holes and those irritating one-pointers . A truly superb effort by the great man , one which has seen his WHS rating remain unchanged .
Timothy J. Dibble (21/17/38) seems to this observer to have enjoyed his reinvention from rank and file to Committee member in the past couple of years but with such power and authority has very unfortunately seen a decline in his personal golfing fortunes … his campaigns earlier in this season saw him sink to a WHS rating of 17.9 , many points higher in handicap that his past talents would demand and seeing his rating drop below many who wouldn’t normally be considered his equal . Dibble , like Mr Captain , has chosen to rehabilate his game with the odd non-Alty excursion to less difficult courses such as Frodsham and Carden Park to build confidence and it would appear that this has allowed him to find a bit of form .
He came to the tee today on the back of an encouraging net 71 in the competitive Wednesday Roll Up format just a few days earlier , finishing 4th but who had inexplicably dropped 3 strokes to handicap in the last 2 holes to effectively throw away the chance of a welcome victory but a performance still good enough to slightly reduce his WHS rating by 0.2 to 17.7 still meaning that this 5-time Board Competition winner was still getting an incredible 21 strokes today and thus , to this observer , coming to this event with a definite chance to strongly contend . Tim was unable to properly solve the puzzle that is the opening hole and a 1-point 6 must have been exasperating to him . After a regulation 5 on 2 he came to the 3rd green and was one of only two competitors to superbly birdie the hole today which energised his challenge with 4 huge points . He built on that momentum with a flawless 6 holes to the turn highlighted by consecutive 3-point gains on 5 ( bogey) and 6 (par) , playing the other holes in regulation to catapult himself to second place on the leaderboard just one behind the leader . But could Tim maintain momentum to mount a strong challenge ?
Not quite … but although he didn’t build on his momentum , a trio of regulation 2-pointers left him still in touch just 3 points off the summit . Dibble had a fairly decent Amen Corner and took a 7-point haul highlighted by using his inflated handicap again to 3-point the 14th with a net birdie 5 which left him now 4 points behind and in need of a huge effort to get in the mix. Could Tim extract a huge points total from the three remaining Championship holes for a famous victory ?
He initially retained hope by keeping his nerve to grab 3 precious points on 16 to close the gap to just 2 points ( leader Andrew Moss having only got a point ) with 2 holes to go ! Could Dibble deliver and use his considerable Alty experience to take advantage of the leaders nerves to taste individual glory for the first time in 3 long years since his Gellatly triumph ?
Sadly and painfully not , as Dibble dribbled to an awful blobby 7 on 17 then sadly compounded that error by stumbling home with a 1-pointer on the final hole to finish in 6th place . Nevertheless, he has served notice that he will surely contend again this season as he continues to show increasing glimpses of past glories . His WHS rating was reduced by 0.6 to 17.1 and surely further improvement will be forthcoming given his undoubted appetite for success . .
George Sainthouse (19/18/37) has had a renaissance which has seen his WHS rating reduce from 19.2 in mid-May to his present 17.3 , weeks of improved play including his close second places in the Gellatly and an AGC Stableford … playing with an incredibly high handicap of 21 he had a glorious chance to strongly contend and he did not disappoint today . He started steadily and used his course management nous with an opening quartet of regulation 2-pointers ( that did him no harm in terms of keeping in contention ) before taking closer order with successive 3-pointers courtesy of his bogey on 5 and par on 6 . Further regulation 2-pointers on 7 and 8 had him on 18 points standing on the 9th tee but his front 9 came to frustrating end as he stumbled to a 1-point 6 thus getting to the turn at 19 points , 3 points off the lead . George regained his consistency , 2-pointing 10 , 11 and 13 and using his handicap to superbly record 3-point bogeys on 12 and 14 which got him to 31 points with 4 holes to play and on the fringes of contention needing a strong finish to properly get into the mix .
Sadly George effectively ended his challenge with consecutive sloppy 1-pointers on 15 and 16 and he could only finish with 2 holes producing regulation 2-pointers to finish on a still credible 37 points which left him in 7th place …his WHS rating was reduced by 0.7 to a new mark of 16.6 to maintain his improved standing .
Defending Champion Watch …
Dave Drury (17/18/35) made an electric start to his defence with a sublime 4-point birdie on the opening hole … he recorded furthrt 3-pointers on 4 and 5 but sadly these successes were tempered with blobs on 2 and 9 which helped him to a 17 point front 9 , 5 points off the lead . His back 9 was similarly inconsistent with his highlights 3-pointers on 14 and 17 tempered with sloppy 1-pointers on 11 and 16 which resulted in him getting to a respectable 35 points and a 15th place finish .
Blobmeister …
Cameron Arnold (8/11/19) is the unchallenged B🦞Meister today … the new member was having his first ever competition and it showed with blobs on 2,4, 5 and 6 with his solitary highlight a 3-point par on 7 to get to the turn with only 8 points . Sadly it was a similar story on his back 9 with his highlight a 3-point par on 14 tempered with further 🦞 on 13, 15 and 17 contributed to him just adding just 11 further points for an inauspicious start to his Alty career in 53rd place with a total of 19 points .
Overall a good day for members with 7 beating the standard 36 point score with 39 of the 53 competitors scoring more than 30 points in the dry and sunny conditions .
