Captains Bowl - 11th July 2020

Captains Bowl July 11th 2020

The Captains Bowl is a prestigious event in the calendar ... an opportunity for the Captain to showcase his chosen charity (Prostate Cancer UK) and to bestow a range of liquid and solid nourishment on his fellow members . This year , 2020 Captain Stuart Mason and his supporting team made sure competitors wanted for nothing in that respect... a possible factor in the lack of strong performances on the course ? Possibly so ! The gift of a ball and tees on the day were well received too ! 

Captains Bowl Contenders

Roy Dickens (81/17/64) has decimated the field to stroll to victory to claim the prestigious Captains Bowl by six strokes . He has had a steady start to the season with an early victory in a medal event but otherwise there was no hint of the excellence in golf he was to display today . 

Dickens started steadily ,  playing the first two holes to handicap before his initial gain on 3 and he was to plunder no less than  4 consecutive net birdies from holes 5-8 getting to the turn at a tremendous -5 which gave him a 3 stroke lead at the turn . Roy continued to turn the heat on his fellow competitors with gains at the next 3 holes to stand on the 13th tee on -8 with a mind-blowing 6 stroke lead . Roy had reeled off 8 consecutive gross  pars but his momentum was jolted with a reverse on 13 ... he regrouped well by regaining the stroke lost with a net birdie on the difficult 14th then further steadied the ship playing the next couple of holes to handicap and in sight of beating his best white tee score of 80 that he had set last year when winning the 5 Club Shield . Sadly Roy succumbed to a net DB on 17 but it was no surprise that he finished off an emphatic trophy-winning performance with his 10th net birdie of the round , a crowd-pleasing 40 foot triple-breaking putt with many in attendance as he  finished with an incredible net 64 . The handicapper ( to Roys’ delight ) has cut him by 2.4 to a new mark of 14.4 .
 

Derek Cullen (80/10/70) had shown some recent form in recent weeks without accreditation, his credible net 71 in the Wests’ Shield 2 weeks earlier not registered as the comp was abandoned . Today he reproduced that form to be ‘the best of the rest’ with his efforts matching his lowest round since last summer . Derek had net birdies on 2 and 4 with his only  front 9 reverse a net bogey on 4 which translated to him getting to -1 at the turn 4 strokes off the pace . An early net DB on the benign 11th stalled his momentum but he regrouped superbly with a net birdie on the über-difficult 12th. . Sadly he was to leak a shot on 14 although he finished strongly with net birdies at his final 2 holes to finish on -1 and claim second place . The handicapper has cut him by 0.4 to a new mark of 9.3 .

Matt Astbury (91/20/71) had a horror start today as he opened with a net triple bogey 8 at the opening hole then after two holes played to handicap then suffered a net DB on 4 to stand on the 5th tee at +5 and well down the field . Astbury regrouped magnificently with consecutive net birdies on holes 5-8 before a sloppy reverse on 9 meant that he got to the turn at +2 , 7 shots off the lead . Matt started for home steadily and played holes 10-12 to handicap then had a rollercoaster final sextet of holes with net birdies on 13,15,16 and 17 tempered with net bogeys on 13 and 18 to finish on level par and a credible third place . The handicapper has cut him yet again this season by 0.6 to a new mark of 19.5 , a total drop of 8.9 in less than 5 weeks !
 

Special mentions ... 

Nick Alderson (90/18/72) is one of the clubs more cerebral players , matching his ability to hit balls a fair distance and straight with an above average short game and course management nous. Your scribe  had the honour of playing with him today and thus can deliver a more accurate report . Nick started with a sloppy net DB on the opening hole courtesy of poor approach play to the wrong side of the hole . Although he regrouped to play the next couple of holes to handicap he suffered further reverses on 4,7 and 9 to finish +5 for his front 9 , 5 behind your scribe (who had played encouragingly well) and thus  way down the field . Alderson is well known playing just one round per week and getting into shape  practising at the course little and often in the evenings , honing his game ready for the Saturday . This year he has had a steady but unspectacular start to his summer campaign but it was clear today that his accuracy to the green was improving hole by hole without consolidating it with his short game . As your scribe tragically slipped down the field into anonymity, in contrast , Nick’s back 9 was the ‘best in show’ and blemish-free with net birdies at 11,13,17 and 18 to finish on +1 and a very commendable fourth place for his best finish of the summer ... a performance that augurs well for his next outing . 

Andy Miehe (85/11/74) was selected for a mention because he was the one individual that got closest to our winner during the round . Andy played marvellous golf during his front 9 to fire a gross 38 that had him at -2 at the turn courtesy of net birdies on 4,5 and 7 with his only reverse on the supposedly easy 8th . Miehe dropped a shot on 10 then immediately regrouped with a great (net) birdie 3 on 11 then played the next holes to handicap to stand on the 15th tee at -2 and just 5 shots back . Sadly his challenge was cruelly derailed by a net triple bogey 9 then compounded by a net DB on the benign 16th to effectively end his challenge . He would finish on +3 in 13th place but no one got closer to our winner than he did before his 15/16 meltdown and he can be encouraged with his efforts today.

Gross Watch (79/4/75) Club Champion Glen Rothwell finished in 17th place today but still delivered the lowest gross score of the day . He was cruising at -2 after 7 then inexplicably succumbed to back-to-back net bogeys on the final two ‘easy’ holes of his front 9 to get to the turn level psr . He then struggled on his back 9 with gains on 11 and 13 cancelled out by an ugly net triple bogey on 13 the nadir with further losses on 10, 16 and 18 . A tricky day for most of us but our Club Champion at least can point to his gross efforts today being better than anyone . 

Defending Champion Watch ...

Unfortunately Nate Butterworth was unable to defend his trophy today because of his work commitments .
 

Highest Score on one hole ... John Main (114/23/91) was playing in just the second Board Competition of his Alty career and  had played reasonably well to be at +6 as he stood on the 15th tee . Sadly he was to be the second player in successive weeks to have a truly shocking last quartet of holes with his nadir a car-crash FOURTEEN on the 15th hole compounded by taking a further 21 shots on his final three holes to finish on +20 . Your observer is sure that he can only improve from this and he looks forward to be reporting on John higher up the page before long and commends him for finishing his round without resorting to posting a ‘no return’ .

NB Reports came through that we had a ‘club-slinger’ within our membership operating today  ... that individual shall remain nameless but they better Had Field their equipment without it having a chance to come down and injure his playing partners or our non-golfing  public. Whilst our small band of potentially combustible members may empathise with such behaviour done in exasperation it can be a negative in our great game and will hopefully be seen only vvvvvvvvv rarely in future , or better still , not at all.
 

‘Overall a day where it was clearly ‘man against boys’ and that man was Roy Dickens who collected a handsome voucher for his efforts . The nearest the pin competition on 13 was won by our Bailey Cup winner GG Boardman who kindly allowed his great chum and occasional MC Bernie Wood the opportunity to have a rare touch of the limelight . The more members imbibed seemingly lessened their chance of contending and although no actual figures to support this contention are available , your observer does not assume that our winner partook of much refreshment during his stellar round . The course continues to boss the vast majority of us and demonstrates that the degree of difficulty in overcoming it is much higher than many would anticipate .