Captains Bowl 13th July 2019

Captains Bowl 13th July 2019 

Captains Bowl contenders

Nathan Butterworth has won his second trophy of the season and 3rd overall Board Competition of his Alty GC career with a thrilling victory in the Captains Bowl where he caught long time leader Nat Thomas in the closing holes to win on countback . Nate started sluggishly and net bogeyed 1 and 3 before he regrouped and gained shots on4,5,7 and birdied 8 to get to the turn at -2 but 4 shots off the pace . Nate started his back 9steadily with his only early gain coming at the long 12th. to  put himself on -3 and just two behind . The always dangerous 13th was to cause him trouble and a sloppy net double bogey there put him now seemingly out of contention and 5 shots off the lead . Butterworth immediately and decisively regrouped and clawed back 3 shots with a net birdie on 14 and a magnificent net eagle 4 on 15 which meant he was now just one shot behind . A crucial gain on 17 took him level and he played the final hole to handicap to outlast Thomas to win on countback . The handicapper saw fit to cut him 8.8 to 7.8 after his tremendous display .

Nathaniel Thomas (80/14/66)  presents as a genial . optimistic and encouraging presence on our course and he has recently started to campaign on the weekends after initially testing himself purely in our highly competitive over 60s William Wroe vets circuit . Today he immediately began to show his undoubted talents and had gains on 1,3 ,5 and a magnificent net eagle on 4 which meant that was already -5 after 5 holes . A net birdie on 7 and an otherwise blemish free performance on 8/9 saw him finish at -6 at the turn with  handy 3 shot lead on the field . He started the journey home steadily playing to hcp on 10/11 before suffering his first reverses on 12 and 14 sandwiched with a gain on 13 to find himself still two shots clear as he stood on the 15th tee . He was to play that hole to handicap but a crucial drop on the benign 16th dropped him to -4 and in a share of the lead . Nat immediately regrouped to net birdie the 17th but as Butterworth had also gained on the hole a final net par on 18 meant that he missed out on his first Board Competition on countback . Nevertheless a superb effort , the best white tee round of his Alty career , and one that energised the handicapper into cutting him from 13.9 to a new mark of 12.4 .

Danny Miller (75/7/68) is an undoubted legend at our club for his virtually non-stop success story going back over 20 years which has placed him second only to the great James West in terms of board competition victories . Today he has demonstrated the wonderful consistency borne of his relentless practice regime to challenge strongly for the prestigious Bowl on offer that had so far eluded his grasp . Unusually ( and crucially ) the great man started his campaign in rollercoaster fashion with a net double bogey on 1 , net birdie on 2 and net bogey on 3 to tumble down the field . He predictably regrouped well and reclaimed 3 shots courtesy of a net birdie on 5 and a magnificent net eagle on 7 before suffering a momentum-stalling reverse on 8 ... parring 9 got him to the turn at level par and 6 shots off the lead . Miller played 10 magnificently to birdie it and gain a shot but dropped it on the long 12th thus standing on the 13th tee 5 shots behind before firing his third actual  birdie of the round courtesy of a  2 on 13 . Typically the great man finished strongly playing the final five holes two better than handicap highlighted with gains on 15 and 17 to finish 3 under and 2 shots back in third curiously matching his finishing position of the previous year . The handicapper recognised his efforts by cutting him 0.6 to a new mark of 6.2 . 

John Thompson (98/28/70) is one of our newer members and this likeable young man is blessed with a fierce determination to improve his golf . Today John had a simply disastrous start with triple bogeys on 1,3 and 4 with a double bogey on 3 which equates to a net +5 start which plunged him to the bottom of the leaderboard as he stood on the 5th. tee ... he reacted superbly and net eagled that hole and gained another on 7 to get to the turn at +2 .His back nine saw him gain a shot on 11 but he unfortunately stopped momentum again  losing three shots to handicap courtesy of a 7 on the short 13th which then pushed him back to +4 but he again regrouped , got his second net eagle of his round on 14 with further gains on the final three holes to amazingly get himself to 1 under and a creditable 5th place despite his many calamities in a triumph for dogged persistence that is bound to serve him well in his golfing future . The handicapper reacted predictably by cutting him 0.8 to 27.4 .
 

Special mentions ...

Today no less than 9 players attracted the attention of the handicapper and had a reduction in their handicap .

Congratulations also to ...

4th. placed Stuart Mason 12.1 from 12.6

6th. placed Sam Manson 15.4 from 15.7

7th. placed Bernard Freeman 17.5 from 17.8 

8th. placed Ken Dixon 19.7 from 20.0

10th. placed Gary Shaughnessy 28.0 from 28.5

Neil Royle (88/13/75) ... after a steady front 9 where he found himself at level par Neil then had an eventful back 9 where he gained net birdies on 11,13,14 and 17 but suffered net double bogeys on 12 and 15 and a net triple bogey on the benign 16th , dropping a further shot at the last to finish in 25th after being in the fringes of contention !

Andy Slater (95/20/75) had ground his way around the course and was also only a couple of shots behind when inexplicably he had an 8 on the easy 16th to drop four shots to finish 26th when in a position to challenge for top 5 honours .

Rob Ewings (94/18/76) level par after 12 but dropped 5 shots including a 9 on 15. 

Gross best ... 

Danny Miller 75 ... 

Defending Champion Watch ...

2018 winner Adrian Sigsworth is now based at Sale Golf Club ans although he still occasionally plays our beloved course chose not to defend the Bowl today .

Highest hole score 💩 ... Ian Cheetham (11 on 15th)