Coronation Cup 2021

Nathan Butterworth aka Nate Butty (38/37/75/9/66) has taken the 7th Board Competition of his Alty career , emerging victorious in the Coronation Cup this morning . Nate started poorly by his standards , bogeying 1 and 3 before showing his undoubted talents playing  the next quartet of holes in a staggering FIVE UNDER his handicap courtesy of back to back net birdie 4s on 4 and 5 then superbly birdieing the benign 6th before magnificently building on his red hot momentum with a sublime net eagle 3 on the tricky 7th hole to  get himself to -3 and top of the leaderboard as he stood on the 8th tee with two benign holes to doubtless plunder more gains on the course . Sadly , and inexplicably , Butty dropped a shot on both holes to get to the turn at -1 , now two strokes back and needing to regroup (as we all try to do after a disappointing set of holes ).
Nate put those poor holes aside as he parred the first four holes on the journey home , highlighted by his net birdie 5 on 12 to get him to -2 and now lying in second place just one stroke back . He maintained momentum with a regulation 5 on 14 before converting his third birdie of the round ( a second net eagle ) on the challenging 15th hole , now locked in joint leadership at -4 with James Darmon , the pair now 3 strokes clear with just the Championship holes to play . Could Nate maintain momentum on these crucial holes ? Incredibly , after playing the benign 15th hole to regulation , Nate helped himself to the 4th birdie of his round (but crucially his third net eagle) on the 17th hole to break free of Darmon and stand on the final tee at -6 , 2 strokes clear and now in complete control of the competition . Butty would appear to have lost focus and stumbled to a sloppy net bogey 6 to finish on a still truly magnificent net 66 to win the Coronation Cup , arguably the most striking trophy in our collection by a single stroke … a marvellous display of golf and one that has seen his WHS rating tumble by 0.9 from 7.3 to a new mark of 6.4 , taking his second Board Competition of the season AND carding his third best Alty white tee score of all-time , beaten only by his superb scores of 72 then 74 on successive Wednesdays in late October 2019 . Nate had endured a barren 2020 after his supreme 2019 season where he was arguably top golfer of the year and who would bet against him procuring more silverware before the end of this season on this form ? Not this observer ! 

James Darmon (45/49/94/27/67) seems to have taken on a new lease of life since retiring in the last year …the owner of a huge swing that is famous within the club for its inconsistency but equally , the potential to drive huge distances in a variety of directions is a pointer as to why James played off 27 handicap this morning . Recently James has started to play on the Uber-competitive Vets circuit based at the club who play on Tuesdays and Fridays off the yellow tees . Boosted by the gift of a very generous handicap rating from them he has won and been placed at several events to take his confidence level up a few notches . He has matched his good play at the weekends and already has a Board Competition to his name this season , winning the Golden Jubilee just 6 weeks ago . Today he has strongly contended to try to win his first medal Board Comp and he started well , his first quartet of holes including net birdie 4s on holes 2 and 4 to put himself in early contention.After a sloppy net bogey 7 on the long 5th he regrouped to fire consecutive net birdies on 6 and 7 , getting to the turn with regulation play on 8 and 9 to reach the turn at the top of the leaderboard on -3 . His back 9 was infuriating ly rollercoaster as gains on 12 and 15 were offset with reverses on 11 … with the intervening holes played in regulation this meant that James stood on the 16th tee with just the Championship holes to play , now locked in a tie with Nate Butty … could James step up and maintain consistency at this crucial time ? Sadly James stumbled to a sloppy net bogey 5 on the benign 16th but refused to give up and got that shot back on 17 courtesy of a superb net birdie 5 to again reach -4. Unfortunately , this meant that he was two strokes down with the final hole to play needing a 4 to snatch the trophy . James could only record a regulation 6 which nevertheless gave him a 6 and a net 67 for second place . A fine effort and this observer has no doubt that he will remain a serious challenger for honours this season . His WHS rating tumbled by 0.8 from 22.7 to a new mark of 21.9 .

Keith Ralston (39/39/78/10/68) has had a decent season without winning a Board Competition … today the 12-time Alty HallofFamer has reminded us as to his considerable skillset . Ralston started well by carding a net birdie 4 on the devilishly difficult opening hole . The reset of his front 9 was encouraging , although the joys of more superb net birdies on 4 and 8 were offset by sloppy net bogeys on 3 and 9 to get him to the turn on -1 , 2 strokes off the lead . He parred the opening trio of holes on the journey home , highlighted by an excellent net birdie 5 on 12 , which now saw him just one stroke behind with 6 holes to go . Could he continue to build momentum on the other dangerous Amen Corner holes ? Although he succumbed two precious strokes with a disappointing net DB 5 on 13 , he did get one stroke back with a welcome net birdie 5 on 15 which meant that he was now 3 strokes back and effectively needing a wonderful finish with the Championship holes to come … after playing 16 and 17 to regulation he magnificently recorded a net eagle 3 to secure a highly credible 3rd placed finish … his WHS rating tumbled by 0.5 from 8.1 to a new mark of 7.6 .

Gross Watch …

Glen Rothwell (38/36/74)  has played the best gross round of the day , with the highlights  a supreme birdie 3 on 5 and a second birdie 3 on the short 10th , good enough for 7th place in the competition. Much respect to him . 

Defending Champion Watch … Danny Miller (41/47/88/8/80) won this trophy in style last year but today he was uncharacteristically below standard with several dropped strokes to handicap . His only highlight was his net birdie 4 on 7 and he sadly stumbled to 30th place of the 42 competitors on a rare off-day .

Special mentions …

Tim Dibble ( 43/44/87) continues to lower his handicap as he maintains his current form . After a disappointing net bogey 6 on 2 Dibble regrouped well , producing a flawless 7 holes to the turn to get to the turn at level par , his net birdie on 6 bringing him back to parity . His back 9 was an attritional affair with his only deviation from regulation in the first quartet of holes a sloppy net bogey 5 on 13 . After safely negotiating the final Amen Corner holes in regulation , Dibble took closer order courtesy of superb consecutive net birdies on 16 and 17 to get to -1 and although he dribbled to a net bogey 6 on the final hole his second consecutive net 71 meant another highly credible 4th place , his WHS rating tumbled by 0.4 from 14.0 to a new mark of 13.6 .

David Christian (47/49/96/25/71) initially found it hard after his return in late May from a shoulder op where he was a vvv brave soldier indeed … now three months later , he is clearly playing more consistent golf and , with a handicap of 25 , clearly is not to be underestimated at this juncture . Your observer , as is usual , had the honour of witnessing his round this morning . Christian started with a poor hole , an erratic drive leading to a sloppy net bogey 6 but he regrouped immediately , carding a net birdie 5 to get back to parity . Inexplicitly DC fluffed his tee short on the 3rd hole which saw him play several awful strokes , the nightmare ending with a missed short putt to stumble to a horror net triple bogey 7 . After such a mauling from the course , could David again regroup and get himself back in the mix ? Your observer wasn’t surprised at all to see him power a decent drive to the middle of the fairway , put a great approach bound for the green and a routine two putt to card a net birdie 4 … this was to be the start of an excellent flawless  run of holes to the turn , highlighted by net birdies on 5 and 7 to get him to level par and handily placed 3 strokes off the lead . The journey home saw Christian maintain momentum , easing his way to a routine net birdie 4 on 10 , then take closer order with a net birdie 6 on 12 , achieved despite a poor drive to get him to -2 , now just a stroke from the leader  . Sadly his bubble was burst with a poor performance on 13 , his water bound tee shot leading to a net bogey 5 , ingloriously compounded  with his second net triple bogey of his round , courtesy of a misdirected positional second shot that went into the bushes to effectively end his challenge . He again showed fighting qualities to play the dangerous 15th , recovering from a poorly directed approach to play a great shot over the brook and card a net birdie 6 . Christian then played the Championship holes in regulation to finish on net 71 to take an encouraging 5th place … his WHS rating was trimmed by 0.4 to a new mark of 20.2 but there is absolutely no doubt in your observers mind that DC is handicapped to win right now … watch this space !

Overall , another victory for the course with only 3 of 42 beating their handicaps , as the fairways harden they make it more difficult to get our approach shots right with the greens getting slicker by the day . Salute to Nate , James and Keith for their expertise and with the weather set to stay dry for the following week it will be interesting to see if more of us can adapt better to these conditions .