Coronation Cup 7th July 2019

Coronation Cup 7th July 2019 

Coronation Cup contenders

William Hill (91/25/66) has prevailed and won his first Board Competition since first gracing our course in April 2017 . The former William Wroe stalwart has plainly settled into Alty GC life and recorded his lowest ever white tee score today beating his previous best by 3 shots . His front 9 started steadily playing the opening three holes to handicap but then he exploded into action net birdie on 4 and posting a superb net eagle 4 on the following hole to stand on top of the leaderboard standing on the 7th tee ... such is the fragile nature of the typical high handicapper that following on from two great holes he had two stinkers , a pair of 7s that dropped him 3 shots . As is often the case with a high handicapper he immediately regrouped to net birdie the 9th to reach -1 at the turn which put him 3 shots off the pace .
Hill started steadily with just one gain on the benign 11th to get within two of the leader as the tough closing holes beckoned . His response was to play the tricky Amen Corner to par but then sensationally net birdie the next three holes to retake the lead . A closing net par 5 was enough to take the trophy on countback for the first Board Competition of his Alty career .
 

Andy Miehe (77/11/66) is one of our finest ball-strikers and his swing is the envy of many ... today saw him produce quality golf on his front 9 with an opening net birdie and other gains on 5 and 7 with his only reverse surprisingly  occurring on 3 ... at the turn he found himself 2 behind but in definite contention . He was to immediately drop a shot to handicap on the short 10th to fall further down the field but that was to be his last mistake . A strong finish , highlighted with gains on 13 and 15 , enabled him to be one of 3 players locked together at -3 as he stood on the 16th. tee . Miehe maintained his form and parred his final three holes gaining shots on 17 and 18 but narrowly failed in his quest for the victory , losing out on countback . Nevertheless a fantastic effort and the best summer round of his Alty career . 

David Christian (87/20/67)  has maintained his great improvement and had won the Watson Trophy just one week earlier thus was in confident mood before starting his round today as your reporter can confirm given that he played with him on the day . He started encouragingly  , finding himself 2 under his handicap after the opening two holes courtesy of net birdies on 1 and 2 . The rest of his front 9 built on that stunning start with no shots dropped to handicap but with further gains on  7 and 9 taking him to the top of the leaderboard at 4 under at the turn . A solid but unspectacular start saw him play the opening five holes of the back 9 to handicap before a net bogey at 15 put him back and into a three way tie for the lead with just 3 holes to go . A net birdie on 17 took him back to -4 but he could only play to his handicap at the last which left him one shot behind and recording a third place finish . The handicapper was duly impressed and cut him by 0.9 to a new mark of 18.8 which represented an incredible 8 shot improvement in 2 years which is a truly fantastic effort especially as he does not often practice in between competition rounds !
 

Scott Armiger (93/23/70) has not yet claimed a Board Competition in his Alty career but his fourth-placed finish here was his best effort thus far . A steady start saw him able to play at least to his handicap for the initial 5 holes with the solitary gain a net birdie on 2 . Sadly three dropped shots on the last quartet of holes meant that he was mid-table at the turn at +2 6 shots behind the leader .He immediately regrouped and had gains on 10,13 and 14 to get back to 1 under and up into a share of third place and on the fringe of contention . Unfortunately he wasn’t able to build on his status with an immediate dropped shot on 15 and although he regained it on 17 another reverse on the last meant that he finished on -1 overall and -3 for his back 9 which was one of the best on the day for the fanatical Red Devil .

Special Mentions ... 

Matt Astbury (100/28/72) had shown form the previous week with an excellent third placed finish at the Diggle . Today he started positively with a superb net eagle but followed that up to give those 2 shots right back with a disastrous 8 on 2. The front 9 was rollercoaster with further gains on 4,5 (net eagle) and 7 offset with a dropped shot on the relatively benign 16th but not enough to prevent him rising to -3 at the turn just one behind . Sadly his back 9 was reflective of the occasional frailties of the high handicapper in that he immediately dropped 2 shots to handicap on 10 , steadied his round playing to handicap the next three holes but then succumbed to a disastrous net triple bogey 9 at the onerous 14th. . Whilst he had his solitary back 9 net birdie on 16 he was to otherwise play net pars and finished +1 and back in tenth place .

Defending Champion watch ...

George Sainthouse (97/19/78) was attempting to win an unprecedented third consecutive Coronation Cup and he started wonderfully well with consecutive net birdies on 2,3 and 4 to put himself immediately in the mix but then carelessly dropped shots on 6,8 and 9 , the three highest stroke indexed holes to put him back to level at the turn and 4 shots off the pace . Sadly his game continued to deteriorate on the back 9 with eight shots dropped to his handicap with his only highlight a net birdie 5 at the long 15th. . A finishing score of +7 left him in 31st. place but it is apt to again salute this most patriotic of Englishmen for his huge achievement in winning this prestigious trophy in 2017 and 2018 . 

Gross watch ...

Andy Miehe (77/11/66) who is gloriously aforementioned in this report and Club Champion Glen Rothwell (77/3/74) shared the honours ... Rothwell started poorly by his high standards and dropped shots to handicap at the opening three holes and two on 7 but gained two courtesy of birdies on 6 and 9 that left him +3 at the turn and seven shots off the pace . He played the back 9 level for his handicap highlighted by birdies on 13 and 18 resulting in a 17th place finish ! Congratulations to both players !