Divot Party 2021
Danny Miller (37/36/73/8/65) …
has won his record-breaking 34th Board Competition by capturing the small but perfectly-formed Divot Party trophy by firing a most brilliant net 65 in the benign conditions today . The Captain-elect ironically started poorly , his vulnerability to the subtle dangers posed by the opening hole again catching him out today as he immediately dropped back to +2 . Predictably , Danny regrouped and put together a sequence of 8 pars (including excellent net birdies on 2,4,5 and 7 ) to get himself to the turn handily placed on -2 , two strokes behind the leader . Miller built on his already towering momentum with magnificent back to back birdies on 10 and 11 , consolidated his challenge with a gain on 14 then a superb net eagle on 15 to find himself standing on the 16th tee with a 3 stroke lead with just the Championship holes to play … the scene was set for the legendary HallofFamer to stroll to victory .
And yet … inexplicably Danny struggled to a sloppy net bogey 4 on 16 then playing to regulation on the 17th left him with a slender one stroke lead with his Captain now in the clubhouse level with him and knowing that he still had to record a par 4 to win the trophy . Miller used his experience , nervelessly completed his par and now just one name bestrides Altrincham Golf Course as a colossus and that name is Daniel Miller , winningmost Board Competition winner in the history of the club . A truly phenomenal effort , and the perfect way to prepare for the more political side of golf Captaincy which awaits him next year .
Two-term Club Captain Stuart Mason (38/41/79/14/65)…
has had a relatively lean season by his standards . He had followed his glorious 4 trophies of 2019 by adding a further two in 2020 and this year has taken the rarely played for ( but thankfully re-established ) Mixed Hacking Trophy with Karen Coleman beating just 4 other teams . Today he gave a glimpse of his talents , carding an excellent front 9 highlighted by a net eagle 3 on 8 with further gains to handicap on holes 3,8 and 9 only tempered with an unfortunate bogey 5 on 6 to get to the turn in a tie for the lead with Glynis Brown . He started the journey home in less convincing fashion , stumbling to a bogey 5 on the benign 11th and although he registered a welcome net birdie on 13 he was to immediately give that hard-earned stroke back on 14 … Mason regrouped well and regained that stroke on the long 15th , which left him 3 strokes behind Club Champion Danny Miller with just the Championship holes to play . Stuart produced a fine finish , playing 16 in regulation then posting successive gains to handicap on 17 and 18 to set the target of net 65 … a second place finish on countback that augurs well with just a few Board Competitions to be decided . His WHS rating was accordingly slashed by 1.0 to a new mark of 10.9 .
Bernie Wood (39/43/82/13/69)…
now appears to be fully fit and firing after surgical intervention last season . He and his lifelong chum GGBoardman have come close to taking silverware on a couple of occasions this season and given this once proud low-handicapper now gets 13 strokes it was inevitable that the BW cream would again be rising . Today , the Alty legend started well , negotiating the tricky opening hole to regulation and then roared into early contention courtesy of a magnificent net birdie on 2 then building on that momentum with a sublime net eagle 2 on 3 to take an early lead . Fireworks over , Wood played the rest of the front 9 in regulation apart from a sloppy bogey on 14 to get to the turn at -2 , two strokes behind . Bernie produced another wonderful trio of holes , highlighted by a birdie on 11 but recording gains on all to stand proudly on the 13th tee having again climbed to the summit of the leaderboard jointly with surprise package Glynis Brown … could the veteran maintain momentum and go for glory with just 6 holes to go ?
Sadly it was at this point that the Wood fairytale ended … he dropped a stroke on 13 and although he partially regrouped playing 14 and 15 to regulation he found himself 3 strokes behind with the Championship holes to play . Further reverses on 16 and 18 left the great man on a still very respectable net 69 but 4 strokes from glory and a third placed finish . A brighter note was that his WHS rating was reduced by 0.5 to a new mark of 10.4 …
Special mentions …
Timothy Dibble (42/44/86/16/70)
TJD has played a solid round today without ever managing to get into a truly challenging position . His front 9 was rollercoaster with encouraging gains on 2,6 and 7 tempered with stumbles on 3 and 5 which left him at -1 at the turn , 3 strokes behind the leader . His back 9 was similarly played and featured reverses on <span> </span>10 , a net DB 8 on 12 sending Dibble dribbling down the table on +2 . To his credit he regrouped well and achieved gains to handicap on 3 of the last four holes to finish on net 70 . His WHS rating has been reduced by 0.5 to a new mark of 13.1 , which is a stunning 4.8 improvement in the last 8 weeks .
Glynis Brown (48/59/107/35/72) may only have finished sixth in this event but she came very close to making Alty history as the first female to win a mixed individual event . Glynis started nervously with a net bogey 7 on the tricky opening hole but she then produced a phenomenal succession of SIX net birdies in a row to catapult herself to the top of the leaderboard , dropping a stroke on 8 but playing 9 to regulation to get to the turn at -4 and sharing the lead with Stuart Mason .
Her journey home started well with a net birdie 5 on 10 consolidated with regulation scores on 11 and 12 and still sharing the lead on -5 . Could she maintain her excellent form and record a historic victory ?
Sadly , Glynis’ form deserted her and she dropped strokes on 14,16 and 17 to fall to -2 before carding an unfortunate net triple bogey 9 to finish on a still creditable net 72 . Her WHS rating was reduced by 0.4 to a new mark of 29.1.
A clear indication to all Alty menfolk that our ladies definitely have the skill to challenge for those competitions where they are eligible . Bravo madam !
Overall this small but perfectly formed competition devised by former Secretary Matt Goodall currently has a small field but hopefully this will grow in the years to come and members make an effort to assist the Club . Today it has provided Danny Miller with the historic opportunity to stand alone at the the very top of all Board Competition winners . Will his total ever be beaten ? This observer thinks that it is very unlikely .
