Geoff Gibson Trophy 1st June 2019

Geoff Gibson Trophy 1st. June 2019

Captain-elect Stuart Mason has been triumphant in a board competition for the second time this season after a dominant display to win the Geoff Gibson Trophy . 

Geoff Gibson Trophy - the main contenders scoring through the round 

Mason held the joint lead after 9 holes at 3 under his handicap but then produced a devastating display to take 5 more shots from the course to finish in a superb 77/14/63 to win by 3 strokes and claim his third individual board competition (his first since the Remembrance in 2015 ) and his second win of the season after his victory in the Winter KO earlier in the year . His gross score of 77 was his best Alty white tee summer season competition round of his career 

Mason started well and immediately got a shot back in handicap by parring the tricky 1st. hole ... although he was to lose that shot taking a 6 on the 4th to revert back to parity he gained 3 shots courtesy of pars on 5,8 and a birdie on 6 to get to the turn at 3 under which saw him share the lead with David Christian , Paul MacDonald and Bob Kay .Curiously none of this esteemed trio could last the pace and all three faltered to finish outside the top 10 . 

Mason quickly strengthened his position and produced back to back birdies on 10 and 11 to get 6 under for his handicap and 3 shots clear . After 3 more holes he had stretched his advantage to 5 courtesy of par in 14 and his 4th birdie of the day on 15 . Curiously he lost a little ground in the final holes dropping shots on 16 and 18 to finish 5 under for his back 9 and 8 under overall which gave him a convincing win . The handicapper was duly impressed and cut his 14.3 handicap by a massive 2.1 shots . 

Richard Paulson had a rollercoaster front 9 today and the delights of shots gained to handicap on 1,4 and 8 were tempered by dropped shots on 2,5 and 7 .... he began to climb the leaderboard after playing the 10th to his handicap gaining 4 shots over the next three holes ( his highlight a birdie 3 on 11 to catapult himself into contention ) ... he strengthened his position further with gains on 16 and 17 to put him 6 under thus in range of Mason for the first time and requiring a birdie on the final hole to get to 8 under and improbably snatch the trophy on countback  ... sadly a double bogey 6  meant a 85/19/66 finish and second place on countback . The handicapper was impressed and cut his 18.5 handicap mark by 1.2 shots . 

Ian Wood is one of our most local players and this tall and willowy son of Alty legend Bernie has unquestionable talent as a long-hitter with an all-round ability to compete to a high level . Today he stroked into the lead early on after he gained shots on three for the first four holes ... back to back reverses on 5 and 6 halted his momentum but he regrouped and played to handicap to finish 2 shots off the pace at the turn at 1 under .

Ian started with a careless dropped shot on the benign 10th but that was his last reverse with a strong finish highlighted by gains to his handicap on 13,15 and 17 to get him back to 3 under before a superb birdie on the final hole gained him 2 shots to handicap and ensured that he finished 5 under his handicap and in third place . His 11.5 handicap was trimmed down by 0.8 for his efforts .

Brian Nichols (86/20/66) has had a great start to the season and this years F Cox winner again played well today . He started steadily playing the first two holes to handicap before gaining shots on 3,5 and 6 with his only reverse on 8 addressed immediately with a gain on 9 leaving him joint leader of 5 at the turn at 3 under .

The back 9 was frustrating as Brian played to handicap on the first 6 holes before a strong finish with gains on 16 and 18 to finish in fourth place . He deservedly attracted the handicapper’s attention again as he was cut 1.2 to 18.6 .

Jim Fallon (81/14/67) had an up and down front 9 with the highs of an explosive start gaining shots on the opening holes tempered with dropping shots on the next two . Further gains on 5 and 8 were tempered with a 5 on the benign 18th to finish 1 under ... he regrouped immediately and had a blemish-free back 9 gaining 3 shots on his opening quartet of holes after the turn highlighted by a stunning birdie 2 on 13 and made up a further shot on 17 to finish 4 under to finish in fifth place . The handicapper was impressed enough to cut his handicap by 0.9 to 13.1 .

Special mentions ...

David Doughty (80/12/68) was another player who had a steady but unspectacular front 9 highlighted by a birdie 3 on 6 and further gains on holes 1 and 4 with reverses in the form of a double bogey 5 on 3 and a bogey 5 on the ‘easy’ 9th. .  A further drop on 10 put him back to level and in mid table but he regrouped well to pick up 3 shots from the next 5 holes courtesy of pars on 12,13 and 15 to put him on 3 under ... sadly his momentum stalled with a bogey 4 on the benign 16th and although he was to reclaim that shot parring the 17 he finished on net 68 and in a still creditable sixth place . He was rewarded for his good play by a  0.4 cut by the handicapper which left him on a new mark of 11.3 .

Given the stellar back 9 of the winner who covered the holes 5 under his handicap you could be forgiven for assuming that his efforts were ‘ best in show ‘ for the closing half ?

You would be wrong as one of the Captain-elect’s playing partners  that day enjoyed an abrupt and devastating about turn in fortunes .

Tim Dibble (87/16/71) had earlier in the season enjoyed Winter KO pairs glory with Mason but had enjoyed vastly contrasting fortunes today as he had played his front 9 six shots worse than his handicap (and 9 shots off the pace) which included one quint bogey 9 (2) and double bogeys on three consecutive holes (4,5,6) ... after these reverses he steadied himself playing the final trio to handicap at the turn .

The back 9 saw a totally rejuvenated player as he posted a scintillating gross 38 ( 6 under his handicap ) which included 3 birdies ( including two net eagles on 10 and 15 ) and two pars which elevated him to finish level par for his handicap and in 13th. place ... the handicapper did not ignore his resurgence and trimmed his handicapper by 0.3 to 16.0 which represented a fine return from Dibble who had obviously been inspired by the excellent play of his WKO partner noting that between them they plundered 6 birdies on those final 9 holes .

Defending Champion watch 

Last years winner Gordon Boardman put up a good defence of his title and finished ninth with 80/10/70 . 1 under at the turn and just 2shots off the pace , GB maintained good scoring without ever getting close enough to challenge the leaders . He lapsed only twice , dropping shots to handicap on 12 and 17 but otherwise was consistency itself evidenced by a final haul of 11 pars , 5 bogeys and 2 double bogeys for his 18 holes 

Best Gross score ?

Club Champion Glen Rothwell (73/3/70) started poorly by his very high standards , dropping 3 shots to handicap in his opening 4 holes ... he regrouped and birdied 9 to finish 2 over his handicap at the turn . He faltered again and dropped more shots on the benign 10th and 11th holes to stand on the 12th tee at 4 over and way down the field . He then showed his undoubted class gaining an incredible 5 shots in those closing 7 holes highlighted by 3 more birdies on 14,15 and 18 !