Geoff Gibson Trophy 27th. June 2021

Chris O’Connell (77/10/67) can justifiably be regarded as the  best player of this 2021 summer season so far . Today the Bailey Cup winner has built on that reality by demonstrating that he can  produce not only great scores but can also regroup and challenge from a poor start . Today he has lowered two personal records … his gross 77 and his back 9 in 34 strokes were a particularly phenomenal effort given the difficulty of the course right now as he took his 2nd Board Competition of the season and his fledgling Alty career 

Although he started his round well with a net birdie 4 at the devilishly tricky opening hole , his front 9 was a rollercoaster affair , as he mixed the positives of further gains on 4 and 5 with sloppy reverses on 2,3,6 and 7 compounded with a poor finish to the turn losing 2 shots to handicap with a net DB 6 on 9 to find himself +3 and in mid-division 6 strokes off the lead with the back 9 to come . 

His back 9 was worthy of a scratch player as he systematically took the course apart … consecutive gains on 10/11 started his charge    and 12,13 were played to handicap as he took closer order . He plundered another net birdie on 14 then magnificently net eagled 15 ( a hole which hurt many challengers cards ) to incredibly propel himself to the joint lead with just 3 holes to go . After playing the benign 16th to handicap he took control of the competition with a sublime second net eagle on 17 then consolidated his position with a further gain on the final hole . His WHS handicap has been lowered from 8.6 to 7.6 which is an incredible 5.9 strokes better than the mark on 24th April .

Brian Nicholls (86/17/69) has shown  improvement  of late and his recent 3rd place in the Gellatly bolstered by a couple of net 72 finishes in recent comps  ( including victory in a midweek medal ) had given this observer reason to believe that there was evidence that he was coming into form . 

Today , however , Brian started poorly , immediately dropping a shot to handicap with a sloppy net bogey 6 … unfortunately he was unable to immediately regroup and he then stumbled to a net DB 7 to fall to +3 after 2 holes . All members know as to the degree of difficulty those opening holes bring and the tough task to fight back when things don’t go well . Brian rehabilitated his round superbly with a flawless end to his front 9 , highlighted by net birdieing  4 and 6 and playing the other holes in regulation to maintain momentum to the turn at +1 , 4 strokes off the lead .

His back 9 saw him play 10 to handicap , get back to level par with a net birdie on 11 then play the Amen Corner holes to handicap which in itself was enough to get him within just one of the leaders as he stood on the 16th tee . Could he step up playing the Championship holes now in definite contention ? After playing the benign 16th hole to handicap , Brian did step up by magnificently net birdieing both 17 and 18 to finish on net 69 but finish 2 strokes short for a superb second placed finish . His WHS rating was accordingly reduced from by 0.6 from 14.8 to 14.2 . 

Alistair Cairns (85/16/69) is one of our  occasional players and he was having just his 7th outing in 13 weeks . Today he was not expected to put in a strong showing  but he produced his best finish of the season .

He started his round steadily and impressively registered his first 6 holes in regulation before consecutive net birdies on 7 and 8 got him to -2 before a sloppy bogey on 9 meant that he got to the turn just 2 strokes off the lead at -1 .

Alistair started his journey home playing 10 to regulation before dropping his first shot of his round on the short 11th . He responded superbly with successive net birdies on 12 and 13 .Sadly , a net DB 8 on 15 stalled his momentum leaving him still just one shot back … he battled back , managing to gain shots on 17 and 18 and his net 69 gave him an encouraging third place . His WHS rating was accordingly reduced from 13.5 to 12.9 . 

Special Mentions …

Andrew Window (87/18/69) was in a rich vein of form building on  his creditable 4th placed finish in the Watson 8 days earlier with a victory in the AGC Stableford the previous Sunday .

Like soooo many of us , Andrew found the risk/reward enigma that is the opening hole too hot to handle and he started with a net bogey 6 . That was to be only mistake of his front 9 as he slipped back into his recent form with an equal mix of holes in regulation (2,3,4,8) with superb net birdies achieved on5,6,7 and 9 to get him to the turn at an impressive -3 to share the lead . 

Sadly he started the journey home poorly with a net DB 7 on 10 and another re worse on 13 giving back the shots he had gained ! He did manage to regroup and was tied for the lead after 15 with all to play for …

a final net birdie on 17 getting him back to -2 and giving him 4th place . WHS had reduced him by 0.9 to 15.0 after his Stableford victory and this performance resulted in another 0.7 cut to a new rating of 14.3 , a stellar effort indeed ! 

Tim Jones (49/45/94/23/71) first came to the attention of this observer in this event last year , when he finished fifth . This player has only been playing golf for a year but has the demeanour of a seasoned operator . Today , the Jones boy has again occupied the same position but in much different circumstances … whereas last year he delivered  a steady display , this year his comp was hugely derailed by the events of the 2nd hole , where after playing the opening hole to handicap , he imploded with a card-busting net quad bogey TEN which must have shaken his confidence . Its not unusual for a player to need time to regroup after an awful hole , and Jones dropped another shot at 3 . He then began to regroup and got 2 of the 5 shots back with impressive bogey-free play to the turn highlighted by net birdies on 5 and 9 to find himself 6 shots back with the back 9 beckoning .  Tim started the journey home steadily , playing the opening quartet of holes to handicap before sensationally taking closer order with FOUR consecutive net birdies  to incredibly stand on the final tee under par for his handicap and eyeing a podium finish . Sadly , a careless net bogey 6 meant he finished on net 71 to reproduce his fifth placed finish of last year . His WHS rating was understandably reduced by 0.7 from 19.1 to 18.4 .

Tim Dibble (44/48/92/21/71) has endured a difficult start to the season and seen his WHS rating rise from 15.7 to 17.8 after a succession of poor scores belying his abilities and perhaps partly due to his Committee work . Today , he delivered a snapshot of past glories as he managed his way around the course utilising his course management nous . Dibble started well , mastering the tricky first and getting a net birdie . His front 9 was steady and only yielded one reverse ( on 4 ) but was otherwise highlighted by a gain on 5 with the other holes played to handicap to get to the turn handily placed at -1 , just 2 shots from the lead .
After playing 10 to handicap , Dibble took closer order and plundered successive gains on 11 and 12 to put himself in a share for the lead with 6 holes to go . But could he maintain his form to sustain his challenge? He managed to play 13 to handicap and then faced the long 14th with the knowledge that he got 2 shots at the hole . Unfortunately, the course bit back at him as he stumbled to a net triple bogey 9 that took him back to level par . Tim regrouped well , played 15 to handicap then superbly net birdied 16 to again go under par . Sadly he immediately dropped a shot on 17, playing the final hole in regulation to finish in an encouraging 6th place bolstered by a welcome drop in his WHS ratings by 0.4 from 17.8 to a new mark of 17.4 .

David Royle (34/42/76)  took just 76 strokes to complete his round today but it could’ve been so much better as the Club Champion showed his class with a subtle 1 under 34 for his front 9 highlighted by his birdie on 7 which was good enough for him to be joint leader at the turn , maintaining that position until the 13th. hole . His back 9 was uncharacteristically inconsistent as he parred only 4 of the holes on his journey home , dropping 6 shots to finish in 10th place

Congrats to these other members who have lowered their WHS ratings …

Dave Drury (12.3 to 11.9)

Andrew Moss (20.2 to 20.0)

James Darmon (24.2 to 24.0)

Andy Mills (15.0 to 14.7)

Phil Shaw (9.5 to 9.0)

Roy Jackson (28.0 to 27.6)

Brian Cawley (18.0 to 17.8)

Defending Champion Watch …

Keith Ralston was sadly not present to defend his title today …

Gross Watch …

 Glen Rothwell (35/40/75)

Former Club Champion Glen Rothwell produced the best gross score of the day with a superb display … he parred 7 holes of his front 9 , birdieing the 7th hole and suffering his only disappointment with a bogey on 8 .His momentum was stalled with a double bogey on the benign 10th and he was to suffer a further reverse on 14 but he did manage to birdie 13 and was otherwise in regulation as he shot a ‘best in show’ 75 , one better than his great rival David Royle and finishing 8th. in the competition.

Overall a day which again had members unable to dominate the course with only 4 of the 40 competitors beating their handicap on a day where the hardened fairways and greens undoubtedly made the course play shorter . In reality the  vast majority of members struggled to show any consistency to their play  despite the benign weather conditions but we still rejoice to be able to play our beloved sport despite the pandemic . The head green keeper declared to this observer that they will review lowering the hole depths on 19th July which will hopefully see that happen !