Golden Jubilee Cup 12th July 2020

Golden Jubilee Cup 12th. July 2020

Golden Jubilee Cup contenders

Ian Wood (20/20/40) has won the second Board Competition of his Alty career and his first individual victory by outlasting Nate Butterworth, Keith Ralston and Ian Cheetham by a solitary point today .

Ian had a rollercoaster front 9 and started sluggishly , taking only 3 points from the opening AND closing couple of holes but scoring heavily  3 to 7 which saw him in fine form with 14 points including 3-pointers on 4,5 and 7 ( his birdie 2 on 3 the highlight ) His 20 point total  at the turn left him just a couple of points off the lead and he consolidated that position with a trio of pars worth 7 points ( 3 pointer on 12) but faltered playing the other Amen Corner holes to stand on the 16th tee just one off the lead . Wood produced pars on the final three ‘Championship’ holes , magnificently holding his nerve with crucial 3-pointers on 17 and 18 which resulted in him taking the trophy with his superb 40 point haul . The handicapper was duly impressed and cut his handicap by 0.6 to a new mark of 10.6 ,  just reward for the extremely long commute he makes to the course .

Nate Butterworth (18/21/39) had been unable to defend his 2019 Captains Bowl victory the previous day because of his work commitments and today (unusually playing at a later tee time than usual) he started poorly with 1 pointers on 1 and 3 but regrouped well and registered consecutive 3 pointers on 4 and 5 then play steady but unspectacular golf to get to the turn at a regulation 18 points 4 off the lead. Nate was in cruise control parring his initial 5 holes coming home then a bogey 6 2 pointer on 15 which equated to an impressive 14 point salvo which saw him standing on the 16th tee just one point behind the leaders . Inexplicably Nate bogeyed the benign 16th for a measly point and send him off the leadership pace . Although he regrouped and 3 pointed both 17 and 18 it was not enough and he finished in second place , thwarted by possibly our easiest hole when playing sooo well . The handicapper took note of his efforts and cut him 0.4 to a new mark of 8.5 .

Keith Ralston (21/18/39) has had an encouraging start to the season and (in partnership with Mark Snape) already has taken a trophy for the season . The great man’s hunger for silverware remained and today he has put in another strong challenge . Today he hit the ground running with a superb triple 3 pointer blast highlighted by his 3 point birdie 2 on 3. He consolidated his score with ‘regulation’ 2 pointers on holes 4-6 before his 4th 3 pointer on 7 ... even though he only got a point on 18 he had still got to the turn just a point off the lead . A further blemish on the benign 10th didn’t help his cause and although he safely negotiated our formidable Amen Corner holes with a good score of 11 points he stood on the 16th tee ready to play the decisive final three ‘Championship holes in the joint lead . Inexplicably Ralston stumbled to a 1 pointer on 16 , could only play in regulation on 17 and although he got his 6th 3-pointer of the round at the final hole it was only good enough for a third place finish with 39 points . He has again been the subject of a cut from the handicapper who has docked him 0.4 to a new mark of 9.7 .
 

Ian Cheetham (22/17/39) has had a rollercoaster season thus far and has had a few top 10 finishes mixed in with disappointing results .Ian was kind enough to assist your scribe  in his endless quest to report as accurately as possible and his reflections on his round were that despite his undoubted success on the day he had trouble throughout with his driving , with only a couple of his 3 woods matching his expectations which led to him utilising his 5 iron off the tee in the later holes.  Cheetham is well known for his unrelenting quest to achieve a full and perfect swing ,  his appetite to improve all areas of his game together with a mentality to brush off a good percentage of awful rounds . Teak-tough resilience makes it a given that this Alty dog is occasionally going to have his day and his efforts today rate as a very very very near miss . 

Today he has posted a strong challenge ... he started sluggishly taking 5 points from the opening three holes before an incredible run where he FOUR-pointed 4 , 6 and 7 with the highlight his birdie on 6 but then curiously struggled on the ‘easy’ 9th taking just a point but still posting a superb 22 point haul to jointly lead the competition as he got to the turn . Cheetham added 5 points from the opening couple of benign holes starting for home and after 2-pointing the 12th he had opened up a 2 point lead with 6 holes to go . He  then managed to get through two more  Amen Corner holes to regulation 2-pointers and then stood on the 15th tee . He already had 33 points and anything he got from the hole would determine the extent of his lead with 3 holes to go . Sadly Ian chose that moment to mistime his drive which sent it unerringly out of bounds . He was unable to immediately regroup and suffered a devastating blob but was nevertheless still in pole position in the joint lead . Ian later described his back 9 as a ‘ battle to stay with it’ and with just three holes to go could he maintain form to take the spoils ? A routine 2-pointer followed on 16 but Ian was crucially wayward with his drive on 17 which was instrumental in him only being able to post a 2-point 6 which meant that he stood on the 18th tee needing a 4-point par 4 to prevail . He wasn’t able to produce his best and could only put himself in a position just off the green in 3 then seeing his chip and run attempt for glory fall heartbreakingly short and a two-putt for 6 left him back in fourth place on countback . The handicapper was sufficiently encouraged to cut his handicap by 0.8 (the biggest of the day) to a new mark of 26.4.

Special mentions ...

Richard Paulson (18/20/38) has had a fine season thus far and the Bailey Cup winner was a strong challenger today . His front 9 was highlighted by a superb 4-point birdie 3 on 6 and a 3 point par on 2 - other than that he had 5 holes played to handicap , a disappointing 1-pointer on 8 and a devastating blob on 5 which nevertheless still added up to 18 points and 4 off the lead at the turn . The back 9 essentially can be divided into three sections ... the opening couple of holes are short and ‘ the calm before the storm’ ... Richard performed well and plundered 5 points from them . The mid-section holes are our Amen Corner and offer a selection of potentially card-busting holes which better the vast majority of competitors . Richard started poorly , blobbing 12 to fall further back down the field but regrouping magnificently with a 4-point birdie 2 to reawaken his challenge .Unfortunately he was unable to sustain momentum to get back into the mix and successive 1-pointers on 14 and 15 left him 4 off the lead and too far back to take the trophy . Despite this fact , Paulson played the final ‘ Championship holes’ brilliantly , plundering three successive 3-point pars to finish 2 points short , fifth-placed but doubtless reflective of his two blobs and trio of 1-pointers that ultimately denied him a second trophy of the season . The handicapper duly recognised his efforts by cutting him 0.3 to a new mark of 16.2 .
 

Paul Southworth (22/6/28) does not play much these days but remains at his best one of our premier ball-strikers . This season he has shown glimpses of form but stayed far away from the winners circle ... today he started explosively with a superb 4-pointer birdie 3 at the devilishly tricky opening hole . A trio of regulation 2-pointers followed and further 3-pointers on 5 and 7 were highlights on a supreme blemish-free front 9 that put him joint top of the crop on 22 points . But how would he fare on the back 9 ? Sadly , his final 9 holes were a complete train-wreck with only his 2 points on 17 completed in regulation and blobs on 14,15,16 and 18 to finish in 33rd position with just 6 points in total achieved on the back 9 . What can possibly have gone wrong ? The game of golf can be sooooo cruel ... your scribe today suffered the humiliation of posting the lowest score today ( his first runt performance in nearly 5 years)  with his pathetic  9/12/21 a far cry from his  17/23/40 victory of only 7 weeks earlier . A timely reminder to this observer and us all that our game could leave us at the most unexpected moments ... 

Defending Champion Watch ...

John Thompson (17/19/36) won this trophy in emphatic style last year and the then-27 handicapper plundered 43 points . Today he stood on the first tee having improved to 24 handicap and extremely keen to defend his trophy . JT has a frustrating front 9 with his 3-pointers on 2 and 8 tempered with a blob on 7 and a demoralising 1-pointer on 6 contributing to a 17 point total at the turn that left him 5 off the lead . Sadly John could not immediately  get into the mix and although he showed glimpses of form as he recorded a couple of 3-pointers on 10 and 13 he was never closer to the leaders than when standing on the final tee ... 35 points now just two points down and needing a 4-point birdie and his rivals to blob for an unlikely victory . It did not happen as he stumbled to a  1-pointer giving him a 36 point 11th placed finish but a laudable attempt to defend his crown .