Golden Jubilee Trophy 11th July 2021
Andy Mills (20/19/39)
has already won two Board Competitions this season so was justifiably considered to be one of the favourites for this trophy . His deceptively long but regularly straight driver and iron play and solid short game are key reasons for his success and he again did not disappoint today . This season has seen the emergence of the opening trio of holes as presenting a much more difficult challenge to members statistically and Andy played them with the respect they deserved , playing each one in regulation for a solid 6 points . He stirred into action on 4 with an encouraging 3-pointer but after playing the long 5th to regulation he stumbled to a 1-point 6 on the benign 6th hole . He regrouped magnificently with a stellar 4-point birdie 3 on 7 then consolidated his momentum with a further gain on 8 to put himself in strong contention . The disappointment of a sloppy 1-point 5 on 9 still meant that he had got to the turn with 20 points which gave him a share of the lead at the turn .
Andy maintained momentum but did not build on it , delivering regulation 2-point play on the benign 10/11 and the more difficult 12th . which put him 1 point off the pace as he stood on the 13th tee , a definitively difficult hole which had resulted in more blobs than most as members continued to struggle at its welcoming hazard . Mills produced a superb tee shot that got him on the green and 2 putts later gracefully grabbed a crucial 3-point bounty which , backed up by regulation 2-pointers on 14 and 15 took him into sole leadership prepared to face the Amen Corner holes by a single point from those noted ball-strikers Miehe and Spicer . Could Andy hold on for his 3rd Board Competition of the season ? He played 16 and 17 in regulation which was good enough to maintain his slim advantage as he stood on the final tee but only played the hole well enough to give him a tricky putt for a par 4 that would’ve given him victory . Sadly , he was unable to convert and a regulation 2-point 5 saw him suffer the heartbreak of a countback defeat to the jubilant Darmon who had finished brilliantly. Nevertheless an impressive effort in second place and one which saw his WHS rating reduce by 0.8 to a new mark of 13.7
Andrew Wood (16/21/37) was hoping to win his first Alty individual Board Competition today . Wood , who won his only Board Comp in partnership with Alty legend Danny Miller 4 years ago . Today he started sluggishly with a 1-point 6 on the opening hole but regrouped to play 2 and 3 to regulation.The rest of his front 9 was rollercoaster with superb 3-pointers on 4 and 6 spliced with a blob on 5 . His sloppy 1-pointer on 9 got him to the turn on 16 points , 4 behind the leaders. His back 9 started with him playing the benign 10/11 axis in regulation but he stepped up with a superb 3-point 6 on the difficult 12th to put himself 4 points off the lead . Wood consolidated his momentum with a brave par 3 on 13 for another 3 pointer then continued to rise up the leaderboard in spite of just recording back to back 2-pointers on 14 and 15 which now left him just 3 points behind the leader with just the ‘Championship holes’ left to play . Andrew stepped up magnificently to score crucial consecutive 3-pointers on 16 and 17 leaving him now just 1 point back as he stood on the final tee . The reality of the situation was that a 3-point par 4 on 18 would be likely to give him the trophy on countback but sadly it was not meant to be as he could only score a 6 for 1 point leaving him in third place on a fine 37 points . His WHS rating was reduced by 0.3 to a new mark of 15.7 … a welcome return to form for one of our more occasional but gifted players who had the added consolation of producing the best back 9 score today of 21 points ! .
Chris O’Connell (16/20/36) is a regular on these pages and is generally regarded as one of the success stories of this season . Now only getting 9 strokes he has again proved that he remains a strong contender despite the 6 strokes he has ‘lost‘ through his relentlessly higher standard of play this season. Today Chris played the tricky opening trio of holes to regulation before inexplicably registering just a 1-point 6 on 4 … he regrouped well and proceeded to score regulation 2 pointers from holes 5-8 before again succumbing to his second 1-pointer on 9 to get to the turn Bon 16 points , 4 off the lead . The question was whether he could step up his game to contend after failing to register one 3-pointer on his front 9 . After parring 10 for a regulation 2-pointer he magnificently birdied 11 for 3 points , maintained momentum playing 12,13 and 14 to regulation then again made a move on the leaders with a superb 3-pointer on 15 which left him with just the ‘Championship hoes’ to play … a disappointing 1 pointer on the benign 16th but then again bounced back into contention with a crucial 3-pointer on 17 to leave him 3 points nbehind with one hole to go .In reality a sensational 4-pointer was needed but Chris could only manage a regulstion 5 to leave him on a very respectable 36 points and 4th place .
Special mentions …
Johnathan Spicer (18/18/36)
is one of our top class new members , operating off 5 handicap and someone who has tasted the glory of a Club Championship at his previous club and will be a definite live contender for the J Ford later this season . Today , he has shown his abilities with a 5th place finish that had promised a higher finish . His front 9was a polished gross +2 37 which translated into 7 pars and 2 bogeys with his highlight a 3-pointer on 2 and his nadir a sloppy 1-point bogey on 3 … 18 points taking him just 2 off the lead at the turn but could he step up his challenge on the journey home ? Spicer delivered just that as he had a sparkling initial quintet of holes with a superb gross 1-under 13-point salvo highlighted by a trio of 3-pointers , a birdie 3 on 10, pars on 12 and 14 which saw him standing on the 15th tee with 31 points and now at the top of the leaderboard with Andy Mills with just 4 holes to play .
Inexplicably Johnathan delivered a poor finish , bogeying each hole thus closing with only 5 points (1-pointers on 15,17 and 18) to finish with 36 points . Consistent play but a hugely disappointing end to his round … to be fair , this was his first weekend outing for 5 weeks and only his 4th outing of the season . His WHS rating was reduced by 0.2 to a new mark of 4.2 .
Andy Miehe (19/17/36)
is one of our best ball-strikers , the possessor of a fluent effortless swing that can stroke the ball a decent distance . It is a mystery to this observer to this observer that his talent has only yielded only 3 individual Board Competitions with his last victory the Autumn Cup 3 years ago . This season has seen him take his overall total to 5 with a second pairs title with wily veteran John Rossiter in the Greatbanks . Strong showings in the pairs events this season are an undoubted highlight , but as with most golfers it is individual glory that is a particular satisfaction . Andy started well today with a magnificent 12 point salvo recording 3-point pars on the first 4 holes to catapult himself into the lead … momentum was maintained with regulation 2-pointers on 5 and 6 and he stood on the 7th tee in joint leadership with Richard Paulson doubtless eyeing a 22+ front 9 total … inexplicably Andy lost his form and stumbled to the turn courtesy of 3 poor 1-point holes , the 7-9 axis always a potential banana skin in a round and on this occasion bringing his momentum to a screeching halt to finish his front 9 on 19 points , still good enough to be just one away from the lead but with that horrible feeling of lost opportunities , zero confidence in your abilities and a huge frustration after the nice fuzzy feeling of just a few minutes earlier . But could Andy regroup presented with the start of his journey home ? Initially the answer to the question has to be no as he extended his consecutive 1-point holes to 5 with poor displays on 10 and 11. Despite now starting his campaign on the acknowledge Amen Corner of our beloved course in a poor frame of mind Andy regrouped spectacularly well and plundered 12 points from those testing quartet of holes highlighted by a 3-point par on 13 then a truly magnificent 4-point birdie on 15 which saw him stand on the 16th tee just one point off the lead but now with the momentum of a great Amen Corner with those ‘Championship holes’ to play … a regulation 2 on 16 maintained momentum but he crumbled to a truly tragic blobby 7 on 17 to effectively end his challenge finishing his campaign with a 2-pointer on the final hole for a frustrating 6th place . This observer has no doubt that Andy will grace these pages later in the season but he will definitely look back on the Golden Jubilee as a missed opportunity .
Richard Paulson (20/16/36)
has had a decent season so far with several top 10 finishes under his belt .Today he has again strongly contended and his front 9 was particularly pleasing to him . He took on the increasing difficulty of the opening three holes well , playing the opening two holes for regulation 2 points then magnificently birdieing 3 for 4 precious points . Momentum now established he built on with superb consecutive 3-point pars on holes 4-6 to get himself to the top of the leaderboard .
Defending Champion Watch … Ian Wood sadly was not available to defend his trophy today .
Overall , another day where the course bested the majority of members with just 3 of the 40-strong field beating the standard 36 point score and with many of us finding the extra challenge of the shallow holes and unraked bunkers a little too difficult .
