J Ford 2021 Round One

Jason Denton (72) has taken control of the Club Championship at the halfway stage with a superb round of 72 . He started slowly and played the first hole in regulation before succumbing to successive bogeys , seeing his approach shot bounce past the green and a poor chip resulting in a 5 on hole 2 then inexplicably taking two to get out of a bunker on 3 to get to +2 after the tricky opening trio of holes . Denton responding superbly , continuing to attack the flag with his approach shots and plundering back to back birdies on the next couple of holes and helping himself to a third gain on the course on the awkward 8th hole thus getting to the turn at 1 under and in the lead .

Denton consolidated his position and maintained momentum parring the opening quartet of holes on the journey home and although he was to concede strokes on 14 and 17 he finished with a truly magnificent 72 he now leads the Club Championship by 4 strokes with the final round played tomorrow . On reflection Jason counted that he had no less than 13 realistic birdie chances of which he converted just 3 . The Committees’ decision for the players to complete round 2 with the main contenders playing with each other has him with legendary former champion Glen Rothwell (4 behind) , 32-time Board Comp winner Danny Miller and precocious young hotshot Chris O’Connell (both 5 behind) completing the 0810hrs quartet whilst defending champion David Royle is in the 0800hrs tee slot 7 strokes back with Derek Cullen ( who shot a superb 77 to be joint third 5 behind ) , 2014 Balfour hero Keith Ralston and 4-time 2020 Board Comp winner John Thompson completing the top eight in what promises to be a stellar contest tomorrow . Can Jason hold his nerve or will those legendary duo up their game to put him under pressure whilst can Chris O’Connell really go from mid-handicapper to have a serious tilt at the Club Championship so early in his Alty career ? Can the defending champion David Royle or surprise package Derek Cullen put together a stellar round to post a significant score in the clubhouse ? We will see !

Glen Rothwell (76) must have come to the first tee today with a great deal of confidence given his wonderful performance to win the Captains Bowl just 4 weeks ago with a stellar gross  score of 66 . But could the former champion again reach such heights of excellence on the ultimate Alty GC big occasion ? Sadly not , although he played a solid round , Glen wasn’t able to match his Captains Bowl heroics on this occasion . He started solidly and parred the opening trio of holes to get himself into a tie for the lead … he maintained quality but lapses on holes 4 and 7 meant that he got to the turn at +2 , finding himself 3 strokes back at the turn . Rothwell was able to par 7 of the back 9 holes but a cold putter meant no breakthrough birdies whilst a bogey on 12 and inexplicably sloppy double bogey on 14 has left him in second place , 4 strokes behind but with the chance to actually partner the leader in his round tomorrow . Overall a very credible score but one that Glen will not regard as decent enough given the importance of the competition .

Chris O’Connell (77) started his first comp of this season ( just 18 weeks ago ) getting 16 strokes but he has improved his handicap by an unbelievable 8 strokes in that time and today showed the talent to properly contend at the highest level . Today he has matched his lowest ever white tee Alty score ( he had won the Gibson just weeks earlier with that score ) that has placed him in a marvellous third place as round 2 awaits tomorrow . Today he played a wonderful front 9 , parring all but the relati benign 3rd and 6th holes to get to the turn just 3 strokes off the lead . Although he maintained admirable consistency to maintain momentum by parring 10 and 11 to remain at +2 it was the Amen Corner holes 12, 13 and 14 , with bogeys at 12 and 14 spliced with an inexplicable double bogey on the short 13th to drop him back to +6 … he regrouped to par the final 4 holes and still can dream of catching the leader who is 5 strokes ahead . A fantastic effort by Chris who has surely given notice to our golfing elite that he is good enough to be in the shake up tomorrow .

Special mentions ..,

Danny Miller (77) has long harboured thoughts of winning the Club Championship and he has had encouraging rounds in past weeks to give him every confidence to strongly contend today . He started well , parring the opening three holes to immediately go in a share of the lead .He was unable to maintain that effort , succumbing to bogey 4 and 7 to get to the turn at +2 , 3 strokes back . A superb birdie on 11 was a real Filipino but inexplicably Danny had a horror Amen Corner , double bogeying 12 and 13 then dropping another stroke on 14 to tumble down to +6 . Miller regrouped well to par the last quartet of holes but he now finds himself in 4th place and 5 strokes adrift of the leader … there is no doubt that he will relish playing in the same 4 ball as the leaders and will undeniably be straining every sinew in the attempt to snatch the Club Championship and with it a share of the all-time winningmost Board Competition with the peerless James West . 

Derek Cullen (77) in now in his 4th summer season with the club , and he has maintained an admirable consistency that has seen him maintain a low handicap without reaping the rewards his play has deserved , a definite candidate for the ’best current member still without a Board Competition’ crown . Today Derek had obviously had a positive mindset to attack the course and given that his sublime gross 73 last October showed his capabilities it was no surprise that he showed his talents today . Unfortunately he got off to a poor start with a horror double bogey 6 on the first , falling victim to the small margins of error that a bold approach can yield . He had a rollercoaster front 9 ,  with further reverses on holes 4 and 8 balanced with truly magnificent birdies on 3,6 and 9 getting him to the turn at +1 , only 2 strokes behind and in a deserved second place . But could he maintain momentum on the journey for home ? Fearless Cullen got himself back to parity with his 4th birdie of the round on the benign 10th to close to within one stroke of the lead but could he maintain momentum with the challenge of the Amen Corner holes waiting for him ?  Heartbreakingly not , as Derek stumbled to a bogey on 11 then went bogey, DB , bogey ,DB to tumble down the leaderboard and now find himself on + 7 , now 7 strokes behind the leader . Remarkably, Derek got a stroke back wit his fifth birdie of the round on 17 and he will start tomorrow 5 strokes behind but with the knowledge that he has the ability to plunder birdies galore on the course but can he stop the bogeys ? We will see …

Defending Champion Watch …

David Royle (79) won this competition on the 37th hole lat yea , ultimately outlasing club legend Danny Miller to take his first Club Championship . Whilst he hasn’t reached stellar form this season , he knew that he could expect to be in strong contention if he could show the consistency commensurate with his low handicap . His front 9 was solid but unspectacular with lapses on 2,3 and 8 getting him to the turn at +3 , 4 strokes off the lead . Sadly he was another contender to fall foul of the Amen Corner holes with him leaking 4 strokes on holes 12-14 and inexplicably stumbling to a bogey on 16 to finish with a 79 and a 7 stroke deficit to make up tomorrow . As David finds himself in the penultimate group starting in front of the leading quartet he will have the opportunity to post a challenging score IF he can reproduce his best form .

Keith Ralston (81) started with a heartbreaking card-busting triple bogey on the opening hole then compounded his error with further reverses on holes 3 an5d 4 but regrouped magnificently and plundered 4 superb birdies on holes 5 ,10,11 and 17 . Unfortunately, he also had reverses on 7,8 and 14 but fell out of contention with double bogeys on 15,16 and 18 to send him sliding down the table . His golfing partner in crime and serial J Ford contender Mark Snape , fared no better , calling a halt to his round NR’ing at 15 at +14 😮