J Ford Championship Round 1 nett

J Ford Championship Round 1 net 15th September 2018

Norman Crowther (77/8/69) produced a wonderful round today to finish in second place after the first round . 

The genial SBE frontman , Committee stalwart , LiverpoolFC supporting occasional DJ , MC  and former captain led the field after a great birdie on the tricky first was the highlight of his front 9 that saw him level par for his handicap at the turn but he responded magnificently on the back 9 to gain 2 shots to handicap highlighted by his birdies on 11 and 15 to lead the field after round one and an 0.4 cut to 8.0 for his efforts !

Mr. Captain Robert W. Kay (83/13/70) had a characteristically steady round to be just one shot back and he played the majority of the course to handicap with 4 net gains  offset by a net double on 3 and bogey on the benign 16th. 4 net birdies on 1,4,13 and 18 were his highlights and an 0.3 cut to 12.3 for his efforts !

Glen Rothwell (73/2/71) can  rightly hold great expectations of winning the prestigious Gross price but he remains handily placed to take the net honours as he repaired the damage by an early net double on 4 with consecutive birdies on 7 and 8 ... an uncharacteristic consecutive net bogeys on the long 15th and benign 16th robbed him of a better score  and an 0.1 cut to 2.7 for his efforts !

Brian Southworth (82/11/71) finds himself fourth after fighting back from a poor start ... uncharacteristically wearing long trousers today he had consecutive net double bogeys on 2 and 3 to stand 4 over his handicap at an early stage ... the permatanned quinquagenarian fought back magnificently with a net eagle on 5 the highlight but still net 3 over at the turn . He returned a superb net 3 under back 9 to be just 2 shots off the lead and surely a threat to the other challengers tomorrow. Curiously Brian had dropped shots on the three-easiest holes today so he has reason to hope for a strong showing tomorrow!

Mark Caffrey (86/15/71) can rightly look back on missed opportunities ... a steady front 9 saw him 1 under at the turn after consecutive net birdies on 3/4 and just one dropped shot to handicap on 7 . A superb birdie on 10 was offset by a net bogeys on the benign 11th and difficult 12th but a magnificent tee shot on 13 ( although missing an easy putt for 2 ) still gained him a shot ... consecutive net birdies on 16/17 left him standing on 18th tee in control of the net tournament at 3 under his handicap but inexplicably he had a devastating 8 at the last to finish at level par and an 0.3 cut to 15.1 for his efforts ! 

Special mentions ...

Andy Miehe (82/11/71)

6 consecutivepars 4-9 , 2 under his handicap after 13 then a quad 8 on 14 but still good enough for the handicapper to give him an 0.2 cut to 10.6 for his efforts !

Roy Dickens (92/20/72) 

5 over handicap after a quint bogey 8 on 3 recovering magnificence highlighted by a net albatross on 5 and an 0.3 cut to 19.3 for his efforts !

Nathan Butterworth (81/9/72)

2 under his handicap after a superb net eagle on 12 but 3 double bogeys in his final 6 holes put him down the leaderboard.

Greg Harding (86/13/73) 

3 under his handicap after 13 then 5 shots dropped to handicap in his last 5 holes .

Overall a day when it seemed that the final third was the most difficult stretch ... who will keep their nerve tomorrow to take the prize ? We will see ...