J Ford Championships Gross Round 2

J Ford Championships Gross Round 2 16th. September 2018

Mark Marshall (36/37/73) lived up to his handicap with a magnificent display in the wind and rain today ... the 1 handicapper was the best player on both front and back 9 with his highlights the 4 birdies at 3,11,15 and 18 to comfortably take the round 2 honours by 5 shots .

Glen Rothwell (39/39/78) had a poor start and was +4 after just 3 holes but 6 consecutive pars steadied his round ... 3 more shots dropped on 10-12 again threatened to destabilise his round but he played the difficult final 6 in level par ( the highlight his solitary birdie on 14 ) to finish second .

Mark Snape (39/39/78) was another elite player to start poorly and he was +4 after 3 holes but regrouped well by playing to par on the next 6 holes with a birdie on 8 the highlight . A steady but unspectacular +3 back 9 gave him third place .

Gordon Boardman (38/42/80) played superbly to be joint second at the turn at +3 . However he could not maintain that standard on his back 9 but still completed it in +6 for a creditable gross 80 and fourth place .

Brian Southworth (42/39/81) stuttered his way through the front 9 to be +7 at the turn with only 2 pars ... like yesterday he was to show his prowess on the back 9 scoring second only to Marshall by parring 7 and dropping shots only on 14 and a double on 17 which gave him a gross 81 and creditable 5th place .

Keith Walton (38/43/81) was another member who played excellent golf on his front 9 to stand joint second on the day at the turn highlighted by a birdie on 9 . A topsy turvy back 9 followed with his birdie 2 on 13 the highlight with a triple bogey on 15 and bogeying the final two holes leaving him with a +7 back 9 and sixth place.

Alty GC elite competitors  Danny Miller (40/42/82) and Stewart Royle (41/42/83) both uncharacteristically faltered in the inclement weather finishing down the leaderboard .

Overall the swirling winds and intermittent rain meant that the course and increasingly sodden fairways made scoring difficult particularly on the back nine holes . Respect to those players who completed their rounds on a challenging day .