JFord Club Championship 1/2 August 2020

J Ford Club Championship

David Royle (78/76/154) has won the Club Championship for the first time to take the 4th Board Competition of his career and his second victory of this extraordinary lockdown season by beating club legend Danny Miller in a play off ending at the first hole .

David started the round in a great position just 2 shots back from first round leader Mark Snape . He started in great fashion by parring the first four holes which quickly took him to a share of the lead ... a slight wobble where he bogeyed 5 and 7 was remedied with a par on 8 and a crucial birdie on 9 that saw him take the lead on his own for the first time . Royle turned the screw at the top with another birdie on 10  but then inexplicably surrender two shots at one of easiest holes . Amen a Corner now beckoned and David safely negotiated 12 and 13 with quality pars before he fell foul of the higher mental tariff of the occasion with back to back bogeys on 14 and 15 to leave him standing on the 16th tee with a slender one shot lead over Danny Miller with Snape and Stewart Royle a further shot back but very much in the mix .

David parred the ‘easy’ 16th hole  then succumbed to a bogey on 17 which left himself and Danny Miller locked together at +12 . Royle then superbly  held his nerve to par the last ( arguably one of the most crow damaged affected greens ) to force a playoff where he prevailed on the 1st. hole . A truly magnificent achievement and yet another honour for the rejuvenated Royle family , the second family member to take the ultimate Alty GC prize after Stewart Royle in 2017 . 

Danny Miller (79/75/154) has heartbreakingly failed in his latest quest to take the Club Championship by losing a play off to David Royle after they had finished their second round locked together at +12   . Miller started the day 3 shots back and was unable to stop his regular bogey habit on the tricky opening hole and compounded that error by dropping a shot on 2 ...he regrouped with pars on 3 and 4 before a bogey on 5 was his last transgression on his opening 9 as he parred 6-8 before taking closer order with a superb birdie on the deceptively difficult 9th hole to take him back to +10 now just 2 shots back of new leader David Royle . Now doubtless feeling the pressure on as he came to the last 9 holes of a championship he has coveted for years , Danny consolidated with pars on the benign 10th and 11th before facing our Amen Corner holes . He bogeyed 12 but I mmediately regrouped  on 13 , defying the swirling winds to magnificently post a 2 . Bogeys on 14 and 15 seemed to have dented his chances
but the reality was that all challengers were similarly losing momentum and he was now just one shot back . Miller parred 16 and crucially 17 which left him level . He held his nerve superbly to overcome the uneven green and par the final hole which put him in the play off . A ‘best in show’ 75 today and a  truly magnificent showing from the 2021 Captain-elect thwarted from being victorious in his most coveted competition .

Mark Snape (76/81/157) started the round with a 2 shot advantage over a David Royle with Danny Miller a further shot behind . Your scribe ( Paul Hackett ) had the great privilege of playing with Mark and his round got off to an unfortunate start with his tee shot nestled near a tree with no hope of properly accessing the green ... this resulted in a bogey and sadly a further bogey on 2 followed a slightly misdirected approach shot . The third hole saw Mark recover from a tricky position to hole an 8 footer for par to steady his nerves and stay in a share of the lead . Mark regrouped with a par on 4 , dropped a further shot on 5 and regrouped well parring holes 6-8 and coming close to birdies on all three . The ninth hole was another bogey which left him now on +9 for the Championship and now in second place .
Mark responded with  a great drive , excellent approach shot to 10 feet then getting a welcome birdie to ironically match the leaders efforts on that hole ... again near misses for birdies on 11 and 12 saw him regain momentum and crucially put him back on top of the leaderboard as he stood on the 13th tee  to play a hole where he had  earlier saw reigning Club Champion  Glen Rothwell put his tee shot to 6 feet away ( which he converted )  . He made his tee shot and saw it fall way to the right , coming to rest short but on the right hand side on the slope just before the brook . In what he later described as a ‘moment of madness , Snape attempted the extremely difficult task of getting his second shot on the green . Sadly he could only force it into the opposite bank to see it tumble into the hazard  ending with  him missing a short putt to record a card-busting quad bogey 7 to send him down the leaderboard . He compounded that mistake with another bogey on 14 laving him in danger of falling out of contention . He somehow managed to regroup and parred 15 and 16 with good scrambling to remain just 2 shots back but the battle scars of several frustrating near misses took their toll and it was no surprise that Mark bogeyed his final two holes to finish on +15 and in joint 3rd position . It had certainly been an exhibition of quality ball-striking to this observer with his ability to fade or draw at will and his quality 2 iron strikes off the tee ... a couple of wayward drives cost him shots but it was ultimately his efforts on the ‘unlucky’ 13th hole that saw give 4 shots back to the field that denied him the spoils . Exemplary golfing etiquette from him and playing partner Keith Ralston ( who simply could not convert any of  the several birdie chances that came his way ) throughout  and teak-tough mental strength in the face of the adversity he suffered made for an absorbing but ultimately unsuccessful day for our first round leader . 

Stewart Royle (79/78/157) - the elder Royle challenger started 3 shots back but in the knowledge that he had produced a front 9 masterclass the day before ... but could he repeat it today ? He started superbly with a rare birdie 3 at the opening hole but lost momentum with dropped shots at 2,3 and 5 stalling his challenge . That said , he parred in to finish his front 9 just two strokes back . Royle maintained momentum with a great birdie on 11 to stay two shots back but perhaps fatigue in the warming conditions contributed to a dispiriting run wheremagnifiv=c he bogeyed 6 of the last 7 holes to finish in joint third place just  3 shots back , a marvellous effort in the circumstances by another legendary figure . 

John Hogan (82/76/158) had made an awful start yesterday and was +5 after just 6 holes . Today John found himself just +1 after those same sextet . A sloppy end to his front 9 saw him bogey 7 and 9 to find himself 6 shots back and too far away to properly challenge . A superb back 9 meant that his  only dropped shots were 11,12 and 18 and this propelled him up the leaderboard into a very credible 5th place and his best finish since finished 8th three years earlier for this happy-go-lucky premier ball-striker . 

Defending  Champion Watch 

Glen Rothwell (84/76/160) arrived at the course knowing that it would take a stellar round to get anywhere near the leaders as he began his quest for a 3rd consecutive Championship and 6th in all . Sadly the round started with him bogeying the opening hole and his front 9 was a steady +3 with further bogeys on 4 and 8 leaving him still 8 shots back and requiring an extraordinary finish .Bogeys on 10 , 14 and a double on the final hole contributed to his demise but magnificent birdies on both back 9 par 3s were a defiant reminder as to the quality of his accuracy but ultimately he was never able to mount a challenge and he finished in 6th place .