Old Hall Trophy 2021

Ian Cheetham (46/45/91/29/62) has spreadeagled a 35 strong field to take the Old Hall Trophy . Cheetham has shown glimpses of his undoubted potential this season but today has kept his swing in perfect order and reaped the benefits with a dominant display . Ian started well ,and had a flawless first six holes , highlighted by net birdies on 1,4,6 with his best effort a wonderful net eagle 4 on 5 which got him to an incredible -5 with 3 holes to go to the turn . Unfortunately, his frailties were exposed with net bogeys on 7 and 9 getting him to the turn at -3 , sharing the lead with fellow high handicapper Simon Rockett .
‘Cheets’ didn’t start the journey for home well , playing 10 in regulation but dropping a shot to handicap on the benign 11th … could he regroup with the fearsome Amen Corner holes to come ? Ian played magnificently to record consecutive net EAGLES to go to the top of the leaderboard and although he did succumb to a net bogey 7 on 14 he immediately regained that shot with a net birdie 6 on 15 to reach -6 , 2 strokes clear of serial contender Danny Miller and now effectively leading a 2 horse race given that defending champion John Thompson was a further 3 strokes back . Cheetham played the ‘Championship hole’ superbly , playing to regulation on 16, posting a sublime 4th net eagle on 17 then finishing his round in superb style with a net birdie 5 on the final hole to record an incredible net 62 to take his first individual title and second overall in the dry and benign conditions .His WHS rating has accordingly gone down from 24.8 to a new mark of 22.5 .

Danny Miller (37/38/75/9/66) is now a man on a mission … to pull clear of joint winning most Board Competitions fellow legend James West . Today he has played superbly and has recorded another second place . Danny started poorly , an immediate bogey 5 on the tricky opening hole but he regrouped superbly with 7 flawless holes highlighted by gains on 2,4,5 and 7 but then inexplicably lost momentum  with a bogey 5 on 9 to finish in third place at the turn on -2 , just one stroke behind the leaders . Miller maintained his  form to play 10/11 in regulation then took closer order with a net birdie 5 on 12th then inexplicably lost momentum again with a bogey 4 on 13 … still in contention Danny produced more superb play with 5 bogey- free holes , highlighted by gains on 14,15 and 17 … the regulation plays on 16 and 18 leaving him on a truly magnificent net 66 that saw him finish in another frustrating second place . The Club Champion remains in wonderful form and it would appear to this observer that there is a huge possibility that he will win a record-breaking 34th Board Competition before the end of the season.His WHS rating has gone down by 0.5 to a new mark of 6.6 . 

Greg Hall (48/45/9322/71) is playing well and but for not completing his 7th hole in the Holiday Cup just 3 weeks ago  he would’ve won that trophy . Today Greg has completed the whole round … although he started poorly , two strokes dropped on the opening hole , a regulation 6 on 2 then a further net DB on 3 putting him on +4 for his handicap after just 3 holes . Standing on the 4th tee Hall ignored his NR demons and set about addressing his poor start and regrouping his efforts to climb up the leaderboard .An encouraging net birdie 4 on 4 saw his momentum  consolidated with another gain on 5 … although he was to drop another stroke on 7 with a net bogey 6 after playing the deceptively difficult 8th to regulation he got to the turn in good spirits courtesy of an excellent net birdie 4 on 9 to get to the turn at +2 , 5 strokes off the lead and in mid-division .Greg started the journey home well , gaining strokes on 10 ,12 and 13 to get himself under par for his handicap for the first time . He maintained momentum playing 14 to handicap but finally lost a stroke with an untidy net bogey 7 on 15 . With just the Championship holes to play Hall was now 6 strokes back and effectively out of the running .Another superb gain with a 3 on 16 was followed by a regulation 5 on 17 which put him in fourth place and although he was to drop a stroke on the final hole he ended his round with a highly credible net 71 strokes which was good enough for him to finish in third place , a round that trimmed his WHS by just 0.1 to a new mark of 18.0 .

Special Mentions … 

Christopher O’Connell (39/40/79/8/71) is the clear hotshot of this season and today has continued to maintain his incredible improvement . His front 9 saw him fire two excellent net birdie 4’s on holes 5 and 7 tempered with reverses on 2 and 6 which left him handily placed on level par at the turn … his back 9 was initially similarly constructed , with the irritation of reverses on 10 tempered with a marvellous gain on 12 as he stood on the 16th tee with the Championship holes still to be played 6 strokes back but in essentially a battle for third place . O’Connell responded to the challenge magnificently with a birdie 2 on 16 followed by a crucial net birdie 4 on 17 putting him on -2 and in third place with just the final hole to play . Inexplicably Chris stumbled to a net DB 6 to finish on net 71 and dropping down to fourth . Nevertheless a fine effort from him as he continues to be sustain his handicap .

Defending Champion Watch …

 John Thompson (43/43/86/14/72) … it is ironic that JT took 86 strokes to complete his round today , as that was the exact same number he took to win this event last year . It is a measure of his improvement that he won last year as a 22 handicapper but in the last year he has improved no less than EIGHT strokes … his efforts today record him as shooting a net 72 which meant he finished a highly credible 6th place finish in defence of the trophy . His highlights were a net eagle 2 on 3 , net birdies on 5,10,12,14 and 15 tempered with his frailties to perform well on the supposed easy holes … 

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