Old Hall Trophy 5th September 2020

Old Hall Trophy - 

John Thompson (86/22/64) has bagged his second Board Competition of the week , building on his magnificent Summer KO victory (with friend , partner AND rival Matt Astbury) then coming out victorious in a Turnberry-style ‘duel in the clouds’ with 40th placed  Brian Southworth .
John started by playing the devilishly tricky opening hole hole to handicap and then began to bully the course . He scored consecutive net birdies on 2,3 and 4 and also 9 with his only reverse a net bogey on 8 to get to the turn on -3 and with a share of the lead .He maintained momentum with a net birdie on 10 and started his Amen Corner adventure with a marvellous net eagle on 12 to spreadeagle the field and get to the heady heights of -6 ... playing 13 and 14 to regulation he dropped only his second stroke to handicap on 15 but typically regrouped magnificently to repel the Southworth challenge with consecutive net birdies on 16 and 17 then held his nerve to play the final hole to handicap to finish with that wonderful net 64 . 

JT has again  cut his handicap by a massive 2.8 to a new mark of 19.5 which again pleasingly  gives him the senior partner position over fellow Summer KO king Matt Astbury . Yet another reward for his relentless practice regime and his close AND productive golfing relationship  with his coach Matthew Mew .4 Board Competitions in all and counting for this talented newcomer who is just in his second full season . 

Defending Champion Watch ...

Keith Ralston (79/9/70) is having a memorable season and he has again beaten the course today . The defending champion  started by playing the uber-tricky opening hole to a regulation par but succumbed to a net bogey 6 on 2 ... he regrouped well with three consecutive pars ( including net birdies on 4 and 5 ) getting him to -1 . Keith was to again stumble courtesy of a sloppy net bogey on 6 then playing to the turn in handicap leaving him 3 strokes back as he started his back 9 . Inexplicably , Keith continued his fragility at the easier holes of the course by suffering reverses on 10 and 11 to put him under pressure at +2 as he took on Amen Corner ... his response was to net birdie our toughest hole then play the remaining onerous trio of holes to handicap to be on +1 as he stood on the 16th tee ... another regulation par was followed by a superb net eagle 3 on 17 put him back under his handicap and he maintained that status with a 5 on 18 . The handicapper duly acknowledged his efforts by cutting him 0.4 to a new mark of 8.7 . A great attempt to defend his trophy ! 

Special mentions ... 

Gordon G. Boardman (82/11/71) has had a very good season thus far as he contended well today . He made a great start by achieving a rare net birdie on the opening hole but lapsed to a sloppy net DB on 3 to tumble down the field . He regrouped well and further net birdies on 4 and 7 were only tempered by a sloppy reverse on the benign 6th hole which saw him get to the turn at level par , 3 strokes off the lead . GGB made an explosive start to his back 9 and he birdied the 10th hole to immediately take closer order ... after playing a regulation par on 11 he stood on the 12th tee to take on our Amen Corner holes with momentum at a high . 9 strokes later his round was in tatters after he suffered a net triple bogey . Doubtless using his huge experience to the full Gordon magnificently regrouped again in sensational style by getting a net eagle 2 on the daunting 13th hole and thereafter maintaining  momentum by reclaiming the other stroke lost on 12 courtesy of a stunning net birdie 5 on 15 to get him back to -1 . He maintained his position playing 16 and 17 to regulation then slipped to an unfortunate net bogey 6 on 18 to finish at level par but a very credible third place . The handicapper was sufficiently impressed to cut his handicap by 0.4 to a new mark of 10.8 .

Brian Price (103/31/72) is one of our members currently languishing on the dark side of the handicap room whose numbers are 29 and over . No matter as these individuals are striving to improve and Brian exemplifies them , an individual who is capable of a classic full swing but who succumbs to a misdirected stroke more than most . Today Brian has played well and got to the turn at -2 just one stroke off the lead courtesy of net birdies on 2,3 an 7 tempered only by a reverse on 16 . Sadly Price couldn’t build on his lofty position with a net DB on 11 compounded with reverses on 12 and 15 but a brave net birdie on 17 helping him to a very respectable 4th placed finish with a net 72 , his gross 103 representing his best white tee round for nearly 15 months .

Derek Cullen (83/9/74) is one of our elite golfers who is rightly proud of his single-handicap status ... today he found it hard and leaked shots on 1,3 and 7 and succumbed to net DB on 6 and 8 tempered only by a net birdie on 5 to get to the turn at +7 and near the bottom of the leaderboard . Most members would simply continue to descend further into anonymity but Derek had other ideas and posted an incredible gross 37 which represented a joint ‘best in show’ -4 and included a birdie 2 on 13 , sublime net eagle 3 on 17 then another net birdie on the final hole to finish on net 74 and an unbelievable 7th place finish ! 

Andy Miehe (90/12/78) is one of our premier ball-strikers and his all-round game demands respect . Today your scribe had the honour of playing with him and can personally attest to the demonstration of stellar play that he observed today . He played the opening trio of holes in regulation before arrow in his approach shot within 12 feet of the pin on 4 then pouring in the putt for a net eagle 3 ... three holes later he recorded his second net eagle thus easing him to the top of the leaderboard at -4 standing on the 9th tee with the hole at his mercy . Inexplicably Andy slumped to a sloppy net DB bogey 6 which still left him just one of the lead but with his momentum halted . Sadly his round largely disintegrated , partly to his playing partners Window , Christian and your observer Scoring High In Tandem and dragging his standards down to their low level resulting in him carding a net +9 back 9 to send him down to a lowly 20th place .

Brian Southworth (76/11/DQ) is another of our best ball-strikers , all the more remarkable because he is an expert in the rarified technique of the ‘cack-handed’ swing ... Brian is also known for his beshorted attire but (sensationally) on this occasion he chose to wear long trousers . Whether the change was due to golfing or climatic reasoning , there is no doubt that Brian has today demonstrated the full range of his talents . He started sluggishly with a net bogey 6 on the opening hole but the standard of his regrouping was simply sublime as he parred e dry other hole on the front 9 ( which included superb net birdies on 2,4,5 and 7 to get to the turn on -3 and share the leadership with John Thompson . Brian maintained momentum playing the 10/11 benign axis holes to handicap before taking on our daunting Amen Corner and gaining an incredible three strokes which meant that he regained the lead with just three holes left . A  twelfth par of the round on the benign 16th too him to 17 where he crucially conjured up another net birdie to leave him on -7 with just the final hole to play . Inexplicably , Brian succumbed to only the second reverse of his round , a net bogey 6 looking to have cruelly taking away his chances of the trophy but he lost the second placed voucher by virtue of him signing for an incorrect score .. The handicapper ignored the frailties of Brians’  card-marking due diligence and cut him a total of 1.4 to a new mark of 9.7.

The message from our competition administrators to all members is simple ... we need to ensure that we all record our individual GROSS scores on each hole ... getting that right is crucial , NOT our total . Heartbreaking for Brian but a lesson for us all to learn . 

Gross watch ... Keith Ralston 79 ( see above report ) 

Overall a day where the course maintained its dominance over the vast majority of us in the coltish conditions with swirly windy conditions .