Ray Gellatly Memorial Trophy 29th May 2021
Ray Gellatly was a giant of this club and plundered 11 trophies between 1980 and 2005 . This trophy is an annual celebration of his memory and his achievements at the club .
| Name ... score after hole ( leader in bold) | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| Callum Doublard | E | -1 | -2 | -1 | -2 | -4 | -5 | -4 |
| George Sainthouse | E | -2 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -4 | -3 | -3 |
| Brian Nicholls | E | -2 | -3 | -4 | -6 | -3 | -3 | -3 |
| John Rossiter | +1 | E | E | -1 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 |
| DR Terris | -1 | -1 | -1 | -2 | -3 | -1 | -2 | -2 |
| David Doughty (Defending Champion) | -1 | -1 | -1 | E | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 |
Callum Doublard (38/37/75/8/67) emerged from his Trafford Leisure duties to win the midweek medal then follow that up with his first Board Competition win with a prodigious display this morning .
Playing relatively early in the company of Mr Captain ,departing member Nat Thomas and dapper Committee man Andrew Window , Doublard quickly got into his stride , strolling through his front 9 with his highlights a net birdie on 2 and a superb gross birdie on 6 which eased him to-2 and in definite contention . As is sometimes the case ,Callum’s concentration must have dropped as he succumbed to a bogey 5 to drop his first shot of the round . Playing 8 and 9 to regulation , he got to the turn at -1 and 4 off the lead.
His back 9 was a masterclass , the initial octet all
pars with 12,14,15 and 17 all superb gains to handicaps that elevated him to -5 and with the competition at his mercy . Although Callum was to drop a shot at the final hole , he had done enough to record his first Board Competition win by a stroke in only his second attempt .
George Sainthouse (43/47/90/22/68) has had an encouraging start to the season which has seen him progress in the knockouts AND take the W in the AGC Memorial Stableford last week. Today. he continued that form in a net bogey-free superb front 9 where he registered net birdies on 2,3 and 7 to reach the turn at -3 and only 1 stroke away from the lead . He maintained his position playing 10-12 in regulation before taking closer order with a tremendous net birdie on 13 then take the lead as he gained another shot on the long 14th to stand on the 15th tee at -5 and in sole possession of the lead . But could George now consolidate his position for a famous victory ? Sadly not , as back to back bogeys dropped him back and regulation performances on the final pair of holes saw him feinish one stroke behind in an excellent second place .
Brian Nicholls (40/47/87/19/68) has had a steady start to the season with his best finish the second place he attained in the Arthur Cooper . Today the renowned purveyor of the flat stick showed his talents as he produced a tremendous net bogey free front 9 highlighted by net birdies on 2,3,6 and 9 to propel him to the top of the leaderboard . He consolidated his position playing the benign 10/11 axis in regulation then took command of the competition with a stunning net eagle 5 on 12 to rise to -6 and find himself 3 strokes clear . Although he played 13 to regulation he dropped a shot on 14 then agonisingly compounded that error with a net double bogey on 15 and now a shot back . Despite his best efforts all he could do was to play the ‘Championship holes’ in regulation to finish with net 68 for third place .
Gross watch
Callum Doublard took just 75 strokes to complete his round which was 3 strokes better than Club Champion David Royle 😮 What price a J Ford tilt for this fella ?
Defending Champion watch ...
David Doughty made a valiant attempt to defend his title today .A decent start highlighted by net birdies on 1 and 4 took him in early contention at -2 but a pair of sloppy reverses on 6 and 9 meant he was level par at the turn , 5 shots off the lead. Unfortunately his round was cruelly derailed on the long 12th where a net triple bogey 9 effectively ended his chances but net 73 and 18th placed finish of 50 was a fair effort .
Special mentions ...
John Rossiter (45/47/92/23/69)
is having a great season and had already bagged the Arthur Cooper earlier as well as winning a Qualifier and a trophy on the tough Alty Vets circuit earlier in the year .Rossiter has significantly improved his physical conditioning and is clearly reaping the benefits .Although he dropped a shot on the opening hole , he regrouped well and went net bogey free for the rest of his front 9 ,with gains on 3,8 and 9 getting him to -1 at the turn , 3 off the lead . He started his back 9 well and enjoyed further gains on 11 and 14 to stand in the 15th tee at -3 , just one off the lead . Unfortunately a net bogey 7 dropped him back to -2 and he played the ‘Championship holes’ to handicap finishing with a very creditable net 69 and 4th position .
David Roy Terris (39/43/82/13/70) has had a relatively poor start to the season but has played well today . Terris had an encouraging front 9 , with gains on 1,5 and 7 tempered with a reverse on 4 ... he got to -3 with a net birdie on 10 , played 11 and 12 to regulation before succumbing to reverses on 13 and 15 , gaining a shot back on 17 to finish on net 69 and a quality 5th place.
Messrs Butterworth , Window , Salmon and Hall completed the under-par group , much respect to them !
David Christian (42/59/101/23/78) is the regular golfing partner of your scribe and has not been seen at the club since undergoing an operation to have the rotary cuff tendon reattached on 2nd Feb . Today he has made his ‘eagerly-anticipated’ return and he started spectacularly plundering net birdies on 1,4,5 and 6 in a tremendous front 9 that saw him get to them he turn in the lead. Unfortunately he admitted to feeling tired on his back 9 and his performance understandably faltered resulting in him dropping 11 strokes to par on those holes dropping back to 40th place but it was good to see him back in action today and he has much to look forward to on his front 9 display .
Overall a day where only 9 of the 51 competitors beat their handicap as the course continued to befuddle us despite the drying fairways , benign weather conditions and freshly cut greens .
