Remembrance Trophy 2021 - Saturday 17th April 2021

Ged Grogan (20/19/39) has captured the 11th Board Competition of his Alty career with a superb display this morning . Teeing off at 0700 in the company of Club Champions past and present in David Royle and Glen Rothwell , Ged took advantage of the relatively benign conditions to post an encouraging 20 point haul front 9 which was highlighted by a 3-point birdie on 9 , but which also included 3-point hauls on 1,2,5 and 7 with his only reverse an ugly blob 6 on the short 3rd ... his heroics left him just two points off the lead and he maintained solid consistency with 9 points gained on the initial 4 holes coming home before succumbing to Amen Corner with measly 1 point gains on both 14 and 15 . Despite two crucial pars getting him to 36 points with one hole to play he was not the front runner . A teak-tough 3-point par on the final hole was enough for him to regain the lead and take his first individual Board Competition since his Autumn Cup triumph of 2016 . A magnificent achievement for one of our most consistent low handicappers . The handicapper has taken note of his efforts today cutting his WHS handicap index by 0.5 to a new mark of 8.8 .

Gordon Boardman (17/21/38) has made a solid start to the season evidenced by his 1st place finish in the recent Presidents Qualifier ... today he has again showed great consistency ( all the more admirable given his task of nursemaiding and ‘carrying’ the recovering Alty treasure that is Bernie Wood in their weekly matches ) . Gordon’s’ front 9 was steady rather than spectacular , a 17 point haul with his highlights the back to back 3-point pars on 4 and 5 with his nadir the blob on 7 . Getting to the turn 5 points off the lead did not deter Gordon , although a sloppy 1-pointer on the benign 10th made his task harder .He regrouped well and produced more solid golf with regulation 2-pointers achieved on 11,13,15 and 16 with crucial 3-point hauls courtesy of excellent pars on 12 and 14 which left him still an infuriating 2 points off the leader as he stood on the 17th tee . Boardman upped his game and closing 3-pointers on both 17 and 18 left him just one point away from what would have been his 14th Board Competition win ... this observer is of the opinion that Gordon will surely contend for a few Board Comps before his season is over ... a fine effort for second place . The handicapper has taken note of his efforts today cutting his WHS handicap index by 0.6 to a new mark of 8.8 .

Matt Astbury (19/18/37) had a stellar 2020 with 2 individual and 2 pairs Board Competition victories to his name ... he has already started this season well with a 4th placed finish in the qualifier . Today he played the initial sextet of holes gaining 16 points , leaving him only one behind early leader Dave Drury . He had 3-point pars on 1,3 and 6 with his early highlight a magnificent net eagle 4 on 5 which gained him 4 points . Inexplicably he was only to take 3 points on holes 7-9 to get to the turn on 19 points now 3 off the leader . His back 9 was less rollercoaster and saw him play holes 10,13 and 15 in regulation 2-pointers with 3-point gains on 11 and 14 which left him on the 16th tee with a slender 1-point lead over Ged Grogan . Typically Astbury maintained momentum with a 5 point haul courtesy of a regulation 2-point 4 on 16 followed up with a crucial 3-point par on 17 thus keeping him in front with just the final hole to play and a regulation 2-point bogey 5 needed for victory  . As known to many of us , Matt is a fearless high-tariff full swing golfer and he clearly maintained this tactic on the 18th but on this occasion he was to stumble his way to a dream-breaking quad-bogey 8 blob which snatched away his hopes of a 5th Board Comp and left him in third place ... nevertheless a great effort which surely signals another season of contention for this talented young golfer. The handicapper has taken note of his efforts today cutting his WHS handicap index by 0.7 to a new mark of 17.3 .

Andy Mills (16/20/36) was only playing in his third comp of the season and he got off to a rollercoaster initial five holes , splicing blobs on 1 and 4 with 3-pointers on 2,3 and 5 . A steady end to his front 9 saw him get to the turn on 16 points , 6 off the leader and firmly in mid-division . A blob-free back nine saw him gather a highly respectable 20 point haul , with his only reverse a sloppy 1-point 5 on 13 , whilst he had a quintet of regulation 2-pointers with his highlights bogey 3-pointers on the difficult 12th and 14th holes and a 3-point par on 17 . Sadly Andy never got quite close enough to properly contend but 36 points in any Stableford event is worthy of congratulation and augurs well for his season .The handicapper has taken note of his efforts today cutting his WHS handicap index by 0.6 to a new mark of 17.9 .

David Royle (18/18/36) is our current Club Champion and he played with the winner this morning . Because of his low handicap , a quality Stableford points total is always going to be hard to achieve but today David has shown admirable consistency. In gross terms , his scores of bogey 5s on the opening holes then 7 consecutive pars are remarkable figures for so early in the season but they equated to a 18-point haul leaving him 4 points behind at the turn . Another 18-point haul on his back 9 saw him score a birdie 3-pointer on 11 and a tremendous birdie 4-pointer on 17 ... as with Andy Mills David never got close enough to properly contend but it was a fine effort nevertheless and proof that our top player fully intends to chase silverware this season . His gross 76 was a magnificent effort so early in the season . The handicapper has taken note of his efforts today cutting his WHS handicap index by 0.2 to a new mark of 3.9 .

Defending Champion Watch ...Dave Drury (22/14/36) started explosively in his quest to retain his title with a magnificent birdie 4-pointer of the devilishly tricky opening hole and after playing 2 and 3 in regulation 2-pointers , was again in the ascendency with successive 3-pointers on 4 and 5 with his highlight a further 3-point haul courtesy of a birdie on 6 . Drury was playing without his loyal chum John Gleave due to a tragic mix-up and whilst poor John stumbled to a 6-blob 23 points ( playing with your scribe ) Drury initially showed his ruthless mindset dismissing all thoughts of his ailing chum to produce a stunning 22 point front 9 haul the turn which showed him in control of the comp . Dave obviously had played bravely without his partner but perhaps his sudden change in fortune and fall from grace may owe it to him playing ‘Gleaveless’ . He started for home with a measly 4 point haul to lose his lead for the first time and was to compound his poor back 9 with an awful blob on 13 a further setback . Although he regrouped relatively well to get 10 points from his final quintet of holes he finished with only 14 points on his back 9 and a 6th place finish which had promised much more .The handicapper has taken note of his efforts today cutting his WHS handicap index by 0.5 to a new mark of 12.0 .

Special mentions ...Johnathan Spicer (16/19/35) ... remember the name people as this classy golfer will surely feature on these hallowed pages in the season ahead . Jon has a low 4.3 handicap and after a short spell at Davyhulme has graced us with presence . His pedigree at his previous club Brookvale is one for all our J Ford contenders to take note ... this individual won the Club Championship at Brookvale on 3 occasions and this observer is sure that he may be worthy of consideration for our flagship inter-club matches later in the season .  Spicer declared ‘nervously’ on the first tee ( like a 36 handicapper 😮) that this was his first encounter with our white tees and he soon proved he was gloriously unaffected with our course . He 2-pointed 7 of the opening 9 holes with sloppy 1-pointers on 1 and 8 . It was a masterclass in scrambling for many holes and Jon upped his game on the back 9 to post a trio of 3-point pars on 12,14 and 17 with a tragic missed 18 inch putt costing him to only bogey 13 whilst he had similar woes with the final hole .Your scribe had the honour of playing with him , John Gleave and Paul McDonald with Jon finishing in an encouraging 7th place overcoming your scribe on countback . Ominously he stated that when he knows our course better he will improve ! The handicapper has taken note of his efforts today cutting his WHS handicap index by 0.2 to a new mark of 4.1.

Paul Hackett (17/18/35) Your scribe has chosen to include himself ( in the hope that he will be suitably indulged) to put on record the fact that he has had a most encouraging start to post-lockdown golf despite never picking up a club in the intervening months of inactivity . His net scores on the ‘qualifier weekend’ saw him qualify for both ( for the first time in his 6 seasons) with the lowest 36 hole net score 72/71/143 . Today he has played well but sadly his course management cost him crucial points , most notably on 15 scoring a blobby 9 when a 5 or 6 was achievable . That said , after a horror 8/7 1 point haul from his opening two holes a magnificent chip-in birdie 2 on 3 got him a rare 4 point haul which was replicated later courtesy of a par 4 on 17 . Currently in his 3rd season without a Board Comp victory your scribe has now managed consecutive top 8 finishes in his first 3 weekend rounds so much for him to be hopeful about .The handicapper has taken note of his efforts today cutting his WHS handicap index by 0.1 to a new mark of 19.1 

Blobmeister watch  ... B🦞

Honourable mentions go to Messrs Gleave , Goodall , Price , Shaughnessy and Mr Captain ( all with 6 blobs ) but the Blobmeister for this event was the talented low handicapper Derek Cullen who blobbed for 9 holes . This observer has no doubt that when Mr Cullen gets back into his golf he will get a mention higher up on these pages .

A sad note to report is that none of our lady members took advantage of our Committees’ generous decision to make a select number of our Board Competitions mixed ... as an interesting aside I can report that Mr John Gleave failed to get his drive past the ladies tee on two occasions but the reasoning behind his poor showing has been aforementioned . 

Let’s hope the ladies take us on in subsequent mixed competitions .

NB CHECK YOUR HANDICAPS ... SADLY POST WHS HANDICAP INDEX IT IS NOT A FEATURE OF THE BASIC RESULTS SERVICE THUS YOU NEED TO CHECK . YOUR NEW MARK MAY RESULT IN A LOWER ALTY HANDICAP !

As an example , 9th placed John Rossiter (17/18/35) has had his WHS handicap index cut by 0.2 to a new mark of 20.8 . Congratulations JR ! Sadly your scribe simply does not have the time to check right down the field !

Overall a wonderful day to play golf in the dry sunny conditions with the fairways hardening by the day ... 1 Board Comp down , 37 to go !