Royles Challenge 22nd August 2020

Royles Challenge Trophies 22nd August 2020

John Thompson (15/20/35) / Matt Astbury (20/23/43)

Today Alty GC shining stars Thompson and Astbury strolled to their first Board Competition together and second overall with a phenomenal 78 point salvo in the grimy conditions . The duo started slowly with Astbury succumbing to a blob on 1 as they started their round . Thompson had opened up with net birdie 3-pointers  on both opening holes but otherwise laboured on a 15 point contribution which included blobs on 4 and 6 whilst Astbury regrouped from his reverse on 1 to score well highlighted with a superb net eagle 4-pointer on 5 and 3-pointers on 3 ,5 and 6 to help him to a 20 point front 9 which meant that the precocious pair were lying second at the turn just one point behind .
The big-hitting duo immediately signalled their intentions , Astbury parring 10,11 and 12 (net eagle) for a personal 10 point haul whilst JT claimed 7 as the pair rocketed into a 5 point lead to take a stranglehold on the competition they never relinquished. A decent 11 points on the other Amen Corner holes improved their position further before Astbury took the lead in securing 3-point net birdies on all the trio of ‘Championship holes’ with JT backing up his great friend and rival with solid 2-pointers on those holes as the pair finished on a 78 points and a staggering 12 point victory in the awkward conditions of intermittent rain with the course playing longer than of late .
The duo continue to confound the handicapper who was unable to personally intervene in this pairs format but with Matt scoring 43 points from 17 completed holes with ‘runt’ JT 35 from 15 holes the pair will doubtless start as heavy favourites when teeing it up in the forthcoming Summer KO final in the near future as the handicapper clearly has not got their measure as yet  . A simply scintillating performance highlighted by Astbury ruthlessly destroying our two hardest holes with net eagles and parring an astonishing 10 holes built on a razor-sharp short game and putting masterclass whilst  JT was out of sorts but still crucially providing magnificent backup ...  both gentlemen have worked very hard on their game and are continuing to reap the benefits in a stellar season individually and as a pair . 

Danny Miller (16/17/33) and Howard Johnson (19/14/33)  were a last-minute scratch pairing owing to the absence of regular partner Paul MacDonald .Today they started well with DM enjoying a rare par on the opening hole which has regularly befuddled him this season whilst Johnson powered to 3-point net birdies on 1 and 3 to immediately put themselves on the leaderboard. Johnson played solidly throughout the front 9 to register 17 points but succumbed to sloppy one-pointers on the benign 6th and 9th whereas Miller similarly leaked points on 3 of the 4 easier holes as the duo nevertheless reached the turn only two points back . A 6-point salvo on 10 suggested that the pair were ready to take closer order with Danny emerging from his front 9 mediocrity with a magnificent 3-point birdie with Howard similarly scoring with a par but their back 9 was to be a rollercoaster affair with the pair suffering 2-point joint  totals on 11,14 and 15 as they suffered 3 blobs to limit their challenge . Both provided glimpses of form with Miller superb in plundering a rare birdie 2 on 13 and Johnson securing a trio of 3-pointers in a 32-point joint back 9 that was good enough for a creditable second place finish .

Jim Fallon (16/15/31) and Owen Fallon (17/17/34) are arguably two of the best golfers at the club still awaiting their first Board Competition. Today they have played solid golf . Their 33-point front 9 left them 3 off the lead and was highlighted by a quartet of 3-point net birdies for Owen on 2,3,4 and 6 whilst brother Jim weighed in with 3-point net birdies on 2 and 8 both blobbing only once each as they got to the turn . The duo never got going on the journey home with both of them registering only one net birdie 3-pointer each (Jim on 13 , Owen on 18 ) . With only Owen suffering a blob (on 13) the pair still managed to get 32 points and finish in an encouraging third place .

Special mentions ...

Mark Caffrey (17/16/33) and Andy Mills (16/16/32) were another scratch painting who finished in a creditable 4th place with KO king Caffrey uncharacteristically sloppy at times but still showing his undoubted class with a 4-point birdie on 8 and successive 3-pointers on 3 and 4 his front 9 highlights with Mills 3-pointers on 3 and 9 his main contribution as they reached the turn just 3 behind . The duo struggled on the back 9 with Caffrey failing to score anything over 2 points with Mills taking the lead with 3-point pars on 10 and 15 , not outstanding but still a very creditable effort in the uncomfortable conditions .

Keith Ralston (18/18/36) and Mark Snape (15/14/29) were rightly considered to be one of the favourites for this competition after their stellar showings this season . Although neither were at their best today their 33-point front 9 haul was good enough to put them in contention despite them only having one 3-pointer ( Ralston on 1) between them ! Could they show their class to mount a serious challenge on the back 9 ? Take away the runaway winners the answer would be yes but it is an extraordinary fact that the pair have finished in fifth place despite KR only having 2 3-pointers (1, 15j with Mark Snape having his only 3-pointer on 14 . A triumph for their consistency to still register a 65 point haul with a Snape blob on the final hole surely denying them second place .

Neil Royle (18/14/32) and David Royle (18/13/31) warrant a mention because of their consistent play on the front 9 which gave them the lead at that point . The pair played solidly with Neils’ major contribution 3-point pars on 2 and 4 whilst club champion David showed his class with 6 consecutive pars including 3-pointers on 5 and 7 as they stood on the 10th tee having both scored 18 points with a slender one point lead to protect . Sadly they were unable to build on their efforts falling away on holes 14-16 only gathering 5 points between them . Their only 3-point pars were on 12(DR) and  13(NR) causing them to slide down the table to a disappointing 8th pace finish .

Defending Champion(s) watch ...

Bob Kay (14/9/23) and George Sainthouse (19/15/34) scored 75 points in winning this competition last year but found the conditions difficult today . Nevertheless  the pair still managed to be in contention after a front 9 dominated by George who registered 3-point pars 1,5,8 and 9 with his venerable partner adding a sole 3-pointer par 3 on 3 . The back 9 saw both men struggle with Sainthouse still adding to his 3-pointer haul with good performances on 11 and 13 whereas Bob roused himself to 3-point the tricky 17th . Sadly there were several blobs and a lowly 24 point back 9 return meant a 13th place finish .

Blobster  🦞 watch ...

Recent Mold Golf Society winner John Gleave sadly succumbed to seven blobs today to jointly earn the Blobmeister title ... your scribe played with JG and has ignored his pleas to highlight the undoubtedly cruel side of our game by looking at the major blobsters on a day where the course savaged all but the runaway winners . Blobmeister 🦞 Gleave strangely seemed to revel in the more trying conditions and to be fair he achieved 4 3-pointers in his round which helped them avoid runt status in the comp . That honour went to scratch pairing Tim Dibble and Gary Shaughnessy ( both pairs Board Comp victors in better days) who suffered in the conditions with TD sharing Blobmeister 🦞 honours with Gleave with 7 whilst Shaughnessy weighed in with a sextet of blobs ( an unlucky  veritable blob fest ) to emphasise the difficulties on the day where a precocious pair claimed their first pairs victory and who would argue that it will be the first of many on a day where they demolished their 23 rivals in superb style .