Royles Challenge Trophies 2021

The Royle Challenge Trophies were donated  in memory of the two older Royle brothers Malcolm and Roland who unfortunately passed away within months of each other . The family asked if the Committee could consider adding a new Board Competition to the roster and the family thought that an aggregate pairs Stableford competition wold be a fitting way to remember their lost family members , who were both long-standing members of the club for well over a decade .

Andy Mills ( 19/16/35) and Brian Nicholls (17/19/36) dovetailed magnificently to clinch the Royles Challenge Trophies today .The pair both suffered early blobs playing the testing trio of holes but steadied to a decent 11 point haul as they stood on the 4th tee with Mills having scored 3-pointers on 1 and 3 to keep them in early contention . After playing a regulation 4-point score on 4 , the duo took closer order after both parred 5 and 6 to take them into an early lead as they approached the turn . They played solidly on 7,8 and 9 and picked up another 11 points to find themselves in a two point lead with their score of 37 points the only one better than regulation . Inexplicably the pair struggled on the benign opening holes of the journey home with a sloppy 5-point haul and although they regrouped to take 5 points from the difficult 12th (a superb 3-pointer from Nicholls) they lost leadership as they stood on the 13th tee and now in the midst of our intimidating Amen Corner could they regroup their challenge ? A solid 5-point performance on 13 and 15 ( Mills 3-pointed both ) was spliced with a disappointing 2-point effort on 14 ( a Mills blob doing the damage ) but meant that they had regained their leadership , a slender one point lead with just the Championship holes to play . Both Andy and Brian played solidly to both produce regulation golf on all three holes to get a 12 point haul to get to 71 points which gave them a 2-point victory . A third Board Comp of the season (and his Alty career) for Mills whilst Nicholls was savouring his second Board Competition adding to his 2019 F Cox triumph ... a superb course management masterclass from the duo to take the trophies .

The magnificent Dan Bartley (23/22/45) and the unfortunate Joe Hadfield (11/13/24) combined to finish in a superb second place . In pairs competition it is sometimes exasperating that one partner is totally ‘in the zone’ whilst the other is out of sorts . Today that angst befell this talented pair . Bartley played sublime golf from the start and he garnished a stellar 23 points from a front 9 which he played in just 34 strokes … Hadfield was finding things more difficult , with 3 blob holes but his 11 point haul included the highlights of 3-point pars on 5 and 7 . The pairs front 9 total of 34 points left them 3 points back at the turn . Could magnificent Dan keep up his excellent scoring and was it possible that Joe could find some form ? Yes and no sadly although  Dan suffered his first reverse on 10 with a sloppy 1-pointer which could only be matched by Joe … on 11 Dan returned to  his superb scoring with a sublime birdie ( as opposed with another 1-pointer for Joe ) then consolidated momentum with a regulation 6 on 12 and with Joe matching him it left them dropping five points off the lead with the Amen Corner holes now next up … although Joe only 1-pointed 13 he regrouped well to play regulation golf on 14 and 15 whilst Dan scored 7 points to leave them in joint fourth place 4 points adrift with just the Championship holes to go . Although Joe could only contribute 5 points his efforts were in their own way as important as the truly fabulous finish from Dan , who 2-pointed 16 with a par , 4-pointed 17  with another birdie then parred  18 to complete a ‘best in show’ 14 point Championship Holes which was good enough to get them into second place just 2 points behind . A fine performance by both players irrespective of the 21 point differential in scoring .

David Royle (15/17/32) and Neil Royle (20/17/37) are part of the Royle family who actually donated the trophies to the club and the family have tried , without success so far , to emerge victorious in their own competition. This year , father and son  Neil and David represented the family in their latest attempt to prevail . Neil is a legendary figure at the club because his ability in the pairs competitions , a genre where he has won 11 Board Competitions. David was last years Club Champion and definitely a man in form , given his victory in the Wests’ Shield just one week ago .
Today , your scribe (Paul Hackett) and his partner (Andrew Moss) were seeking to do the aggregate pairs double as they had won the aggregate medal Board Comp the Wilson Trophies … they were playing with the Royles in the final pairing of the morning .
They started sluggishly with David inexplicably putting his opening tee shot out of bounds resulting in a blob whilst Neil rescued 2 points … it was business as usual on the second hole as both Royles recorded net birdie 4s to get back on track but astonishingly it was Neils’ turn to blob on 3 with David’s’ par again seeing them record just 2 points … their 10 point haul was only one point their contenders as they stood on the 4th tee . The duo produced some stellar golf as they played to the turn , a David blob on 4 provoking him into then recording 5 consecutive pars worth 11 points whilst Neil recorded 3-point pars on 4 and 5 , otherwise playing to regulation , a sequence of holes which saw them record 35 points for their front 9 , a total just two points away from the leaders .
David Royle continued to show his undoubted ability , parring the first three holes of the journey home to earn 7 points whilst Neil played them all in regulation , a 13-point dual haul which saw them standing on the 13th tee now leading the competition. But could they now take control and consolidate their position ? Whilst Neil played the remaining Amen Corner holes to regulation , David inexplicably slumped to a meagre 4 point haul for them , the high of a net birdie 4 on 14 spliced between a sloppy one-point 4  on 13 and another blob on 15 , courtesy of a wayward tee shot and misplaced approach shot which stopped his forward momentum . Despite these setbacks , the pair still found themselves just a point behind the leaders with just the Championship holes remaining . They had thought that they needed  14 points to be competitive … but could they do it ? David  regrouped well and recorded regulation pars on the final holes for 6 points whereas Neil could only contribute 5 points courtesy of a poor tee shot on 16  to record a 1-point 5 ,  a superb 3-point net birdie 4 on 17 again gave them hope but he struggled again on the final hole , requiring a long putt to gain a 1-point 6 which did not prove to be enough . Their efforts gave them a 69 point total and a third placed finish in spite of their regular frailties in the round represented a fine effort but they will undoubtedly look back on missed chances and the wait to win the family trophies goes on . 

Defending Champions Watch … John Thompson (16/14/30) and Matt Astbury (15/14/29) were the undoubted stars of last season and they took this trophy with a commanding 78 points total with their 22 and 20 handicaps used to great effect . Their record-breaking season understandably dropped their handicaps and just a year later they stood on the first tee with 8 and 4 less strokes to handicap respectively . They could only manage to amass 59 points today , their highlights 3-point net birdie 4s on 7 and 17 from John whilst Matt could look back on 3-point pars on 5 and 12 and a stunning 4-point 2 on 16. A disappointing defence from the duo but understandable given their much lowered handicaps .

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