Senior Trophy 6th September 2020

The contenders 🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️

Stewart Royle (78/6/72) has added to his legendary status and now entered a very exclusive club by emerging victorious in the difficult conditions to win his landmark 20th Board Competition today . Stuart started well and played the first 6 holes to handicap ... on 7 he succumbed to a net bogey 6 then got to the turn at +1 after he had played 8 and 9 in regulation . Stuart may not have had any gains to handicap but his +1 left him just 3  shots off the lead and in definite contention . He maintained his regulation momentum by playing 10 and 11 to par then started his Amen Corner adventure with a regulation 6 with the dangerous short 13th to follow . Stuart played his tee shot on 13 which landed just to the right of the green near to the steps which led onto it . Your observer actually saw Stuart attempt to play a delicate pitch onto the green but it was underhit and it fell back off the green . He managed to get his third shot onto the green but leaving him with a tricky 7 footer to just drop one shot . The above picture shows that he managed to pour the ball into the hole to crucially limit the damage to just one  . Stuart was now at +2 with 5 holes left ... his response to the events of 13 was to record his first net birdie of his round on 14 but to then fall foul of 15 with a net bogey 6 giving that hard-earned shot right back . He now found himself in a three-way tie for second now 2 shots back but with only the three ‘Championship holes’ left to play . Royle responded magnificently to his situation and registered the only birdie 2 of the entire day to take closer order then built on that momentum by firing a superb net birdie 4 on 17 which put him on level par with a share of the lead with just one hole to play . Stewart was at that time unaware of rival Brian Cawleys’ score in the clubhouse and his net bogey 6 meant a net 72 finish which , to his relief , was enough to win him the trophy on countback .
 

Brian Cawley (95/23/72) has had a largely inconsistent season with his highlight a close fourth in the Trafford Leisure a couple of weeks earlier . Today Brian immediately dropped a shot on the tricky opening hole but regrouped immediately with an excellent net birdie 5 on 2 . He then consolidated his position playing the next 5 holes to handicap and then magnificently parred 8 to get to -1 but then gave that shot back , a net bogey 6 on 9 getting him to the turn at level par , 2 shots off the lead . Brian compounded his error by leaking another shot on the benign 10th but he again bounced back with a superb net birdie 4 to start his Amen Corner adventure back at level par in second place . 9 strokes later and Brian had collapsed to a net DB which sent him tumbling down the leaderboard , a situation worsened with a sloppy net bogey 5 on 13 . Cawley again responded superbly , gaining a shot courtesy of a net birdie 5 and then made further progress with net birdies on 16 and 17 to leave him with the task of playing the final hole to handicap to post a level par 71 . Sadly he was only able to record a 6 and his net 72 meant a heartbreakingly frustrating second place on countback . So near and yet sooooo far for this popular member .
 

Danny Miller (79/6/73) is now more motivated then ever given that he needs just one more victory to match top doggie James West on 33 Board Competitions. Today he again found the opening hole more than a match for him and he stumbled to a net bogey 5 in a rollercoaster front 9 that saw him enjoy gains on 2 and 4 (a stellar birdie 3) but suffer sloppy reverses on 3,6 and 8 to get to the turn at +2 , 4 shots off the lead . A response was needed and Miller delivered a superb birdie 3 on 11 to take closer order as he prepared to take on Amen Corner . On this most difficult of days , Danny plotted his way through 12,13 and 14 , playing all to handicap but he succumbed to a net bogey 6 on 15 to fall back to +2 , now 2 shots from the lead . Miller continued his woeful record on the easier holes with another reverse on the benign 16th hole ... as befits a man of his experience, Danny fought back and superbly  net birdied 17 to get back to +2 and played the final hole to handicap to post a net 73 and a third placed finish .
 

Special mentions ...

Brian Price (104/31/73) is coming into form after a long period out of contention and today he put in a great showing . Brian started superbly , with a net birdie on the daunting opening hole and then playing 2 and 3 to handicap before putting his early stamp on the competition with a magnificent net eagle 4 on 4 then played the long 5th to handicap and consolidating his superb -3 start . Sadly he was to suffer his first reverse on 6 but immediately reclaimed the lost stroke with a net birdie on 7 to again reach the heady heights of -3 . Although he was to carelessly drop a shot on 9 Brian had a handy two stroke lead as he got to the turn . Price again stepped up with a great net birdie 5 but the again succumbed to an ‘easy’ hole with a net bogey 6 on 11 but regrouped well to play the tough opening Amen Corner 12th to handicap , also safely negotiating 13 and 14 to stand on the 15th tee in a clear lead with just four holes to play . Having held himself together for so long Brian unravelled at this long and psychologically testing hole and his 9 meant that he dropped back to level par but astonishingly he had retained a two shot lead ! Brian took full advantage by superbly net birdieing 16 to take him back to -1 and maintaining his position . Disaster struck on the 17th hole where he slumped to a net triple bogey 9 to slip back to +2 and heartbreakingly now two shots back ... he played the final hole to handicap to finish with a net 73 but he can be rightly proud of his Herculean efforts today and fourth place .

David Doughty (86/12/74) was playing his first round since he won the Gellatly and he maintained his form today ... after a nightmare net DB start on his opening hole Doughty played well , a blemish-free 6 holes included gains on 2,4 and 7 saw him standing on the 8th tee at -1 and in serious contention . Inexplicably he suffered back to back reverses on the supposedly benign 8th and 9th hole to reach the turn at +1 and 3 shots off the lead . He lost ground quickly on the turn for home, inexplicably shipping three strokes to handicap on the benign 10/11 axis but held his own through Amen Corner , gaining shots on 12 and 13 but dropping a shot on 15 which left him three shots back with three holes to go . He played them to handicap to record a fifth placed finish , a credible effort in the tough conditions . 

David Christian (96/21/75) is clearly coming into form and showed promise today . After sloppy reverses on the opening two holes he regrouped well on 3 despite a poor tee shot to recover and get down in two from 20 yards .for a superb net birdie 3. After playing 4 to regulation he was sloppy on 5 and shipped a shot at a hole where he would normally expect to gain . His rollercoaster front 9 continued with excellent gains on 6 and 8 tempered with reverses on 7 and 9 to leave him at +2 at the turn 4 off the lead . Sadly although his back 9 did include two net birdies on 10 and 14 he couldn’t stem the bogeys with reverses noted on 12,15 (DB) and 18 to finish on net 75 and sixth place .


James Darmon (107/25/82) is always interesting to play with and your observer saw the full range of shots that JD possesses today ...the man with the longest swing at the club hit two mighty blows to leave himself pin high but just off the green on 17 and he caressed the ball into the hole for a net albatross 3 !
 

Gross Watch ...

Our winner Stewart Royle was ‘best in show’ with 78 ...

Defending Champion Watch ... 

George Sainthouse (100/19/81) , (now fully recovered from his unfortunate malaise last week)  finished in 15th place and sadly never got going , shipping no less than 9 shots to handicap with no gains at all in a lacklustre front 9  .He regrouped superbly on his back 9 , with net birdies on 11,14 and 17 instrumental in a top notch +1 journey home.

Overall it was another day where the course was in control with none of the 37 players over two competitions managing to beat their handicap and further evidence that Altrincham GC is a deceptively difficult course and a good test no matter what your handicap ,