Seniors Trophy - 7th September 2019

Seniors Trophy 7th. September 2019 

Seniors Trophy Contenders 2019

George Sainthouse (86/20/66) placed himself amongst a select band of golfers by capturing his 11th Board Competition ( 5th individual ) of his Alty career with a superb net 66 today ... he started strongly and net birdied 1 ,5 and 6 before his only reverse on 14 to get to the turn at -2 and just one off the lead . Once again he began the homeward holes well with a net birdie then again took advantage of his double shot allowance to net birdie 12 then  followed that up with another gain on 13 to stand on the 14th tee at -5 and go joint top ... regretfully he momentarily discombobulated with a horror net double bogey 7 to fall back into the pack . Crucially Sainthouse remained blemish-free on the final four holes and produced a magnificent net eagle 2 on the benign 16th to again take him to -5 ( a joint best back 9 of -3 ) which proved enough to prevail by two strokes .The handicapper was understandably impressed cutting him 1.2 to a new mark of 18.6 .

Richard Paulson is one of our newer members now enjoying his second year with us ... in that time he has not yet recorded a Board Competition victory but today made a strong showing . Initially he started sluggishly and dropped a shot on both of the opening two holes ... he immediately regrouped by firing consecutive gains on 3 and 4 to regain parity and remained blemish free to the turn including a further gain on 7 to get himself to -1 and two off the lead . In contrast to his front 9 , Richard started explosively with a superb net eagle on 10 then another gain on 11 to properly exploit those easier tests and get to joint top of the leaderboard at -4 with 6 holes to go . As often happens with the mental test that the 13th provides , Paulson had a net bogey 5 and then was unable to regroup other than play out the final five holes to his handicap to finish two shots behind but finish in an excellent second place . The handicapper took note of his strong showing and cut him by 0.6 to a new mark of 16.6 .
 

Brian Southworth (82/13/69) will be forever enshrined in our history because of his mastery of the ‘cack-handed’ swing , a fact that does not prevent him being one of our best ball-strikers . Today he has demonstrated his undoubted skills right from the start with a magnificent net eagle 3 to open his round then consolidate with a another gain on 2 to put him at -3 ... the remainder of his front 9 was rollercoaster which also saw him suffer consecutive reverses on 3/4 with an immediate positive response on the difficult 5th but with a sloppy play on the easier holes net double-bogeying  the benign 6th and a further reverse on 8 only to regroup with a second gross birdie 3 on 9 to get to the turn on -1 . It is no exaggeration to state that Brian is probably the best net back 9 golfer at the club and he started the homeward holes in typical fashion with a third gross birdie on 11 , then strengthening his position further with consecutive gains on 12 ,13 and 15 whilst remaining blemish-free as he put himself into a commanding three shot lead on -6 with 3 holes to go (and the sure knowledge of his many successes on those last trio) standing on that 16th tee with arguably the easiest hole on the course in his sights and the competition at his mercy . Inexplicably Brian played one of the worst holes of his entire career and succumbed to a quad bogey SEVEN to drop to -2 and ( probably reeling from that experience ) suffered a further reverse with a net bogey 6 on 17 . Although he held himself together to net birdie the final hole his net 69 finish meant he had slipped 3 shots behind the winner and into third place , undoubtedly shell-shocked after his 16/17 horror show . The handicapper still rewarded his exploits by cutting him 0.7 to a new mark of 11.9 . 

Andy Miehe (80/10/70) deserves his reputation as one of our best ball-strikers with his effortlessly smooth swing ... today he used his skills to great effect immediately easing to a net birdie on the opening hole . However , he was to inexplicably struggle on the easier holes with reverses on the four easiest front 9 holes (3,6,8,9) whilst curiously achieve gains on the more difficult 5 and 7 to stumble to the turn at +1 . Miehe regrouped to play the initial trio of holes to handicap and then climbed up the leaderboard courtesy of a birdie on 13 then two further consecutive gains on the difficult 14 and 15 to stand on the 16th hole at -2 in a challenging position . Sadly he was unable to snatch gains on 16 and 17 with a sloppy reverse on the final hole giving him a -1 finish in a creditable 3rd place but one which showcased his unease on the supposedly easier holes of the course on which that he would usually capitalise and effectively denied him the chance to properly challenge .
 

Special mentions ...

Bill Stopford (85/15/70 DQ) has had a quiet season thus far by his standards ... the long-serving President, former Captain and Committee stalwart has won 8 Board Competitions in his Alty career but today he started slowly with a reverse on 2 prompting an immediate regroup with consecutive gains on the next couple of holes then playing to hcp to find himself standing on the 7th tee at -1 and on in definite contention . The emotional distress in suffering a net quad bogey 9 would test all of us but Bill managed to get to the turn with no further reverses to stand at +3 , now 5 off the lead .
Although the President did not manage to get close enough to properly challenge , his efforts in producing a joint ‘best in show’ -3 for his back 9 was a truly magnificent achievement . The handicapper was impressed enough to cut him 0.6 to 14.2 

NB Unsurprisingly after his earlier traumas , our President sadly omitted to sign his card and thus (although he had the fourth best score of the day ) meant a ignominious 37th place after being disqualified , curiously also the fate of fellow Committee ex-Captain stalwart ...

Norman Crowther (78/8/70 DQ)  whose absence of a signature on his card meant his creditable top 6 finish ( including two gross birdies and four additional net birdies ) translated to a lowly 38th place after his DQ . A further nudge to us all to ALWAYS remember to sign our cards .
 

Defending Champion watch ...

Mark Royle (89/14/75) was unable to reach the dizzy heights of last years countback triumph and he finished in 24th place with a net 75 with his only highlights net birdies on 3,10 and 13 cancelled out by 6 reverses .

Gross best ...

Glen Rothwell (74/3/71)

Our reigning Club Champion deserves respect with another top showing today after a sloppy start that saw him suffer consecutive reverses ( on 2,3 and 4 ) only to regroup with a blemish-free 10 holes which included net birdies (on 2 and 14) and gross birdies ( 11 and 17) with his only back 9 reverse on 15 which meant a creditable 8th place finish .
 

Highest scoring hole ...

11 Matthew Curnow (15th) , Peter McDonald (15th) ,were the two unfortunate gentlemen , although both battled on to finish 34th and 30th respectively

Overall a dramatic running of one to the most prestigious Alty GC Board Competitions and further evidence that NO hole on our beloved course can be taken for granted , no matter how well we think we are playing . .