Seniors Trophy
56 years young Mark Royle (81/13/68) has taken his first individual major since the 2017 Gellatly in beating a quality 32 man field to take this years Senior Trophy and continue the relentless major-winning dynasty of his star-studded family .
Royle equalled his Gellatly 2017 gross 81 to win on countback from John Hogan with a relentlessly consistent display highlighted by 2 birdies on 7 and 11 . The handicapper recognised his efforts by cutting his hcp 0.6 to 12.2 .
Chester-based no-nonsense golfing silver fox John Hogan (79/11/68) has encouragingly retained his membership despite the distance and he had a strong campaign today .
He led by two strokes at the turn after posting a magnificent gross 36 then consolidated his lead with a birdie on 10 and par on 11 to stand 5 under his hcp on the 12th tee and in total control ... dropped shots to hcp on 12 and a crucial net double bogey on 17 meant his par at the last left him agonisingly close ( but no cigar) to the top prize .
A gross 79 was his best round of the summer and the handicapper has acknowledged his fine display by cutting his hcp by 0.4 to 10.1 .
Danny Miller (75/6/69) has a wonderful recent record in this event winning it in 2014 and then recording back to back second places in 2015 and 2016 .
Today the slightly-built major hunter ( his latest victory secured by winning the Presidents KO earlier this week ) was placed third with his 75 the best gross score of the day . Finding himself 2 under at the turn ( the highlight his birdie on 8) crucial back to back dropped shots to hcp on 12 and 13 put him back to level par and although he parred in from there to regain those shots it still left him a shot behind .The handicapper continues to acknowledge his superb consistency by cutting him 0.2 to 5.9 .
Steve Foley (84/15/69) continues to enjoy a good season and the May 2018 Monthly Medal winner came sooo close to taking another huge victory .His round has been totally devoid of disasters and he came to the last hole fresh from back to back pars on 16 and 17 that had taken him to 3 under his hcp and right in contention . Sadly with the trophy beckoning a tragic net bogey 6 at the last dropped him to 4th place ... devastating for him to see that he suffered net bogeys on the two easiest holes earlier in the round and he can definitely look back at a missed opportunity! The handicapper noted his efforts and cut him by 0.3 to 15.1 .
Special mentions ...
Evergreen 78 years young 2018 Holiday Cup winner Ken Dixon (89/18/71) continues to have a great season , had battled to serious contention and was 4 under his hcp after 11 holes but 5 shots dropped to hcp on 12,15,17,18 meant a sixth-place finish .
Similarly 2018 Remembrance winner Andy Slater had put himself in the mix and stood on 14th tee on 3 under his handicap . Inexplicably he dropped 6 shots to handicap on his next 3 holes (including a quint bogey 10 on 15) to finish well back in 13th. place .
Congratulations to Alastair Cutteridge for his back to back birdies on 10 and 11 !
Defending Champion watch ... 2017 Seniors Trophy winner Paul MacDonald had an ignominious defence today with a fair 2 over hcp front nine but then technically withdrew because of a pulled back muscle
with the scorers cruelly placing him 33rd and last of the field .
Overall a day where once again our beloved course continued to befuddle us ... not least the first where Neil Royle started his campaign with an 11 on that tricky opening hole and our Captain enduring the torture of a 12 on 15 just two examples of several horror holes endured by our membership but we will be back for more tomorrow as the summer season begins to draw to a close with the end of season Club Championship nearly upon us !
