The Wilson Trophies 28th June 2020

The Wilson Trophies 28th June 2020

Wilson Trophies contenders

Keith Ralston (38/43/81/11/70) and Mark Snape (38/40/78/7/71) together showed extraordinary resilience to use their undoubted wide range of skills and considerable golfing nous to be the ONLY pair to register an under-par aggregate score to ultimately cruise to an easy victory in the gloriously inclement weather faced by members today .

Ralston had been the biggest loser of the abandonment of play yesterday as he had played brilliantly for the 11 holes he played without reward . Today he simply replicated his form , this time in partnership with his long-time chum Mark Snape , who ‘shares’ him with another Alty stellar talent ( Nathan Butterworth).
The pair started at the devilishly difficult risk/reward opening hole with Snapes’ uncharacteristic net DB countered by a Ralston net birdie . The magnitude of their achievement was that they wouldn’t DB a hole again in the round . The  pair both played superbly with Keiths’ front 9 highlights net birdies on 1,2,4 and 7 with reverses on 3 and 9 whilst Marks’ gross ‘joint best in show’ 38 had gains on 2,3 and 7 with his only other reverse (after 1 ) a net bogey on 4 which placed them in the lead at the turn at -2 with a healthy 3 stroke lead . 

Despite this state of affairs , they  were to temporarily lose their grip on the trophy with the seemingly benign 10th derailing them as they both succumbed to net bogeys with KR inexplicably compounding matters with another reverse on the ‘easy’ 11th before regrouping with a crucial net birdie at our toughest hole which left them standing on the 13th tee with their lead now shrunk to just one although  three of their closest challengers also had leaked a few shots given the worsening conditions . 

Given that the next trio of holes are generally regarded to be the acid test in any competition Keith & Mark responded magnificently in that they avoided dropping ANY shots to handicap but both recorded net birdie 5s on the difficult 15th to get themselves to a position of absolute dominance , now 5 shots clear and in cruise control .

That said , ( as your scribe knows only too well as he and his partner David Christian had led this event by 3 shots with just 2 holes to go and lost 6 shots to our conquerors to finish second last year ) the duo still needed to focus and the inclement weather made every hole a challenge . The benign 16th saw Keith drop a shot whilst Mark held firm which cut their lead to 4 but any fears of a total collapse  were quickly dispelled as they  consolidated  and extended their lead , winning by 5 strokes after playing those two tricky final holes to handicap .

Mark Snape was winning his second Wilson trophy with his first coming 10 years earlier with his father , ex Alty captain Bill .  This trophy was his 6th pairs trophy and overall the 13th of his Alty career .

Keith Ralston has taken his 4th pairs trophy and overall the 11th of his Alty career (in addition to his iconic 2014 Balfour victory of course) . This Ralston/Snape pairing has now prevailed in taking one of our Pairs comps in three successive years and who would bet against them adding to their haul in the coming weeks ? To even compete in this comp with such low handicaps meant that the margin for errors were going to be very small . Add to that , the degree of extra difficulty that the swirling winds , squally showers and our still uneven greens brought to bear making their victory today in overcoming the course to record an aggregate net 141 a supreme achievement . 

A triumph for their course management , patience , ball-striking and a nerveless short game by two of our most talented golfers . Curiously in this very event last year Ralston had scored a superb net 67 with Snape earning a ‘Scoring High In Tandem’ nomination with a net 80. Your scribe had professed the hope that the pairs would emerge stronger and so it has proved in their case. 

John Thompson  (47/54/101/24/77) and Matt Astbury (46/43/89/20/69) are arguably the hottest higher handicappers at our club right now . JT has spent heavily on equipment , regular sessions at the driving range AND utilised club coach Matt Mew to hone his game whilst MA has utilised his work furlough to play golf virtually every day with the sensational result that he has lowered his handicap by 8.4 this month to a new mark of 20 which has given him ‘top dog’ status from his golfing partner .

Today the pair were coupled with the Alty legendary pair of Danny Miller and Paul McDonald thus providing them with extra pressure to play well . They started in rollercoaster fashion with MA net birdieing 1 and 3 spliced with an irritating net bogey 6 on 2 whilst JT played to hcp on 1 , superbly net eagled 2 then inexplicably gave both shots back taking 6 on 3 to leave them on -1 overall . The mixed nature of their efforts continued as both played to hcp on 4 with JT sensationally firing a net ALBATROSS 3 on the long 5th whilst MA posted a net bogey 6 . This meant that they stood on the 6th tee at -3 and after playing it to handicap found themselves in a 2 stroke lead . Sadly they had a sloppy end to their back 9 with net bogeys on 7 and 9 getting them to the turn at +1 in joint second place 3 shots back .
Although the duo merely played the next trio of holes to their handicap , uncharacteristically poor play from the leaders left them just one stroke behind with 6 holes to play . Sadly they were to find the remaining holes of Amen Corner too much in the desperate conditions. After both dropped a shot on 13 JT succumbed to a net triple bogey 9 on 14 and although his partner rallied with net birdies on 14 and 15 they had fallen 4 shots behind .
They were unable to capitulate further on the ‘easy’ 16th with JT scoring a net bogey 5 and although the chums both net birdied 17 they were still too far back to challenge and although Matt also net birdied the final hole for a personally superb net 69 JT again succumbed with a net DB 7 which left them on nett 146 in second place ... still a fantastic effort given the conditions .
 

The Southworth brothers rarely play pairs golf together but today they elected to form a pairing . .Brian (44/48/92/10/82) and Paul (41/39/80/12/68) have 17 Board Competitions between them but had never won one together . Today they put up a strong showing in the conditions . Their front 9 was a rollercoaster for Brian in that although he managed to net birdie the ‘harder holes’ 4 and 6 he dropped shots on 5 , the supposedly easier 6 and 8 with his nadir a net DB 6 on 3 . Paul net bogied  the opening hole but regrouped magnificently with consecutive net birdies on 2,3,4 and 5 to leave the pair 4 shots off the lead as they stood on the 6th tee with Paul playing top notch golf . Inexplicably his form deserted him as he net bogeyed the final 4 holes of the front 9 to leave them at +4 and 6 shots back at the turn . Sadly they started the back 9 continuing to lapse with them losing 3 shots at the 12th which effectively ended their challenge . Brian continued to lapse at the higher stroke indexes holes and although he scored a defiant net birdie 5 on 15 further reverses on 16 and a net DB on the last meant he finished his round with an uncharacteristic net 82. His younger brother Paul fared better with his last 6 holes highlighted  by a fantastic net eagle 2 on 13 , net bogeys on 14 and 15 then regrouping again to net birdie the final two holes to finish with a quite magnificent ‘best in show’ net 68 which left them 9 shots back but in a very creditable third place . 

Danny Miller (38/41/79/7/72) and  Paul McDonald (44/50/94/16/78) have won a staggering 42 Board Competitions between them and both have won this trophy with different partners . Today the legendary duo were paired with this years precocious golfing upstarts Thompson and Astbury who have been serial contenders as of late . McDonald has just returned to golf after an injury whilst Miller suffered a trophyless 2019 season thus both were now hungry to contend .

inexplicably , they started poorly with both recording net double bogeys on the opening hole .  McDonsld compounded his error with a further bogey on 2 and had a rollercoaster front 9 with gains on 3,4 and 7 against further losses on 5  Miller regrouped with a superb ‘joint best in show’ front 9 gross 38 with 3 net birdies on 2,5 and 7 against a second reverse on the 3rd hole which put them in joint second place 3 shots off the lead and in definite contention.
Although Miller managed to put together a relatively low back 9 with a solitary net bogey on 10 and negotiating the other holes to handicap to finish with a net 72 , McDonalds’ only highlight was a net birdie on the final hole before which he had notably struggled on both long holes, dropping a total of 5 shots on them as well as succumbing shots on both inward par 3s. Nevertheless a distant but creditable fourth placed finish for the redoubtable pair suggesting they will both have strong seasons given their fine effort in the atrocious conditions.
 

Special mentions ...

Glen Rothwell (38/38/76/4/72) and Ged Grogan (41/48/89/10/79) were another pair who had a decent opening sextet of holes ( E after 6 ) but who weren’t able to cope with the easier mid-section and shipped 5 further shots by the time they stood on the 13th tee ... by then were unable to mount any sort of challenge finishing 9 shots behind . Club champion Rothwell had the consolation of posting 76 , the lowest gross score of the day whilst the normally reliable Grogan will rue a series of poor showings on the higher-indexed holes as the pair finished fifth on countback .

Defending Champion Watch ...

Neither Mark Caffrey or his triumphant partner John Hogan were able to play to defend their title today .
 

Gross Watch ... 

Our champions Ralston/Snape score of 159 was the gross  ‘best in show’ 

Those Players who were Scoring High In Tandem scores (compared to their partners) ... 

As is now customary after this aggregate score competition , it is time to sympathise with the following ...
 

Differentials as follows (nb the emoji is a taxi) 

Paul Southworth (net 68) 14 shots ( Brian Southworth 82 🚖 )

Ian Cheetham (net 69) 13 shots ( Andrew Window 82 🚖  ) NB last year it was 17 shots with ‘Cheets’ the offender . 

Raymond Corcoran (net 72) 11 shots ( Dave Drury 83 🚖)

Highest hole score of the day ?

13 by our venerable former Captain RW Kay at the 15th hole ... no further information as to how one of our straightest hitters came to such grief as yet . 

Miscellaneous ...  

The course yielded just 13 birdies whereas an incredible 119 triple bogeys or worse were scored today ( nearly 14% of holes played ) .
 

Only one pair beat the aggregate par score to again demonstrate the additional pressure of trying to play well for your partner .
 

And finally ...

Your scribe tells anyone who will listen of  his expertise in playing in wet and windy conditions that has yielded the vast majority of his victories on the course  . He had high hopes of putting in a decent score today but finished with an absolutely atrocious 102/18/84 thus was truly beaten up by our beloved course after doing soooo well in this event last year .

Thats’ golf for you !