Trafford Leisure 2021
Paul Hackett (41/43/84/22/62) is honoured to be the unofficial reporter for Altrincham Golf Club , self-appointed newshound since 2018 for all things connected to Board Competitions . Whilst he joyously reports on all-comers be they friend or foe it is obviously a rare treat for him to eulogise about his own efforts . They say that every dog has his day and the Hackett hound certainly has done that today . Paul stood on the first tee still intensely irritated by his back 9 demise of the previous day after playing soooo well to play the front 9 in 44 strokes to put himself into contention .
Today he was determined to stroke ( not hit ) the ball , to remember his favourite watchwords of esteemed golfer Dame Laura Davies to club golfers to ‘ trust your club’ AND to remember to follow through . Hackett has a most ugly and ungainly swing and is also the possessor of a plainly awful putting ‘stroke’ that makes him vulnerable on most putts .
Today he started solidly , playing both the opening holes in regulation . Paired with the dapper cheeky chappy that is Andrew Window and the easy-going Phil Wright it was a joy to play in an atmosphere where all encouraged each other . Hackett regularly uses his 12 degree driver ‘Henderson’ on hole 3 and he sent his tee shot arrowing towards a pin high position to the left of the hole but it just caught the near side bunker . Thankfully Pauls’ bunker shot left him 5 feet away and he converted it for a net birdie 3 to move to -1 . He built on that momentum by unusually steering his drive beyond its usual resting place in the dip to a rare fairway position within 170 yards from which he got his iron to the green ,two putti;g from 30 feet to get to -2 . A poor tee shot on 5 near the hedge contributed to an irritating regulation 6 which cost him the opportunity to make progress on a hole where had two strokes . Spurning further chances on 6 and 7 he responded magnificently by overcoming a couple of his nemesis holes … on 8 he managed to stroke a 3 wood approach to 30 yards away then managed to get up and down for another net birdie whilst on 9 he again used his 3 wood to send an approach shot to the green albeit 40 feet from the flag but he somehow stroked his putt to trickle softly into the hole for a most unlikely net eagle 3 to get him to -5 at the turn and in strong contention , joint leader with Craig Seery .
Hackett remembered all too well the horrors of his net triple bogey 8 on 10 yesterday , focussed hard and managed to play the hole like a low handicapper , a DeGea (his 8.5 degree driver ) to 170 yards , then he caressed a towering 5 wood just through the green and nervously but effectively two putted for a net birdie 4 . Clearly ‘in the zone’ Paul felt unlucky that his approach shot on 11 just caught the right front bunker but ( incredibly) for the second time in the round he got up and down to record yet another net birdie 4 to get to -7 . Any high handicapper looks forward to the holes that they receive two strokes on … despite his success today , Hackett was irritated that he had been unable to exploit holes 2 and 5 to achieve gains thus was doubly determined to take advantage of 12 , but inexplicably poor driving and mishit shots combined for him to only play that hole in a regulation 7 .
Standing on the 13th tee at -7 , Hackett was unknowingly 2 strokes clear but his inner self was absolutely screaming at him to just lay up and avoid the potential carnage that he has experienced regularly and painfully at this hole . This thought was replaced by a Seve-like determination to play to the current standard of his ball-striking of today and just trust his club . The result ? Another towering 5 wood that came to rest just 12 feet from the flag . He embarrasingly dribbled his birdie putt 4 feet short but somehow held himself together to fortunately convert that ‘huge’ putt to reach -8 . 14 saw him get to the green in three ( despite a Henderson misfire ) and again hold his nerve to two putt to finally convert ( a two stroke hole ) for a net birdie 5 and now stand at an improbable -9 with just 4 holes to go .
Hacketts’ neurotic tendencies (when contending and an active fear that a disaster hole was just waiting to happen ) surfaced on 15 for his first and only reverse of the day , but although he restricted the damage to just one stroke it unleashed further doubts as to whether he could avoid his collapse of the previous day , where he had registered a quad and three triple bogeys in his back 9 . Unbeknownst to him , a Seery gain had cut his lead from 4 to just 2 with now just the Championship holes to play . Paul responded superbly by putting his tee shot on 16 twenty feet away just off the green then crucially chipping magnificently with his trusty 8 iron to put the ball within inches of the hole to get back to -9 (he had net birdied ALL the par 3 holes for the first time )!
With the good wishes of his playing partners ringing in his ears , Hackett maintained the form he had showed throughout ( shortish drive onto fairway , 170-200 yard approach with ‘fairway driver’ or wood to the green or within 20 yards then surprisingly chip / two or three putting ) to play the final holes in regulation , the final hole forcing him to play a flop third shot over the right side bunker which he nervelessly executed leaving him just past the flag on the fringe , missing the 8 footer on the last thus denying him a net 61 .
One of those dream days that we all want to happen and today the golfing gods have looked kindly on your observer … apologies for the over-elaborate nature of this report but your reporter was there for every stroke thus could provide attention to detail ! His WHS rating has been slashed from 18.1 to a new mark of 16.0 (given his differential score of just 9.0 ) A third individual Board Competition ( his first in 3 years ) and fourth overall for your observer today .
Craig Seery (37/42/79/14/65) is one of our new members and was playing just his seventh competition of his Alty career . Today he has smashed his personal white course record by TEN to a new mark of just 79 strokes . Seery , (playing with talented fellow mid-handicappers Mills, Andrew Wood and Dave Drury) , was superb from the very start and immediately set about the course , plundering net birdie 4s on the opening two holes , consolidating momentum playing to regulation on 3 then firing another net birdie 4 on 4 to roar to -3 . After playing the tough 5th hole to regulation Craig lost momentum with an unexpected bogey 5 on 6 to drop back down the leaderboard . Could he regroup his early form on the dangerous 7th. hole ? Absolutely , as he nervelessly converted a magnificent downhill twisting 12 foot putt for a magnificent net eagle 3 then built on that achievement by a gain on 8 then playing 9 to regulation to get to a brilliant net -5 , taking just 37 strokes to get to the turn .
But could he maintain form as he continued in search of his breakthrough first trophy ? A regulation 5 on 10 was followed by a sloppy bogey 5 on 11 but Craig again showed remarkable powers of recovery to record a fighting net birdie 5 to get back to -5 now two strokes in arrears . Seery played the Amen Corner holes well , posting regulation scores on 13 and 14 then again stepping up superbly with another crucial net birdie 5 on 15 , a crucial gain (in light of what would happen to Hackett a few minutes later) to take him to -6 with just the Championship holes to play. Sadly , Craig could not supply the big finish needed but consolidated his excellent round with 3 regulation scores to post a tremendous net 65 ( and a personal gross best of 79 ) , which would normally been good enough to win but came up agains a freakish 62 by your observer which exposed the new member to the agony following his initial ecstasy that he thought he had been victorious. His WHS rating has been accordingly slashed from 12.3 to a new mark of 10.2 given his differential score of just 6.0)
John Cullen (38/40/78/10/68) has had a steady season without troubling the leaders with his highlight an excellent third placed finish in the elite Wests’ Shield . Today , he has shown glimpses of his undoubted talents . Cullen sensationally took just three strokes to play the uber-tricky opening hole to immediately gain two strokes on the field then built on that stunning start with further gains on 4 to take early control of the competition at -3 as he stood on the 7th tee . Inexplicably John stumbled to a net bogey 6 but nervelessly regrouped with a superb birdie on 8 . Sadly he spoiled that renaissance with another reverse on 9 to get to the turn on -2 , three strokes off the lead . Unfortunately, John was to suffer further reverses on 10 and 14 to put him back to parity and now out of contention but he did manage to magnificently par the last 4 holes to gain three strokes which meant a very credible net 68 which has equalled his best placing of the season .His WHS rating has been trimmed from 7.7 to a new mark of 7.3
Defending Champion Watch …
Danny Miller sadly was not available to defend his title today .
Best Gross …
David Royle (35/38/73/5/68) has risen up the Tommy Povey rankings after firing his best gross score of the season today . The former Club Champion secured his only birdie of the round on 4 and only dropped strokes on 7,13 and 15 in a magnificent display to take his second ‘best gross’ of the season mention ! A truly encouraging (net 68) fourth placed finish for the maestro !His WHS rating has been trimmed from 3.9 to a new mark of 3.2 .
Special mentions …
John Wilks (49/50/99/30/69) may be at an advanced age but this wily veteran is extremely well handicapped and he hones his game in the über-competitive world of our over-60s vets golf where he has won trophies this season . John is blessed with a razor-sharp short game which compensates for his lack of distance off the tee . John started with a regulation 6 on the opening hole but then roared into contention as he brilliantly posted consecutive gains on 2,3,4 and 5 which took him briefly to the top of the leaderboard on -4 before he sadly gave back strokes on 6,8 and 9 to get to the turn at -1 , 4 strokes off the lead . Unfortunately John had a difficult few holes on the journey home , leaking strokes to handicap on 10,12 and 14 but he did manage to secure gains on 13,17 and finishing with a superb net eagle 4 at the final hole to post a decent net 69 for fifth place . His WHS rating has been trimmed from 25.6 to a new mark of 24.9 .
Mark Snape (36/40/76/7/69) is undeniably one of our elite golfers , a multi-Board Competition winner both individually and in the pairs format . This season he has not played as often but had a disappointing set of results by his standards , with his third-placed finish with protégée Ben Haslam in the JS Chorlton his highlight . That said , Mark stood on the opening tee knowing that he was in sixth position in the prestigious Tommy Povey trophy thus was eager to shoot a low round to get him further up the leaderboard . Today Mark started with a sloppy bogey 5 on the opening hole but was flawless for the rest of his front 9 , highlighted by a sublime net eagle 3 on 5 and backed up with a birdie 3 on 3 with all other holes to the turn played in regulation which left him handily placed on -1, 4 off the lead . Although Mark never got into actual contention his rollercoaster back 9 included a birdie 3 on 11 , with further gains on 14 and 17 tempered with reverses on 12 and 16 to leave him with a credible net 70 and a 6th placed finish . His WHS rating has been trimmed from 6.0 to a new mark of 5.5 .
Nathan Butterworth (45/45/90/7/83) may have shot a horror round by his high standards today but the current RAFA leader stroked his tee shot on 13 to within HALF AN INCH to record a birdie 2 that came within a whisker of being a hoke-in-one . From the tee it had cruelly looked as if the ball had gone in but nevertheless a fantastic moment for Nate and his playing partners to remember .
Overall a day where two members managed to up their game to post fantastic scores … the course was unusually vulnerable to good scoring with no less than 8 members beating their handicap . Bouncy fairways tend to make the course shorter and give the shorter hitters the chance to compete and so it proved today with your observer the unlikely but very grateful beneficiary on a day that forecasted rain but instead was dry and sunny with just a zephyr of wind .
