Trafford Leisure Trophy
Trafford Leisure Trophy 12th. August 2018
Danny Miller (74/7/67) produced golf of the highest quality to cruise to a 3 shot victory to take the Trafford Leisure Trophy with the lowest gross score and add it to his success in the Bernie Wood Trophy only a few weeks ago . The slightly built and fiercely competitive sexagenarian appears to work on his game more than anyone and has regularly reaped the rewards of his efforts over many years at the club .
Today he ironically dropped a shot to handicap on the deceptively difficult first hole and tough 5th but 7 pars saw him 2 shots off the lead at the turn .
He immediately signalled his intentions with a birdie on 10 and didn’t drop amother shot to handicap as he recorded a superb gross par 36 back 9 with a birdie on 17 another highlight . His ‘best in show’ 4 under handicap back 9 took him to a convincing 3 shot victory . The handicapper has understandably cut his handicap by 0.8 to 6.1 .
Nathan Butterworth (79/9/70) plays his Alty golf exclusively in the summer with his work commitments protecting the realm restricting his appearances . Today he produced an encouraging front 9 of 6 pars with his only blemishes on 1st , 5th , and the benign 9th. ... another consistent display on the back 9 saw another 5 pars to finish 1 under his handicap and an excellent second place finish , his best of the season . The handicapper has trimmed his already excellent handicap by 0.2 to 8.8
Third-placed Mark Terris (84/14/70) is similarly an occasional competitor but has contended well this season and a superb 5 pars were the highlight of a front 9 that took him to the top of the leaderboard at the turn . Unfortunately dropped shots to handicap on the benign 11th and intimidating 13th put him back down the leaderboard and he did well to play the next 4 holes in regulation with a par at the last meaning a 1 under finish ! The handicapper recognised his efforts cutting him 0.3 to 14.1 .
Special mentions ...
Tireless Committee member Roy Dickens (95/20/75) is enduring a difficult phase in his golf right now and the former double Diggle winner has been absent from the leaderboard for most of the season . Today he has played well for the vast majority of the round birdieing the deceptively difficult 1st and pars at 2nd and 5th left him in total control of the tournament at 5 under his handicap after 5 holes . Sadly a quad bogey on 6th. took away his momentum but still ensured he was joint second at the turn and gloriously in contention . Sadly his back 9 would see no more pars and a steady trickle of dropped shots with triple bogeys at 12th and 18th pushing him down the leaderboard to 16th. place but perhaps a signal of a renaissance of his golfing talents in the weeks to come ?
Big-hitting proud Northern Irishman Stephen Whyte (89/17/72) was 5 over his handicap after only 3 holes but did not panic and magnificently regrouped parring the next 7 holes to get to 1 under and in contention . A further blip on 12/13 lost 3 more shots but only a last hole double bogey blemish on 18 prevented him playing to his handicap and his net 72 gave him a sixth place finish . A lesson to us all to never stop trying ?
Congratulations to 12th placed Timothy Dibble (90/15/75) for the relatively rare feat ( for mid/high handicappers ) of parring all 3 par 3s today and a respectable level par back 9 finish !
William Hill (99/24/75) found himself 6 over his handicap after just 2 holes but another tale of a magnificent regroup saw him reclaim 5 of those over the next 10 holes and although further shots were dropped to handicap on 13,15 and 17 and a 13th placed net 75 finish .
Sadly Trafford Leisure 2017 champion Norman Crowther was not able to attempt to defend his title ...
Overall a further indication that our wonderful course continues to offer stiff resistance to our talented membership given the changing mix of challenging unpredictable fairways and the immaculate greens which are a credit to the hard-working greenkeeper and his staff .
