Trafford Leisure Trophy 11th August 2019

Trafford Leisure Trophy 11th. August 2019

Trafford Leisure Contenders

Stuart Mason (80/12/68) has added the Trafford Leisure Trophy to wins in the Winter KO and the Geoff Gibson to increase his overall Board Competition haul to 5 . Today , already operating at 12 , the lowest handicap of his Alty career (and in the form of his life) , Mason started purposefully and progressed to -3 courtesy of consecutive gains to hcp at 2,3 and 4 with his only front 9 reverse coming at the deceptively tricky 8th thus getting to the turn at -2 handily placed just 2 off the lead . Mason got to -3 with a birdie on the benign 11th then gave that shot back on his next hole ... such was the higher tariff of conditions today that his efforts to simply play to his handicap for the next 5 holes got him standing on the final tee just one behind . A crucial net birdie 4 under the ultimate pressure of contention took him to -3 and enabled him to snatch an unlikely victory on a day where our beloved course wickedly exposed our frailties with only 4 players breaking par . A tremendous effort and surely his sweetest win .

Andrew Window (86/17/69) has shown himself to be one of our most promising golfers since illuminating our club with his presence these last couple of years . He is undoubtedly high on the list of the best player yet to win a Board Comp (especially given his failure to sign for a winning score last year ) and today again put up a strong showing in the difficult conditions . He started tardily with a net double bogey on 2 his only deviation from handicap on his opening 6 holes and the promise of consecutive net birdie 4s on 7 and 8 tempered with a reverse on 9 to get to the turn at +1 5 shots off the lead . Window immediately regrouped and produced a stunning trio of consecutive net birdies to take closer order now just 2 strokes away from the summit .Although he would s7ffer another untimely reverse on the awkwardly long 14th he again showed tremendous tenacity to net birdie 15,16 then play 17 to hcp to force his way to the top of the leaderboard and give himself an outstanding chance of an overdue first Board Competition . Tragically he was again A Window shattered as  he succumbed to a net bogey 6 at the last to fall back to second place with the small consolation that he had undeniably produced the best back 9 of the day .
 

Bill Stopford (84/15/69) has had a reasonably good summer with his best efforts coming on the midweek circuit , a couple of victories with decent rounds and a number of Board Competition rounds that bettered his handicap . Today he produced his best weekend effort of the year . The President started well and immediately rocketed into contention with impressive gains on 3 of the opening quartet of holes to stand -3 . The fifth hole proved to be his nemesis as he gave back all three shots as he posted a horror 8 . It is a tribute to him that he immediately regrouped and bounced back with three pars ( which included successive gains on 7 and 8 ) before a careless reverse on 9 restricted him to -1 at the turn 4 shots back . A sluggish start to his back 9 saw him drop further down the leaderboard with consecutive reverses on 11 and 12 but he again responded well and was blemish free on the final 6 holes with gains on 13,16 and 18 leaving him just frustratingly one short of the winning score and a very creditable third place .

Special mentions ...

Sash Neersoo (79/9/70DQ) is another member enjoying a very good season . Today he produced the best white tee front 9 of his Alty career including 3 birdies on 3, 5(net eagle) and 8 , a net birdie on 7 with his only reverse on 4 as he strolled to a gross 35 to lead the field on -4 .Inexpll  was to immediately surrender 3 of those shots on 10 and although he managed to recoup shots on 12 and 14 he dropped further shots on 16 and 17 to frustratingly finish on -1 , a state of affairs that was compounded as he committed the sin that we all fear and didn’t remember to sign his card which demoted him from fifth to a 30th place finish . Such is the cruel nature of our game . 

Defending a Champion watch ...

Danny Miller (77/7/70) continues to feature in reports purely down to his relentless consistency . A magnificent gross 36 front 9 equated to -2 courtesy of a gain on 2 then birdies on 6 and 9 with is only reverse on 7 . The defending champion started his back 9 well getting to -3 with a third birdie on 11 but carelessly gave it back on 12 ... he wasn’t able to regain momentum and inexplicably succumbed a shot on the benign 16th but typically regained it on 17 to stand just one shot behind as he stood on the final tee . On this occasion the great man was unable to clinch victory and another reverse meant a -1 finish and fourth place to maintain a series of top finishes without getting the record-equalling W he craves . A valiant but ultimately unsuccessful defence of the trophy .
 

Best Gross score ...

Glen Rothwell 76/4/72 ... a fine effort from our Champion Golfer and one which contained 3 birdies on 1,10 and 15 but which showed crucial and uncharacteristic lapses on ALL par 3s losing a total of FIVE shots on those holes which arguably cost him the opportunity for a real tilt at the trophy . That said , sixth place was still very credible from the great man .
 

Highest score on a hole ... Alan Longden endured a difficult day todaybut his nadir was completing a 5 over par 10 on the long and difficult 12th. ... he went on to NR three holes later but that was the only hole he didn’t complete ...