Trafford Leisure Trophy 16th August 2020
Trafford Leisure Trophy 16th August 2020
Trafford Leisure Trophy Contenders
| Name … scores after hole | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| Danny Miller | +1 | +2 | +1 | E | -1 | -3 | -4 | -4 |
| Nathan Butterworth | +1 | +1 | -2 | -2 | -3 | -4 | -3 | -3 |
| Ged Grogan | E | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | -1 | -1 |
| Brian Cawley | E | -1 | -1 | -2 | E | E | -1 | -1 |
| Howard Johnson | -1 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -2 | -3 | -1 | -1 |
| Paul MacDonald | +3 | +4 | +3 | +2 | +1 | E | E | E |
| Carl Grout | -1 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -3 | +1 | +3 | +3 |
Danny Miller (74/7/67) has won his 32nd Board Competition to move within one of his friend and former great rival , the legendary James West , after recovering from a poor start to produce a phenomenal level par gross 36 back 9 to win this event for the second time in three years . This observer has long been perplexed as to why the great man struggles at the opening hole but yet again he stumbled to a net bogey 5 then (after regrouping to play 2 to his handicap) went to +2 after a net bogey 4 . Typically Miller responded magnificently and parred the next 6 to get to the turn back at level par highlighted by his net birdies at 5 and 7 . Danny thus now found himself 3 behind the joint leaders , one of whom was his playing partner Howard Johnson .
inexplicably Danny suffered the third net bogey of his round at the benign 10th to go 4 behind the leaders .
A routine par on 11 saw DM stand on the 12th tee now 5 shots off the lead and in urgent need to make a move . His response was to produce a stunning net eagle 4 to immediately take closer order and now find himself just 2 shots away and in serious contention with just 6 holes to go . He had again got into his groove and he maintained form over the other Amen Corner holes to move to -3 as he stood on the 16th tee , now one behind . Miller kept up his momentum with a regulation 3 but then produced a crucial net birdie 4 on 17 to take the lead for the first time then held his nerve to par the final hole to finish with a net 67 to take the trophy by a shot . A quick and decisive consolation for his heartbreaking play-off loss for the Club Championship and his second victory of the season to go with his Coronation Cup success 6 weeks earlier . The handicapper took note of Dannys’ performance and cut him by 0.6 to a new mark of 6.0.
Nathan Butterworth (77/9/68) had a superb 2019 season but this year is still awaiting his first victory . Today he was in a low-handicap quality foursome with Messrs Snape , Ralston and Goodall and Nate made a poor start , immediately losing a shot on the opening hole then regrouping to get that shot back with a net birdie 4 on 2 . Once again Nate showed his frailties on the ‘easier’ holes by succumbing another shot on 3 before getting down to business with a great run of 5 holes which yielded net birdies on holes 4 and 7 but highlighted by a magnificent net eagle 3 on 5 to leave him standing on the 9th tee at -3 and at the top of the leaderboard . Inexplicably Butterworths’ frailties on the high indexed holes continued as he posted a net bogey 5 to get to the turn at -2 and 1 off the lead . Regrouping by playing the supposedly benign 10/11 to par he then faced Amen Corner and played the four holes superbly , gaining two shots to the field courtesy of net birdies on 12 and 14 and stood on the 16th tee at -4 and now leading the field by one shot with just 3 holes to go . After steadying himself to play a regulation par on 16 to hold his position , Nate slumped to a net bogey 6 on 17 to drop to -3 and now a shot behind with just a hole to play essentially needing a 3 to prevail or face the agony of a countback loss . Sadly NB could only play the hole to handicap thus finished just one shot behind in second place . A marvellous effort when he may look back and examine as to why he regularly was found wanting on the easier holes but such is our beloved course that every one of them presents a potential hiccup irrespective of your handicap ... the handicapper was appreciative of his efforts and cut him by 0.4 to a new mark of 8.2 .
Ged Grogan (81/11/70) was in his usual early group with fellow 2020 Chorlton trophy-winning partner Glen Rothwell ... he also found the opening holes tricky , dropping one shot on 2 and a net double bogey on 3 put him at +3 and well down the field . Ged regrouped well and gains on 4 and 7 meant that he stood on the 9th tee at +1 and seemingly had built up momentum . Inexplicably , he dropped a shot on 9 then compounded it with another reverse on 10 to drop down to +4 and again looking to be out of contention . Grogan immediately got things back on track with a birdie on 11 then played steadily thru Amen Corner with the highlight a net birdie 3 on 13 playing the others in regulation to find himself still 4 shots back . A regulation par on 16 was followed by a magnificent net eagle 3 on 17 to get himself within three shots, playing the final hole to handicap to finish in a very creditable third place .
Brian Cawley (93/23/70) is one of our clubs’ evergreen treasures and this affable individual is a high-handicapper capable of producing a stellar round every so often . Today Brian produced an encouraging front 9 that placed him at -2 highlighted by net birdies on 2,5 and 7 with his net bogey 6 on 6 his only low point . His back 9 was in the rollercoaster category with him leaking one shot on 11 before his Amen Corner experience where the highs of a quite stupendous net eagle 4 on 14 were tempered by net bogeys on 12, 13 and 15 then slumped further with another net bogey on 16 . Cawley wasn’t ready to give up and produced a second superb net eagle of the round on 17 to get him to -1 and a regulation 5 at the last gave him a very respectable 4th placed finish .
Special mentions ...
Howard Johnson (83/13/70) started superbly and scored net birdies on 1,3,4,and 7 to stand at -4 with no reverses as he stood on the 8th tee . Sadly he was to succumb a shot on that hole and having negotiated 9 to regulation reached the turn as joint leader . Could he take advantage of the ‘easier’ back 9 ? He played 10/11 to handicap before beginning his Amen Corner experience ... a net bogey on 13 was negated by an excellent net birdie 4 on 14 then playing to handicap on 15 meant that he was 3 holes away from home just one shot off the lead .Sadly he dropped a shot on the benign 16th then compounded his error with another reverse on 17 and finished -1 but in a still creditable 5th place .
Paul MacDonald (88/17/71) is finding golfing difficult right now and to find this mercurially talented individual now operating as a 17 handicapper is an unreal situation . Today he has shown glimpses of a possible revival with a superb fight back ... Paul started his round with a card-busting net triple bogey 8 then compounded that error with a dropped shot on 3 to stand at +4 on 3 , already 6 shots back of playing partner Johnson . The rest of his front 9 began to build momentum highlighted by gains on 6 and 7 as he reached the turn at +2 , 5 off the lead . He continued to flourish and disdainfully despatched the benign 10/11 with back to back net birdies before he dropped a shot on 12 . He was to finish steadily with his final highlight a superb net birdie 5 on 15 then playing the remaining Championship holes to handicap for a level par finish that is an absolute credit to him after suffering such a bad start .
Carl Grout (90/16/74) plays our beloved course only occasionally these days but still displays his abilities for all to see . Doubtless refreshed from a recent holiday , Grout started well today and he recorded net birdies on 1,3,6 and 8 to get himself into the lead at -4 as he stood on the 9th tee. Sadly he succumbed to his first dropped shot on our supposedly easiest hole but retained a share of the lead at the turn . Further gains on 10 and 12 were tempered by a sloppy net bogey on the benign 11th but with 6 holes left he found himself still with a share of the lead . Could he capitalise and take advantage of a back 9 seemingly not as fearsome as in recent weeks ? The short answer to the question is in the negative as he was to drop shots on 13 and 14 and tumble further down the leaderboard due to net double bogeys on 15 and 17 leaving him down in 18th place at the finish . Nevertheless , this observer doesn't doubt Grout will be round and about before the summer is out .
Joe Hadfield (86/12/74) may have finished down the field but this relatively new member certainly showed prowess on the short holes today . He birdied 3 and 13 and parred 16 !
Defending Champion watch ...
Stuart Mason (86/11/75) had a rollercoaster round today ... Mr Captain started the round with a net birdie with sloppy reverses on 3 and 6 partly rescued with a gain on 7 to leave him at level par as he stood on the 8th tee with two of the ‘easier’ holes to complete his front 9 . Inexplicably the Captain slumped to a net double bogey (at a hole where , in happier times he had registered a 2 ) then succumbed to another net double bogey to leave him at +4 and well down the field . He obviously then decided to just enjoy himself and cut loose from the turn and he produced many magical moments in his back 9 with a superb gross birdie 3 on 11 the highlight but he also fired net birdies on 12,13 and 15 with the Amen Corners remaining hole (14) proving difficult as he slumped to a net triple bogey 8 ... further net birdies came on 15,17 and 18 but at 16 , arguably our easiest hole , Stuart had a net double bogey 6 to finish his back 9 level with a 20th placed finish .
Gross Watch ...
Our trophy winner Danny Miller (74) was also the gross ‘ best in show’ . Much respect to him !
Highest hole scores to par of note ... but sadly without the explanations .
John Rossiter sadly slumped to a 10 on the par 3 13th
Regular contributor to this section Ian Cheetham opened up with a 10 and 8 on his opening two holes to dent his ‘challenge” whilst new member Tim Jones had a horror 11 ( James Darmon had a 10 ) on the second hole with big-hitting Andrew Moss again finding 12 difficult today posting a ‘legs’ there too ! Alan Longden produced a pair of 10s on our par 5 holes to maintain a sort of consistency .
Sometimes our beloved course can be quite brutal to the members that love it ! Today there were 4 frightening net scores of 85 and over but testament to the perseverance of those members who would die rather than record a No Return . Your scribe certainly is one of that number !
Overall , a day when , for the second consecutive season the Captain-Elect has won this trophy . A day which saw one of our undisputed Hall of Famers get to within just one win of joining the legendary James West at the very top of our Board Competition pile .
