By Ron Hottes
Wednesday 11 May, PAR:
When we intrepid golfers play Par, we usually find it just too much of a challenge for the whole 18 holes. But Robert Hendy, playing off his impressively reduced handicap, ‘flew the boxes’ ( in racing language), to have a superb front nine, then held it together beautifully on the back nine to record a great +6 to take home the daily voucher. But he also needed to hold that back nine together, as Ryan Wilson was hot on his heels, recording a +5. These were easily the two best results on the day, which is why balls extended down to -2! NTP winners were Merrilyn McDonald (3rd), Alan Johnston ( 5th and 9th this old-timer just gets better with age!) and Lynda Dickson (12th).
Saturday 14 May, Stableford:
After the completion of the Club Championships, a strange occurrence often happens: those who didn’t feature among the Championship winners, often ‘shoot the lights out’ to post a score they wished they had the week before, ( commonly referred to as Murphy’s Law! ) Perhaps posting 39 points is not ‘shooting the lights out’, but in wet conditions, Stuart Patrick’s 39 was very impressive, impressive enough to gain him the day’s top voucher! Falling just short, with an equally impressive 38 points was David Hatt (Hatty had to be content with the Runner-up prize!) Balls went down to 32! NTP’s were won by Danny Fox ( 3rd and 5th, good work Danny), Ms Nursey and Bagel (9th), Ken Barratt, (12th) and to Devil-Bend guest Wayne Ball (15th).
Congratulations also to our 3 Matchplay Champions for 2022: Paul Mason (Open), Lee Creedy, (B-Grade) and Robert Scott( C-Grade). Well done to the three of them!
With the Championships now complete, I can give you, dear readers, a more fulsome summary of the results.
Our Open Men’s champion this year is Jon Cross, who has threatened, for some time, to take out this prestigious title and has finally achieved it, with a 3-round total of 213. Jon has become our youngest winner for many years at 29! In the final analysis, Jon won by 2 shots over 10-time champion, Paul Mason. Ultimately, the result was never in doubt on the back nine, as Jon, at one stage, had forged a 5-stroke lead, but an out-of-bounds drive on the last cut that back to 2.
It was a family affair in the Open, with Jon’s father, Noel, grabbing the Nett title with an aggregate 206 for the 3 rounds. ( You could say the Championships were DOUBLE-CROSSED!)
The Ladies’ Open title went to Kim Kennedy for the 6th time, with a healthy margin between her and the eventual Runner-up, Meredith Nursey. But President Nursey can be content with the Nett trophy, by scoring a 217 total over the 3 rounds! Good work to both ladies, great golfers in their own right!
In B-Grade, there are 8 ladies currently battling it out for the honours over their 3 rounds, with the final round to be played next Wednesday. ( All results of that will be available after completion!)
The B-Grade Men’s champion is Ken White, who had a monumental battle with Lee Creedy. Ken eventually prevailed by a single stroke, shooting 261 for the 3 rounds. It must be stated that Lee did not go down without a fight, as he shot a blazing 38 off-the-stick over the last nine, to give Ken’s heart flutters! Well done to both men, as their battle provided the tightest finish through all grades. Steuart Hawke was the Nett B-Grade winner, with a 219 total.
C-Grade was won, comfortably by Tim Blanche, shooting a 284 total, and Robert Scott was the Runner-up quite a way back. The Nett winner was Stuart Patrick, with 222, meaning he played almost exactly to his handicap, a fine feat in any Championship!
The Senior’s trophy was won by Noel Cross, giving him an enviable ‘double’! His 131 Nett won him the day with a clear margin. And just to top off a great result for the father/son Cross combo, Jon won the important Easthills Cup, a title going back many years in the Club’s history!
All-in-all, this year resulted in a Championship that had it all; tight finishes, runaway wins and plenty of happy winners!
Finally, the Committee, on behalf of all the members, would like to acknowledge the hard work done by Captain, Ray, and his Match Committee to see these Championships completed at relatively short notice.
