2020

Glen Rothwell (70/5/65) takes a landmark 20th Board Competition with the lowest round of the trophy season as he sensationally took the course apart , just enough to prevent Alty hotpot John Thompson (86/20/66) from collecting a 4th gong of the season but bemoaning a crucially poor start whilst taking his handicap cut to a staggering 9.4 shots since May . In-form Brian Cawley was the only other member to beat his handicap as our beloved course again proved too hot to handle for the vast majority of us on a day where the front 9 was unusually harder to master .

Club champion David and father Neil make it a right Royle occasion as they sensationally net eagle the final hole to cruelly snatch the Gyves and Gardner Trophies from the grasp of the similarly excellent long-time leaders Johnson and Price and take their second pairs trophy of the season . JS Chorlton winners Grogan and Rothwell finished never nearer to challenge in third place with local chums Doughty/Mills 4th and evergreen pair Wood/Boardman completing the top 5. Defending champions Window and Cheetham got themselves in contention with just 4 holes to play but they spectacularly collapsed perhaps under the weight of their own expectations on a day where members seemed to enjoy their annual experience of the quirky world of greensome golf .

Restricted this year to just 15 events , this prestigious competition has again been largely forgotten by some members and not even known about by our newer ones . 2020 Player of the Year candidate John Thompson took the fourth and most prestigious Board Competition of his incredible campaign without realising his accomplishment, ‘holding off ‘ serial contenders Keith Ralston , Glen Rothwell and Danny Miller with 2020 Captain Stuart Mason and Ged Grogan completing the top 6 with strong campaigns in a competition blighted by the added difficulty in scoring caused by the tricky conditions of our beloved course on occasions through the season.

Glen Rothwell continued his domination of this prestigious event , cruising to his sixth consecutive victory , seventh in all and thus now increasing his overall Board Competition haul to 21 with a series of outstanding performances to win by 16 strokes . Fellow Hall of Famer Danny Miller can be very encouraged by his excellent second place finish with another stalwart Stewart Royle holding off Club Champion David Royle to finish third . Keith Ralston should take great satisfaction from his fifth position with his great chum Mark Snape in sixth in an event much restricted by the pandemic but our elite golfers still managed to perform to a high standard this season . Much respect to them !

John Thompson and Matt Astbury (4 wins each) were the outstanding Board Competition players of 2020 with Thompson having no less than 9 finishes in the top 3 with Astbury on 7.

Multi -winners John Thompson and Matt Astbury took the prestigious pairs trophies defeating Lee Lomas & Keith Walton Jr in the final .