2023

Wire-to-wire leader in-form Uber-high-handicapper Mike Coleman produces a simply stunning triple W finish on the ‘Championship holes’ to take the Arthur Cooper Final and thus break the golfing heart of his long-time pursuer Paul Hackett , who had produced a loss-free final 12 holes and out-performed him on the Amen Corner holes only to frustratingly miss chances after getting into good positions . Derek Cullen similarly had moments of success but couldn’t deliver enough wins in those final sextet of holes whilst relative newcomers Jonny Cutteridge ,Paul Slade and 2022BWood Trophy hero Cameron Arnold completed the top 6 on a day where the course maintained its history of dominance in this event with only the winner ‘beating the course’ in the cold and windy conditions . .

Ruthless trophy-hunter Dave Drury and his recently engaged high-handicapper hotshot partner James Beswick ( not pictured) have a blistering 4-win start on their way to cruise to a 2 hole victory in the ‘Bogey Pairs Championship’ over HallofFamer John Hogan and his partner Johnathan Dickens who could never get close enough to properly challenge . The Alderson/Reid and Brown/Maguire combos were three holes back with defending champions Stewart/Neil Royle and Club Champion Dan Bartley and his talented partner Cameron Arnold completing the top 6 on a day which showcased the value of engaging a higher-handicapper in this genre of golf with the course playing a little tougher than usual .

Kenneth Maguire produces a back 9 masterclass and 4-point birdie to stroll to a 5-point maiden Board Competition victory from fellow high-handicappers Simon Morley ,and Bob Kay with away member Lloyd Mullen-Cooper taking fourth place . Captain COVID Stuart Mason and HallofFamer Glen Rothwell completed the top 6 on a day where the course bossed us with all but the top 3 failing to get to the par Stableford score . Our mixed competition included just two ladies , whilst the FCox BlobMeister was taken by Messrs Nicholls and Johnston sharing with Lady Walton on a day where the majority of us struggled on that difficult mixture of tricky fairways , bunkers and greens aligned to the intermittently cold conditions .

Jimmy Brown gloriously emerged victorious in the prestigious Bailey Cup Final , with the in-form golfer showing teak-tough brilliance in the championship holes to blow away his rivals , birdieing the final hole for a dominant ‘feels good’ victory for his first Board Competition victory . Classy veteran former Captain Bob Kay took second place with legendary record-holder Danny Miller third whilst your reporter Paul Hackett led after 14 holes but just couldn’t step up where it mattered whilst front 9 leader and fellow veteran Pete Higgins bemoaned Amen Corner lapses . Andrew Moss flattered to deceive for an encouraging sixth place on a day where our beloved course restricted all but the winner in beating their handicap .

Mark Drinkwater produces his best ever round at the club today with a simply scintillating net 65 to take his first individual Board Competition and second overall by three strokes from the excellent David Roy Terris with high-handicappers Jonny Cutteridge (also registering his best ever round ) and Ben Haslam (equalling his best score ) in third and fourth place respectively with past Captain Danny Miller and Alty President Brian Cawley completing the top six on a day where our beloved course only allowed three of us to beat their handicaps as we continue to adjust to the summer tees.

Alty newboy Rob Burrows continued his red hot form to win his third competition within two weeks as he added the Remembrance Trophy to his AGC Memorial and Texas Scramble victories to claim his first Board Competition , continuing the dominance of first time new members this season . Burrows took just 81 strokes to amass 43 points , good enough to win by 5 points from revitalised Alty stalwart Norman Crowther who played magnificently but stalled on his short holes which thwarted his challenge , with third-placed Paul Hackett similarly playing superbly but reporting his inability to master the long ones . Vets star Tim Roberts and Ray Corcoran put in decent rounds but both still await their first Board Competition victory with Committee newboy and low handicap hotshot Cameron Arnold showed his class and completed the top 6 as double defending champion Ged Grogan was never able to put in a challenge to win the trophy for the third successive year . On the Blobmeister front , Glen Rothwell carded 9 blobs but rumours of withdrawal through injury would then put the spotlight on ailing mid-handicappers TJ Dibble and Andrew Wood , who both recorded 7 blobs on a day where our beloved course restricted all but 3 members to beat their par Stableford score as the transitional condition of our course continues to befuddle golfers of all abilities .

The junior golfing prodigy that is Oliver McDermott has won his second Board Competition in the dry and sunny conditions today , showing the brilliance of a net albatross earlier in his round then displayed teak-tough resilience on the Championship holes’ to outlast the unlucky Andy Miehe , who crafted a simply marvellous round of golf to get within one of McDermott with two holes to go but who was undone on the 17th hole and had to settle for second place for the second consecutive year . 2023 high-handicap hotshot and recent F Cox Memorial winner Kenneth Maguire came third despite crucial losses on the benign 10/11 axis whilst Bailey 2023 winner Jimmy Brown was the only other member to beat his handicap as our beloved course again dominated most of us .Ged Grogan and Brian Nicholls completed the top 6 on a day where none of our top players broke 80 with Messrs Grogan , Brown and Alty all-time top trophy collector Danny Miller all carding 81 . A day where the sun shone and continued to subtly harden our fairways with the opening hole playing especially tricky today.

HallofFamer Neil Royle gloriously wins his third consecutive 5 Club Shield , cruelly snatching the silverware from the grasp of fellow legend Keith Ralston ( who delivered a masterful gross 75) and former Captain Bob Kay , who tragically stumbled at the last hole after playing 10-17 wonderfully . High-handicap hotshots Beswick and Morley finished fourth and fifth and will both rue Amen Corner stumbles when in great positions whilst all-time Board Competition winner Danny Miller gave a back 9 masterclass but was never nearer to challenge after a poor start , a day where the sun shone on hardened fairways to test members armed with only four clubs , a putter and ( in the case of the winner ) , a brother !

Evergreen pair George Sainthouse (67 - capturing his th Wilson victory) and Bob Kay (70) produce a phenomenal front 9 of -6 to take control and magnificently maintain their position to emerge victorious by two strokes from your observer Paul Hackett (‘best in show’ 65) and Brian Nicholls (74) , with a Hackett charge of SEVEN consecutive net birdies propelling them to contention together with Nicholls scrambling talents only for a concrete 11th hole bunker to ultimately scupper their challenge.. Defending champion Danny Miller (66) and ‘new’ partner Paul MacDonald (73) thwarted by the letters woes on the long holes . Crowdpleasers Andrew Moss(71) and Phil Wright (70) were fourth despite a crucially slow start whilst 2020 Wilson champions Keith Ralston (71) and Mark Snape (70) and Alty GC stalwarts Norman Crowther (70)and Matt Goodall (74) completed the top 6 after a blistering -4 finish from NC on the ‘Championship holes’ with Andy Mills (91) having the highest S coring H ing I n T and em differential of 18 strokes with the unfortunate David the Doughty (73) in the dry sunny conditions .

After a couple of agonisingly close near misses Craig Seery finally gets a well-deserved maiden Board Competition victory , coming from behind to produce a spectacular last-gasp net eagle 3 on the final hole in the final group to snatch the Watson trophy from second-placed David Christian , who had also produced a phenomenal back 9 but to no avail . 2023 veteran hotshot George Sainthouse had a stellar front 9 to lead the field and battled well to maintain a one-stroke lead with one hole to go whilst F Cox 2023 winner Kenneth Maguire was leading after 13 holes but will rue his hole 14/15 collapse when in control . Consistent play by wily veterans Brian Price (5th) and Gordon Boardman (6th) completed the sextet of better than handicap performances as our beloved course restricted the other 43 of us and maintained her dominance despite the dry , sunny conditions with the helpful hardening fairways and improving greens giving us every chance (if we could just avoid those remaining compacted bunkers that were too much for our skill set) on another day of golfing drama .

Wily veteran and golfing methuselah John Rossiter claimed his fifth Board Competition with a course management masterclass in the dry sunny conditions today . Rossiter came through the field late to snatch the trophy from emerging talent Kenneth Maguire (who had produced a tremendous round) on countback whilst talented but the still trophyless Tim Roberts was left to contemplate another one that got away after a poor Championship holes performance undid his sparkling round in tragic style . Evergreen Brian Price maintained his form well in fourth whilst Defending Champion Ian Cheetham will look back on a horrific first hole net quad bogey 9 which derailed his campaign with the improving Jonny Cutteridge completing the top 6 on a day where our beloved course came out on top again , restricting just a select group of four members to beat their handicap.