2023

Matt Goodall produced a sensational ‘best in show’ performance in both net and gross formats with a simply scintillating net 66 in the dry sunny conditions today .to win the 12th Board Competition of his Alty career in fine style crucially playing the fearsome Amen Corner holes in 3 under his handicap as others struggled . In-form front 9 leader Richard Paulson regrouped strongly to take second place two strokes behind after suffering the angst of a 9 on 15 when looking most likely to take the trophy whilst third-placed HallofFamer Brian SOUTHWORTH showed a welcome return to form with a never nearer third placed net 69 , beating the valiant Defending Champion Mark Caffrey who had flattered to deceive after taking closer order with a decent Amen Corner campaign but could not find form in the final holes .2023 hotshot Jimmy Brown produced his fourth sub handicap round of his summer season in fifth whilst Alastair Cutteridge had an encouraging sixth place finish highlighted by a phenomenal net eagle 4 on 15 on a day where nearly a third of our lower handicap members beat their handicaps and took advantage of our beloved course playing a little easier with the hardening fairways and slightly more receptive greens giving us a better chance to shine .

Early starter Nathan Butterworth has won the Ray Gellatly Memorial Trophy for the second time and won his eighth Board Competition after using the mindset to ‘swing easy and try not to force shots’ to play beautifully , emerging from the turn to deliver a 37 stroke back 9 masterclass to take control of the competition on the final hole , a last-gasp teak-tough up and down snatching the trophy from the clutches of fellow elite player John Cullen who had played wonderfully well and led with just the Championship holes to play but could only play them in regulation to fall short. Recent Watson winner and 2023 hotshot Craig Seery again showed his form and looked in serious contention but finished third thwarted by a double bogey on 16 whilst Ged Grogans’ net 69 included a phenomenal final hole net albatross to take fourth place. Noted ball-striker Andy Miehe and Club Champion Dan Bartley shared the front 9 lead but both faltered on the journey home to complete the top six whilst your reporter Paul Hackett shared the lead after a first hole net birdie but could not flourish and pity-partied his way to an awful net 81 on a day where our lower handicap members totally dominated with all of the top 6 13 handicap or better as our beloved course continued to boss the vast majority of us into submission as fairways harden and greens were receptive to only those more fabulous with the flatstick in the dry conditions.

Two-time former Club Champion Tim Cowsill rolls back the years to take his 14th Board Competition 11 years on from his last silverware , producing a simply scintillating net 67 (gross 70) to win the trophy (and register himself as a Club Championship contender) from the unfortunate HallofFamer John Hogan , who produced a truly extraordinary 34 stroke -6 front 9 masterclass but whose excellence was undone by a double figure score on the 15th hole . Fellow HallofFamer Glen Rothwell produced a wonderful net 69 in a never nearer third place whilst Matt Astbury , Keith Walton Sr and Alastair Cutteridge Sr all produced decent rounds on yet another day where our beloved course restricted just four of our number to beat their handicap to again bring into focus the degree of difficulty our short but perfectly formed 18 examinations of golf provide even on a dry sunny 1st day of July .

Tim Dibble emerges from the Alty golfing wilderness to defy and outlast a quartet of HallofFamers (Bernie Wood , Neil Royle , Danny Miller, Glen Rothwell) and Stephen Whyte (who still awaits silverware after a decade) with a glorious wire to wire victory based on the excellence of his flatstick play to win his third individual trophy and sixth Board Competition in all after a four year wait taking advantage of his higher handicap to spectacularly reverse his fortunes after a poor start to his summer season . Defending champion Johnathan Dickens sadly failed to feature after starting poorly but at least delivered a 18 point back 9 whilst our beloved course continued its dominance of the vast majority of us with only 4 members beating the standard Stableford score of 36 .Members were less carefree than usual in terms of recording blobs with Golden Jubilee Blobmeister ‘honours’ going to Andrew Moss with a quintet of 🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞 but curiously still managing a respectable 31 point total amongst that carnage .

HallofFamer Paul MacDonald added to his legacy today by snatching the Captains Bowl Prize for the second time , his 17th Board Competition in all . ‘Tiger Mac’ had thwarted occasional player James Imeson from taking a sensational victory thanks to a last-gasp birdie whilst David Christian had produced a magnificent blemish-free net 67 but bemoaning a trio of eminently achievable missed short putts which , if converted would’ve gave him the W. AWAY player Lloyd Mullen-Cooper recovered from a poor start to take fourth whilst HallofFamers John Hogan and Stewart Royle complete the top 6 as we all were royally fed and watered by Mr Captain and his family and friends on a day where a magnificent seven of us beat their handicap as we generally found the conditions a little more to our liking in the benign conditions.

A tale of scratch partnerships as the nakedly ambitious trophy-hunting HallofFamer Brian Southworth positively thrived in his new partnership with Brian Cawley . Third-placed HallofFamer Bernie Wood simply could not properly focus with his scratch partner Terry McNicholls and was obviously (to the mind of this observer) unable to put his best golfing foot forward without regular partner Gord Boardman at his side whilst Pairs king Neil Royle and his former Club Champion can look back at a crucial early blob on 2 which proved devastatingly costly . Another father-son combo the O’Connells will surely contend again with an encouraging fourth place whereas crowdpleasers Cheetham and Wright both lost form to put pressure on the other in fifth and the precocious McDermotts can rue a poor start leaving them too far away to challenge . Defending champions Hackett and Christian offered a stout defence for only 7 holes then crumbled on a day where course management was at a premium and the golfing prowess and quality of life of our golfing Brians’ was greatly enhanced as they won the Chorlton trophies .

Another stunning masterclass of course management from the wily skilful mid-handicap magician otherwise known as HallofFamer Neil Royle procured the EIGHTH Board Competition in just 2.5 seasons and 18th Board Competition of his Alty career as he continues to defy his handicap and capture silverware .The unfortunate Andrew Wood , third-placed BWood premier chum Gord Boardman and Alty hotshot Chris O’Connell can all bemoan problems during their Amen Corner campaigns whilst golfing stylists Andy Miehe and John Cullen will rue a cold putter and poor start respectively on a day where only 4=members beat their standard Stableford score whilst defending champion Cam Arnold never got close enough to challenge . The Blobmeister title went to 7 blob Derek Cullen with notable misfiring from Messrs Butterworth , Grogan and Price on a day where our beloved course dominated the vast majority of us on an atypical summers day . Bernie Wood himself trundled into 32nd place with just 29 points but did roll back the years with a sublime birdie 2 on 16 … the only 2 of the day !

The fledgling pairing of Kenneth Maguire and Simon Morley have emerged triumphant after a slow start ,they jointly held the front 9 lead before a sensational start to their journey home repelled all but the magnificent McDermott brothers ( featuring the incredible Mike who plundered 44 points today) who got themselves into a last hole shoot-out but could not match the trophy-clinching 3-point par that Simon Morley delivered at that final hole to condemn the brothers to the runner-up spot for the second time running . HallofFame record holder Danny Miller and Cam Arnold started poorly and were never nearer in third whilst evergreen pair Bernie Wood and Gordon Boardman were in touch at the turn but lost impetus on starting their journey for home and still await their first silverware together with Club Championship contender John Cullen and his talented high-handicap partner Tom Wilkins fifth whilst 2022 winner Paul Slade and his replacement partner Ben Haslam shared the front 9 lead but then had an indifferent journey home (excluding a truly phenomenal Haslam 5-point birdie on 12) which meant a frustrating sixth place finish . An enjoyable event to play for all of us but our beloved course still restricted just four of twenty-one pairs to beat their standard on a day where Kenneth Maguire doubled his haul of trophies whilst Simon Morley had that special moment of winning his first piece of silverware and will get his name on our hallowed boards .

HallofFamer Keith Ralston (35/40/75) produced a blistering front 9 and maintained form which laid the foundation for him to end round One of the Club Championship with a slender but crucial one stroke lead over former champion and HallofFamer Danny Miller in the windy conditions today . Ralstons’ round had been highlighted by two phenomenal birdies on holes 6 and 9 to establish a three stroke lead at the turn . Second placed Danny Miller (38/38/76) was dogged by a cold putter denying him any birdies but he showed teak-tough resilience to chase Ralston down to level after 17 only to drop a stroke on 18. Although those two legends are overwhelming favourites to occupy the top two positions tomorrow , multiple Club Champion Glen Rothwell (40/40/80) and young hotshot Cameron Arnold (41/40/81) will join them on the tee tomorrow needing to recover a 5/6 stroke deficit as soon as possible to get into serious contention whilst stalwart Matt Goodall and HallofFamer John Hogan also are 6 strokes behind with 18 holes to go . Inexplicably , our 2022 Club Champion Dan Bartley had a horrific day , with only two pars and a birdie his positive moments on a day when he suffered many poor holes before the anguish ended with him NR’ing on the 15th hole . For those of you interested in the nett standings , James Beswick , with a net 66 , was the only member to overcome our Club Championship contenders (Ralston 67/ Miller 68) , the only three to beat their handicap on the one weekend where gross is the only format for trophies. With the weather forecast showing difficult conditions tomorrow it is impossible to predict who will prevail but best of luck to ALL contenders !

The extraordinary Alty career of our winningmost member Mr Danny Miller shows no signs of flagging in his 27th season at the club . The Alty GOAT has won his 40th Board Competition, 31st individual and now can boast a 2nd Club Championship as he outlasted fellow HallofFamer Keith Ralston in a truly titanic battle for supremacy over 18 holes today , emerging victorious only on the final green as he nervelessly carded a par score whilst his magnificent rival could only record a bogey . The younger generation were superbly represented by Cameron Arnold , who struggled in his early holes today but produced a scintillating back 9 of just 34 strokes to take third place . HallofFamer John Hogan produced two decent rounds to claim a best-ever fourth place in the event whilst multiple former champion Glen Rothwell got to within just 2 strokes of the leaders before a back 9 collapse saw him finish fifth whilst mid-handicappers Dave Drury and Ged Grogan shared sixth place on a day where the dry conditions , spongy fairways , deceptively thick rough and tricky pin positions made decent scoring very difficult .Only 24 golfers completed 36 holes but for those who did , the bragging rights of filling a high position in our clubs most important Board Competition are theirs by right .

HallofFamer Keith Ralston powered through the field on the back 9 to take the lead with two holes to go and magnificently birdie the final hole to win the 14th Board Competition of the year . Second placed Lee Lomas (-4) and third placed Ged Grogan had blazed the trail with phenomenal front 9’s but with Lomas losing his way on benign holes on the journey home with Grogan failing to tame the Amen Corner holes they both had no answer to the winner . Fellow HallofFamers Stewart Royle and Glen Rothwell both produced decent rounds that showcased their course management in great preparation for the forthcoming Club Championships , whilst last years JFord third John Cullen will be rueing a sluggish start but he regrouped superbly to get within one stroke of the leader standing on the final tee but had no answer to that Ralston birdie .Defending champion Paul MacDonald finished 7 strokes back but couldn’t get close to the leaders on a day where our beloved course bowed to the low handicappers but still restricted just 7 of 49 members in beating their handicap .

Andrew Wood overcomes a horrible start to his round= d A his way through the field and he gloriously snatches his first individual and second trophy of his Alty career whilst relative newcomers Jonathan Reid ( who was 2 strokes clear with just 3 holes to go ) and Stuart Dutton ( who capitulated with an 8 on the last hole when needing a 5 to win ) could not match him. Kenneth Maguire course managed his way to a decent second place whilst HallofF& Glen Rothwell served notice that he is coming into form for the forthcoming JFord Club Championships, firing 3 birdies in his round and a sublime 36 stroke back 9 with David the Doughty also impressing and completing the top 6 on a day when only a quartet of members beat their handicaps .. Defending Champion and HallofFamer Danny Miller had an uncharacteristic day of disappointment, carding a 75 and never getting going as he finished down the field as our beloved course was again dominant .