2023

A tale of golfing villainy as the cruel heartless and ruthless Ged Grogan magnificently plundered his 13th Board Competition at the expense of Mr Derek Cullen , who continues to stand alone as the best member of his generation never to get his name on our hallowed boards despite heroically playing for 4 hours without dropping a stroke to handicap , defying our beloved course before ingloriously failing to conquer that final hole , requiring just a bogey 5 to prevail but carding a heartbreaking 6 as Grogan snatched the trophy with his consistent play despite only taking the lead for the first time after Cullen had missed that putt for glory . Other angst included playing partners and United chums Wood and Wetherill , who both reached -2 after 6 holes only to crumble later on whilst HallofFamer Glen Rothwell took the Gross honours again but had a cold and unresponsive putter with Brian Nicholls playing solidly but never nearer in fifth place . Our beloved course was at its most dominant and unforgiving as it restricted all but just two players beating their handicap out of the 50 competitors as we all struggled to master the spongy fairways , tough rough , tricky greens and sandy bunkers on this summers day .

Mr. Captain John Thompson returned to winning ways and took advantage of his 15 Handicap status with an excellent round to outlast the small field of younger generation players today . Promising starlet Chad Wetherill had his best ever Board Competition finish just two strokes back whilst Andrew Wood continued his good form in third . Cameron Arnold took the best gross score honours in fourth , just ahead of fellow elite golfers John Cullen in fifth and HallofFamer Keith Ralston finishing sixth with Seniors Trophy golf a reality for him next season . The select field of just 12 is a clarion call to all members to help the club in finding more younger generation players to ensure the long term future of our beloved Club ! Hopefully next year we will see a greater number taking part but at least every member playing today were challenging for silverware !

Andrew Moss showed teak-tough resilience to made an explosive start , take the lead from just 6 holes then resist the persistent challenge from Club Champion and winningmost Alty GC legend Danny Miller to win his second individual and third overall Board Competition of his Alty career .Junior Captain and prodigious talent that is MikeMcDermott lost contention after a horror 9 on 7 but still finished just 2 strokes back after a strong back 9 whilst hotshot Vet Stuart Dutton charged through the field with a stellar start to his back 9 and got within a stroke after 15 only to succumb to a poor finish . James Beswick was solid but unspectacular in 5th place and Ged Grogan continued his fine run of form rueing poor form on the short holes and a cold putter with ALL minor placings locked on net 70 just two strokes from glory . These super Six were the only members out of a 53-strong field to beat their handicap as our beloved course again befuddled the vast majority of us as this cooler wetter summer has prevented us with spongier fairways , deceptively tricky rough , many faceted bunker presentations and often unpredictable greens make for a truly difficult test no matter what the weather on the day . Today was a day when it was a Moss that thrived in late summer , a truly tremendous talent triumphant to take a third trophy !

Cameron Arnold delivers a stunning 35 stroke front 9 masterclass to give himself a 3 stroke lead and despite having HallofFamers Danny Miller and Paul MacDonald in position to challenge neither could best our obdurate back 9 which was too tough to make up ground as Arnold cruised to his second Board Competition victory . Encouraging fourth place finish from Mr Captain John Thompson thanks to a stunning finish whilst Secretary Dibble recovered from a poor start to finish fifth with Alty treasure Bernie Wood completing the top 6 on a day where defending champion Oliver McDermott had a day to forget with a net 88 .

Massively 9 strokes behind after just 6 holes , precocious teenage high-handicapper Oliver McDermott then produced a simply scintillating 11 holes to sensationally put the trophy at his mercy but 7 strokes later nevertheless stumbled gloriously to his 3rd Board Competition on countback from the excellent rounds of second placed Ben Haslam and third placed Stephen Whyte who both had played soooo well to place themselves in serious contention but couldn’t step up their game on those Championship holes . Talented high-handicapper James Beswick produced a phenomenal front 9 masterclass to be 6 strokes better than handicap at the turn only to lose form ,focus and composure dropping several strokes during his Amen Corner adventure to cruelly drop back to fourth . Defending champion Keith Ralston finished in a credible fifth place but had the consolation of sharing best gross honours with the rejuvenated Tim Cowsill with HallofFamer Famers John Hogan and Bernie Wood both having decent rounds completing the top 7 on a day which saw our beloved course severely tested at times but still exerting dominance over all but the five members (a mere 10%) who beat their handicap with the other forty-five of us bested by its unique collection of golfing examination papers that always seem to be eminently achievable but which collectively provide us with such a difficult test .

Lee Lomas showed his continuing improvement in his golfing abilities with a dominant and very rare ‘wire to wire’ victory to clinch the second Board Competition of his Alty career , emerging triumphant as he was one of only two golfers to beat his handicap in the difficult conditions today . His success was built on an superlative front 9 showing during which he only took 36 strokes to propel himself into a huge 5 stroke lead at the turn , a lead he never lost although lapses in dropping strokes on holes 14 and 15 had reduced his lead to one before he regrouped to play the Championship holes better than his two closest pursuers , Andy Mills , whose rollercoaster challenge included three birdies . The remarkably consistent Ged Grogan put together a decent round in third whilst Tim Dibble gave away a massive 6 strokes to handicap on just two of his holes to prevent his challenge . Presidents Prize winner Ray Corcoran and Coronation Cup specialist and defending champion George Sainthouse completed the top 6 on a day where the course showed its dominance over the vast majority of us as we struggled with the autumnal conditions .

Ian Cheetham teams up with Jane Pollard and together they dovetailed magnificently to take this years Hacking Trophy this afternoon . Cheetham was second last year with a different partner but himself and Ms Poland produced a sensational round of net 27 to take victory by four strokes . Second-placed Roy Dickens and his partner Pamela Greenall finished well to card a decent net 31 with the partnership of Sue Cunningham and Stuart Mason in third place with a credible net 33 on a day triumphant for the success in revitalising this event for our members , finishing the day with a sumptuous meal in the Club Room .

Prodigious youngster Oliver McDermott sensationally snatches the prestigious RAFA trophy away from evergreen ALTY treasure George Sainthouse who was attempting to attain HallofFamer status as he sought his 15th Board Competition in a duel between the opposite ends of the golfing and life experience spectrum . McDermott was winning the third trophy of the season and 4th in total , all achieved before he is old enough to enjoy a celebratory pint , winning the trophy on countback . Sainthouse had the agony of finishing second for the second successive year whilst the minor places were filled by Jimmy Brown (3rd)HallofFamer Glen Rothwell (4th) with the improving Kenneth Maguire and ALTY stalwart Ged Grogan completing the top 6 in our third most prestigious competition which is largely overlooked by our membership .

HallofFamer Glen Rothwell took his Board Competition winning total to a fantastic 25 after completing an incredible NINTH successive Tommy Povey trophy success and tenth in all . The legendary Alty elite golfer may not have won his beloved Club Championship since 2019 but he continues to have a cast iron grip on the second most prestigious trophy in our cabinet as he cruised to a 13 stroke victory over the rejuvenated former Club Champion Tim Cowsill . Rothwell’ ability to put together scores in the low 70s’ was simply too good and he continues to add to his legend . Fellow HallofFamer Keith Ralston took third place on countback from fellow elite golfer Chris O’Connell whilst 2023 Club Champion and Alty top dog Danny Miller was fifth with Cameron Arnold maintaining his standards in sixth .

Paul MacDonald plundered the 18th Board Competition of his Alty career by dismantling Lee Lomas in a one-sided final to win the Presidents Prize . It was Paul’s 15th individual trophy and he defeated Tom Wilkins , Pete Higgins , Danny Miller in the earlier rounds . Lomas had advanced to the final after defeating Derek Cullen , Mike McDermott and Cameron Arnold in his esrlie4 rounds but was no match for ‘Tiger Mac’ as he was in top form .

Craig Seery has emerged victorious in a Board Competition for the second time in his breakthrough season with an excellent victory to win the prestigious Roberts KO trophy . Seery defeated Chris O’Connell in the final and had triumphed over Colin Richardson , Ray Corcoran and Richard Paulson in the earlier rounds .

Ray Corcoran has superbly emerged triumphant and won his maiden Board Competition defeating multi-Board Comp winner Stuart Mason . Corcoran had previous defeated your observer (Paul Hackett) , Jimmy Brown and Mike Coleman in his earlier rounds whilst Mason got to the final after beating Paul Southworth , Paul Slade and Rob Burrows in his earlier rounds . A fantastic victory for Corcoran after a decent season …