2024

The articles in this section represent the stories behind the names on the board of the 2024 Board Competition Season for this golf course ... 2024AGC captain Dave Drury is pictured . These articles could be completed for any golf club ... contact us for details . The scribe who created all of these reports and this website is Paul Hackett . If anyone has pictures of the winners / contenders they are welcome to contact this website .

Ian Cheetham recovers from a poor start and ultimately strolls to a fifth Board Competition victory showing teak-tough resilience with a ‘Championship holes’ masterclass to defy the legendary Danny Miller (who played solidly showing his course management expertise) by a 3 hole margin . Exec chef Mark Wetherill was leading after 15 but a succession of fluffy short chips cooked his golfing goose in third whilst Rich Paulson only got going from 11 but was +3 in his final octet of holes to finish strongly in fourth. Son/father duo Mike McDermott and Pete Higgins completed the top 6 on a day when our beloved course exhausted us mentally and physically as the membership got used to the extra dimensions of attrition it now challenges us with …

The father and son combination of Alastair and Jonny Cutteridge brilliantly navigate their way through the tortuous rounds of our winter golfing knockout , showing fantastic staying power in the white-hot Championship holes to outlast their opponents to take the coveted trophy with the youthful exuberance of Jonny allied to the relentless reliability of the divine Alastair sweeping aside battle-hardened and illustrious pairs and auguring very well for their individual and joint summer campaigns for this summer season .

Cameron Arnold makes use of his brutal but accurate prowess off the tee and keeps his composure on our bruised and battered course to shoot net 69 outlasting his elite rival Chris O’Connell by a single stroke to secure the third Board Competition victory of his Alty career taking control of the competition from the 6th hole and crucially net birdieing the penultimate hole to halt the charge of O’Connell , who had drawn level with just the Championship holes to play . HallofFamer Keith Ralston served notice that he is intent on adding to his impressive trophy haul with a tremendous net 71 despite a cold putter throughout whilst winningmost legend Danny Miller , Craig Seery and your scribe Paul Hackett completed the top 6 on a day on which our course made things extremely difficult for us all with only the top two members beating their handicap.

Neil Royle produces the golfing template for mastering our beloved but bruised and battered course with a simply sublime net 66 to plunder his 19th Board Competition victory from the excellent Matt Astbury , whose net 70 was the only other sub-handicap round . A.Ty legend Danny Miller recovered from a poor start to finish third whilst our 2024 Captain Dave Drury showed glimpses of form to take fourth place . Former Club Champions David Royle and best gross player Tim Cowsill completed the top 6 on a day where the course was just too tough for the vast majority of the membership as it gradually returns to its former self . Much to do for those high handicappers amongst us to wrest power from our more talented colleagues but we are all just glad to be out there competing after such a brutal start to the golfing year .

Ben Haslam powers his way to his maiden Board Competition victory , plundering an impressive 41 points to outlast HallofFamer Bernard Wood and outclass the rest of the field with a ‘Championship holes’ masterclass which proved crucial . Wood was glorious in defeat , the only other golfer to better his handicap as he amassed a magnificent 39 points in second place . whilst elite golfer Chris O’Connell recovered from a poor start to score 35 points in third . Messrs Seery , HallofFamer Ralston and Jonny Cutteridge completed the top 6 , each posting 15/19/34 and signalling their own decent form . The course again defeated the rest of us but it is very gradually returning to normal but continuing at its obdurate best .

Defending Champions Alty Captain Dave Drury and his golfing protege James Beswick magnificently produce a stellar back 9 performance to gloriously retain their Greatbanks trophy , surviving a last hole loss which gave competing pairs Keith Ralston and Andrew Wood AND the David Doughty/Peter Tomlinson combo the opportunity to snatch the silverware from them by winning the final hole . Heartbreakingly for them , neither could do that despite them both pairs showing tremendous form to get themselves in that position . The elite pairing of Chris O’Connell and Cameron Arnold played attacking pin-seeking golf which catapulted them to lead the competition at the turn but they couldn’t build on their start to finish fourth with 2024 hotshots Craig /Reuben Thompson and Alty newboys Nick Parry and Robert Geraghy completing the top 6 on a day where James Beswick (+2) David the Doughty (+1) and Andrew Wood (+1) produced the best individual performances and were the only members to ‘beat the course’ as our beloved real estate again produced a difficult golfing examination paper for us all .

HalloFamer Keith Ralston ruthlessly plundered the sweet 16th. Board Competition of his Alty career as the front 9 leader recovered after a poor start to his journey home to get back into contention , coming back from 2 strokes back with just one hole to play to ‘go for broke’ and showing his teak-tough mentality to produce a sensational trophy-winning birdie to take the Gibson for the second time . Cameron Arnold again played golfing bridesmaid as he went to the altar of the final hole in control but was heartbreakingly thwarted whilst high-handicapper James Beswick can rue a quartet of poor holes but at the same time salute his ‘go for broke’ mentality that saw him go very close . The O’Connells father and son completed the top 5 with encouraging rounds of promise whilst the evergreen golfing bandit that is known as Peter Higgins manoeuvred himself into sixth place , bemoaning that he failed to build on a great start to his round on a day where only one beat his handicap as our beloved course bossed us again .

Brian Southworth rolls back the years to win the Five Club Shield for the second time , an incredible 26 years after winning the event to open his Board Competition account and now the HalloFamer taking his 17th trophy of his illustrious Alty career . Southworth broke away from a 3-way tie for the lead at the turn and never looked back , with a standout Amen Corner performance extended his lead to stroll to a dominant 3 stroke victory . Much credit to second-placed David Doughty , who started superbly , lost his way for a time starting his journey home but finished strongly to card a net 71 .Tony O’Connell and Nathan Butterworth shared the lead after 6 holes but both faltered on their back 9 to finish 6 strokes back whilst senior golfers Johnston and Wilks completed the top 6 with steady but unspectacular rounds whilst triple defending champion Neil Royle never got going in his quest for an extraordinary 4th shield on the trot and finished just outside the top 10.

John Cullen finally harnesses his undoubted talents to complete an overdue and richly-deserved maiden Board Competition victory , holding his nerve on the Championship holes to snatch the trophy and breaking the golfing heart of long-time leader and 6-time Board Competition winner Tim Dibble , who had played stunning golf to lead by three strokes with just 6 holes to play . Third-placed Mike McDermott was perhaps more broken-hearted as he shared the lead with Dibble and Cullen as they played the final hole and needed just a 5 for victory but carded 8 . Fourth placed Joe Cronshaw played beautifully on the front 9 to lead at the turn but a quad bogey on 11 destroyed his momentum whilst fellow 16 handicappers Corcoran and Gleave were steady rather than spectacular in completing the top 6 with defending champion Oliver MacDermott finishing seventh without ever managing to properly challenge on a day where our beloved course again bested the membership .

The magnificent Royle brothers Neil and Stewart bestrode our golf course like a colossus to stroll to the aggregate Pairs title finishing on +3 ... they course-managed their way to victory courtesy of a spectacular;ar Amen Corner campaign , improving their position to such an extent that a 5 stroke lead as they stood on the 13th tee was increased to a THIRTEEN stroke advantage just 3 holes later as the rest of us toiled on those AC holes which allowed them to coast to a 10 stroke victory over the Capt.Drury/O'Connell Sr combo with early leaders (and ex-Captains ) Mason and Dickens Sr.a further 4 strokes back in third . Completing the top 6 with distinctly unflattering scores were ... your reporter Hackett/Christian (4th) with the elite pairings of O'ConnellJr/Hadfield and Bartley/Arnold in 5th and 6th respectively on a day where only Neil Royle with a simply sensational 68 bested the course on a day which will go down as one of the poorest scoring on record .