As the sun set on another cricket season, a dozen of Barrow’s players headed off to Thornbury Golf Club for an autumn golf championship. The event was very well organised by Ali Hood to allow participation from golfers of differing standards and as Ali was the self-appointed Handicap Committee it was perhaps no surprise that he ran out the winner.
Meeting for a bacon roll and coffee, the intrepid golfers set out to play the 18 hole Par 3 course in the morning using ½ handicaps. Although Mark Gracey found the bunkers rather challenging, reportedly taking 8 in one, most managed to navigate themselves around to gain a few points.
The results of the Par 3 challenge were:
38 points – Ali Hood
34 points – Sam Turner and Mark Forge
33 points – Simon Hudson and Connor Jones
After a pleasant lunch of roast chicken, many felt like an afternoon nap, but they dragged themselves out again, this time to play the full Par 71 layout. After some disasters off the first tea it looked likely to be a high-scoring affair (in total score not stableford points) but some were able to gather themselves to recover a decent total.
The “nearest the pin” competition was won by Connor Jones and Jon Hood although they were 22 ½ feet away, whilst Martin Williams and Mark Forge were much closer but just on the fringe. Meanwhile the longest drive competition took place on a narrow hole with a howling wind against. Long drives by Nick Heal and Sam Turner did not count as they found fairway bunkers and it looked as though Martin’s effort with a hybrid club would take the prize but he was pipped by about a foot by the unlikely figure of Mark Forge in the final group with only his second ever shot with a new driver!
Other highlights were Simon Hudson driving the green at a par 4 hole and holing the put from 10 feet for a genuine eagle, but net albatross, as Peter Alliss would say: “a very rare bird indeed”.
There were chip-ins for Sam and Ali and Rob Figuereido also had an impressive back nine. But it was the consistent play of Connor Jones (36 points) which won the afternoon with Martin Williams and Jon Hood tied for second on 33 points.
So after an enjoyable, if tiring day, the overall final results were:
Winner – Ali Hood 71 points
Joint Runners Up – Sam Turner and Connor Jones 69 points
Fourth – Mark Forge 67 points.
There was also a team competition where the winning team comprised: Connor, Nick, Ali, Simon, Rob and Mark Gracey.
In view of the success of the day, it may well be that another tournament will be arranged for the spring and become a more regular part of the Barrow Gurney CC social scene.