Ali Hood triumphed once again at the Autumn BGCC golf day, beating the blustery conditions and occasionally heavy rain, to post a record afternoon score for the tournament at Thornbury Golf Club.
As the twelve Barrow players and friends teed up on Friday the relative calm of the morning gave little indication as to what was to come. Playing the Par 3 course in the morning, Jon Hood benefited from some good fortune on the first as he careered into the trees only for the ball to obligingly rebound to the front of the green. He then chipped in and that laid the foundation of a leading score for the morning of 38 stableford points as he continued to chip and put well. The Spring Golf day winner Mark Forge, also benefitted from a chip in as he made 37 points, whilst in the same group Ali pushed him hard with 36. Paul Gard and Barrow legend Gordon Ladd were only 1 further back as we broke for lunch.
Before the afternoon round everyone had an attempt to launch the ball with Matt Owen’s 4 wood (or was it a mashy niblek?) which was like a relic from the 19th century. But as the groups began to tee off for real, the wind started to pick up.
After 9 holes the combination of the wind and occasional driving rain played havoc with many players’ games. Gordon’s decision to visit his grandchildren after 9 holes seemed extremely wise. Martin Williams managed to lose 4 balls in consecutive shots, which must be some sort of record, but later recovered to win the longest drive at the Par 5 9th.
Most found it hard to score on the back 9, but other difficulties faced some golfers as Martin fell down a hole on the 15th, and Mark was hit on the thigh pad by an errant ball (not from a Barrow player!) neither incident helping their cause.
But Ali seemed immune to the weather, and even managed not to be distracted when 2 golf buggies collided in front of the 18th tee when he was about to drive. 39 points was nothing short of sensational in the afternoon round and is a Barrow record over the 3 golf days so far. As chairman of the handicap committee he is sure to instigate a review into his handicap before the spring.
Ali’s total score of 75 was well ahead of the rest. Brother Jon, despite taking an age to add up his score, was unable to make it reach anything other than 68 and so he tied for second with Paul Gard who was consistent throughout the day and also won the nearest the pin prize at one of the par 3s. Simon Hudson was a respectable 4th with 64 points.
We hope for better weather at the end of March for the next instalment and a chance to knock Ali off his perch.