Captains Day 2009

Before the write-ups of the competition, I would first of all like to thank everybody involved for the day. Both the captains did a fantastic job not only setting up the competition and prizes etc, for the day, but for the whole year. Shirley Bright has always done a good job for the club as both captain and president, and Stuart Robinson has done a fantastic job as mens captain so far this season, and Im sure it will continue for the rest of the year. It was not only the two captains who did a fantastic job on Sunday, but also the ladies who sorted out all the food and ran the tent, making sure evreybody was refreshed after 9 holes. A big thank you goes out to Jane Sawbridge, Pam Bent and Joan Leet who always do a cracking job. Also if it was not for Pat Mortimer or Mark Allen the tent would not have been erected. Mark and Pat were out at 5.30 putting the tent up, with Pat also rushing round the course to put the white tee markers out, so thanks to those two as well. If I have missed anybody I am sorry, but to everybody involved on the day you did a fantastic job.

Mens Gross

The gross prize is the one to win for the men, with the winner of the gross prize taking home the captains cup. The winner usually comes from one of the single figure handicappers, but not every year. This year the gross prize was won by Ed Eley. Ed shot 72 to take home the captains cup, a round which included 4 birdies and 4 bogeys amd a back 9 of 33. Ben Hall had the second best gross with a 75, although his start of 3 3 4 4 3 3 to see him through the first 6 in -4 left him very dissapointed to shoot 75. Some pretty awful and very unlucky golf in the next 5 holes saw him drop 7 shots to put him +3 through 11. The luck was with him for the first 6, but as soon as it ran out and became bad luck, that was it. Ben won the cup two years ago, with Adam Jacques winning the cup last year. Adam Jacques shot 76 to finish with the third best gross. Ben had also won the Captains 9 Hole Social Evening the previous Friday Night ahead of Joh Giles, and just like with the par 3 comp at the Masters, it is usually a curse that whoever wins the social night fails to win the main competition, which Ben just missed out on.
Mens Division 1
Quite often with the winner of the gross coming from division 1, it means that the division 1 prizes to not always go the best 3 Nett scores in that division. This year was the same. Ed Eley who won the best gross also had the best division 1 Nett score on count-back from Ben Hall, with both players shooting a Nett 69. Due to the fact that Ed won the gross and you can only win one prize, Ben won the best Nett for division 1. This also meant that division 1 only had two Nett prizes, and the second best Nett prize for division 1 went to Darren Peden. Darren was 3 shots behind Ben and Ed with a Nett 72. Darren's Nett 72 beat Adam Jacques on count-back. Ben's Nett 69 has seen him get cut back down to 5.
Mens Division 2
Division 2 was won by Lee Cracknell, who shot a gross 85 Nett 70, taking the divisions first prize on count-back. All three of the prize-winners for division 2 shot Nett 70, with Mick Geddes coming second on count-back. Mick's gross score was 88 playing off 18, as was Steve Buckley's who finished thrid for the division. Lee has now been cut to 14 after Captains Day. There were a number of people who were only just over their handicaps in this division, with 5 people shooting Nett 73, and a number of people shooting Nett 74s and 75s.
Mens Division 3
The two best Nett scores of the day came from division 3, with Tony Greaves and Paul Hancock both shooting Nett 68s. Tony Greaves won division 3 ahead of Paul on count-back. Tony played off 24 and shot a gross 92, while Paul shot a gross 90 playing off 22. Both players have now been cut, with Tony cut to 23 and Paul cut to 20. Jim Sawbridge was third with a Nett 70, shooting 91 off him 21 handicap.
Mens 2s, Nearest The Pin, Nearest The Pin in 2 and Longest Drive
There were 7 people who got a 2 on Captains Day who had paid their £1 to enter the 2s competition, with the exception of Dave Goodman, who paid £2 to enter therefore getting two shares of the pot. Each share of the 2s was £8.50, but as mentioned Dave picked up two shares. The other players who made 2s were Anthony Henfrey and Ed Eley from division 1, with Ed's and Dave's coming at the 10th, while Ant's came at the 16th. Ant was the only player to birdie the 16th in the whole of the day, and his shot into the 16th won him nearest the pin. The nearest the pin is normally played on the 10th hole, but it was changed this year, and it certainly made it a lot harder. The other players to get 2s were all from division 2, and they were Gary Stone, Paul Hillsdon, Lee Cracknell and Brian Fletcher-Warrington. Nobody in division 3 managed a 2 on the day. In addition to the nearest the pin on 16, there was also a nearest the pin in 2 on the 9th. This was won by Adam Jacques. The longest drive was once again put on the 2nd hole, and it was won by Mohammed Asra.
Juniors
Jake Hurst had been in fantastic form going into Captains Day, and many of the juniors had been tipping him to follow up his Phyllis Stanyon win with a win here. He did just that, winning the competition by 3 shots after his Gross 80 Nett 65 playing off 15. Jake has now been cut to 13 as a result of Captains Day. Andrew Keogh was second with a Gross 87 Nett 68 off 19, which got him cut to 18.8, still leaving him a playing handicap of 19. Oliver Fletcher-Warrington was 3rd with a Nett 70 while Briony Allen was 4th with a Nett 71. It was another good turnout in terms of amount of players playing in the junior competition, and once again the juniors didnt dissapoint by shooting some good scores. Keep it up juniors. There was also a longest drive, nearest the pin and nearest the pin in 2 for the juniors, and the longest drive was won by Andrew Keogh. The nearest the pin in 2 was won by Oliver Fletcher-Warrington, while Jake Ellson won the nearest the pin on the 16th.
Ladies
Clare Shaw won the ladies Captains Day after she shot a Nett 70.
Past Captains Cup
Every year in Captains Day everybody who has been Captain of the club plays for the Past Captains Cup, in addition to the main prizes. There are always a few players who are no longer members at the club who always come back for Captains Day to try and win the cup. This year the mens Past Captains Cup was won by Jim Sawbridge, who also claimed third best Nett in division 3. The ladies Past Captains Cup was won by Su Goodman.