*Trolley ban next week at Fairhaven* -Now 11.15am Shotgun
Maxitours at Vale Royal
Vale Royal once again lived up to its reputation as perhaps the driest golf course in Cheshire. Superb fairways and greens ensured a great day was enjoyed by all. Many thanks to Ian Embury and his terrific staff who looked after us so well throughout the day.
Ian George couldn’t believe how good the golf course was. ‘ It’s Incredibly dry out there. My wild swinging team mate Dave Blood told me that there were a couple of wet bits in the rough but I didn’t see any!’ said the modest fairway hitting Denton man.
This winter has seen too much rain fall in the North West. Wealthy John Donnelly’s old golf bag looks like it suffered from some damp after all the rain. Today despite the clear conditions John was suffering from even more leakage. This time it was his golf shots that were trickling away as he struggled on the tough back nine.
Darren Whittaker is superstitious and he says he never plays well on Thursdays. His team mates told me that on several occasions this season he has started his round badly and blamed it on the wrong day of the week. The big question was would ‘Wednesday Whittaker’ fare any better..? Unfortunately not- according to his good pal Ian King.
Brian Ankers team was throwing balls up to see who was partnering who. Brian has been known to use a little bit of chewing gum to stick his balls together to avoid playing with Roy ‘ Throw a piano closer to the hole than I can chip it’ Ainsworth. Ankers nearly lost his ball in the rough after his well judged ball toss finished well away from Roy’s pinnacle.
In today’s event the ideal scoring conditions and yellow tees led to some excellent returns. Only one shot separated the first six teams. Knutsford Golf Club’s Les Penson was delighted with 5th place as he played alongside Heyrose man Steve Gowrie and scored 44 points.
Lymm Golf Club is recovering well after a recent flood and members Martin Cox(28) and Dutchman Koos Alders(14) enjoyed their day out at Vale Royal. Alders is a highly respected risk assessor and after much thought he assessed that the best thing to do was to hit a feeble lag putt on the closing hole to secure a win. Unfortunately their 45 points was only good enough for 4th place after losing out on a card play-off. ‘He wouldn’t go for it’ complained his partner Cox.
Brendon Leighton(16) and Dave McGuiness(13) from Macclesfield picked up shots on all five of their closing holes to secure third spot. Mottram Hall’s Ron Jolley(14) and Gary Smith(7) took second place also with 45 points but they were beaten on the card play-off after a slightly worse last 6 holes.
Frank Stapleton(13) from Heyrose and Dave Wilson(8) from the Marriott enjoyed their first win of the Winter Tour . Wilson is a famous crime writer and he stole the victory with a lovely birdie on his closing hole- the 11th. It was also the perfect end to Stapleton’s perfect week after he enjoyed watching United’s total domination against the scousers on Sunday.
Thanks to all players for your support . Despite the venue and date change there was 100% attendance once again.- Brilliant. Also thanks everyone who carried today, I really appreciate it.
Yours in Golf, Tim
Nearest the Pin 10th hole Mark Riley Dozen AD333s
Nearest the Pin 16th hole Paul Nightingale Dozen AD333s
2’s £117.50 9 Titleist Pro V1s or 24 Srixon AD333s Mick Mahon Les Penson Bri Hopkins Kevin Hawkins
| Vale Royal | 20-Jan-2016 | |||
| Pos | Player pairings | Score | OoM | Comment |
| 1 | Frank Stapleton, Dave Wilson | 45 | 12 | Cleveland wedge each |
| 2 | Ron Jolley, Gary Smith | 45 | 11 | Tommy Hilfiger shirt each |
| 3 | Brendon Leighton, Dave McGuiness | 45 | 10 | Footjoy shirt each |
| 4 | Koos Alders, Martin Cox | 45 | 9 | Dozen Z Stars each |
| 5 | Les Penson, Steve Gowrie | 44 | 8 | Sunice shirt each |
| 6 | Bob Kwan, Billy Rawsthore | 44 | 7 | Sunice shirt each |
| 7 | Dave Blood, Jim Cox | 42 | 6 | Titleist cap each |
| 8 | Phil Dermott, Mark Riley | 42 | 5 | Titleist cap each |
| 9 | Graham Littler, Tom Thompson | 42 | 4 | Maxitours winter hat each |
| 10 | Brian Hopkins, Alan Smith | 42 | 3 | Maxitours winter hat each |
| 11 | Martin France, Pete Atherton | 42 | 2 | |
| 12 | Joe Kirwan, Mike Spencer | 41 | 1 | |
| 13= | Steve Gibbons, Trevor Webb | 41 | ||
| 13= | Mark Jones, Paul Nightingale | 41 | ||
| 13= | John Royle, Guy Hall | 41 | ||
| 13= | Phil Vokes, Barney Ross | 41 | ||
| 13= | Steve Blakely, Graham Jackson | 41 | ||
| 13= | Kevin Reeves, Jim Hogdes | 41 | ||
| 19= | Colin Roberts, John Rigby | 40 | ||
| 19= | Alan Simpson, Alan Drew | 40 | ||
| 19= | Dave Moore, Dave Parsons | 40 | ||
| 19= | Roger Percival, Ed Wilkinson | 40 | ||
| 19= | Dave Thomas, Dave Bentley | 40 | ||
| 19= | Chris Hammond, Eric Broadhurst | 40 | ||
| 19= | Tony Adams, Jeff Andrews | 40 | ||
| 26= | Dick Brown, John Jones | 39 | ||
| 26= | Simon Hemsley, Mickey Gray | 39 | ||
| 26= | Stuart Pearson, Kevin Hawkins | 39 | ||
| 26= | Peter Daniels, Brian Aitchin | 39 | ||
| 30= | Mick Mahon, Frank Hindle | 38 | ||
| 30= | Richard Palmer, John Farnsworth | 38 | ||
| 30= | Steve Aspinall, Colin Berry | 38 | ||
| 30= | Leigh Smart, Ray Tennant | 38 | ||
| 30= | Danny Henshaw, Nathan Gowing | 38 | ||
| 30= | Matt Jansen, Warren Newton | 38 | ||
| 30= | Kenny Chinn, Trevor Kenny | 38 | ||
| 30= | Sam Leach, Bob Chesters | 38 | ||
| 38= | Brian Ankers, Les French | 37 | ||
| 38= | Chris Adams, Jeff Churchman | 37 | ||
| 38= | John Aikenhead, Liam Harrison | 37 | ||
| 38= | Mark Hagerty, Tony Taylor | 37 | ||
| 42= | Ian George, Andy Sandham | 36 | ||
| 42= | David Harlow, John Atkin | 36 | ||
| 42= | Richard Blackwell, Pat Keenan | 36 | ||
| 45= | Ian King, Darren Whittaker | 35 | ||
| 45= | Peter Freeman, Keith Potter | 35 | ||
| 45= | Graham Blood, John Gough | 35 | ||
| 48= | Bob Sutton, David Fellows | 34 | ||
| 48= | Rob Weston, Steve Foxcroft | 34 | ||
| 50 | Keith Jackson, David Statham | 33 | ||
| 51= | Roy Ainsworth, Mike Verdon | 32 | ||
| 51= | Dave Parsons, Dave Moore | 32 |
*Next week at Fairhaven is strictly carry only- please inform me immediately if you wish to cancel*.
ALSO! Under no circumstances can a shot be played from the newly turfed areas on the 8th and 15th fairways- players will be asked to leave the course if they fail to take relief.
Fairhaven Pairs 26th January 2016
NOW 11.15am SHOTGUN!
1a Colin Roberts x4
1b Ian Ainsworth x4
2 Phil Vokes x4
3b John Hilditch x2 Ian Buxton x2
4 Richard Blackwell x2 Chris Wrighton x2
5 Dave Crowther x4
6 Pete Short x4
6b Leigh Smart x4
7 Rob Little x4
7b Steve Johnson x2 Les Penson x2
8 Gav Sutcliffe x4
9aDave Kelly x4
9b Chris Adams x4
10a Ian King x4
11a Mick Mahon x4
11b Roger Percival x4
12 Dave Blood x4
13aRoy Ainsworth x4
13b Gary Garner x2 Mark Williams x2
14 Chris Hammond x4
15 Bob Mottershead x4
16a Alistair Culpan x4
16 Paul Wrigley x4 tbc
17 Derek Hollindrake x4
18a Trevor Foster x4
Pete Myers x2
Mike Dean x4
MaxitoursGolf 