Spaces for three teams tomorrow at superb Vale Royal!
Maxitours Spring Classic at Sandiway
Several Maxitours players travelled South from Accrington this morning which was under three inches of snow. ‘By eck It was cold in our outdoor toilet’ said Burnley fan Peter Cross but he was delighted to arrive in Cheshire and see the idyllic green golf course bathed in glorious sunshine.
Sandiway Golf Manager Anthony Roberts runs a tight ship and all his staff are really friendly and professional. Thank you very much for your hospitality- everything today was really first class.
Spring had arrived in this quiet picturesque corner of Cheshire. The birds are singing loudly, the hawthorne hedgerows are turning green, the trees are starting to blossom and Pete Short was searching for his ball in the daffodils.
Barry Pendlebury from Bury is a tongue twister and a half but he let his clubs do the talking with an excellent front nine on the course today.
There are a number of high achieving pairs of brothers in the sporting world. Jamie Murray is now ranked number 1 doubles player in the world whilst his brother Andy is number 3 in the world rankings. The talented Molinari brothers both appeared in the same Ryder Cup team and the Charlton brothers won the world cup in 1966. The Hanson brothers, Phil and Dave unfortunately have very little talent and they could only manage a hopeless 76 points today.
Dave Beavis hit the shot of his life as his ball rolled to within less than a foot of the pin on the par three 18th. ‘That was the best shot of my career, I ‘ll be absolutely gutted if that doesn’t win ‘ After treating himself to a frothy bitter and a packet of his favourite dry roasted nuts he sat next to the clubhouse window only to choke on his pint as Iain Bartholomew in the very next fourball trickled his ball down to within 6 inches. ‘Bloody Hell’ was all gracious Dave could mutter.
The scoring was excellent in the breezy conditions. This was mainly due to the smooth putting surfaces prepared by top Head green keeper Brian. At the start of the day he apologised for not ironing the greens due to the heavy overnight rain but there were only glowing reports from my players as they completed their rounds on this superbly manicured course. ‘Amazing!’ was how Dave Marchant described this masterpiece.
Fourth place went to the Trentham team of Gav Dixon(4), Paul Hodges(11), Dave Peake(11) and Mike Taylor(9) with 85 points. Stuart ‘Pancho’ Pearson(5), Ian Bardsley(3), Frank Stapleton(12) and the new slim-line Dave Wilson(6) also had 85 points but a slightly better back nine earned them a 3rd place finish.
Mike Spencer(12) is the handicap Secretary at Bramall golf Club and he is a great bloke who really loves his golf. After a quiet winter he has come out of hibernation and is starting to play some sparkling golf and helped his team finish in a season best second place. Ian King(8) and Jack Hankinson(12) are also warming up very nicely for the Summer.
Fourth team member Darren Whittaker(13) can sometimes be negative and he is famous for saying that he ‘never plays well on Thursdays’. Today was Tuesday -so had things improved? ‘No, I was terrible.’
Roy Ainsworth(26) doesn’t look a day over seventy. He celebrated his 65th birthday today and after a poor front nine he gave his team a ‘good talking to’. They then played the tougher back nine in a superb 49 points. Brian Ankers(15), Peter Heald(10) and Mike Verdon(15) completed the senior quartet from Lymm. Well played chaps great score.
Joe Yates (77 points team score) is a pal of Roy’s but he says there is not a cat in hells chance of Roy winning. ‘He’s a year older tomorrow and he’s also out tonight on the razzle so you can write him off.’
There are prizes for the top 4 teams each day and the top 2 teams overall. Teams can only win 1 prize over the two days so the full results/prize list will appear after tomorrows round.
Thanks to everyone for your terrific support, yours in golf, Tim
Nearest the Pin in 2 on 8th Leigh Smart Dozen AD333s
Nearest the Pin on 18th Iain Bartholomew Dozen AD333s
2’s sweep £197.50 3 pro V1s or 8 Srixon AD333s Simon Parkin Bryn Largue Danny Ritchie Iain Bartholomew Dave Beavis Gareth Winston Barney Ross Chris Armitt Graham Littler Billy Rawsthore Andy Jackson Tony Dagnall Gav Dixon Stuart Pearson Martin Callahan Sean Bate Mick Mahon Dave Bowers Dave Chambers Steve Howarth Dave Wilson Ian Bardsley Colin Berry Graham Wilkinson John Longworth
| Sandiway | 29-Mar-2016 | |||
| Pos | Team Players | Score | OoM | Comment |
| 1 | Roy Ainsworth, Mike Verdon, Brian Ankers, Peter Heald | 88 | 12 | |
| 2 | Ian King , Darren Whittaker, Jack Hankinson, Mike Spencer | 86 | 10 | |
| 3 | Frank Stapleton, Stuart Pearson, Dave Wilson, Ian Bardsley | 85 | 8 | |
| 4 | Gav Dixon, Paul Hodson, David Peake, Mike Taylor | 85 | 6 | |
| 5 | Steve Aspinall, Graham Drew, Colin Berry, Graham Wilkinson | 84 | 4 | |
| 6 | Simon Poucher, Dave McGuiness, Brendan Leighton, Greg Brown | 84 | 2 | |
| 7= | Barney Ross, Joe Kirwan , Simon Parkin, Bryn Larkin | 83 | ||
| 7= | Jody Kerner, Sean Bate, Bob Montford, Tony O’Neill | 83 | ||
| 9= | Danny Ritchie, Phil Cooney, Carl Robinson, Reeece Cranfield | 82 | ||
| 9= | Pete Cleaver, Jack Pryce, Jason Henderson, Paul Clay | 82 | ||
| 11= | Simon Hemsley, Mickey Gray, Al Demmy, Warren Newton | 81 | ||
| 11= | Iain Bartholomew, John Hilditch, Clive Evans, Ian Noake | 81 | ||
| 11= | Dave Bowers, John Bent, Billy Blissett, Steve Latchford | 81 | ||
| 14= | Jason Waite, Steve Pinnington, Steve Lowe, Andy Hayward | 80 | ||
| 14= | Leigh Smart, Ray Tennant, Billy Rawsthore, Andy Jackson | 80 | ||
| 14= | Dave Blood, Jim Cox, Ian George, Phil Hudson | 80 | ||
| 17= | Barry Jackson, Dave Beavis, Bob Weir, Dom Connor | 79 | ||
| 17= | Graham Littler, Jim Doran, Peter Daniels, Brian Hitchen | 79 | ||
| 17= | Pete Short, Josh Johns, Martin Callahan, Dave Buckley | 79 | ||
| 17= | Ron Sloane, Tim Spencer, Pete Walters, Barry Pendlebury | 79 | ||
| 17= | Geoff Underhill, Ben Luscombe, Jamies Eadie, Bill Rotherer | 79 | ||
| 22= | Neil Laurent, Garteth Winston, Darren Burgess, Gareth Kershaw | 77 | ||
| 22= | Dave Rowley, Conrad O’Neill, Paul Wardle, Rick Davies | 77 | ||
| 22= | Gary Neiles, Joe Yates, Alan Forber, John Longworth | 77 | ||
| 25= | Colin Roberts, John Rigby, Dave Marchant, Geof Andrews | 76 | ||
| 25= | Monroe Donald, Keiron Hunt, Phil Hanson, Dave Hanson | 76 | ||
| 25= | David Kelly , John Atkin, Stuart Blake, Dave Harlow | 76 | ||
| 28= | Rob Little, Dave Beard, Pete Booth, Graham Bates | 75 | ||
| 28= | Paul Lowe, Paul Jones, Chris Armitt, Steve Armitt | 75 | ||
| 28= | Les Russon, Steve Merricks, Rob Kenyon, Ken Clarke | 75 | ||
| 28= | Tom Jarvis, Tony Dagnall, Mike Eardley, Ken Hulme | 75 | ||
| 32= | Chris Brownhill, Simon Parkin, Gordon Hamlett, Pete Hamlett | 74 | ||
| 32= | Dave Chambers, Gavin Connor, Tony Stiles, Steve Howarth | 74 | ||
| 34 | Mick Mahon, Richard Palmer, Frank Hindle, John Farnsworth | 73 | ||
| 35 | Gary Whittaker, Andy Levis, Dave Winstanley, Safai Dave | 72 | ||
| 36 | Paul Browne, John Jones, Dale Wallace, Ted Barker | 71 | ||
| 37= | John Stubbs, Peter Cross, Dave Parsons, Guy Hall | 70 | ||
| 37= | Ray Jones, Steve Tyrell, Kevin Fahy, Chris Meikleham | 70 | ||
| 39 | Brian , Greenbanks , Invitational , Team | 67 |
Start times at Vale Royal tomorrow
8.30 Colin Roberts x4
8.39 Danny Ritchie x4
8.48
8.57 Simon Hemsley x4
9.06
9.15 David Kelly x4
9.24 Brian Greenbank x4
10.30 Dave Blood x4
10.39 Neil Laurent x4
10.48 Les Corner x4
10.57 Paul Lowe x4
11.06 Andy Wilde x4
11.15 Bernard Hessian x4
11.24 Ray Jones x4
11.33 Pete Short x4
11.42 Phil Vokes x4
11.51 Barry Jackson x4
12.00 Roy Ainsworth x4
12.09 Monroe Donald x4
12.18
12.27 Roger Percival x4
12.36 Steve Wilson x4
12.45 Mark Gauchie x4
12.54 Mick Mahon x4
1.03 Barry Simpson x4
1,12 Mark Goodwin x4
1.21 Sean Bate x2 Mark Jones x1 Paul Bishop x1
1.30 John Hudson x4
1.39 Brian Hopkins x4
1.48 Richard Blackwell x4
1.57 Gav Dixon x4
2.06 Joe Yates x4
2.15
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