Last Saturday saw the renewal of The Brockwood Trophy, now converted to a 3 club challenge and deemed a roaring success by all those who played. With scoring counted under Stableford rules each player was invited to select, in advance, one hole on the front nine and another from their back nine, at which they could play a ‘joker’ doubling their points tally for those holes. This year’s renewal also featured sponsorship in the form of a fine selection of South African wines for prizes, supplied by Barry Van der Vyver, who, after a recent fire at The King Billy, has moved his restaurant business to Brockwood Hall.
In the build up to the day the format generated a lot of discussion, with nobody certain as to which three clubs would suit all circumstances on the course and there were a variety of options evident on the day. Conditions were far from ideal with a strong gusting wind and the occasional heavy shower, which led those going out in the afternoon to wonder if those playing in the morning had had the best of the weather. But when the results were announced those doubts were proven unfounded.
Five lady players joined in the fun in the afternoon too, braving the weather and each finding success during their round. Club Secretary Diane Clark took the honours among the ladies and showed a fine understanding of the format by nominating the 3rd as her joker before having an outstanding par for a total of eight points. An excellent 5 on the fifth brought another three points and by the end of her round she had accumulated 30 points; a terrific effort in extreme conditions. Helen Holmes turned a meager front nine around with an admirable tally of 17 on the back nine to claim second overall with a total of 22 points and this year’s Lady Captain Chris Lloyd-Rogers took third, partly as a result of a 5 on the 16th for three points. Chris was also the only lady to select her driver to use. For Isobel Wilson success came on the tricky 13th where an excellent 5 brought her three points and another 5 on the somewhat easier 16th gained her another three. Playing alongside Isobel was local NHS heroine Yvonne Goodrick who won Joker Queen of the day by taking four points from her 6 on the 7th and a further four from the par three 15th.
Paul Carter has been among the prizes in earlier comps and continued his extraordinary form here, as your correspondent was lucky enough to witness. Paul was a formidable junior golfer before going off to join the army and then becoming a stand out player for Millom Amateur Rugby League Club. Having finally swapped the oval ball for a little white one Paul is rapidly developing into a fine prospect and with time on his side seems destined to join Silecroft’s top golfers. With brand new clubs to hand Paul opted to go with a fairway wood, pitching wedge and 7 iron; putting extremely well throughout with the wood. A fabulous birdie on the fifth, the only one on the day, brought four points among a front nine total of 20 and a par on the 13th whilst playing his joker added six more for 17 points on the back, bringing a winning total of 37 points. Great golf! In a round which included three blanks, off a handicap of 21 and by virtue of hitting the ball a long, long way Paul obviously has the talent to win a lot more this season. His one mistake on this occasion may have been playing alongside the handicap secretary! Lol In second place, on countback, and playing off the lowest handicap of the day [8]was John Young with 33. Eight was also the number of pars on his card, which, in those conditions, was outstanding golf. John’s well earned 2nd in the recent club championship and 2nd here makes him Mr Consistent and one of the club’s top, top players. Tied on 33 but losing out on countback, was Gary Turner. Nobody works harder at his golf than Gary, who also fits the same profile as Paul Carter in several ways. Successful at his first sport Gary has recently retired from cricket to turn his attention to golf. He hits the ball a long way, as his win in the recent longest drive comp proves, has a handicap of 18 and descending and with raw talent to burn Gary also seems destined to join Silecroft’s elite golfers. Gary’s highlight of the day was a par on the 3rd, which combined with his joker to produce six points. ‘Unlucky’ 4th was Dave Warren with 32 points. Dave must have thought he was in for a nightmare after blanking the 1st and 2nd and only 1 point accumulated after the 3rd. But Dave became the comeback king of the day by not letting this affect him and going on to add 31 more over 15 holes. He was another to gain from judicious use of the joker, netting him eight points and was one of only two men to use driver. Dave Clark took 5th place with 31 points, getting four points from his joker on the third and managing the conditions well throughout. Out in the morning and playing together were Peter Clark and Anthony [AJ] Holmes. Peter’s choice of putter seemed to be paying off as he led AJ 15 – 12 at the turn but it was Anthony’s consistent finish over 16,17 & 18 which allowed him to level the match, each returning 29 points. Jon Holmes went into this as possible favourite, for consistency and his superb mastery of the psychology of the game. His 29 points included pars on the 5th for three points and the tough 12th for another three. Alan Holmes came home with 28 total; courtesy of great pars on the 4th and the 11th. Geoff Freeman was the other man to go with driver and also scored 28, six of those coming from a par on the arduous 15th. Andrew Elvey was another to do well from his jokers, also claiming six points from a par at the 4th, on his way to 27 points. Four players returned 26 points. Ian McLardie went out in the morning and had a tremendous birdie 3 on 14, unique on the day. Neil Robertson had a superb birdie on the 13th, Brad Steel got both his jokers correct to double up on holes 4 and 15, while John French was crowned Joker King of the day, with 10 joker points, by virtue of scoring six points on the 4th and four more on the 16th. Ank Robinson was one of only two players to go with a four iron and posted a very creditable 25 point total, playing off just 11, with his highlight being four points virtue of a 6 on the long 17th. Club Captain Davey Boyce also scored 25 points, playing off 10. With several birdie opportunities going to pars luck wasn’t on his side but his work around the club has been far more fruitful. Paul Goodrick played solid golf tee to green but found putting with an iron difficult until the back nine when things began to fall into place. But he also used his jokers to advantage doubling his points on the 4th & 13th. George Farquhar favoured a 7 wood and was another to turn around a sparse front nine with a big improvement on the back and must have been especially pleased at playing his joker on the 12th where an outstanding par grabbed him six points. Dave Ward must have thought the future was bright when he opened with a par on the first but that was as good as it got as he came home with just 20 points.
Thanks were given at the presentation by our club captain, to Ken ‘Mr Silecroft’ Leece for all his endeavors for the club. All club volunteers were also commended for their efforts both around the club and on the course.