Castletown Golf Club
THIS WEEK’S WORST DRIVE
The day dawned too bright and beautiful for Jonathan Potts (JP) at Castletown GC on Saturday. Dazzled by the sun, JP in his beautiful buggy got caught in the sand trap on the 5th fairway. Rushing to his rescue came head greenkeeper Colin Ainslie in his trusty tractor. JP escaped with nothing worse than some bruising to his elbow and his ego.
Exhibiting some rather more precise driving, Jamie Garrett (12) birdied two of the first three holes and, but for an N/R on the short 8th, would have completed the course in just five over par. His 41 Stableford points gave Garrett a first Winter League win, and the 25 placement points moved him up to fourth in the table and third in the nett eclectic at 14 under par.
Initially, there was a three-way tie for second spot on 39 points. A back-six countback concluded in favour of Mark Reynolds (8) who N/R’d the 11th then birdied the 13th thus bagging a bonus from the two’s pot.
Island champion Robert Noon (+3) conquered the course in a scintillating six under par to also step in with 39 points. Some of those six birdies helped move him up to fifth place in the gross eclectic at 11 under par.
Mark Haywood (9) birdied both the Road Hole and the ‘gorge-us’ 18th for the second four-pointer in his 39 to take the final division one prize (handicaps up to 10). Next, on 38 points, came Laim Cowin (+2) who carded five birdies, four of which improved his gross eclectic score.
At 14 under par, Cowin now heads that elite leaderboard, one ahead of Steven Boyd and Martin Young. The previous leader, Chris Kneen, was not playing and remains at 11 under par alongside Noon.
Five players signed for 37s but only four were eligible for the remaining division two awards. Keith Featherstone’s back-nine 20 points was one better than Pete Thomas. Duly, they purloined the prizes ahead of Jeff Magee and Richard Wild.
Frankie Doherty finished fourteenth on Saturday, gaining him two placement points. This increased his lead in the Winter League to 16 ahead of Bryan McMahon who, in turn, is five in front of both Richard Connolly and the aforementioned Garrett.
Doherty also improved his nett eclectic score to an amazing 16 under par which is one better than Young and two ahead of Garrett.
Hostile weather put paid to the ‘midweeker’ competitions and only three players competed in the previous Sunday’s Stableford. For the record, this was won by Patrick Swanney with John Swanney and Paul Gallagher both getting their monies worth in terms of shots taken.
This coming Saturday we return to team competitions with a two person Texas Scramble set to scintillate us. Golfers from across the island should note that the Links is hosting an open Paddy’s Day Scramble on Saturday 15th March. The entry fee is £40 for non-members and the start sheet will be open to them soon, so members should book their place now.
MALCOLM LAMBERT
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