Castletown Golf Club
SHORT GAME WIZARD, WAGSTAFFE WINS GOLF FOUNDATION EVENT
Eclipsing all others, Jon Wagstaffe (11) - shown above - just shaded the Golf Foundation Stableford at Castletown Golf Club on Saturday. His seven-over-par round converted to 40 points and included birdies on the 3rd and 6th. On the rare occasions that Wagstaffe missed a green, his superb short game came to the rescue.
Golf Foundation, a charity which provides a pathway into golf for under-privileged children, promoted this national fundraiser. The top 15 Stableford scorers in each category can compete for a place in the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am being held at Wentworth in September.
Being the category one winner (handicaps up to 12) Wagstaffe’s name will now be submitted to the Golf Foundation together with Matt Ascroft’s and Geoff Sugden’s. The latter two headed category two (handicaps 13-24) and category three (handicaps 25 +) respectively.
Ascroft (13) stepped in with 39 points for second place. His feast and famine extravaganza included three birdies and three holes over which he dropped seven shots. Former captain Sugden (30) slugged his way to 32 points off 15 scoring holes. His highlights, a Road Hole nett eagle and a nett hole-in-one on the 13th.
Local prizes were allocated to those coming second in each category. Liam Cowin (1) needed countback to collect his award. His 71 off the back tees included three front-nine birdies. Unfortunately, Andy Moore (9), who plays most of his golf at KEB, dipped out. They both recorded 38 points.
Jamie Garrett (10) headed the three players who carded 37 points, but he and scratch golfer Daryl Callister were ineligible for the remaining category two prize. This went to Andrew Davies (13).
In category three, the runner-up after countback on 32 points was Mark Davenport (26). He blasted his way to 19 points through eight holes. Regretfully, timing and tempo issues caught up with Davenport who blobbed four of the remaining holes.
Two other spot prizes were up for grabs. Big hitter, Michael Saabye Katkjaer, who elected to compete from the yellow tees, wound up to win the longest drive prize on the 14th. PJ Vermeulen clipped it close to nab the nearest-the-pin prize from the back tee on the 16th.
Relatively new to golf, Wentworth GC member Bridget Hosty played in her first ever competition at Castletown on Wednesday and started in style. A nett hole-in-one on the 1st preceded her second five-pointer on the 13th. Hosty went on to win the Yellow-sponsored midweek Stableford with 44 points from just 13 scoring holes.
Former captain Graham Harris (12) had eight straight pars and turned on 23 points. He nett parred the remaining holes to secure second spot with 41 points. 2024 Leighton Cup winner Louna Vermeulen (28) took third on Wednesday. Her 40 points included a super sequence of six nett birdies.
The record entry of 58 players led to a fourth prize being awarded. Rick ODonnell (13) was the beneficiary. His back-nine brought 22 of his 39 points. Unfortunately, due to ongoing irrigation work, this competition was deemed to be non-qualifying.
This coming Saturday, Suntera Global sponsors the third in their series of monthly medals. Members should also note that the start sheet is now open for the following Saturday’s Captain’s Day competition. Both Belinda Pilling and Rich Dunn hope that you will support their charity ‘fun day’ two-person Texas Scramble. It is open to all members at no extra charge.
MALCOLM LAMBERT
Photo - Courtesy of Ben Smaller
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