A full field of 96 were very lucky to get a full days golf, without any rain, on one of the recent rare days between torrents of water putting the Trent into flood last week and the arrival of Storm Lorenzo tomorrow. In fact shorts and polo shirts were not uncommon.
The course is so free draining, you would never know there had been any rain at Whittington! Not only was it completely dry under foot but the general presentation of the course was outstanding; the best it has been for many years. All down to the Mark Fry, the new course manager. Mark learnt his trade as the number two at Worplesdon in Surrey; another magnificent Harry Colt heathland masterpiece.
Alan Pratt said the refurbished bunkers were a delight to play in (which was lucky given the number he found!)
The superstructure for the new clubhouse is up, the plans looks magnificent and the new 18th green is looking good (a little too good for Steve Smytherman)
Whittington is on the up. And for those who either enjoyed this visit or would like to see for themselves, There is another event in March.
An old fleece, covered in hay seeds and sporting the odd hole is Armani Dave Clark’s usual attire. He had clearly made a special effort for Whittington and was almost unrecognisably clean shaven and well turned out. (Making me wonder if he had been to Court before coming to the golf club).
Nuneaton chip shop mafioso, Peter Christoforou brought his twin brother Chris for his first Teetours event. Although they are almost indistinguishable from each other, Peter maintains he is the better looking. To back up this claim, Peter says he was arrested once for being the ugliest man in Warwickshire but the charges were dropped when his brother was produced as evidence for the defence.
Humour aside, it was the most eventful day yet at an event I have run:
Dave Rogers had to leave the course to deal with an emergency at work.
John and Phill Quinn had to leave the course as John’s wife had been taken to hospital with a heart attack - we all wish her well again soon.
Dave Barnett was uncontrollably sick, had to leave the course and was taken to Good Hope hospital by ambulance. Fortunately I spoke to him later in the day and he was expecting to be back on the course this weekend.
While out on the course taking photos, Alan Wrigley proudly presented me with the nearest the pin marker from the 4th - Having completely forgotten that half the field had yet to get there as they started on the 10th. Don’t worry Alan, I did exactly the same thing in a competition on the Isle of Man.
The scores were tight at the top with the top 37 teams remarkable separated by just seven points.
A podium finish for Robin Upton (16) and Andy page (10) with 43, beaten into third place on a count back by the quality performance of Darron Henn (6) and Dean Pointon (10).
Top slot went to Alan Freemen and Alan Wrigley with 44 points - A very creditable score from a pair with a combined handicap of only 8.
Pos |
Team |
Score |
O.O.M. |
1 |
Alan Wrigley 5 & Alan Freeman 3 |
44 |
12 |
2 |
Darron Henn 6 & Dean Pointon 10 |
43 |
10 |
3 |
Robin Upton 16 & Andy Page 11 |
43 |
8 |
4 |
Tony Clements 13 & Mikey Smith 3 |
42 |
6 |
5 |
Will Thompson 5 & Kevin Bryan 11 |
42 |
4 |
6 |
Roy Everett 8 & Dave Brierley 9 |
42 |
2 |
7 |
Phill Adcock 5 & Tony Stacey 9 |
42 |
|
8 |
Dave Barnett 9 & Steve Foister |
42 |
|
9 |
Dave Evans 22 & Mick O’Neill 15 |
42 |
|
10 |
Bill Angus 11 & Calum Angus 8 |
42 |
|
11 |
Neil Mallett 7 & Edward Harvey 8 |
42 |
|
12= |
Keith Groom 9 & Gilbert Scoular 4 |
41 |
|
12= |
Richard Deaville 14 & Richard Manning 9 |
41 |
|
12= |
Allan Simmonds 8 & Alex Scott 14 |
41 |
|
12= |
Tony Davis 13 & Alan Holmes 13 |
41 |
|
12= |
Derek Pedley 17 & Roger Partridge 16 |
41 |
|
12= |
Alan Milburn 14 & Keith Jones 13 |
41 |
|
12= |
Ian Knowles 13 & Paul Tyson 9 |
41 |
|
19= |
Tony Fearing 9 & Stuart Bond 12 |
40 |
|
19= |
Rob Burke 17 & Geoff Clarke 13 |
40 |
|
19= |
Allan Grant 10 & Bob Clarkson 6 |
40 |
|
22= |
Richard Wightman 18 & Mike Maher 21 |
39 |
|
22= |
Paul Gray 8 & Mike Cheney 10 |
39 |
|
22= |
Chris Wormleighton 7 & Peter Gemmell 14 |
39 |
|
22= |
Donald Mackeller 5 & Dave Sutton 13 |
39 |
|
22= |
Stewart Murray 11 & Martin Pearce 6 |
39 |
|
22= |
Steve Sear 12 & Stuart Weston 14 |
39 |
|
22= |
Carl Mander 3 & Geoff Davies 16 |
39 |
|
22= |
Nick Harrold 13 & Tony Massey 9 |
39 |
|
30 |
Lew Bull 12 & John Conlon 17 |
38 |
|
31= |
Dave Rogers & James Rogers |
37 |
|
31= |
Martin Davis 12 & Peter Romyn 20 |
37 |
|
31= |
Nigel Truepenny 14 & Steve Dingley 14 |
37 |
|
31= |
Chris Bartlett 6 & Brian Meadows 22 |
37 |
|
31= |
Trevor Donnelly 15 & Bernie McCarthy 14 |
37 |
|
31= |
Pete Bryant 7 & Gary Ferrar 14 |
37 |
|
31= |
Terry Hill 37 & Jon Hill 7 |
37 |
|
38 |
Brian Preece 14 & Chris Doherty 19 |
36 |
|
39= |
Lee Hill 21 & Steve Smytheman 15 |
35 |
|
39= |
Dave Clark 13 & Cliff Cotterill 24 |
35 |
|
39= |
Tim Worley 12 & Tim Edwards 15 |
35 |
|
42= |
Hugh McLean 14 & Alan Hope 7 |
34 |
|
42= |
Geoff Pearson 14 & Dave Cranmer 14 |
34 |
|
44 |
Peter Bingham 19 & Richard Saxon 12 |
32 |
|
45 |
Alan Pratt 23 & Tim Sherwood 12 |
30 |
|
46 |
Peter Christoforou 16 & Chris Christoforou 19 |
29 |
|
47= |
John Quinn 18 Phil Quinn 5 |
NR |
|
47= |
Andy Gibbens 24 James Cookson 0 |
NR |
|
James Cookson |
Longest Drive 9 |
||
James Rogers |
Nearest pin 15 |
||
Neil Mallett |
Nearest pin 4 |
||
Two’s |
|||
Allan Grant; Bob Clarkson; Roger Partridge; Keith Jones; Richard Manning; Darron Henn; James Cookson; Paul Gray. |
|||
Prizes for the top 5 teams; Nearest the Pin, Longest Drive and all 2’s |