By Keith Field
ST MELLION GOLF CLUB SENIORS ‘THE FOSSILS’ - LATEST ROUND-UP
THURSDAY, May 30 saw the delayed playing of The Tony Hurley Face of Horror Trophy.
Named after an amusing moment in Fossil history when the then vice-captain, Chris de Beaufort, announcing Tony Hurley as his Vice Captain for the following year and then sacking him some 30 seconds later.
Although the win would bring the added prestige of a trophy to the victor, there was a noticeable apathy towards winning across the players, particularly amongst those who had seen the trophy.
As an aside the trophy was relocated back to the trophy cabinet immediately after the presentation ceremony.
Now, how did the day’s golf evolve? Although the clouds attempted to rain on the golfers, the brisk north-westerly kept them moving and as a result all remained dry.
The course played really well but again with the greens proving tricky for quite a few.
Early starter Phil Macey set a high standard with a superb score of 36 with 20 on the back nine and immediately went to the top of the leaderboard and remained there for the rest of the day until the final pairing came home.
His score had been equalled by three players but not beaten, but then the ‘curse’ of the final group raised its head again with Rob Parsonage posting the winning score of 37.
Scrutiny of the cards scoring 36 determined that Macey did take the second spot followed by Keith Field and then Colin Hatton.
Scoring on the day again demonstrated that the new WHS formula is working by limiting the extreme totals seen in the past and also demonstrating that even the low handicappers have a much better opportunity to succeed in stableford events (to ease the shock of winning, Parsonage also received a bottle of whisky donated by Tony Hurley as well as the trophy). There were just a single two on the day posted by Pete Lander on the short 16th.
Results: 1 Rob Parsonage – 37; 2 Phil Macey – 36; 3 Keith Field – 36; 4 Colin Hatton – 36.
Section Winners: Gold – Guy Pennington, Colin Marshall, Norman Wreford; Silver – Rob Parsonage, Phil Macey & Keith Field; Bronze – James Simpson, Ted Ahier, Allan Joel.
Earlier in the week, the Fossils welcomed Carlyon Bay for their match being played on the Kernow course. Unfortunately, the weather was far from inspiring with rain and drizzle all day.
Led out by Ian Edwards, the Fossils soon demonstrated who was in command.
An overwhelming 7 and 5 victory for the captain and his partner Colin Marshall set the standard and the team responded with a further five victories and one halved match giving the hosts a superb 6.5 to 1.5 victory.
Nearest the Pin winners were Colin Marshall for the hosts and Kevin Harrison for the visitors.
There were no complaints about the weather on Thursday, June 6 with fluffy clouds, warm sunshine and a cooling breeze which set the scene for an absorbing competition for the Jubilee Trophy which had been given to the Fossils by past-captain, Brian Pound.
The fairways were well trimmed and fast and the greens, oh so good and were reflected in the scoring.
Still awaiting a player to break the 40 barrier under the new WHS scoring, but how close did a clutch of players get!
There seemed to be no clear advantage to any start time as conditions remained similar throughout.
First out, Allan Evans set the tone with a superb 37 points and soon after James Simpson hit a brilliant 38. Scoring settled down a bit then Mike Nancekivell leapt to the top of the leaderboard also with 38 points and soon after Keith Field matched the score but faltered on countback. Then along came Mike Tamblin also on 38.
As Nancekivell sat patiently in the clubhouse would the last team ‘curse’ deprive him of the prize?
Well, this week not quite but slipping into the lead from the group three back from the then leader was Mike Page who amassed a marvellous 39 points.
In addition to the wonderful trophy, the winner also took home a Rioja also donated by Brian Pound.
At the other end of the leaderboard and in the last group out came Derek Baldwin who received a home- made pot of jam.
Interestingly, two of the top seven players were single figure handicappers, giving even more evidence that the new WHS scoring has opened up the prospects for these players in stableford competitions.
In amongst the good scoring were no less than eight twos including a brace for both Allan Evans and Keith Field.
Results: 1 Mike Page – 39; 2 Mike Nancekivell – 38; 3 Keith Field – 38; 4 James Simpson – 38; 5 Mike Tamblin – 38; 6 Allan Evans – 37; 7 Simon Waddington – 37.
Section Winners: Gold – Mike Page, Allan Evans and Simon Waddington; Silver – Mike Nancekivell, Keith Field and Alex Naismith; Bronze – James Simpson, Mike Tamblin and Terry Higgins.