2018 Chorley Match Report
So I guess you all thought this would be the Chorley match report again? Well this time it is!
It seems like an eon ago that the 13th round of the Parrots 2018 season took place at Chorley Golf Club. But hopefully this late report will whet your appetite for the season finale at Morecambe in just FOUR days time!
Fifteen hopeful souls turned up at Chorley with visions of being the days winner on a day that was without rain throughout, albeit the rain from the previous 24 hours had left the course a little damp. But for all too many, those hopes would be dashed with some poor scores. It would a day of contrasting fortunes for a couple of ex BAe colleagues and a day of bunker disasters for your feisty former fire-fighter.
Still absent was Mike. The latest update on his golf injury is that he has had a cortisone injection in the offending elbow and has been advised not to play for the rest of the season. However, it would be nice to see his cheeky little face at Morecambe delivering his much loved end of season speech. We can only hope!!
The morning’s play saw a number of scores peppering the 15/16/17pt mark. But the third best score was myself with 18pts, Bill managed one better with 19pts, but both were outdone by the continued recent lefty domination of the society, no not Richard, but Gareth with 21pts. So well done to Gareth who took the morning prize.
The unlucky three that won the three-ball lottery for the afternoon were Jim, Geoff (FFF-F) and Stuart.
Having only scored 7pts in the morning, Geoff’s form slump continued as he managed just 16 in the afternoon. A total of 23pts for 27 holes, which as Mike will tell you is 0.851r pts/hole! Geoff claims he was very unlucky as he went in every bunker on the course, but we’ve told him a million times not to exaggerate. In fact, Geoff’s lowest round of the day was to save the blushes of a number of players behind him with similarly bad scores.
Jim (Mr Consistency) had another creditable round of 31 pts, which was sadly marred with a two shot penalty for playing a wrong ball. But at least he wasn’t told to play it by one of his playing partners, as in a previous controversial moment in Parrots history (there’s not many people in the world who haven’t heard this story yet, but if you’re one of them, speak to Mike ‘why always me’ Barnes!). So best score to date, and leader in the clubhouse, was Stuart with a very nice 33pts.
However, another 33pts was scored by Tom in my group, playing with buggy boys Phil and Tony. Tom didn’t have a lot to beat as Phil and I shuffled in with 21pts and 20pts respectively, and Tony was not much better on 26pts. To make the day worse for Phil and I, we were paired together in the doubles and were lucky to keep our double defeat down to 10pts!
Yet another 33pts was earned in the last group out. In the morning Melvin had scored just 8pts, blobbing five of the nine holes, and could be seen with his head in his hands most of lunchtime, wondering what the hell had happened, and whether he had become another Fleetwood one course pony! I don’t even recall him telling one bad joke throughout lunchtime. But what a transformation in the afternoon, scoring 12pts more on those same nine morning holes, Mel posted the third 33 pointer of the day. None of his playing partners (Gareth, John P and Richard) managed to get out of the 20’s either, leaving just one group left.
Having as bad an afternoon as myself in this group was John C, with another 20pts (what’s happened to this society?!). Simon continues to play through the pain and scored 25pts, and Pete W managed a creditable 30pts. However, it’s become a season of double winners, so far for Richard, Gareth, John Pat, Kev Gerrard, and now Bill Pye!! Yes Bill blew away all comers with another stunning score of 39pts, 6pts clear of second place for his second win of the season.
So, congratulations to Bill, who of course takes the winners prize for the day. But there was still 2nd place to clear up with three players on 33pts. Winning the count-back today and in the money for the first time this year was Stuart, so well done to him also.
So, on to handicap changes :-
Bill Pye 28 to 25
Stuart Weston 15 to 14
Glenn Wellard 7 to 8
John Cottam 15 to 16
Simon Gledhill 20 to 21
Phil Matthews 20 to 21
Tony Johnson 21 to 22
Geoff Moyle 22 to 23
The updated leaderboard has already been posted to the website by Phil. Again, no real change to the top 4 places, but look who’s shot up to 5th place, young Bill Pye, who will be challenging at Morecambe on Friday for one of the end of season placings.
Of course Friday also marks the start of the Ryder Cup in France (another piece of great golf society scheduling!). However, this secondary tournament will at least be shown on TV in the clubhouse throughout the day, whereas, you’ll not see the final round of the Parrots on your TV’s at home. So there’s really only one place to be on Friday, to grab the action on both.
Not only that, but the latest weather forecast, shows a settled week ahead with Friday forecast to be dry. So no excuses, let’s have a big turnout for the last day of the season, before many people place their clubs into hibernation for yet another forecasted harsh winter!!
See you there.
Glenn
