WINTER LEAGUE RESULTS 2007
1st Leg - West Midlands Golf Club
The
2007 Winter League started in January under a new 3 tournament system,
rather than the 4 tournaments used in previous years.
A
new venue, West Midlands Golf Club, hosted the first leg and produced
one of the closest tournaments in the Winter League's history, with
only 6 points covering the field. Despite only being opened since 2003
the course posed a stiff but enjoyable challenge to all competitors,
culminating in the most exciting 18th hole the Society has ever played,
a Par 3 island green.
After
9 holes Martin Rainer (18pts) held a narrow one point lead over Andy
Paddock (17pts). Andy then produced a fine and decisive run of 11
points over the opening 4 holes of the back 9, to distance himself from
the chasing pack. Despite failing to score at the 18th hole, he had
achieved an overall total of 34 points, securing victory by 2 points
from a fast finishing Keith Watson (32pts). Keith had recovered from a
poor start, 4 points from his opening 5 holes, to shade Martin Rainer
(31pts) for second place.
West
Mids G.C. proved a highly popular venue with members and one that
should certainly hold a Winter League competition again. Andy Paddock
and Kevin Oldfield produced the only two birdies of the day at the Par
4 2nd and Par 3 4th respectively. Of 9 competitors only 4 managed to
find the green at the closing island green which was very reminiscent
of the 17th at TPC Sawgrass.
Final ScoresPos Player Pts BIR PAR BOG DB+ W.L. pts 1st Andy Paddock 34pts 1 4 10 3 10pts 2nd Keith Watson 32pts 0 7 4 7 8pts 3rd Martin Rainer 31pts 0 7 7 4 6pts 4th Steve Knight 30pts 0 3 9 6 4pts 5th Rob Orrock 29pts 0 3 7 8 2pts t-6th Bob Taylor 28pts 0 2 5 11 t-6th Kevin Oldfield 28pts 1 0 8 9 t-6th Dave Turner 28pts 0 3 7 8 Guest Andy McLeod 31pts 0 3 7 8 TOTALS 2 32 64 64
2nd Leg - Cleobury Mortimer
A
very wet Cleobury Mortimer hosted the 2nd Leg of the 2007 Winter League
in February. Despite the conditions underfoot and a blustery wind, the
course produced some remarkably high scoring.
Keith
Watson, following on from his second place in the 1st Leg, blitzed the
opening 9 holes of Foxes Run in gross 4-over par to amass a superb
23pts. He held a 2 point lead over Martin Rainer (21pts), with both
Gary Purchase (20pts) and Bob Taylor (20pts) a point further back in
third.
Keith's
hot streak cooled somewhat on the back 9 of Deer Park. However a
tremendous birdie, net eagle, at the demanding Par 3 17th, virtually
secured victory. A net par at the last gave him an overall total of 43
points and one of the highest stableford scores in Winter League
history.
Dave
Turner produced some terrific golf on the back 9 to gain 20 points and
second place on an overall 37 points. Bob Taylor recovered from an
indifferent start to the opening four holes of Deer Park to cement
third place on 35 points. Keith and Martin achieved the only 2 birdies
of the day, at the 17th and the Par 5 7th respectively.
Keith
certainly has a liking for this course. We have visited Cleobury for
three competitions and he has proved victorious on each occasion!!! He
now holds pole position for the overall Winter League title, although
due to holiday commitments he will not play in the final leg at Perton.
Only Andy Paddock and Dave Turner can challenge him for the outright
title. A win for Andy will clinch the 2007 title by 2 points. However
if Andy finishes in outright second place he will then tie Keith on 18
points and would need a stableford points score of 40 points to
overtake him on the tiebreak. Dave needs a win to tie for the overall
title and a stableford score of 37 points to overtake Keith on the
tiebreak procedure. There is a chance that all 3 members could tie on
18 points, the slide rule and calculator will then be needed to decide
the overall winner!!!
Final Scores Pos Player Pts BIR PAR BOG DB+ W.L.pts 1st Keith Watson 41pts 1 6 9 2 10pts 2nd Dave Turner 37pts 0 5 11 2 8pts 3rd Bob Taylor 35pts 0 3 8 7 6pts 4th Martin Rainer 34pts 1 7 8 2 4pts 5th Gary Purchase 33pts 0 2 10 6 2pts 6th Rob Orrock 32pts 0 3 9 6 t-7th Kevin Oldfield 31pts 0 2 8 8 t-7th Andy Paddock 31pts 0 5 8 5 Guest Andy McLeod 28pts 0 1 10 7 Guest Alan 28pts 0 5 5 8 TOTALS 2 39 86 53
3rd Leg - Perton Park
The
3rd and final leg of the 2007 Winter League was played on a very windy
spring afternoon at Perton Park. We were returning to this venue for
the first time since The Open in 1999. A record 11 members assembled
for a pre-round photo shoot, which was kindly undertaken by our ace
photographer Rob Orrock.
Players found the going extremely tough
in the early stages due to the strong wind and five members were tied
for the lead on a hard fought 7 points after 4 holes. Dave Turner
(18pts), looking for a victory to stand any chance of claiming the
overall title, began to find his form after a tentative start and
finished the back 9 strongly. He held a narrow 1 point lead over Martin
Rainer(17pts) and Steve Knight (17pts), with Steve achieving a fine
birdie at the Par 4 5th for a net eagle.
Bob Taylor (26pts)
produced a fine start to the back 9 and after 13 holes trailed Dave
(27pts) by one point. The decisive moment in the competition came at
the difficult Par 4 15th. Dave's second shot finished some 30 yards
short of the green and he was staring a bogey in the face. However he
produced the shot of the day, holing his third shot for a birdie, net
eagle. He then followed this up by hitting the flag at the Par 5 16th
with his third shot from 140 yards, holing out for a net birdie.
Dave
stood on the 17th tee with a 5 shot lead over the field and barring a
miracle required only 1 point from his final 2 holes to clinch the 2007
Winter League title. He duly did this with a net par at the 17th and
with a further net par at the 18th secured a tremendous 41 point haul
and a comfortable 7 point victory from Bob Taylor (34pts), with Martin
Rainer (33pts) back in third.
It was a superb effort from Dave
in very difficult scoring conditions. His overall game was excellent,
although ultimately his long straight driving was the key to his
commanding victory. The course had matured nicely into a decent track.
It was in terrific condition considering the time of year, although the
greens were a bit "bobbly" making putting very tricky.
Dave's
was not the highest score of the day though. Andy McLeod, playing in
his third competition as a guest, produced an amazing round. He blitzed
the front 9 holes in 23 points and maintained his fine play on the back
9 to achieve a mind boggling 44 points total. Bear in mind that he
didn't even register a point at his opening hole!!! This would have
been a record points score in any Stableford competition we have ever
played!!!
I am pleased to announce that Andy has now joined the
Society. May I take this opportunity to welcome him and I hope he
thoroughly enjoys his golf with us. Based on his performance at Perton,
for which his handicap will be altered slightly, he will be a major
factor in our future competitions.
Finally, the 2007 Winter
League overall title produced the closest ever finish, with Dave
winning on a tie break. He achieved 78 stableford points from his 2
scoring events, compared to Keith's 73 points. I believe that the three
venues that we visited for this years Winter League offered excellent
value for money and will possibly again host all 3 events for 2008.
Final Scores Pos Player Pts BIR PAR BOG DB+ W.L.pts 1st Dave Turner 41pts 1 7 8 2 10pts 2nd Bob Taylor 34pts 0 3 6 9 8pts 3rd Martin Rainer 33pts 0 6 11 1 6pts 4th Steve Knight 32pts 1 2 9 6 4pts 5th Rob Orrock 31pts 1 1 8 8 2pts 6th Andy Paddock 28pts 0 5 7 6 7th Gary Purchase 27pts 0 2 7 9 8th Kevin Oldfield 26pts 0 3 2 13 9th Richard Gorton 25pts 0 2 4 12 10th Ian Smith 23pts 0 1 6 11 Guest Andy McLeod 44pts 0 7 8 3 TOTALS 3 39 76 80
Final Winter League Table 2007Pos Player 1st Leg 2nd Leg 3rd Leg Total 1st Dave Turner 0 8 10 18 pts* 2nd Keith Watson 8 10 0 18 pts 3rd Bob Taylor 0 6 8 14 pts 4th Martin Rainer 6 4 6 12 pts 5th Andy Paddock 10 0 0 10 pts 6th Steve Knight 4 0 4 8 pts 7th Rob Orrock 2 0 2 4 pts 8th Gary Purchase 0 2 0 2 pts t-9th Kevin Oldfield 0 0 0 0 pts t-9th Richard Gorton 0 0 0 0 pts t-9th Ian Smith 0 0 0 0 pts
*Tiebreaker:-
Dave Turner 78 stableford points from 2 scoring events (37 + 41)
Keith Watson 73 stableford points from 2 scoring events (32 + 41)