UK Senior Golf Association
Gatward grabs Gold at Woodcote Park
Woodcote Park GC welcomed us for our 10th event of the year. Everyone manged the tricky London traffic to get there in plenty of time and a group of Woodcote members were on hand to start us off and spot the wayward shots. The course was playing firm and bouncy and the sloping greens would test those who had never played it. Weather for round one was great with plenty of sun, warmth and a gentle breeze from the south-west.
It was Jonathan Perry (Luffenham Heath) who took a one shot lead with a 2 over par 74 - a round that included birdies at 2, 4 and 16. Darren Gatward's (Calcot Park) 75 included an eagle 2 at the 12th to put him in the last group for round 2 with Jonathan and Michael Swan (Hever Castle). Keith Newton (Woodcote Park) made the most of home advantage with a 75 to be just one shot back in the penultimate group for round 2. But with the top 9 all within 3 shots of the lead this one was always going to be close.
Day two saw a change in the weather with overcast skies, a stronger breeze and the threat of rain - a threat that delivered as the late starters only managed a few dry holes before the rain arrived. Nonetheless scoring on day two was better with many making a move.
Martin Cooper (Banstead) shot a 2 over 74 early on to move up the leaderboard and 75's from Richard Hall (Romford), another local Woodcote member Derek Hollingdale and Martin Fell (Ladbrook Park) all gained ground.
But it all came down to the battle between Keith Newton and Darren Gatward for of the Gold Medal. Although playing in different groups the lead fluctuated. Darren's double bogey on 6th looked expensive as he went out in 3 over 38. Further bogeys at 10, 12 and 13 left him at 6 over with 5 to play. Keith now had the lead by three shots. His second round was solid with 14 pars and 4 bogeys and the finish was steady. But Darren hit birdies on the long par 4 15th and 17th to claw the lead back and tie with Keith and Darren's countback score on that back 9 was enough to secure the Gold medal. Both received 250 OOM points of course and Keith, Silver medal winner, moved up to 23rd spot in his race to ESGA. Keith was also top net score for the two rounds with a brilliant 7 under total of 137. Enjoy the new handicap Keith!
The competition for Bronze was equally close with Richard Hall (Romford) and Martin Fell (Ladbrook Park) matching each other in both rounds. Richard's level par back 9 on day two was enough to pip Martin (2 over) for Bronze on countback,
Martin had his revenge in the Super Seniors (65+) section however as he topped the pile to win crystal by 7 shots from Ashley Brewer. A strong 200 points for Ashley despite his earlier reservations on playing from the white tees. Ashley moved up to 7th in the OOM and Martin moved up to 12th spot.
Stuart Fawcett (Woodhall Spa) had a strong showing in our Masters (over 70) section as he topped the leaderboard with a 161 total to edge out Messrs Webb and Yuill by one shot. His 250 OOM points move him up to 14th in the race to ESGA with the event at his home course still to come. He also top scored in the 75+ ESGA qualification to move him up to 8th spot as Robert Gill consolidated his position at the top of that pool.
And a note of thanks to Woodcote Park who pulled out all the stops to make this a special event - a true test of parkland golf superbly presented by Course Manager Gordon Bell and his team and wonderful support with starters and spotters organised by Senior's Captain Jon Collins which included current and Past Captains. Hospitality was excellent throughout both days as we were kept fully fed and watered both on and off the course and our thanks go to Ben StJohn and his team for that.
All eyes are now on the Race to ESGA OOM's with the cream rising to the top seeking to consolidate a spot in the teams for Spain and Denmark in 2025.
And next we return to Wales at St Pierre Chepstow for our 11th event. Its a strong field for that one with a few places remaining as competition for those Europe spots grows.
Before then our teams travel to Iceland for the ESGA Championships and we wish them good luck as they try to emulate the success of the Super Seniors team in Poland. earlier this month ITS COMING HOME!
Click HERE for the full results.
Click HERE for the latest Race to ESGA rankings.
See you in Wales.
Adrian & John
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