Hawkstone Park 2012 Report

Hawkstone Park Report Saturday & Sunday April 13th & 14th

Saturday Hawkstone Course: Our season got off to a windy and relatively cold start. 32 golfers started off on the Hawkstone course. The first few holes proved sticky for most after a poor winter. But one individual kept his nerve and consistency throughout. With no blobs on the card out in 18 and home in 20 for a 2 over par 38 points and a clear 4 point win it was Gez Newsome. No pars on the front nine, but one birdie kept a level par score at the turn. A little better on the back nine with 5 pars, even in the wind and heavy rain from the 15th onwards was in anyone's eyes a good round (Indecently somehow he did manage to lose his Wyder Cup pairs match) It was nip and and tuck for 2nd spot with 3 golfers notching 34 points. Losing out and finishing 4th was Chris Shaw. His round dropped off after a good start finishing with 15 points on the back nine despite missing out on the rain completely. His only blob of the day at the 10th and a couple of single point scores at 15 & 17 stopped him challenging Gez for top spot. Third on countback was Craig W. This four ball got the heavy rain from 17 and it was this that put paid to Craig's challenge for the top. Driving rain and wind blowing in our face on the 18th tee forced a mistake from Craig driving his ball into the out of bounds for a blob. Six pars and a birdie was still a good start to the season. Finishing a little stronger that the other was Jim C, his 34 points contained 7 pars and a couple of blobs for an impressive start to the season. Our traditional opening event did not surprise with over three quarters of the field falling below their buffer zone. See the results here.

Sunday Hawkstone Course: Sunday saw a slightly warmer day. The wind was more gusty but the rain stayed away. 32 golfers again started this time with the added pressure of Wyder Cup singles and a night on the beer. So no surprise that no golfer ended up breaking par. Countback decided top spot with Chris Shaw and Blakey both ending up on even par 36 for their 18 holes. A storming front nine of 22 points from Chris put him in the driving seat but a back nine of 14 points put paid to an opening weekend victory. Blakey on the other hand reversed that trend as his putter became hot. No blobs on the card certainly helped but as the round progressed he sank putt after putt from 10 to 15 feet. His 20 points on the back nine helped him take the top spot. 3 points back came a trio of golfers, Woody finished a good weekend for himself with 3rd place which could have been so much better without the blob on 17. 4th place went to the current Division One OOM champion Anthony. His 33 points saw a reasonably consistent round which took a dip in the middle of the back nine. 14/15 & 16 only yielded 2 points for him probably the contributing factor from him taking top spot. The other player to finish on 33 was Sean Anderson. His round only saw one blob and all but a few sloppy putts was close to completing a double Sunday victory after taking it last year on the same course with 42 points. see the results here.

Overall another great opening weekend. The weather was again changeable and gave all golfers a challenge especially after a few months off. The course played very well and the camaraderie of the Wyder Cup coupled with presentation and the festivities gave for a good bonding weekend. A few golfers will see this as a good start to the season for them. The weekend OOM finished with in equal 4th place on 65 points being Craig Whatsize & Dave Blakeborough. 3rd place went to Sean Anderson on 66, 2nd place went to the Saturday winner Gez Newsome who ended on 68, but the most consistent golfer of the weekend was Chris Shaw who ended up 2 short of par on 70 points. So after 64 rounds of golf only one individual broke par another feather in the cap for the handicap committee. See the Wyder Cup report here.