Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Win comes in dramatic style
Canterbury Golf Club
In a thrilling climax to Canterbury’s 36-hole club championship on Sunday, Levi Johnson sunk a three-foot putt on the final green to secure a record fifth scratch title for the George Cup, albeit by the narrowest of margins.
Johnson was involved in a nailbiting final round featuring the three leaders from the previous day’s first round, but as fortunes fluctuated between him, overnight leader Andy Wigg and John Coupe, the 25-year-old remained focused.
And, after hitting the 18th green in three, he knew that only a three-putt would deny him to victory.
Conditions for Sunday’s second round were only marginally better than those of the previous day when strong winds and, later, heavy rain made play challenging.
Wigg, who has been playing some of the best golf of his career, started with a twostroke lead over Johnson and was three ahead of Coupe, and he immediately added to his advantage by picking up a birdie at the first.
However, three bogeys before the turn enabled his two rivals to close to within one stroke and, but for a blocked tee shot at the short eighth that cost him a double-bogey,
Coupe, who had collected consecutive birdies at six and seven, may even have moved to the top of the leaderboard.
When the three men left the 11th green, it was all square following a bogey there for Johnson and a third dropped shot in a row for the 42-year-old Wigg.
Coupe promptly made bogey at the 12th but then birdied 13 and 14 to take a share of the lead with Wigg, who had also picked up a shot at the 14th.
Bogeys for Johnson and Wigg at the 15th then left Coupe in front on his own and the Faversham man went two strokes clear when Wigg dropped a stroke at the 16th. But the greatest drama was still to come. Coupe hit his tee shot short and to the left at the long par-three 17th while Johnson sent a superbly-struck eight-iron 194 yards to just 18 inches for birdie.
Coupe could only bogey the hole while Wigg made par, which meant Johnson and Coupe walked onto the last tee with a stroke in hand of their rival.
After solid drives, Wigg and Johnson played short of the green but Coupe opted for a more positive option and pulled out his three-wood, only to drag his approach to the left and into long grass among trees.
He had no real shot to the green but managed to advance his ball to just short of the greenside bunker, only to catch his wedge shot heavy, resulting in a two-putt six.
The attention switched to Wigg and when he sunk a splendid 25-foot putt for birdie, Johnson was left with two putts for victory. His first effort came up well short but, in front of a hushed gallery gathered outside the clubhouse, he stepped forward, composed himself and holed from threefoot for victory.
Best second-round score had been registered a little earlier by John Macdonald, who carded five birdies in an impressive one-under-par 70 that earned him fourth place.
Earlier, the improving Tom Worrall, a Canterbury member for just over a year, celebrated his first success at the club by lifting the Victory Bowl as the best player on handicap.
Once more the luckless Wigg had to settle for the minor prize although this time the result was more clear-cut.
Twenty-handicap Worrall laid the foundations for his triumph with a threeunder-par net 68 on the first day that put him a stroke behind Wigg and level with 17-handicap Royston Gough.
And the 27-year-old from Chartham maintained his consistency into day two, dropping only five strokes going out, including a birdie two at the eighth.
That left him with plenty of shots in hand with which to negotiate the inward nine, which culminated in a holed bunker shot for birdie at the last.
His net 67 put him two strokes clear of five-handicap Wigg, with four-handicap Macdonald, who signed for a net 66, four strokes back in third place.
Best second round score was the impressive four-birdie 65 by seven-handicap Simon Leggatt. Leading scores: George Cup (scratch): 147 L Johnson 74 73, A Wigg 72 75; 148 J Coupe 75 73; 149 J Macdonald 79 70; 151 D Danton 79 72; 153 J Bristow 78 75; 157 S Bristow 77 80; 159 Peter Johnson 79 80, S White 77 82; 160 S Leggatt 88 72, P Herron 79 81; 162 L Elmer 78 84, J Thompson 76 86; 163 S Lloyd 83 80, L Kirkham 82 81; 164 T O’reilly 83 81; 165 B Dancer 82 83; 166 M Williams 87 89, A Bundock 85 81, M Bidwell 84 82; 75 other scores. Victory Bowl (handicap): 135 T Worrall (h20) 68 67; 137 A Wigg (h5) 67 70; 141 J Macdonald (h4) 75 66; 143 B Dancer (h11) 71 72; 144 J Coupe (h2) 73 71; 145 R Gough (h17) 68 77; 146 S Leggatt (h7) 81 65, L Elmer 70 76; 147 J Isherwood (h15) 77 70, S Plews (h12) 74 73, L Johnson (scr) 74 73, L Kirkham (h8) 74 73, K Elliott (h15) 74 73, Peter Johnson (h6) 73 74; 148 A Bundock (h9) 76 72, P Tyler (h15) 73 75, P Herron (h6) 73 75; 149 D Danton (h1) 78 71, S White (h5) 72 77; 150 J Horton (h13) 76 74, J Wigg (h12) 72 78, J Thompson (h6) 70 80; 73 other scores.
The Canterbury Lady Captain’s Charity Day, organised by Alison Letts and her volunteers, saw more than 100 players participating in a Texas Scramble with a two-tee start.
The weather was kind despite the forecast and saw all teams home and dry before the expected downpour.
Best ladies’ team with a score of 53.25 was Ali Kingston, Gillian Soutar, Cath Smith and Lesley Pearson.
The best mixed team with a score of 55.125 was Max Rutherford, Jenny Rutherford, Penny Entwistle and Manisha Laurence while the best men’s team was Peter Johnson, Trevor Stannard, Ian Munday and Tony Place with a score of 58.875.
The putting competition was won by Neil Webber while nearest the pin for ladies on the 5th was Beck while on the 17th it was Jenny Reed.
Nearest the pin for men on the 5th was Neil Parsonson with Terry Robb closest on the 11th.
Nearest the line on the 13th for ladies were Jenny Reed and Jenny Rutherford while the longest drive on the 18th was Bob Pearson.
The day raised £1,600 to benefit Parkinson’s UK.