Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Title battle nicely poised
Les Elmer and Andy Brockman blew the Hallet Cup men’s Winter League title race wide open when they scored 47 Stableford points to finish second on countback behind Beau Hart and Stephen Bowles in Sunday’s Seventh Round. Their 43 league points for second, with one round to go and two discards to count, closed them to eight league points behind leaders Levi Johnson and Simon Leggatt, who have 223. John Shiel and Jamie Bourne are in third on 207, one clear of Steve Robson and Scott Lindsay. Leggatt and Johnson started at the 10th and Johnson scored an eagle at the 18th and four birdies and Leggatt birdied the 13th and 17th and sixth, but 43 Stableford points from a gross total of six-under-par 65 was only good enough for 10th and 35 cup points.
Elmer holed three long-range putts and a 10-footer for birdies at the seventh, 10th, 14th and 15th and scored five pars and one bogey while Brockman weighed in with five pars on the front nine, two bogeys and a scoring double at the 17th. Single-point scores on the 17th and 18th cost them the win but they were just relieved to get back into contention, having led comfortably after four rounds.
Brockman said: “We had really poor scores in the last two rounds and we needed another good one this week to give us another chance.
“The league should be wide open now and we need another good one in two weeks’ time, it will be all on the day.
“Les had four birdies and he was on fire with his putting, it was phenomenal. On the 10th, he was just on the front edge and holed it right across the green.” Elmer said: “I enjoyed those birdies. Three of them were 25-foot plus on the seventh, 10th, and 14th and I needed a 10-foot putt on 15.
“A score in the 40s next time could well be enough but you’ve still got to do it.”
Round winners Hart and Bowles, who moved up to sixth overall, were two-over-par after three before Hart holed a secondshot 6 iron into the breeze for a five-point eagle at the fourth. Mark Ferrett birdied the seventh and ninth en route to 39 points and victory in last Wednesday’s men’s Midweek Stableford but youngest son Callum, 12, beat his score with 51 points to win Saturday’s Junior Stableford.
Dad Mark was two-over-par on the front nine for 21 points and five-over on the back for another 18.
He won on countback from a field of 54 from new member Mark Sladden, who birdied the first, third and seventh in an outward two-under-par 34 for 22 points and was still one-underpar with 36 points before coming to grief with a blow out at the 16th and a one-point bogey at the 17th.
Nick Shearman birdied the fourth in a gross 84, net 69, for 38 points and third on countback from Bob Green, who had birdies at the first and ninth in a gross 83, net 69.
Callum beat his previous best Stableford return by five and his best gross total by six for 23 points out and 28 on the back. Lexi Donohue scored two pars, 12 bogeys, three doubles and a treble for 42 points but still finished second by nine, six clear of third-placed Brinley Foster, who birdied the first, in a field of nine.
Dad Mark joked: “I did my best and it’s still not good enough. “He didn’t go one better - he went 16 better. It’s embarrassing!”
Callum, who scored 100, net 66, said: “I was pleased my dad won but then I thought ‘He got that score so I’m going to try to beat him’ and I did.
“I had a lot of one putts but I’m a little bit disappointed. I could have broken a hundred for the first time if one more had gone in.”
Sarah Wetherell clinched the ladies’ Winter League title when she won the fifth and final round with substitute player Caroline Collins, scoring 68 points in Saturday’s Stableford Multiplier round.
Wetherell began the final round in fourth place but Saturday’s win gave her a final total of 29 league points for victory by four overall from Claire Wilson, who was fifth in Saturday’s field of eight pairs with Jacqui Mount. Alyson Wreford, who shared the league leadership with Wilson at the start of play, had to settle for fourth place with Zenya Allen and a share of third overall alongside Val Lucas and Angela Jones.
On Monday, Wetherell teamed up with Ali Ord to win 3&1 away against Chestfield’s lady captain Jo Sillitoe and Dee Delo to reach the second round of the ladies’ Daily Mail Foursomes. Michael Wilson scored 39 points to win his second Seniors’ Stableford competition inside a month on Monday. Wilson was six-over-par on each nine for 19 points out and 20 back to win overall by one from Ian Cooper in a field of 65. Cooper took second on countback from Division 2 winner Ian Wookey and Phil Myers.
Stephen Bowles, Bettie Morton and Di and Ian Florence danced to victory with 79 points in Wednesday’s ladies and Seniors Cha Cha Cha competition in a field of 11 teams.