Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Champs count blessings
Levi Johnson and Simon Leggatt were crowned Hallet Cup champions for the third time, holding off nearest challengers Les Elmer and Andy Brockman in one of Canterbury’s tightest men’s Winter League finishes of all time.
Johnson and Leggatt scored a combined seven birdies and two bogeys for 43 Stableford points in Sunday’s eighth and final round for 13th place on the day to win overall on lastround countback after Elmer and Brockman scored 39 for 28th.
After two discards, both pairs totalled 225 league points, three ahead of third-placed John Shiel and Jamie Bourne who won the final round with 48 Stableford points in a field of 42 pairs. Steve Robson and Scott Lindsay scored 44 points for fourth on Sunday and fourth overall.
Johnson and Leggatt also triumphed in 2014 and 2020 and Leggatt said: “We won it absolutely by the skin of our teeth and we’re very, very pleased.
“It’s our third Hallet Cup win and we just played a good solid Winter League. Levi’s handicap is plus 3, I’m 3, so we don’t get a lot of shots and it’s very hard forustowin.
“But you’ve got to give congratulations to Andy Brockman and Les Elmer for having had a great Winter League. To lose it like that must be a bit heart-breaking! “We did our normal stuff and I think Levi worked out that we scored more than 40 birdies and four eagles between us in eight rounds, so we’ve played well.
“Levi is just a birdie machine. He scored another five and must have made more than 30 of ours.”
Paul Newbury and Colin Buttenshaw won the Bill England Seniors’ Winter League after super-sub Mick Scott helped Newbury to victory in Monday’s final round. Scott birdied the second and scored seven pars and two bogeys while Newbury had two pars, four bogeys and two scoring doubles in a total of 44 Stableford points for victory in the final round and overall with Buttenshaw.
The final round was actually the first round, postponed from last November, and Newbury and Buttenshaw topped the league by six points from Peter Brisley and Michael Parrott, who finished 13th on the day for second overall.
They were one league point ahead of Bob Green and Phil Myers, who were fourth on Monday in a field of 28 pairs. Newbury said: “It’s wonderful. In football terms, getting Mick to play, is like dragging Pele off the subs’ bench.
“It was an absolute privilege to be able to play with someone so talented and so steady.” Ecstatic Liverpool fan Paul added: “I haven’t spoken to Colin yet.
“He sent me a Whatsapp, congratulating me on our seven goals against Man United. It’s been a good two days and I’ll send him a message saying we’ve won.”
Scott has stepped up as a substitute to help win three of the five rounds.
He said: “I didn’t enter the league because I didn’t think I’d be able to play in all the rounds but, as it turned out, I could and I was just pleased to be able to help other people out.” Nick Shearman racked up 42 points to win last Wednesday’s men’s Midweek Stableford. Shearman scored 10 pars, seven bogeys and one double for 20 points out and 22 back to win by two from Aston Moy, who held off third-placed Richard Askham on countback in a field of 52.
Moy birdied the first, sixth and eighth for a three-over-gross-par 39 and 18 points on his front nine and covered the back nine in one-under-par 34, with further birdies at the 14th and 18th, for 22 more.
Askham birdied the eighth but failed to score at the third for 20 points on his outward nine and had 20 points on the back from a two-over-par 37. Shearman said: “It was just really steady golf. There was nothing worse than oneover, apart from the fifth, and that was the only time I threeputted.
“I’ve been hitting the ball really nicely the last few weeks but my short game has just been rubbish.
“I bought myself a gap wedge a fortnight ago, I haven’t had one before and it helped massively.”
Alyson Wreford reversed her best nines and scored gross 86, net 72, to win successive ladies’ medal competitions and also beat Jacqui Mount into second for the second time running. The previous Saturday, Wreford scored net 75 to win the February Weekend Medal on countback from Mount after a strong back nine.
And last Wednesday, she dropped only three shots on the front nine to beat Mount by two in the ladies’ March Medal. Jen Rutherford began with a birdie and scored gross 82, net 75, for third in a field of 11. Wreford scored six pars and three bogeys on her outward nine and held on despite a back nine of 12-over from two pars, four bogeys, one double and triples at the 10th and 12th. She said: “I did actually play 18 holes really nicely. “There was just a three-day gap in between.”