Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Ord swings into second
Canterbury Golf Club’s Ali Ord finished a dazzling second in the 36-hole women’s Kent Amateur Championship at North Foreland GC on Sunday.
Ord battled back from an opening 87 with a three-birdie, five-over-par, second round of 79.
She finished nine shots behind overall winner and playing partner, Prince’s scratch handicap Alessandro Kutz, who had rounds of 78 and 79 to end nine over par and win the Maconochie-hill Silver Claret Jug.
Ord had one birdie, six pars, eight bogeys and three doubles in her opening round for sixth place in strong winds and stinging rain showers. But she was out in three over par 40 in her second round with a birdie at the par 5 8th, five pars, two bogeys and a double bogey at the 9th.
She had a second double at the 10th but then came back in level par from birdies at the 11th and 13th, four pars and two closing bogeys to finish runnerup on countback from Daniellelouise Thwaites of Boughton and surprise even herself. Ord said: “I can’t believe it! I’m so happy, I’ve not done so well in a big competition like this for more than 10 years and it was completely unexpected.
“It was so windy. Ally and I played together and I think learned a lot from her, she wasn’t necessarily hitting greens in regulation but she was getting up and down from everywhere and in the morning she was just awesome.
“We shot the same this afternoon and I made three birdies. The first was on the par 5 8th, I was pin-high in two with a driver and a 7 iron, then it was about a 15-foot putt downhill and I just lipped out for an eagle.”
Jen Rutherford had twin rounds of 93 for 14th place, Caroline Collins was 16th after rounds of 101 and 89 while
junior players Claudia Carlotti and Elsie Miller finished a creditable 18th and 20th in an elite county field of 38. Carlotti (h14) was fourth in the net competition after her opening net 80 but slipped back in the afternoon round with net 84. Ali Mcgurk (11) won the net championship with a tworound total of +6 154, with Kutz second on 157 and Chelsfield Lake’s Selina Bartarya (h13), third on 158, on countback from Anne-marie Forrester (h10, Sundridge Park). Canterbury pro Richard Wallis scored 41 Stableford points to win last Wednesday’s final round of the PGA South Region Winter Series at North Foreland.
Wallis was out in three under par with birdies at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th and back in two under par with further birdies at the 11th, 13th and 15th and a single bogey at the long par 4 12th for gross 66 to win by one from Jordan Godwin (Rochester & Cobham GC). Canterbury moved six points behind East Kent League leaders Littlestone, with a match in
hand, after crushing Chesterfield 4.5-0.5 at home on Saturday.
Results (Canterbury names first): Shaun Pilbeam & Steve Robson beat Rob Garbutt & Rob Eyles 4&2, Mark Broadhurst & Luke Taylor halved with Declan Kirkham & Chris Broadbent, Chris Sherwood & Stuart Gray beat James Dengate & Matt Broadbent 5&3, Simon Leggatt & Mark Lambton beat Pete Kelk & Pete Newman 2&1, Brett Davies & Mark Williams beat Jamie Newman & Neil Bennett 5&4.
Canterbury’s East Kent Evening League side’s unbeaten run came to an end with a 3-1 defeat at Littlestone Warren.
Results: Jack & Andy Brockman won 1 up, Andy Davies & Richard Young lost 1 down, Ken Small & Ray Holmes lost 2 down, Paul Stow & Dean Edmunds lost 1 down. Jamie Bourne battled against buffeting winds and an unfamiliar format to score a level par net 71 and win Sunday’s Blake Cup 5 club medal competition on countback from Pete Bundock.
Bourne (h9) began at the 10th and covered the back nine in three over par with a birdie at the 14th and was six over on the front nine. Bundock (h14) was four over par on the front nine with a birdie at the 7th but dropped four shots on the 10th and tripled bogeyed the 13th. Third-placed Jack Brockman (h11) scored gross 83, net 72, to hold off Mark Sladden (h8) on countback in a field of 62. Melvyn Curd one putted 10 holes for a competition personal-best 41 points to win last Wednesday’s Men’s Midweek Stableford in a field of 59. Curd won by two from Stephen Jones (h5) and thirdplaced playing partner Andrew Balsdon (h25), who was playing in his first ever competition. Curd (h15) three-putted for a no points 7 on the 4th in an otherwise near-faultless front nine of seven pars and one bogey for 21 points, adding 20 on his back nine for his first win since August 2022.
He said: “That three-putt on the 4th was even more frustrating because it equalled my bestever gross of 81. I had ten single putts. I could have played with a bit of bent iron and shut my eyes, everything went in.” Heather Hardy scored a personal-best 40 Stableford points to win last Wednesday’s Ladies’ Mccormick Trophy. Hardy (h22) was one over par for her first eight holes enroute to breaking 90 in a qualifying competition for the first time with gross 89 to win by two from Alyson Wreford (h15) in a field of 23. Jacqui Mount (h13) scored 36 for third place. Fran Fearn (h23) won the Ladies’ Veterans Trophy for the second time in three years on Friday with 37 Stableford points to win by two from playing partner Val Binns (h15). Binns held off third-placed Wreford on countback in a field of 10. Charlotte Launois (h20) scored net 74 to win Saturday’s Ladies’ Weekend April Medal by three shots from Mount. Bruce Maguire (h15) won his third competition in 11 days when he teamed up with Ash Mahmood (h8) and Roger Leavers (h17) to win Monday’s Seniors’ 2 out of 3 Team Stableford event with 80 points.
John Dawson (h22), David Dillon (h20) and Vince Stribbling (h21) scored 79 for second place and Beau Hart (h7), Stewart White (h9) and Trevor Kelly (h20) registered 78 for third place in a field of 23 teams. Canterbury’s Kent Veterans’ League side began their season with a 4-1 home win over Broome Park last Thursday, while the seniors lost 3.5-2.5 in a foursomes match at Royal Cinque Ports on Tuesday.