Turner lifts senior title
DRAMA FOR SANSOME AS HIS TOURNAMENT GOES TO SUDDEN DEATH PLAY-OFF
MARK Turner (Forest Hill) has been crowned the new county seniors champion, writes Jennifer Prentice.
He won the title for the first time with his level par 71 round at Cosby GC.
Graham Marshall (Birstall), a former county men’s champion, finished two strokes behind and was runner-up after a tie with Mark Illsley (Willesley Park) on the same score (73) on local rule.
Steve Sansome (Birstall) was the top 55-59-year-old on 74 gross, with the handicap award going to Adrian Jones (The Leicestershire) for his 75-3-72 score.
Gilbert Scoular, a member of the host club, and a former county captain, was the leading 60-64-year-old, round in 76 gross, and another past county captain and past winner of several county titles, Alan Martinez (The Leicestershire), took the handicap prize in this age group with his 77-4-73 return.
Phil Gray (Birstall) won the 65-69 years gross for his 75 round, and the handicap winner was Steve Smith (Scraptoft) for his 77-8-69 card.
Both Gray and Smith are past county senior champions.
In the 70 years and above section, Robert Cliff (Lingdale) took the gross for his 85 after a tie, resolved on a countback, and his clubmate Graham Ashman with 92-20-72 was the net winner. The team shield went to
Birstall through Marshall 73, Sansome 74, Gray 75 for their 222 total.
County president Phil Askew (Rothley Park) presented the awards.
Meanwhile, county champion Sansome, who is celebrating 40 years as a county golfer this season, finished in a three-way play-off for the Midland Senior Championship at Burton-on-Trent GC.
Sansome hit rounds of 69-77 for his 146 total and shared the mark with Brendon Moss (Woburn) and Paul Wharton (Woodhall Spa).
Moss had 75-71 cards, Wharton 72-74. So there was a dramatic sudden-death decider played over the 1st and 18th holes.
Moss went out at the first extra hole, leaving Wharton and Sansome to continue to battle it out.
They carried on for a total of six extra holes, before it was declared a tie because of the fading light with both named joint Midland Senior champions.
The trio finished a stroke in front of Bill Thompson (Kings Norton) 72-75-147, with three more locked on the 148 mark.
Among them was Graham Marshall (Birstall) with his 75-73 cards, Robert Aston (Market Drayton) with two 74s and a former English strokeplay champion Charlie Banks (Stanton-on-the-Wolds) who had 73-75 scores.
Banks won the prestigious Brabazon Trophy in 1983 at Hollinwell.
Birstall through Sansome and Marshall won the team award ahead of the county club’s B team of Phil Gray and Naz Kullar.
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