Order of merit is a Hole new ball game
Mannings Heath Golf ’s winter order of merit race went to the wire as Jack Hole and Greg Laming finished the season with identical points totals for their best eight results.
But it was eight-handicap Hole who claimed the Halifax Cup by winning two events to Laming’s one with the second victory only achieved on the final Sunday of the season.
Hole’s 38 points included ten pars, a birdie and nothing worse than a bogey and put him two clear of Kevin Dixon and three ahead of Laming.
But Laming, who plays of eight, put up a brilliant fight as he played the back nine in one under gross and needed only one more point to claim a unique double having already taken the summer order of merit title.
Saturday’s stableford saw Mike England pip Steffan Battle for first place on countback with 36 but Battle was left rueing the blob on the 18th that cost him victory.
Chris Smith’s better back nine beat Graham Light and Lewis Agnew to third place after all three carded 34.
Countback was also the way to settle the first ladies’ medal of the year with Margaret Brown, Lynne Jones and Debs Battle all carding nett 79 and Brown’s last six holes clinching the win.
The seniors played for the Les Hillman Cup with a strong turn-out and a strong winning score of 42 points by 17-handicap Andy Jones.
Jones built his success on a two-over-par front nine and finished with seven pars and a birdie on his card and a blob on the 12th his only blemish.
Three points behind were Phil Andrews and John Elliott with Andrewsclinching runners-up money. He also moved into joint leadership of the seniors’ order of merit with David Sayer, fifth on the day.