Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
It’s a Wilson win double!
Claire Wilson moved joint top of the table with one round to go after she and Lizza Berry scored 38 points to win Canterbury’s frosty Fourth Round of the ladies’ Winter League on Saturday.
And for good measure, husband Mike followed her into the winner’s circle when he scored 39 points on a thawing course to claim victory at Monday’s seniors’ Stableford. Claire contributed 26 out of 38 points from six pars, six bogeys and one scoring double, with Berry weighing in with two pars and three bogeys. They won by one point from Val Lucas and Catherine Hinds, with Cath Smith and Heather Hardy third on 33.
She said: ‘’I played well. I was striking the ball well and, although it looked like I got a lot of the points, Lizza and I dovetailed very well.
“The course was not quite as frozen as it has been but, when the sun came out, it got quite muddy in places as it began to thaw.”
The round was played in a better-ball Stableford format. Substitutes are allowed in all five rounds, which are played with a different format and different partners, with the total round points accrued deciding the overall individual winner after one discard. Saturday’s result means Wilson has scored 24 points overall and leads the table jointly with Alyson Wreford, who was fourth with Di Plommer. Wreford and Plommer scored 30 points, one point and one place better than Fran Fearn and Jacqui Mount, who is third. Mike Wilson had birdies at the eighth and 11th, six pars, seven bogeys, two scoring doubles and a no-score at the 13th for 19 points out and 20 back on Monday.
He won by two from Beau Hart, who was two-over-par on the front nine for 21 points but came to grief with a no-score at the 10th before dropping only four more shots on his remaining eight holes for another 16.
Chris Cheeseman scored 35 points for third in a field of 52, although 20 players only played nine holes due mainly to the buggy and electric trolley ban on the back nine.
Mike Wilson said: “I didn’t think mine was a particularly special round but, clearly, it was and at least I matched Claire. “On the eighth, I hit a 9 iron to six feet and, on the 11th, I mishit a 5 wood but it still finished five feet from the pin.
“I’m not so good at seeing the ball long distance these days, so it was a nice surprise to get up there and find it so close to the hole.”
Chris Gay scored 19 points to win Monday’s seniors’ alternative nine-hole competition, which was played because buggies and electric trolleys are temporarily banned on the back nine. Stephen Metherell was second with 18 points on countback from Richard Young in a field of 11.
Marthinus Bonthuys scored 34 points on a frozen course to win last Wednesday’s men’s Midweek Stableford. Bonthuys was out with 16 points, despite failing to score at the second and eighth, thanks to four three-point pars, two bogeys and a scoring double.
He came back with 18 more when he followed a double bogey at the 10th with four pars and four bogeys to win on countback from Richard Hinds and thirdplaced Ian Brenchley. Hinds scored 19 points on the front nine and 15 on the back with a five-points birdie at the 15th and no-scores at the 12th and 18th. Brenchley also had 19 points out and 15 back but Hinds’ birdie clinched it. Bonthuys said: “It was just one of those days when it was tough for everyone, the ball was pinging and bouncing all over the place.
“That’s why 34 points won it, I guess, but I had a pretty good round.”
Lexi Donohue scored a red-hot personal-best 45 points to win Saturday’s junior Stableford despite the cold. Donohue, 12, scored pars at the first and 12th, 11 bogeys and five scoring doubles for a gross 92, net 62, for 23 points out and 22 back to shave 20 shots off her previous best gross score at Canterbury.
She won by 15 points from Oliver Bonnie in a small field. Buddy Woodbridge came third with 26 points. Donohue said: “I am absolutely over the moon with my score and I don’t know how I did it as the course wassoicy.ifeel awesome.”