Chichester golfers serve up some hot stuff

Over two bright and sunny days starting on the Tower course there were some hot performances from Phil Couchman and Roy Chandler with nett 64s while Dave Hungate continued his good form and was just two behind the first round scratch leader.

The second round on the Cathedral was so hot (temprature-wise) that the pace of play suffered, which made it a tough round for the later starters. John Styles fought back with a gross 82 to take second place in the scratch competition but the champion for the second year running and fourth time overall was Mike Snuggs with a very good aggregate score of 166.

Vets rules state that no-one is allowed to win a prize in both the scratch and handicap competitions so the winner of the Handicap Cup was Dave Hungate with a nett aggregate score of 139 , just one ahead of Pete Collyer.

It had been thought doubtful the club championship would be completed in this unprecedented year so big thanks were due to all who participated or supported it.

COWDRAY PARK

A record field of 113 seniors took part in the August Stableford.

There were some extremely good scores with par (36 points) or better down to 20th position.

The winner of divisionone with an excellent score of 41 points was Roger Howard, with the perennial performer Allan Gormley in second place with 40.

In division two the winner was Justin Chuter with a great score of 43 points, with Brian Anderson in second place with 42 points.

A total of 88 Cowdray seniors competed in a medal competition for the Heard Trophy. Play began in dry conditions, with an autumnal edge in the air, and finished in rain, giving the early starters an advantage.

There were some commendable scores for this medal competition, but the course now appears to have regained its length and control with eight players scoring net par or better.

The Heard Tankard was first played for at Cowdray in 1988. This splendid trophy was originally won by senior David Heard’s father in a scratch competition at Wentworth in 1936. David donated the trophy to the seniors.

The winner this year was John How with an excellent nett score of 67, with Andy Douglas second with 68.

The second round of the Captain’s Prize was played a day after heavy rain and the weather was kind.

The greens were softer and so a little slower and the fairways were more lush. These benign conditions produced extremely good scores from some familiar seniors, and six players came in with 40 points or better.

Eric Morrish followed up his recent Yellowlees Trophy victory to record the best score with 42 points. Harvey Terry scored 41 and Allan Gormley, Justin Chuter, David Fowler and David Wickham all scored 40.

The pairs competition was won by John Barrett & Dave Wickham with 78 points and Steve Calder-Smith and Eric Morrish second with 76.