Tynwald Weekend saw a full field take advantage of excellent conditions at Ramsey in the Colin Aldridge Anti-Cancer Open Stableford and what a close finish it was with just 3 shots separating the top 7 players.
Ian Craine, Simon Callow and Tony Kelly were in the mix and it was all down to the back 9 count back to sort out the places. Ian really did have a game of two halves dropping shots all over the place on the outward half but he settled and finished well with a 2 on the 18th. By contrast Tony Kelly had a calamitous run-in despite birdies on the 9th and 14th. Simon Callow’s birdie on the 3rd was a good start but the fire went out of his game and a 4 on the 18th was disappointing. Ian sneaked in ahead of Tony Kelly with that superb finish and took 3rd place with Tony Kelly 5th and Simon Callow 7th.
Continuing what has been an excellent season so far Connal and Ciaran Hughes battled it out with the boy Ciaran just edging it this week. Connal’s birdie on the 14th almost did enough for him after a steady round but dropped shots on the 17th and 18th holes let Ciaran take the family bragging rights for this week. Ciaran birdied the 14th and a par on the tricky 18th was enough for 40 points and 4th place.
John Brooks and Steve Mitchell had an interesting battle with some showcase golf from both. 3 birdies from John on the 8th, 10th and 13th was magical mid-round scoring but dropped shots on the 15th and 17th were costly. 6th place and a 71 gross with 39 points isn’t bad though is it? Steve Mitchell’s opening 7 played on his mind as he produced some excellent golf to recover from a bad start to finish just one point off the winners spot. He applied the pressure and had a great finish with a birdie on the 15th and pars on the final 3 holes giving him a gross 72 and 40 points - with crucially a superior back 9.
A good finish on the closing holes is really what was required and the tricky short pin position on the 18th presented some dangerous options for someone trying to birdie the hole. Adam Greenwood took the steady approach and with 13 pars on his card including pars on the final 3 holes the blips on the 5th and 12th were distant memories and not enough to knock him off top spot with 42 points. All round good scoring.
