Sunday saw the men compete for the Richdale Cup.

The trophy is inscribed “for winter golf” and the conditions this year were tough with only 6 players par or better and 26% no returns.

Despite all that the day saw some fantastic golf and just two shots and a count-back separating the top 6. Just back from the Spanish boot camp, Richard Lockwood played like he was used to the conditions and shot a 71 with a 2 on the 17th and a fantastic par 35 back 9. On the gross side of the comp John Brooks and Stu Douglas both put in a 76 after both getting birdie 3’s on the 4th. Stu started well with a one over par front 9 but bogeys on the 14th and 15th before dropping 2 shots on the last just knocked him out of the reckoning. John Brooks was a little steadier but a double bogey 12th and a dropped shot on the 17th meant neither of them could catch the more relaxed Jamie Arneil who put in a par 70 score in these conditions, Great stuff from Jamie with birdies on the 2nd, 6th and again nailing it on the 18th with another 2. Perhaps most impressive was knocking out a succession of 6 pars from the 8th onwards. Jamie got best gross with 70 and 4th in the main event with a 4 on the 17th being a crucial blip on his net 68 card. With 4 players tied on 68 a good back 9 was vital to get a top 3 place. Tony Wood put in an excellent round but dropped shots on the last 2 holes which meant 6th place was all he could manage. Bob Baggaley’s  birdie on the 4th set him up for a good start but double bogeys on the 7th and 15th and a run of dropped shots on the back 9 just knocked the edge off his score after a good start. Bob’s 5th place wasn’t bad though. With Jamie Arniel taking 4th, 3rd place was taken by Mr Steady, Keith Strachan. No birdies but good start put him in place and steady scoring on a difficult back 9 put him in contention. Dropped shots on the 16th and 17th  meant that only a par on the last would secure his second 3rd spot of the season for Keith and he duly delivered! The top two battle was between big hitting Simon Callow and in-form Captain, Phil Hassall. Phil’s recent successful visit to Castletown for St Pat’s day and again in the Island Games AM AM bode well for the day so an opening double bogey should have focused the mind for Phil. It certainly was a struggle on the front 9 where he dropped 7 shots. A stellar performance would be need on the back 9 for Phil. Funnily enough Simon Callow also started with an opening 7 but was on fire on the front 9 with a birdie 3 on the 6th putting him out in front. However, a succession of dropped shots on the back 9 and crucially the 16th and 18th meant he didn’t quite take the opening advantage he had. Phil certainly turned the corner on the 10th and a back 9 of 38 meant he took first place from Simon on count-back.

Great golf on a tricky day and well done to Phil for getting the edge!

Next week’s Easter fixtures feature two open competitions, the Easter Bunny AM AM on Sunday morning followed by the Bottomley Easter Egg Trophy.

Photo - Phil Hassall.