Bottomley Easter Egg Trophy
The prestigious Bottomley Easter Egg Trophy, kindly sponsored by Andrew Walker, befittingly attracted many visiting players to a glorious Ramsey on bank holiday Monday, despite the mountain road closure.
A full quota of golfers took advantage of the conditions in this favourite par/bogey competition. Making a welcome return to golf, John Shields started well with a birdie on the 6th after a frightening 9 on the first. He ended up all square in the end and will improve as the season progresses.
John Brooks joined old sparring partner Keith Ward with Jimmy Callow and Fergus Murdoch on plus 1. John opened with a 7 but quickly got back on track with birdies on the 2nd and 3rd. A later dropped shot on the 15th meant he just didn’t quite reach the top end of the leader board.
Plus two was the score to get and with his winter hibernation over Martin Webb made a great start with a birdie on the 2nd. A troublesome back 9, double bogey on the 17th meant he got 6th place after a grandstand finish birdie 2 on the 18th.
Jeff Ward and Connal Hughes were also in the running on plus 2. Jeff’s 3 birdies were undone with two shots dropped on the 15th. Connal Hughes could also feel a little unlucky after some steady golf but again a couple of back 9 double bogeys dented the card.
Just snatching 3rd place was Robbie Moore on plus 3 after a fairly steady round. He will regret the dropped shots on the tricky closing holes at Ramsey.
Taking 2nd place on a back 9 count-back from Robbie was Jeff Gough, another Spanish boot camp returnee. Despite blowing a fuse on the 1st and the lights going out altogether on the 7th and 15th Jeff played some steady golf and put some timely spark into the closing holes to just edge it over Robbie.
To win this Trophy you need to beat the course and steady golf is the best tool in the bag. Stu Douglas continues to deliver in this way. He ended up with an Easter 69 gross and plus 4 for the day after birdies on the 7th and 10th. The only blip Stu got was a bogey on the 15th for the second week running but kept his nerve in the run in. Nice result and perhaps not the last win this season for Stu.
Next week Ramsey get into the Master’s spirit with a par 3 comp on Friday evening, with all welcome. Saturday sees the Grand National Texas Scramble and completing the sporting weekend on Sunday is the Groves Cup open competition sponsored by Sammy Tumblety, so everyone gets a warm welcome at Ramsey.
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