RNLI Silver Spoons

The wet weather for Tynwald Weekend was not restricted to St Johns. In poor conditions at Ramsey Golf Club, the Mezeron sponsored, RNLI Silver Spoons took place and it was surprising to see any players better than par.

Paul Routledge opened with a birdie on the 6th and did well to keep to par as the dark clouds assembled above him. Dropped shots on the 15th, 16th and 17th were his undoing but a nice par on the 18th and 37 points put him on the leader board. Playing well at the moment is Steve Taylor and he also produced some steady golf in difficult conditions. Eventually the rain gets to everyone and dropped shots on the closing holes were Taylor’s undoing. He also managed 37, as did Kevin Berry. Kevin started well and picked up a hat-full of points on the opening 9. Keeping up the scoring proved to be difficult and a 7 on the 11th with further dropped shots on the 16th and 17th put him in jeopardy of losing out on a place on the podium. A last gasp par on the 18th was enough to secure Kevin 3rd place with 37 points on a card play-off. David Harris and Chris Robinson battled it out for the top prize and this also went to a card play-off on 38 points. Chris began well with a series of pars on the opening 9. A bogey on the 7th being the only major blip. David Harris was finding scoring on the opening holes tricky and Chris Robinson was in the lead at the turn. As the weather deteriorated David Harris’s Scot’s durability came to the fore and he began to score on the closing holes with crucial pars on the 16th and 17th to take top spot from Chris Robinson who couldn’t buy a par on the back 9. Great win for David and congratulations to everyone who braved the weather for the RNLI.

President’s Weekend

It was Robbie Radcliffe’s President’s weekend at Ramsey with some excellent prizes and unique medals for the successful golfers.

The Stableford format produced some good scores with the junior prize going to Dylan Pickles with 38 points. Great weekend for Dylan following a better than par result in the IOMGU Boys Championships as well. Better than par on President’s day with 37 points were Colin Taylor, Toto Mazzone and Keith Ward but in form Martin Webb pipped them all with 38 points but even he wasn’t in the prizes. Martin had a double bogey on the 15th and 16th which restricted his prize haul to the best Past Captain’s score. Dave Ball had a roller coaster round with birdie following bogey all the way round. His birdies on the 4th 10th and 13th were undone by mid-round dropped shots. He needed a par in finish but could not score enough on the last 3 holes and his 38 points was not enough to get in the prizes. The prizes were decided in an exciting three way card play-off on 41 points. Nigel Boyde played par golf for the opening 6 holes but was matched all the way by Ray Rowley. In the mix was Peter Collister, smarting from a recent reversal in the knock-out pairs he was eager to bounce back. His opening holes put him mid-field although a birdie on the 4th gave him some encouragement. At the turn Ray Rowley was just ahead of Nigel Boyde. Ray continued his run of pars although a 6 on the 13th opened the door for Nigel Boyde. Nigel needed to par in to take what he thought would be the first prize but a double bogey on 16 and another dropped shot on 17 left him wondering what could have been. Ray Rowley produced an excellent par finish on the last 3 holes and leader in the clubhouse with a winning score on most days. Peter Collister let the indifferent first 9 go from his head and started to make his move producing excellent scoring on the back 9. Luck always plays its part and Peter was fortunate to have a ball ricochet back in-bounds on the 14th. A double bogey and a donation to the Captain’s Charity following bunker trouble on the 16th was the only real blip as he raced in with a super back 9, 23 points, just piping Ray Rowley and Nigel Boyde to take the President’s Day Prize. Gripping golf for everyone.

Sunday saw the President v Captain Challenge with Glen Charnock ably led by Steve Taylor taking the top prize on 47 points! The Captain narrowly defeated the President but laughing all the way was Malcolm Callow with a 6 iron ace on the 17th. Couldn’t happen to a nicer chap really!

Next week is the Plough 4BBB on Saturday and top builders, Fairway Construction, sponsor the Grand Island & Hydro Scratch Bowl on Sunday.

Photo - Malcolm Callow.