The CGS final Major was held at Handsworth Golf club. It was a day of hope for those in contention for honours but also a day of remembrance for a CGS stalwarts and Handsworth Golf Club member Ken Brown who passed away in 2020. Ken was one of the first CGS members and was at our inaugural event back in 2007 at Licky Hills, he was a gentle soul and will continue to be missed by everyone who knew him.

The final major of the 2024 season was well attended with 38 CGS members and Simon Gardner the only guest. This was the 9th Major of the season, and all members were playing for the Players Trophy.

The weather leading up to the event wasn’t looking good, the heavy rain was maybe going to throw a dampener on proceedings and with the Handsworth course being parkland the chances of it becoming boggy was in the thoughts. However, over the years the club as introduced better drainage and introduced several new holes. With those changes now firmly embedded the difference was clearly noticeable, a few years previous and it would’ve been like a mud pit.

The final major provided several players with opportunities to lift one of the seasons major trophies. Still up for grabs was the 1st and 2nd division titles, so players such as Keith Salmon and Dale Bromfield in the 1st division and Errol Murray, Micky Taylor, Al Beckford and George Branch all in the hunt for the 2nd division.

With play under way, it was evident that the course was playing much longer than normal due to soft fairways. The course does provide some challenging second shots to elevated greens so not a lot of run was experienced which meant you had to carry it all the way to the green. There are a couple holes with ditches crossing the fairway, so unless you’re a big hitter a layout was the shot from the tee leaving a long second to an elevated green. Amongst those on course was last years Order of Merit champion Carlton Tomlinson. Not playing his best golf this season Carlton pretty much conceded the Order of Merit trophy early in the season and returned it when he new it wasn’t going to be his season. We all know Carlton loves his golf and is very hard on himself when his game isn’t working how he’d like it, that’s golf, win some loose some. Anyway, I’m sure Carlton will be back to his best next season.

With this seasons Order of Merit title wrapped up some said there wasn’t much point Roan McLeod turning up for the final event however not having won an event this season whilst clinching the title it would the icing on the cake for Roan if he could win a Major but it wasn’t to be, his four 3rd place finishes would be the best he could do but capturing the title was his greatest win since the start of the CGS back in 2007.

With the 1st division title still undecided Keith Salmon was the man able to capture that title from his closes rival Dale Bromfield. Keith finished the Handsworth Major in 2nd spot with 34 points accumulating enough points to win the 1st division title. With Dale down in 23rd spot on the day with 26 points, it wasn’t one of his best days, but with two wins this season I’m sure Dale won’t be complaining.

In 3rd spot on the day was Anthony Davidson with 33 points. It was Anthony who was Roan’s nearest rival for the top honours, but he fell short a few events ago and didn’t amass enough points to lift the Order of Merit title this season, however his good run wasn’t wasted, the points he’d accumulated throughout the season was enough to be the standout winner of the 3rd division title.  Lets not forget the efforts this season of Errol Murray.  Errol has had a stellar season finishing fourth overall and along with a fourth place at Handsworth allowed him to gain enough points to pull ahead of Micky Taylor, Al Beckford and George Branch in clinching the 2nd division title. 

It wouldn’t be a CGS event without the on-course prizes for nearest the pins.

There were two nearest the pins in one held on holes 4 and 17 respectively, there was also nearest in two which was held on the 11th hole and finally the nearest in three was held on the 18th hole.

Nearest in one on the 4th was won by Roan McLeod, nearest in one on the 17th was won by Ronald Ross, nearest in two on the 11th was won by Keith Salmon and on the 18th for nearest in three the winner was Carlton Donalds.

The only thing remaining was to crown the winner of the final major and the title of Players champion. It’s not been the best of seasons for this man, but he left his best golf for the final event. Playing some solid golf and scoring 37 points it was last years champion golfer Carlton Tomlinson. Having given up on trying to retain the Order of Merit title which is no mean feat, only Eddie Wedderburn as managed it, Carlton had to focus his play on the Majors and with several poor performances he was able to finish his season on a high winning by three points from Keith Salmon.

It’s been another successful CGS season with some great golf, fun times were had, a lot of laughter and plenty banter. Congratulations to all the winners and commiserations to all the losers. There’s been plenty of new faces this season and hopefully they will become new members for the 2025 season. A special thanks to Committee for a stellar job in arranging all the fixtures and keeping the costs down, its not an easy job. Special thanks to Captain Al Beckford who’s been a great Captain this season and as raised some decent money through player fines which as kept everyone on their toes and as improved timekeeping and registration, its also provided much laughter and banter after the round. It all helps us improve standards and makes us a more organised and professionally run society. Lets keep the standards up for 2025.