Charlie McCook takes the Fix-Up at Staverton in a game of two halves!
The mature championship standard 18 hole golf course set in 150 acres of beautiful Northamptonshire countryside, with small lakes and 64 American-style sand traps, Staverton Park offers a challenge to players of all abilities.
For a season opener there was an excellent turn out; 30 members and guests traveled from around the country to put an early stamp of the 2014 order of merit, the recent wet weather must have contributed to the increased numbers.
Up for grabs was the Fix-Up trophy which was previously won Frank McCook who started the 2013 season the same way he ended the 2012 season with a win.
It was a bright and sunny Staverton that greeted the CGS and considering the amount of rain in the previous months the course was in excellent condition.
The conditions were dry and the temperature was good enough for short sleeves and with a breeze it would be a test on the long game for most competitors.
After a long winter break the first hole would prove to be a challenge for most, on a calm day it would be a straight forward downhill par 4, easily reachable in two for most of the group. Today driving into a firm wind it proved to be a real challenge, the hole would be prove to be the second most difficult of the day with only 5 players making par – nerves may have also played a part. With all 8 groups now off and running it would prove to be a long day.
Accompanying the CGS for the first time was guest player Dave Walker who came in with 26 points playing off a 14 handicap. Dave has joined the CGS but had to play as a guest in his first event – a CGS rule for first timers. Former CGS member Rhucha Ford as returned to compete with the CGS as a member for 2014, Rhucha would finish the day with 25 points playing from a 12 handicap.
The conditions would prove to be a factor in scoring today, the competition scratch score would be set at 34 points or Par 73 and compared to the last time the CGS played this course which took place at the end of the 2012 season the CSS was set at 36 points or Par 71 and the winner that day was Frank McCook with 40 points.
Throughout the course of the day the players found that they either performed well on the front or the back nine holes. However, it was Charlie McCook (pictured above) playing off a handicap of 23, who on the day managed to keep his cool throughout the 18 holes to amass a total of 37 Stapleford points to take the spoils and become a new name on the Fix-Up cup.
Charlie who is the uncle of the 2013 Fix-Up Cup winner and 2012 Order of Merit winner Frank McCook, has played with the CGS on numerous occasions as a visitor, decided to become a full member for the first time this year. In the pre match discussions Charlie was quoted as saying, ‘I do have a high handicap I know, but I am hoping that this can be greatly reduced as the season progresses’
In posting the best score of the day, members of the group who played with Charlie said that ‘all of his tee shots ended up on the fairway’ and ‘in all the holes played I haven’t managed to win one from him.” At the award presentation Charlie enquired how his performance would affect his handicap. He was duly advised that it would be assessed by the Handicap Secretary.
The 2nd and 3rd spots were taken by Trevor Lammy who plays out of a club in Coventry and Dave ‘Steady Eddie’ Brown who regular plays many of the various Birmingham courses
Amongst the day’s play were the additional prizes for longest drive, nearest the pin and nearest the pin in two. For this event they would be on the 7th the 12th and the 18th respectively.
The first of these was the longest drive on par 4 index 1 7th hole and hitting into the wind would be a difficult tee shot. Many players hit long and straight tee shots the only problem was when they arrived at their ball it was in the rough because the fairway wasn’t cut straight, there was a slight dogleg on the hole so the tee shot had to be on the right to have a chance. One person who was able to combine both length and accuracy was Mr Long Drive himself Ian Higgins. Ian has so many long drive trophies he should register for the Remax long drive championship!
The nearest the pin prize was offered on the par 3 12th, a tee shot over water. The mark for nearest the pin was laid down from the first group out by Don Campbell. It was a mark of around 7 feet, a distance that was never beaten – Don also completed the deal by birdieing the hole.
The last chance of a prize for anyone with a bad score was the par4 18th. This was nearest the pin in two. Not being a one hit wonder this would give most at least a chance to win the prize providing they hit a good tee shot. By the end of the days play there appeared to be only one name on the marker and that was Carl Cunningham. Carl was the only one to hit the green in two and being a 28 handicap golfer Carl wasn’t even expected to hit the green from where he was playing his second from and it surprised even his playing partners. From the tee Carl hit his drive into the left hand bunker just short of the pond; his next effort would require a shot over water to a green sloping from back to front, with the pin perched at the top of the slope. As we sometimes hear on the TV, the long bunker shot is one of the toughest shots in golf, well not for Carl, this 28 handicapper from Wolverhampton, he blasted out of the bunker hitting his shot 10 feet pass the hole to have it spin back to five feet, a shot which surprised even his playing partners, who didn’t give him much of a chance especially with water in play.
Well now all Carl had to do was to finish off the shot by either making birdie or just two putts for par – it’s only five feet…come on! Well we all have our moments and Carl’s was the shot from the bunker and a tremendous shot it was but that was it, the pro-golfer in Carl just left his body, he was now back to being a 28 handicap golfer, his Cinderella moment had ended with a 3 putt for bogey, the first putt was a bit of a shotgun moment, “It went off in my hand”! The 2nd putt was now longer than the 1st, but to Carl’s credit he 2 putted for a 5. The only consolation for Carl was picking up the prize for nearest in two – well done Carl.
Barry Nettleford beat Rodney Dillon for booby prize for the lowest points posted, Barry questioned as to why the out of bounds fences were so close to the fairways as that was where quite a few of his shots ended up.
In all it was another great day for the CGS with a good turnout, good weather and good banter between all.