Winner of the TNCM Trophy - Trevor Lammy (left)
It’s the bottom of the 7th Major and things are heating up nicely, the result from the weekend’s event may prove costly for some but for one the potential of making CGS history is very much on the cards!

The CGS 7th Major for the TNCM Trophy was held at the Little Lakes Golf Club in Bewdley, the venue was a late replacement for CGS favorite Sapey Golf Club which ran into difficulty and notified us of its decision to close, it’s since been come to our attention that it now as new ownership and will no doubt be on the roster again in seasons to come.

Although it was a late replacement for Sapey, Little Lakes proved a worthy choice for and also a testing one for those in contention for the Order of Merit title.

After our 6th Major at “The Welcome” it was looking like it could be a two horse race with Ian Higgins and Earl (Junior) Harris both looking strong on the run in to the end of the season, however looming in 3rd place was Mr consistent and 2016 winner Dave Brown.

The Little Lakes event was held in glorious sunshine with players from London and the West Country making up the 33 golfers in attendance. It was a return to a CGS event for Tennis Russel, Franklin John, Carlton Donald and Dave Ward and a first appearance and potential 2018 member Patsy Stone. The rest of the field consisted of the CGS regulars.

After some major juggling of the groupings due to some late absences the first groups were underway. In the 3rd group out was Trevor Lammy who mentioned after his round that he reached the green in regulation on the par 4 first but ended up without any points for the first of his two blobbed holes. Anyone who haven’t played the course before could look at the scorecard and the yardages and think it’s not a very long course however the defense of the course is its layout, the first hole is a prime example of this, it’s very straightforward hole from the tee, but the second into the green is where the challenge starts. The flag was on the front of a green which slopes from front to back and is on a lower level to the fairway which isn’t flat either. The ideal shot into the first green would be to drop it short and let it roll down onto the green however the ball just keeps rolling further and further away from the flag.

In the fourth group was handicap secretary Roan McLeod who pulled his three wood and was hoping to hit a decent drive up the first fairway, the thought was there but the execution wasn’t as he pretty much topped the ball about 100 yards, the silence from the guys watching was deafening , Roan saw the funny side of it and did recover to shoot a respectable 34 points.

Two of the contenders for 2017 champion golfer Ian Higgins and Junior Harris were out on the course but it wasn’t going to plan, the driver is usually a strong club in his arsenal but wasn’t working for Ian and even on the longest drive hole found the trees, all in all a poor day with the driver resulted in 26 points one of his lowest scores of the season. It was pretty much the same for Junior Harris, too many blobbed holes proved costly and he also could only muster 26 points.

The course was proving difficult for some but not all were having the same issues, Dale Bromfield has showed continuous improvement since his last win and posted a solid 38 points which was matched by Dave Brown. CGS Treasurer Linton Bell posted his highest points tally of the season with 39 points which guaranteed him yet another podium finish. However the 39 points from Linton wasn’t enough to beat the 40 point score posted by Trevor Lammy, the same Trevor Lammy who blobbed the first. The 40 point mark from Trevor included 3 birdies and could have been much more but for the blobbed holes. Playing from a 10 handicap Trevor played to a 6 showing some quality golf on his way to his first win in 3 years. The win comes after his Order of Merit title winning season of 2014, a year in which he failed to win an event but his consistency was enough to win the title. So congratulations Trevor on wining the TNCM Trophy.

In 3rd spot and on count back and closing in on a possible CGS record was Dave Brown. The 3rd place finish along with the struggles from fellow title contenders moved Dave into pole position in the Order of Merit with only our final two day event remaining. With 30 points separating the top three places it’s looking like one of the closes title deciders in our 11 year history.

Picking up prizes on the day were guest Dave Ward who beat the previous mark left by Emry’s Karemo for the longest drive on the 16th hole. Nearest the pin went to Vassel Brown who’s tee shot landed 9 feet from the flag on the deceptive 17th Hole and Paul Ramsey who’s mark of 10 feet on the 18th took the nearest in two prize.

So it’s onwards to the final event for the Charley Sifford Memorial Trophy which is our two day event being held at the Portal McDonald facility in Cheshire. It’s the last chance for non-winners to pick up an event win and for those in contention for champion golfer to hopefully do enough to win the top prize with Dave Brown looking to be the first in CGS history to retain the title.

Thanks to all golfers in attendance especially those who traveled from far and wide and to Little Lakes for welcoming us back and at late notice.

Also well done again to all who kept up with the group in front and allowed for a timely conclusion to the rounds, it’s too late to change now, we must keep this up for the final major and events to come.