Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 19 at Caister and Yarmouth

Wednesday saw Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 round 19 take place at Caister and Yarmouth. There a was a bumper entry of 6 who were split into two groups of 3 by the traditional balls in the air method. The course was very hard and dry so there was plenty of run on the course making it hard to judge distance.

It was good to see John once again return to the tour after some more time away tuning his game. He started in traditional fashion by losing his ball on the first before and an opening blob. This was followed by 3 successive pars putting him into an early lead, however he then heard that Sandie had broken his most blobs in a round record with 9 on her last outing at Barnham Broom two weeks ago. So with the aid of bunkers and gorse he set out to reclaim the record and managed to blob 4 of the next 5 holes. He was now well on the way to getting his record back ending the front 9 with 11 pts and 5 blobs.

John teeing off on first with an early blob

Mike was the current leader of both the highest average points comp and lowest blobs per round. Due to the high demand for his appearance at other events his agent has committed him to a busy September meaning he would only be making one more outing on tour this year. Therefore a good round today would put him in a very strong position as we enter the final month of the tour. However he had an inconsistent front 9 scoring only 14 points and throwing in a could of blobs for good measure. 

Mike teeing off on first

Chris has been the form player of late and today seemed to be no exception as she posted a birdie and 3 pars in 5 holes during the middle of the front 9. She was helped by the ludicrous 8th which was a 466 par 4 for men and 391 par 5 for women. To rub salt in the wound she hit her 2nd through the back. Mike and John were so disgusted that they refused to score a point on the hole. She finished on 19 pts putting the 40 point best round of the year under threat.

Chris getting her round underway

Meanwhile in the group behind Sandie started where she left off on her record breaking blob round by failing to score on the first. However things then picked up with 7 points in the next two holes. Her putting all round was very sharp as she sunk a number of long putts to scramble some points while also taking advantage of her opportunities. She finished the front 9 on a solid 17 pts.

Sandie teeing off on 2nd

Bob was on fire on the front 9 as he had 3 successive pars during the middle of the 9. With 18 points after 8 holes he was very well placed and when his approach on the 9th landed just off the green things were looking good. However he was struggling with the pace of the greens and 4 putts later his confidence on the greens was in pieces although he still had 19 pts and share of the lead.

Bobs long putt on 1st hole, which was the first of 3

Kevin was one of the few players finding the lightning quick greens to his liking as at last he had found some greens the same speed as his artificial one in his back garden. Thanks mainly to good putting he collected 18 points on the front 9 and was well placed for the remainder of the round.

Good approach to 4th green

The back 9 started well for Mike including a par on the toughest hole, number 11, however after that things fell away badly with 3 more no pointers and only 11 points to finish on a disappointing 25. This has given hope to the rest of the tour as he lost the lead in both comps he was leading. See end of post for competition summaries.

Mike struggles in bunker on way to a blob on short 14th

Chris also fell away recording only a single par and 14 points on the closing holes. However her 33 point total made her leader in the clubhouse.

John clearly only had Sandies blob record on his mind as he again found the hard ground and gorse bushes his ally on the opening holes helping move to 8 blobs after 14. However as he scored on the next two holes it meant he would have to blob out on the last two holes for the record. It took much skill but he managed to do it and set a new record of 10 no score holes. He actually played better than handicap on the other 8 for 17 pts.

It was very close in the group behind with only 2 pts separating the players after 13 holes with Kevin holding a 1 point lead. However he then fell away badly as the race course acted like a magnet  to his ball as he went on it 3 times over the next few holes to finish on a disappointing 30 pts.

Kevin getting out of the bunker on 14th but straight into the gorse and no points

Bob couldn't really get going either putting his teeshot on the 11th on to the beach. His cry of fore probably didn't alert the holiday makers to the danger they were in. He did then manage to score on all of the last 5 holes to finish in the money on 31.

Bobs teeshot on 10 ended up on the race course

Suddenly Sandie came to he fore. She used a new tactic of giving a disappointing sigh or 'rubbish' comment after each shot only for it to end up a few foot from the flag. With 14 points (including a birdie on 16) in the last 5 holes for a total of 37 and, in the end, a comfortable win and her first prize money on tour.

Sandy chipping off the bank to the 13th green

Today's round really shock up the leaderboards so with just the 4 rounds in September to go here is a summary of each competition.

Money list. Kevin has an almost unassailable lead and only Bob can catch him if he wins all the last 4 rounds and Kevin finishes out of the prizes. His tactic of playing more rounds than anyone else has proved to be a good one.

Average Stableford points. This is incredibility close with 5 players averaging between 31 and 31.64 points and all with a chance of winning. Chris currently leads by 0.01 points from Mike but Ian, Bob and Kevin could still easily catch up with some high scoring rounds.

Eclectic (off half handicap). Bob leads Kevin by 0.4 and it would take a good run of birdies from other players to catch them.

Most Stableford points in a round. Kevin has led since mid June when his 40 pts won the US Open at Woodbridge but with good scoring conditions and some large fields it is certainly not a guaranteed winning score.

Average blobs per round. Chris's all round consistency means she leads by someway averaging only 2.07 blobs per round and it would take another tour record blob round for her to be caught so it's hers to lose.

Best combined front and back 9 in July, August and September. Ian has a two point lead with 41 points. But with Chris (21) and Bob (20) having good front 9's and Mike(20) and Sandie(20) having good back 9s then they remain in the hunt.

To add to the drama David 'Congo Rapids' Moore rejoins the tour, after several years away, for the final 4 rounds of the year so could still disrupt the current standings.

September looks like being the most exciting finish to Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp ever.