Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016. Round 20 at Cromer

Today saw Round Norfolk Golf Tour summer comp 2016 round 20 take place at Cromer. Despite it being one of the premier locations on tour, rival fixtures had reduced the entry to just 3. Even Golf Pig couldn't be arsed to turn up and had gone to one of the other events instead. It was everyone else's loss as it was an exciting day going down to the very last putt.

It was also great to see David make a return visit to the tour after many years away, from a time before records begun. He claimed he was now playing off 11 although enable to produce an up to date handicap certificate to prove it. After some consideration the committee reluctantly agreed he could still play. It was also his first time to Cromer golf course as he doesn't get out much.

The opening hole at Cromer is tricky as most first timers misjudge the rough and hazard on the left so it was good to see David also making this mistake losing his ball and gaining an opening blob. After that it was a mixed bag which contained 4 pars and 15 front 9 points.

David getting proceedings underway with an opening hole blob.

David also proved to be an excellent ball spotted sniffing out Bob and Kevin's wayward drives that often ended in the the thick rough. It took all Kevin's skill to hit the ball deep enough into the trees on the 5th hole for him to finally not be able to find one. Kevin was having an inconsistent front 9 as his wildness off the tee restricted his scoring opportunities. He did scramble well to get at least get one point on each hole but only 14 in all.

Good up and down from the bunker on the 2nd

Bob started very well with 5 points in the tricky opening two holes. As all golfers know you should never announce how pleased you to have played the two holes 'the best you can ever remember'. Inevitably Bob then failed to score on the next two holes. On the 4th he attempted to equal the most balls lost on one hole record but somehow managed to find his third ball in some deep rough. He finished the 9 in last place on 13 but only two off the lead.

Bob in the rough on the 3rd. A place he spent a lot of the afternoon

David had been given some extra advice by the pro when he bought his course map before the round. On the 10th they said make sure you don't go long and right so he took his 3 wood and went short and right instead, which was worse. However he still scrambled a point and, as a result of nothing worse than a bogey on the next few holes, found himself one shot in the lead coming on to 17.

David teeing off on light house hole where pro advice was don't hit long and straight,
but he did

Bob was still struggling with the long rough and as a result of 3 more blobs had just 19 points after 15 holes. It looked like his challenge on the average stableford points competition would be in tatters but he finished with 3 straight pars (including a great up and down on 17) to end on 28 and still in the hunt (just) for that plus a 50p prize for the day.

Bob escapes from bunker by the lighthouse

Kevinad finally got his game together and after a par on 10 and good drive on 11 was over confident as he decided to use his 3 wood, which he has been struggling with recently, for his next shot. This was a pivotal moment as duffed it into the deep rough for a blob. He clearly hadn't got over on the next hole as he blob that as well. After this things got better and he found himself just one point behind David as they stood on the 17th tee.

Kevin cant believe his put stayed out for a potential birdie on 13

Kevin's teeshot made the green but left a long putt while David had a 10 foot putt after a good shot in. Unbelievably Kevin made his birdie only for David to follow him. The imaginary crowd were going wild as the players went on to the 18th.

From the tee David went in the rough and only moved the ball a few yards with his next but a good 3rd and a couple of putts left Kevin needing to sink a 3 foot putt to tie the round with a par. When Mr and Mrs Pressure came knocking then Kevin wasn't at home as he sunk the putt and both players will collect their £1.75 joint winners prize when Golf Pig turns up again.

Next week the tour moves on to Wensum Valley and with only 3 rounds left this is turning into the closest competition ever. But how did today impact the leaderboards.

Money list. Kevin has now an unassailable lead and will end the year top of the earnings chart. His tactic of playing more rounds than anyone else has proved to be a good one.

Average Stableford points. This is incredibility close with 4 players separated by less than half a point averaging between 31.16 and 31.64 points and all with a chance of winning. Chris currently leads by 0.01 points from Mike but Ian and Kevin could still easily catch up with some high scoring rounds. Bob is probably just out of the running after today but you never know. David's 34 points mean another 3 good rounds could see him snatch the prize at the death.

Eclectic (off half handicap). Bob still leads Kevin by 0.4 and it would take a good run of birdies from other players to catch them. Kevin's birdie on 17 didn't help as he had already got a birdie there.

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. Again David could snatch it after his 2 blob round today.

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 Kevin (20), Mike(20) and Sandie(20) having good back 9s then they all remain in the hunt.