Round Norfolk summer golf round 25 at The Suffolk

The Scruffy Salver

This was the last round before the RNSG tour finishes at Sheringham in a fortnight so with it being so tight at the top of the money list you would have thought players would be queuing up to play. However this was not the case as injury, other commitments and rival golf tours had decimated the field. In fact only the minimum of 3 players were left meaning they were all guaranteed prize money today. At the end of the post I shall cover who can win what but before that what happened today.

The Suffolk isn’t everyone’s favourite course so it would be interesting to see what condition it was in. And judging by the state of the first tee box not very good although the greens and fairways were the best the tour has seen at this venue. 

There had been shining new balls on special offer at the pro shop and everyone had bought some. Kevin was the only one one brave enough to use them today as Vince bullishly announced he would be using the same ball he had used for the last 3 rounds. 

It was therefore no surprise when Vince’s unloseable ball headed off the first tee straight into the river to be the first of 7 he lost during the day. 

Vinces plays into the river to lose his second ball on the first hole but somehow still managed an 8 for a point

It was more of a surprise when Kevin successfully took on the river to reach the par 5 in 2 before securing his birdie. It was clear he meant business as he racked up the points on the front 9 as his putted was red hot. He had 23 of them adding 4 to his three best front 9 points scores.

After hitting a tree off the tee on the short 5th Kevin hit the green with his second.

Chris had started solidly but after Kevin had parred the 4th for 3 more points (which had got a well played through gritted teeth) she moaned that he was doing too well and she wanted to win. It was pointed out that she should score more points then and she certainly took this advice on board as she parred the next 5 holes to also have 23 at the turn.

Chris's approach to the 3rd comes up short but she was soon getting her A game out of her bag

Despite the number of ditches he was visiting Vince was still in the hunt with 17 points after 8 holes. But after hitting his ball in the stream running down the side of the 9th fairway his game started to unwind as this plus 3 more blobs meant he only got 13 more points to finish on 30 and well out the prizes.

Despite what looks like a good swing the ball actually went along the ground into the next ditch, although on this occasion the ball was recovered.

Chris started the back 9 badly as a couple of poor tee shots meant she only had 1 point from the opening 3 holes. She claimed to be put off by the fact the men’s tee box was next to hers on the 10th.

Mens tee was 50 yards further forward than it should have been on the 10th which was apparently unfair.

Kevin couldn’t make the most of the opportunity as his hot putter once again deserted him from inside two foot as he missed a couple of short ones, and when Chris birdied the 13th the gap was down to just 2. 

Chris chips up to the 15th to close the gap to 1 point

By the time they reached the 17th it was only 1 point. It was the nearest the pin hole and when Kevin and Vince failed to register (from 200 yards) Chris popped hers on (from 145 yards) to claim the £1 prize and a good birdie chance and this turned out to br the pivotal moment as Kevin chipped on before sinking a 15 foot putt while Chris left her birdie attempt short.

Chris then hit a poor tee shot under a tree and after taking 4 to get to the corner of the dogleg failed to get a point to finish on 38 and gift Kevin the title. The only thing left to see was if Kevin could set a new high score for the year. He had taken 4 to get on to the par 5 18th green and had a downhill 12 footer for a new record. However the well struck putt just failed to drop leaving him on 41 points but with a new course record.

Kevin is off to a mountain retreat for a week before the race to Sheringham finishes at Sheringham in two weeks time. But who can win what?

In terms of the money list his £2.50 prize today gives Kevin a 9p lead over Greg. Bob and Chris are just behind with Vince and Andrew also able to claim the title with a win on the last day.

The other competitions seem to be sewn up as Greg can’t be caught in average stableford and lowest average blobs.

Bob is over 3 shots clear in the eclectic and can only be caught by Vince if he can par the 4 holes he has failed to in 15 attempts to date.

Kevin has an 8 point lead in best front and back 9s which would be hard for anyone to catch and unless someone gets 42 points or more at Sheringham is likely to win best round of the year too.

So all attention will be on the money list tour title at Sheringham where the players will be going out in reverse money list order. There looks like a bumper turnout and as tradition dictates the season will end with prize giving followed by fish and chips.