Quarry Park Open 2011

What a fantastic weekend for CDGC.

38 players pitched up for this summers QP Open run by Jessy Denny up at the Leamington Spa course.
There was a strong turnout by the CDGC; Jester, Bruce Dan, Oz Friere and Rich W in the Open. Ali, Ozzy Dan, Terry in the AD Am. In the Int Ams Sam and  Neil M were joined by Tour newbies, Ben Cairns, Liam Fisk and James Burton. Rich O was unfortunately taken ill on the Friday and was unable to play.

 The weather held out for us. The rain on Friday only really hampered the erection of the Taj Mahal and in the event a record breaking time of 27 minutes was recorded (nearly 20 minutes faster than previously achieved).  Saturday was hot, steamy and had some wind to play with plastic. Sunday was very warm, 29 degrees evidently.  It made for a tough time for the more rotund but both Dans were in their element.

Saturdays golf saw Sam play some very tidy golf. He took a big lead into the final round. Liam, Ben, Neil and Liam were all looking good and would all join Sam in the Int Am Final, 4 of 5 CDGC !

The Adv Am division saw Ali Findlay play very steady golf on a course that doesnt necessarily suit his big arm. Terry T played steadily and joined Ali in the Final.
Ozzy Dan went Bad, Good, Poor for his three rounds and would be part of the caddy team , along with yours truly. I was disappointed with my golf this weekend but again improved my position, finishing only 3rd from bottom.

The Open division was unusually full and saw one of the best competitions for some time. Charlie Mead led after the 1st round, Matt Cutler lead after 2, Del was top after 3 and then we witnessed a fantastic final that saw 3 different leaders in just 9 holes.

So to the finals proper. As you know we have a caddy bet going on at CDGC. The problem was that we had 8 of the 15 finalists from Croydon. A magnificent achievement in itself. I took the bag of Sam for the Int Am final, 6 jungle holes, which he smashed up. He played some lovely controlled golf to shoot par for those 6 holes. None of his fellow finalists could match him. He cruised to the victory and Neil took a very tidy 3rd. Liam took 4th with Ben in 5th. Neil gets his podium at last and he and Sam will now move up to Adv Am.  Liam also looked very good, his low slung sidearm getting some great distance... now for the backhand!

The Adv Am final was won by Quarry Parks Mark Davis who lead from start to finish. Ali Findlay took 3rd, very credit worthy as he managed to tame his monster arm to calmly negociate his way around the course.

My next caddy stint was to take Jesters bag for the final 5 holes of his 9 hole final. Dan Ryan (Ozzy Dans Man) had squeeked into the final and was a few shots back, and didnt really make a lot of inroads. Del, Matt, Jester and Chris Obrien battled for the win and swapped positions and as they went into the two wooded holes it was Jester who showed the patience and skills to take the lead. The wooded holes at QP are real score shifters. Dan Ryan seems to have got the better of them but the rest of us have had a variety of disasters on them! Jesters steady play got him through and was 1 up with 2 to play. His penultimate hole was Tee of 10 to the nipple. Long left dog leg. Solid drive straight on to the fairway followed by a nice upshot that grazed the right side of the bush. With his competition a little more wayward Jester goes into the ladt ahead. The last hole was hole 18 and saw 5 magnificent drives... Matt was Valet parked (ticket and all!!!) Jesters drive was lovely leaving an 8 meter putt. Needing 2 putts to win he pumped 5 times and missed (It was his caddies fault for not advising!) He popped in for par and a tremendous victory.

So we had 8 of 15 finalists, 2 title winners and 2 podiums. Fantastic end to a cracking weekend. Well done all of you.

Come On Croydon.