WW2016 - Borders Championship, Sat & Sun 18-19/6/16

For this season's Borders Championship we decided to venture south west to the South Lakes. The courses chosen by John Ford for this years trip were Kirby Lonsdale on the Saturday and Grange Over Sands on the Sunday with an overnight stay in the historic city of Lancaster. 19 members attended this year's event to fight for the honour of being the custodian of "The Claw" for this season.

As has become the norm with this competition over the years the weather played it's part. At 16:30 on the Friday afternoon John had a call off the Professional at Grange Over Sands to let him know the course was partially flooded, only nine holes were open and he suggested we should phone the following morning to get an update. Well Saturday dawned fair and the weather forecast looked OK so we set out on the trip across the Pennines still not knowing whether we would be playing on Sunday or not. At about 9am we called the Pro at Grange Over Sands, the course was still flooded and he didn't expect things to improve much overnight but he did suggest another course. Following a couple more phone calls we averted a minor catastrophe and we were booked in at Bentham Golf Club on Sunday morning .... Phew!

Kirby Lonsdale

As we gathered in Kirby Lonsdale club house after an early start quite a few of us decided to top up our energy levels by partaking in a "healthy" breakfast. When we checked the menu there was a surprise for one of our group as the Full Monty breakfast here was named the "Mark Wilson" I'm not sure if Mark has been here before, but if so he certainly left his "mark" on the place. Once we were all fed and watered we set out onto the course, our Society were following the Lady Captain's group and being in the first group I had vision's of us being held up by the women. I should have known better, they were off into the distance after the third hole and we never caught up again until the 19th hole! As I expected the course was very scenic and in very good condition though the rough and semi-rough was brutal at times.

Following the golf we had the usual post match winners announcements then we left to travel to The Toll House Hotel in Lancaster, our base for the weekend. After a quick wash and brush up we gathered in the hotel bar for an slurp before feeding time. At this point we split up, some of the lads went out for a few bevies and a Ruby Murray whereas the rest had a meal in the hotel then went out for a walk to watch Portugal only manage a 0-0 draw and Ronaldo miss a penalty much to the consternation of the only Portugal supporter in the pub who was sitting at the table in front of me ..... Oh dear, How sad, Never mind Senhor Ronaldo. Following the footy some of us returned to the hotel for a nightcap (or two) where we talked and put the world to rights before some well earned kip.

Sunday morning dawned cloudy and overcast but very warm and muggy, following a very nice breakfast we took the short journey to Bentham Golf Club, a few miles east of Kirby Lonsdale.

Bentham

At 5772 yards Bentham isn't the longest course on the Wanderers calendar but it certainly felt like it, with some steep climbs and some very long walks between holes you can add at least another 500 yards to the total. From the outset you could tell this was going to be a tough test of golf, as at Kirby Lonsdale the day before the rough was brutal (I know, if you don't go in you don't have a problem) and the greens were excellent. The course layout has been changed recently, with some tee's and holes being swapped round. Obviously Garmin and the other Sat-Nav companies have not been out to reset their GPS mapping as those of us who rely on those devices found to our cost (I remember looking at my device only to see I was playing an 870 yard Par 3 hole!). The weather forecast was for rain to sweep across from early afternoon and true to the forecasters word it did at about 3pm, luckily we had all got most of the way round before the rain started in ernest.

Once the golf was over most of the group gathered in the clubhouse to dry off (on the outside) and re-hydrate (on the inside) and to announce the various category winners and the new Borders Champion. At this point I would like to thank John Ford for contacting and booking the courses (including re-arranging Sunday game) and hotel plus the evening meal. I am sure you will all appreciate the amount of effort that goes into organising and running this trip.

Last but certainly not least, the results. With only two rounds counting usually the Borders Championship event has been a very tight run thing, but occasionally we have a run-away winner as it was this year so here are the top three -

In third place with 61 points (28+33) was Mike Murray.

In second place with 63 points (40+23) was Jim Rooks.

The winner and 2016 Borders Champion with a total of 69 points (40+29) was Andy Trewick, his first Society "Major" win.

Congratulations to all the above, to see your individual scores please click HERE to download the Excel file, thanks to everyone who turned out and once again made this a great trip, lets hope for more of the same in 2017.

Cheers everyone.

Ian Gunn, WWGS Competition Secretary.