After two months of cold weather and intermittent heavy rain, the Midlands had a week of sunshine immediately prior to the Senior Men’s Pairs Open. And what an effect it had. The greenkeeping staff did a magnificent job in both presenting the course in its full splendour and setting it up as a challenge to be enjoyed rather than endured. There were lots of positive comments about the course, especially the greens, from visitors and members alike.
In all, there were 124 players competing for the honour of being crowned champions and winning the £200 first prize. There was also a decent prize pot for those finishing second, third and fourth, with a sleeve of balls for anyone recording a two at any hole.
This year it was Bromsgrove’s turn to fill the prize places after a 1-2 for visitors last year. Indeed, 10 of the first 11 places were home pairings; the highest visitor pairing, in 7th, were Brickhampton’s Keith Buggins and Alan Dalton who recorded the best back 9 of anybody with 23pts.
In first place were Paul Stanford and Geoff Moss who scored 41pts, and it could have been more had Geoff been more pragmatic on the 18th green. They won £200 of Midland Golf vouchers, and Paul recorded a 2 as well.
One point adrift in second place were James Lowe and Steve Clorley; they won vouchers worth £120. In third place were Simon Appleby and John Sidaway, current holders of the Senior Captain’s Cup, with 39pts and a back 9 of 20pts. They won £80 in vouchers.
The main story was a last-minute replacement of a pairing who dropped out on the day. David Jackson and Gary McCartney stepped into the breach and recorded 39pts (back 9 of 19pts) to secure fourth place and £40 of vouchers.
The final positions of everyone taking part can be found here Final Positions
Finally, I’d like to give big thanks to those who helped out on the day – Michelle Parry and Sharon Easton-Pollock who charmed raffle money out of most people, Lee Machin for patrolling the course to ensure pace of play was maintained, and Gary McCartney who after playing his round helped check the accuracy of scorecards.
Thanks also to the bar and restaurant team who kept the bacon rolls and coffee flowing.
Deryck Hall
Organiser
Senior Men’s Pairs Open 2023