Seniors Section Sign Up - Monday, Nov 11

Tony Jones claimed his first individual Sign Up of the season on Monday after a string of near misses.

Tony finished with an excellent par on the 18th to close on 34 points and edge out guest player Richard Newman - a member of the club but not yet of the Senior Section - by a single shot. The second and third prizes thus went to Mick Taylor (31 points) and Steve Young (30).

Tony's struggles with his putting have not stopped him taking part in 22 out of 29 Sign-Up events this year. Even more impressively, he had recorded a team win, four runner-up finishes and a third place before his victory on Monday.

“I used to play off around 13 before my putting became a major issue. It pushed my game off a cliff for years, and I've gone up 10 shots since then,” he said.

‘Like the old days'

“It does frustrate me, of course. It's hard for people who haven't gone through it to understand. The key is to try and  stop worrying and manage it as best as I can.

“And today was better. I kept the ball on the fairway, I hit some nice approaches and managed my way around the course pretty well. It was more like the old days - unlike my previous competition, when I didn't even manage 20 points.” 

Best of all, Tony holed a nasty 4-footer on the final green to complete his victory.

 

 

 

 

Seniors Section Sign Up - Monday Nov 4

Seniors Captain John Blackwell notched up his first Sign Up win of the season on Monday, a week after securing his previous best finish.

John won the 4-clubs-and-a-putter challenge, his 30 points edging out John Blackburn and Alan Scott-Davies (both on 29).

“I went for driver, my 24-degree hybrid which I hit about 160 yards, 8 iron and wedge,” said John, whose 35 points with a full set of clubs last week saw him finish as runner-up.

“My plan was to focus on accuracy off the tee and lay up where possible to give me a full shot into the green. For the most part, it worked.

“My ball striking has improved after a few lessons with James. And I like the challenge of playing with only four clubs - it makes you think more.”

Perfect tactics

His tactics worked perfectly for the first 8 holes, four pars and four bogeys earning him 18 points, only for a triple bogey on the next to halt that momentum. 

An approach to 6 ½ feet for birdie on 14 was cancelled out by a wayward drive and lost ball at the 15th before John guaranteed his victory with a 3-point par at the final hole.

Playing partner John Blackburn, meanwhile, grabbed his first Sign Up podium finish of the season with a strong finish, parring both 17 and 18.

A full member at HHGC since April, he opted for exactly the same club selection as John Blackwell (although his hybrid was 23 degrees). For him, though, Monday was all about putting.

“I was trying out that Jordan Spieth method of looking at the hole rather than the ball and I promptly holed 10-footers on the first and second holes!

“I don't know if I'll stick with this approach, though. I started losing confidence in the middle of my round - it didn't seem to work as well with longer putts. But then I holed another nice putt on the 18th after splashing out of the greenside bunker, so who knows!'

 

 

 

Seniors Section Sign Up - Monday 28 Oct

John Dawson made a mockery of both the tricky conditions and the notion that Monday's Sign Up was supposedly a competitive event as he crushed all comers.

Only one player got to within 9 Stableford points of John's superb total of 38. John Blackwell - this year's Senior Captain, to be replaced shortly by John Dawson himself - returned a highly commendable score of 35, while Mike Taylor took third on countback with 29.

It was John's second Sign-Up win of the year, his first coming in May.

His recipe for success? “I was consistently straight off the tee, so I avoided the muddy parts of the course, the wet rough, leaves and the risk of losing a ball. Oh, and I sunk some good putts… and chipped in twice as well.”

Two chip-ins and no blobs
The first chip-in came on the 9th for a four-point birdie as John went out in 21 points, while the second, at the 12th, helped him avoid a blob in his best competitive round of the season.

“I try to give my game quite a bit of thought,” John added. “I saw a YouTube video recently about controlling the low point of one's swing and I think that's helped my ball striking too.”

John Blackwell's valiant challenge, producing his best Sign-Up finish of the year, faltered with blobs at the 6th and 10th (John Dawson, in contrast, scored five points on those holes).

Unsurprisingly, the conditions played their part: “I managed to play predominantly on the fairway but on 6 I produced a catalogue of errors and went from one muddy area to another.

“Then on 10 I went into the dip on the right of the green and couldn't find my ball… although did find a couple of others.”