2017 Major 4 Harpenden GC
‘Marky’ Mark Henry delivers again.
On a hot sunny day the ACGA membership gathered for its 4th Major at Harpenden golf club.
Attendance was high with all players anticipating good scores on a sun baked course. The winner would be the person who was able to control the ball due to the many unexpected bounces and tricky greens. Some players achieved this goal but many didn’t.
9 holes were played in the morning round and as competitors returned to the clubhouse with what they thought were poor scores, many were surprised to see that they still had a faint glimmer of hope.
The clubhouse leaders at this point were Cassius “Spursy” Browne on 18 points (more on that later), Tye (Coach) Carter and Mark (Marky) Henry, both with 17 points for 9 holes. The rest of the field gathered closely behind waiting to pounce on any errors made by the leaders.
The afternoon 18 holes began with Mark Henry revealing that he had been taking lessons as he has be struggling off the tee. After just missing out on birdying the first hole in the morning he made up for it by getting a birdie on the same starting hole.
Although the driver was wayward on occasions and caused him to drop the occasional shot he resorted to using a long iron off the tee and reaped the benefits.
Steady play and good course management helped him to amass 35 points in the afternoon. With that kind of scoring Mark, cruelly, snatched away any hope that the field had of catching him. His afternoon score was good enough for him to take the honours and win his 3rd major. Mark has been knocking on the door this season having placed well at Effingham, so the win was not entirely unexpected. Second and third place went to Jacqui “New Terminator” Harbor and Tye “Coach” Carter and respectively. Spursy Browne limped home with 31 points in the afternoon (was it the pressure of expectation??). In his acceptance speech, Mark reiterated the desire for the Society to live long and prosper, and that the “handsome and talented” Handicap Secretary would look kindly on him when reviewing his handicap…..
Only two competitors managed to back the winner and they were Mark Henry and Keith Murray.
The day also saw the attendance of Gary Haines who is a writer for our chosen charity Prostate Cancer UK. He was able to meet with several members and interview them about the effects this illness has had on them and their loved ones. The membership will be notified when the article and photos will published. Gary was moved enough to remark that what the Society have, and what they have done over the years, particularly with regards to Prostate Cancer awareness is very special. A vote to remove the maximum £5 limit for blobs was taken and passed (much to the amusement of most, and the wrecking of bank balances for one or two), so this event and future majors will increase our monthly donation to our chosen charity.
To round off the day, the Committee joined the Captain on stage to honour “Two of our own”, Frank Skinner and Tony Johnson for their long term commitment to and founding of the ACGA. Wilf Solomon was also honoured for his contribution to the sound financial footing the Society has maintained since the early years. All three were awarded Honorary Life Membership of the society. We thank and congratulate them all.
See you all in Knole Park on 4th August.