2017 Major 7 & Captain’s Day
Major 7 & Captain's Day - Park Wood GC 6th October
It's a Bajan lockout at Park Wood!
They say a man’s home is his castle. It seems the same could be said of a person’s Home Golf Club. More on that later….
Captain’s Day for the 2017 ACGA season was held at Park Wood Golf Club. This stunning piece of Kent countryside hosted an eager selection of the ACGA membership all looking to end the season on a high. None more so than the 2017 Order of Merit title contenders who were assembled in the last group out. There was more than a hint of Bajan flavour in that group, which consisted of Frank Skinner, Tyrone Carter, Roger Goddard and Steve Garner. All that was missing was the flying fish, cuckoo and Mount Gay..
The format selected for the day was strokeplay. This added to the difficulty on a course that was long, and greens that as well as being in excellent condition, were also slick and tricky to read. All the groups set out confident of placing well. The first group out were Richard “Course Record” Payne, Donald MCleod and Cassius Browne. Judging by their experiences, and from listening to the general talk filtering into the club house after each group came back to the club house, “difficult” was an understatement for how the groups fared. The majority of groups could have been mistaken for believing they were in a large, tree lined driving range, where 1, 3, 5 and even 7 off the tee was a VERY familiar call on the day (even on some of the par 3’s!!!).
As each group entered the club house, it became clear that any score near to level par nett would be more than in with a shout of winning. Early contenders were Colin Parson and Stuart Austrie with nett 74…… until it became clear that the distinction between YELLOW and GOLD tees was not that distinctive for some....
After all the cards were in, sob stories told and shoulda, woulda, coulda’s described, the results followed a familiar theme. In 3rd place was Steve Garner with nett 76. In second place was Roger Goddard with nett 73. Roger also had the lowest gross score of 79. The winner on the day was Park Wood member Frank Skinner with a very solid nett 72. We suspect more than a little local knowledge was used to shoot a very creditable nett level par round. Frank spoke eloquently about the value of the ACGA and its membership, highlighting the growing (and very important) strides being made with regards to diversity.
The presentation next moved to the Order of Merit. This winner for 2017 was our very own captain Roger Goddard. Looking at the results, no-one could match his consistency throughout the season with no wins, but a 2nd place and three 4th place finishes amongst his scores. Roger’s emotional speech reflected the changing spirit and growing camaraderie becoming evident within the ACGA……Long may that continue.
Also announced on the day, was the 2017 Singles Champion – Jacqui Harbor. Our first ever Lady Winner of the title defeated Sophia Lodge 2&1 at the Grove. An unfortunate loss of ball on the 17th in near darkness brought a disappointing end to a closely fought match between two ladies who took out some major scalps along the way – Frank Skinner, Steve Garner, Tye Carter and Cassius Browne to name a few…
The 2017 Most Improved Player award went to Mark Henry. Well played Mark. This is evidence of all the hard work you’ve put into your game. Should any credit be going to your neighbour and swing coach Andy Ferdinand??.
The Annual AGM is a very important date that we urge all members to attend. Notification of the date, time and venue will be posted in the near future.