The weekend of the 15th and 16th of March saw 80 players contest the 73rd playing of the Summer Cup in temperatures in the mid-twenties on both days – conditions were perfect for hot scoring.
The Summer Cup was presented by Trevor Rodda’s sons and daughters. Trevor was club Captain in 1954/1955.
It was originally played over 36 holes on a Sunday and played as an Open Event which became an invitational event and then a member only event played over a weekend.
There were seven previous winners trying to win for a second or third time – 2009 Joe Alexander, 2011 Greg Polla, 2017 Scott van Heurck, 2018 and 2020 Callum White, 2019 Jeff Lane, 2021 Gavin Furness and 2023 Greg Parker.
Continuing as sponsor of the Summer Cup was Phil Johnson Plumbing and Gas and the club sincerely appreciates Phil’s continued support. Phil himself was an accomplished golfer at State and National level and a four-time Club Champion (1991-1994) and won the Summer Cup in 2012.
Phil could not play as he was trying to win in Walpole, but he generously continued his support of the Summer Cup.
ROUND ONE
In excellent morning conditions the scoring was not in keeping with the conditions. Only 2 players were better than 2 down.
Leading the pack on 2 up was Matt Dumble (5 H’Cap) who started from the 7th and was looking sick after 10 holes – 2 down. Then he fired off 5 pluses in the last 8 holes to return a respectable score of 2 up.
Next was Tim Song (16 H’Cap) on 1 up who was 1 up after 9. His last nine consisted of 3 of a kind – 3 pluses, 3 halves and 3 losses = Square and a final score of 1 up.
3 Holes adrift on 2 Down were Callum White (2 H’Cap), Oliver Bisschops (12 H’Cap), Brian Stuart (17 H’Cap) and Peter Miller (9 H’Cap).
The afternoon players seemd to be coping much better early on but most of them fell away during the latter part of the day
John Sheridan (17 H’Cap) was 2 up after 12 and after 17, 1 down. He halved the last to remain 1 down.
Tim Tan (7 H’Cap) was 2 up with 5 holes to play and then lost two holes but recoverred with 3 halves to finish all square.
Tony Cowan (20 H’Cap) was 3 down with 3 holes to play and like a true Scotsman (scared of losing money) finished with 3 pluses to complete his round All Square. Well done.
And then of course it would not be a story if 10 Handicapper Gavin Furness was not included. Commencing from the 6th he was 2 down after 13 holes. Then he woke up with 3 pluses and headed to the last hole, the fifth, all square. A loss and back in the pack at 1 down. That brought a smile to Tony Cowan’s face!!
Enter Jason Gregor (25 H’Cap), a member since 2023, had just returned to competition golf. Starting from the 6th he had an up and down day but 8 pluses on the card including the last 2 holes saw him finish on 2 up.
Andrew Ogilvie (7 H’Cap), Jimmy Smith (19 H’Cap) and Theo Grobler (19 H’Cap) had their moments and were back on 1 down.
So, at the end of round one there were only 5 players Square or better with a further 5 players on 1 down and 12 players on 2 down A total of 22 players within a 4-shot spread – game on!!
LEADERS – Jason Gregor (25) and Matt Dumble (5) – 2 up; Tim Song (16) – 1 up; Tony Cowan (20) and Tim Tan (7) – all square.
Editor’s Footnote
The 2013 Champion, Wayne Trumble (20 H’Cap) did not have much trouble in the 18-hole Saturday Morning Competition – 7 up which consisted of 7 pluses and 11 halves.
FINAL ROUND and OVERALL
Another mild day with a strong easterly breeze greeted the morning players. What would the morning field do?
Not a lot judging by the scores. The wind played havoc with the 39 players with the best score of 2 up and an average score for the 39 combatants of MINUS 6.4.
Whilst seemingly out of contention after his first-round score of 4 down, Mark Palmer (11 H’Cap) starting from the first, showed what could be done and was 4 up after 13 holes (4 pluses and nine halves) and leading overall. Then things changed and 3 wipes in a row came from nowhere and he finished the day on 2 down and 2 down overall – that believe it or not was leading.
Of the overnight contenders Jason Gregor was going along nicely and with holes 1-8 to finish his round he was Square and still 2 up overall. Then disaster – he could not get off the bogey train and had 6 wipes in the next 7 holes and finished 6 down and 4 down overall.
Matt Dumble really did not recover from being 3 down after 3 holes.
Similarly Tim Song lost 3 of his first 4 holes and did not recover.
Tim Tan was up then he was down – lots of pluses and lots of wipes – final score 4 down and 4 down overall.
The evergreen John Samuels (5 H’Cap) had a good round going and after his first 9 holes was 1 up (1 plus and 8 halves). 4 wipes on his final nine proved costly costly and he sgned for 1 down. Nevertheless it was the second best round of the morning and he was in second position.
So at lunchtime on the second day the leaderboard looked something like this-
Mark Palmer (11) 2 down
John Samuels (5) 4 down
Tim Tan (7) 4 down
Jason Gregor(25) 4 down
With the wind dying in the early part of the afternoon scoring should be better and with two Scotsman and “Collingwood” in the PM field fireworks were expected.
So let’s look at some of the contenders-;
Three players who were all 1 down after Round One and in with a chance succumbed to the pressure early in their round. Gavin Furness and Andrew Ogilvie started with 3 wipes – GAWN!
John Sheridan did better than that he started with 5 wipes!! Also, GAWN!! And then things got worse.
Stuart Waters (9 H’Cap) after a first round of 4 down was making up ground on the field and turned for home 2 up and 2 down overall.
Jimmy Smith (19 H’Cap) was also making up ground and was 1 up on the day and Square overall. The last nine proved his undoing.
Tony Cowan (20 H’Cap) started nicely and was 2 up after his first nine, courtesy of 2 pluses on 6 and 7 to finish his first nine. This put him in the overall lead with nine holes remaining – 2 up and leading by 3 from Jimmy Smith.
With 9 holes left the Leaderboard looked like this-
Tony Cowan 2 up
Jimmy Smith 1 down
Stuart Waters 2 down
Mark Palmer 2 down (finished)
Then Brett Thompson (10 H’Cap) decided to get into the game. Overall, he was 4 down with 9 holes to play and seemingly out of calculations. He then reeled off 5 pluses over the next 7 holes to be 1 up for the two days.
Likewise, Theo Grobler (19 H’Cap) entered the fray and was Square with 2 holes to play.
2 holes to play and it was tight
Tony Cowan 1 up
Brett Thompson Square
Theo Grobler Square
Stuart Waters 1 down
Who would be the first to crack? It was not Brett Thompson who took the lead with the 18th to negotiate. A loss on the last put him back to Square for the Championship. Would it be enough?
Theo Grobler put himself out of contention with 2 losses – and 2 down overall.
Stuart Waters lost the 7th and halved his final hole (the 8th) for a total of 2 down.
So, it was left to the 2023 Spring Cup Winner – The Flying Scotsman, Tony Cowan to finish his round. His last 2 holes were the 6th and 7th which he negotiated with halves and finished the weekend 1 up and the 2025 Champion. A deserved Champion.
Best Gross went to Brendan Jones on 11 down from Callum White on 12 down..
The best former Champion went to Gavin Furness – 8 down.
FINAL LEADERBOARD – Tony Cowan (1 up), Brett Thompson (Square), Mark Palmer (2 down), Stuart Waters (2 down), Theo Grobler (2 down), Jimmy Smith (3 down), John Samuels (4 down), Timothy Tan (4 down), Jason Gregor (4 down)
Jimmy Smith, Tony Cowan, Andrew Ogilvie and Craig Marshall
Thanks once again to Phil Johnson Plumbing and Gas for continuing their support of the Summer Cup.
Thanks to the Course Staff, House Staff, Kitchen Staff and Pro Shop Staff for their efforts over the weekend. Well done to all of you.
Congratulations TONY COWAN – a deserved Champion
Editor’s Note
Some useless information
- On Sunday Morning the average score was Minus 6.4
- The wind played havoc on both days and the 4th/13th were apparently the most difficult and challenging on Sunday.
Stats show that on Saturday the combined total of 80 players was Minus 51 and on Sunday the combined total of 74 players was Minus 46. – tough pins no doubt. My apologies.
- On Sunday Afternoon 21 players out of 38 started their rounds with a wipe – some went a long way into their round until they had a score on the card!
-from Greg Fitzhardinge
