LAST WEEK 2003 IN FOCUS
ARCHIVES MATCHPLAY
LOW SCORE
RUISLIP Saturday 13th March 2004
THE CHICKEN
COUNTING TROPHY
MIKE GIVES TOM A LESSON
Mike back in the frame, as Tom's glory turns to dust
"Don't worry about being cut, when you've still got three holes to play, son!"

Both Tom,the new kid on the block, and old dog Mike learned a lesson on Saturday. Equally guilty of counting their chickens, they paid the price, although it was young Tom who suffered the most. As usual, Fort Baxter stumbled on the first, although Mike was encouraged by his first opening point in weeks, whilst Tom stormed into the lead with a cool three-pointer. By the fourth hole, Tom was four points ahead of the field and charging ahead. Alan was engaged in a double matchplay with Geoff and Tony, and reeling from an F.T. on two. However, back-to-back pars saw him making a challenge. In spite of a par each from Mike and Al over the eighth and ninth, Tom took the turn in 21 points, five clear of the field. With Mike dropping a point on ten and Al blobbing, Tom looked invincible and started doing the maths ..... what kind of Stableford challenge could he make with a 40 pointer? Hmmm!

This turned out to be another game of two halves. As Tom clawed a desperate two points out of the next four holes, Mike went into a three pointer frenzy. With a par on fifteen, he now started to count his chickens. "Oh my God! At this rate I'm going to be cut!" he cried, as he walked up to the sixteenth. A blob, followed by a silly three put put that dream out of his mind. However, he came to his senses and parred the last for a creditable 35.

With Alan slaughtering brother Geoff, it was up to Tony to try to stop his dominance in the Matchplay. Two down after 12, he pulled level and then felt "quietly confident". As Tony lined up his chickens and got out his calculator, Al dispatched him to the slaughterhouse with a couple of swift pars winning three and one!
SCORES
Alan Mike Tony Tom Gavin Geoff
1
7
6
7
5
9
6
2
10
7
7
7
8
8
3
5
5
5
5
5
6
4
5
8
8
7
7
7
5
3*
4
5
4
5
5
6
4*
5
6
4*
5
6
7
5
4
4
4
4
5
8
6
4*
5
5
5
7
9
4*
6
6
5
5
7
10
8
7
5*
6
6
9
11
4
3*
6
6
7
3*
12
5
5
7
6
7
7
13
5
4*
4*
8
5
5
14
4
5
3*
6
4
4
15
5*
5*
6
6
8
6
16
3*
6
4
6
4
5
17
5
6
7
6
7
6
18
4
3*
5
5
4
5
in
43
44
47
55
52
50
out
49
49
53
46
53
57
total
92
93
100
101
105
107
net
75
70
75
74
79
84
points
32
35
30
32
29
22
STABLEFORD
Mike Tom Alan Tony Gavin Geoff
1
1
3
0
0
0
1
2
3
5
0
2
1
2
3
5
8
2
5
4
3
4
5
9
4
5
5
4
5
7
11
7
6
6
5
6
10
15
10
8
9
7
7
12
17
11
10
11
8
8
15
19
12
12
13
8
9
16
21
15
13
15
8
10
17
23
15
16
17
8
11
20
23
17
16
17
11
12
23
25
19
17
18
12
13
26
25
20
20
20
14
14
28
26
22
24
23
17
15
31
28
25
26
23
19
16
31
29
28
29
26
20
17
32
31
30
29
27
21
18
35
32
32
30
29
22
birdies
0
0
0
0
0
0
par
5
1
5
3
0
1
bogies
10
9
13
8
10
4
blobs
2
2
3
4
3
3
games
10
9
4
9
7
9

HANDICAPS

GEOFF GOES BACK
ALAN 16.9 17
DAVE 17.1 17
CON 17.5 18
MIKE 22.6 23
GEOFF 23.5 24
TONY 25.2 25
GAVIN 26.0 26
TOM 27.0 27
RUSSELL 28.0 28

STABLEFORD

MIKE CREEPS UP
Dave 41 39 37 33 32
182
Gavin 37 34 33 33 30
167
Mike 36 35 32 31 30
164
Con 38 32 31 30 28
159
Geoff 32 32 32 32 31
159
Tom 39 35 32 28 25
159
Tony 32 30 30 30 29
151
Alan 32 31 30 27
120