LAST WEEK
5th March 2005 Ruislip
THE MARCH MEDAL &
CHRIS CURTIS CUP
ARCHIVES
2004 IN FOCUS
ICEMAN RUSSELL BEATS THE BIG FREEZE
Personal best for Russell, as he romps home in a chilly March medal. Geoff 's blobless run comes to an end in a classic matchplay with Mike
MATCHPLAY
LOW SCORE
Mike
37
37
37
32
28
171
Tom
36
36
36
32
30
170
Gavin
36
36
35
32
31
170
Geoff
38
35
32
32
31
168
Alan
38
36
31
31
30
166
Tony
36
33
34
32
30
165
Dave
32
32
30
27
27
148
Con
33
32
26
24
115
Alan 15.6
Dave 17.7
Con 18.4
Mike 19.0
Tom 20.3
Geoff 23.2
Tony 25.6
Russ 26.8
Gavin 27.0
MATCHPLAY ROUND ONE
T M A Gv G Ty D C
Tom
*
0
0
0
2
Mike
*
1
1
0
0
Alan
1
*
0
0
1
Gavin
2
2
*
0
2
Geoff
2
1
2
*
2
0
2
Tony
2
2
0
*
0
Dave
0
2
1
0
2
*
1
Con
2
0
2
1
*
6
6
6
2
3
4
6
3
RUSSELL WAS ALWAYS THEIR NUMBER ONE FAN
1968 and young Russ gets to meet his heroes
A freezing Ruislip golf course, with the ball bouncing high off the greens and only one man can master the conditions. After months of attacking the Fort Baxter qualifying standard, he smashes his p.b. and trounces the field in a commanding March Medal. With the only blobless round, Russ hit a Fort Baxter year's best score of 39 Stableford points to leapfrog Gavin in the handicap ratings. The rest of the field could only manage to get within seven points of the lead courtessy of Gavin, who tied Tom for second place in the Stableford chart, a mere one point behind MIke. In fact, with two weeks to go, this is shaping up to be the closest championship ever.
Only one match was contested, and it turned out to be a cracker. Neither Mike nor Geoff could summon up their best form off the tee, but they both produced some superb short game skills in difficult conditions. Geoff was never behind and managed to go three up with six to play. At this stage, he had saved his blobless record by holing out in four shots from behind the ditch on twelve. Only another two point-scorers and he would have extended his run to half a century. Unfortunately, it was the easiest hole that proved his undoing. A miserable eight put Mike to within two holes of a tie and he responded with his best finishing stretch of the year to level the game on the last.
Hole Russ Mike Gavin Geoff Dave Tom
1
6
6
6
6
7
7
2
6
7
7
8
7
7
3
5
5
4*
4*
5
6
4
6
8
6
7
4*
5
5
4
4
5
4
3*
3*
6
5
5
5
6
6
4*
7
5
4
5
4
5
4
8
5
5
6
5
5
7
9
5
7
5
5
4*
5
10
7
6
7
7
6
9
11
3*
4
4
2**
6
5
12
6
8
7
7
6
6
13
5
4*
6
8
5
5
14
4
4
4
4
4
7
15
6
7
8
7
8
9
16
5
4
5
7
4
5
17
6
5
6
5
13
7
18
5
4
4
5
4
4
in
47
46
51
52
56
57
out
47
51
49
49
46
48
total
94
97
100
101
102
105
net
66
78
73
78
84
85
points
39
28
32
29
27
23
Hole
 Russ Gavin Mike Geoff Dave Tom
1
4
4
5
5
6
6
2
8
9
11
11
12
11
3
11
11
15
14
16
16
4
15
15
21
19
19
20
5
18
19
24
22
21
22
6
21
22
28
26
26
25
7
25
26
31
29
30
28
8
29
31
35
33
34
34
9
33
35
41
37
37
38
10
39
41
46
43
42
46
11
41
44
49
44
47
50
12
45
49
56
49
52
54
13
49
54
59
56
56
58
14
51
56
62
58
59
64
15
56
63
68
64
66
72
16
59
66
71
70
69
76
17
63
70
75
74
81
82
18
66
73
78
78
84
85
Birdies
0
0
0
1
0
0
Pars
1
1
1
2
3
2
Bogies
10
6
12
8
10
7
Blobs
0
1
3
2
4
6
Games
6
7
9
9
8
6