Due to greens maintenance at Castletown Golf Club, the Steve Keegan Memorial was postponed until next weekend. In its place on Saturday a four-person Texas Scramble was arranged. Only 16 teams participated. Some groups only had three players, others preferred to play their usual Saturday swindle, swapping the odd bob or two.
In the scramble three teams finished at ten-under-par with nett 62s. Starting with back-to-back birdies, Neil Cartwright, John Ledwidge, Alan Rowe, and Terry Ditchfield raced into an early lead. Stuart Campbell, Andrew Dent, Ross Byrne and Chesterson drew level by the 4th with their second birdie of the day. Draining another on the 9th, Campbell and Co; turned in the lead at three-under on 34.
At that stage the captain’s team, who became the eventual winners, were two behind on 36 with Cartwright’s crew safely in second on 35 after two late birdies redeemed their bogeys on the 6th and 7th.
With the wind helping for much of the inward leg there were birdie chances galore. Campbell’s team fired four to finish at seven-under, but their 65/62 was the weakest on countback calculation, so they slipped to third overall.
An enterprising eagle on the 10th from Ditchfield’s delightful drive helped his team secure second place with their own 65/62. Birdies bagged on the 12th, 14th and 18th having boosted their back-nine tally to five under-par.
Captain Phil Games was accompanied by Chris and Andi Howland plus huge-hitting Michael Horsthuis, who’s drives dutifully delivered four birdies. Three more arose from six starting shots struck by Andi. The captain, whilst the first to complete his tee-shot quotient, was quiet on the birdie front.
Chris Howland started the winning team’s back-nine birdie blitz on the 10th. Five more followed, giving them a gross score of 36 + 30 for 66/62. With a team handicap of (4) the 18th was a stroke-hole which, ultimately, was the deciding factor in their favour.
The aforementioned Dent bagged the bonus balls for his longest drive on the 2nd. Gez Bradley, Peter Easthope and Chris Till took the others for their accuracy on the 8th, 13th and 16th respectively.
On Sunday in calmer conditions, the ladies were out for a shotgun start at 10:45. They were competing for the Bessie Cain Rose Bowl, an open competition, which last year was won by Nicky Vincent from Douglas GC. The memorial bogey competition, the favourite format for Bessie who was the Island Ladies Champion in 1969, was won by Michelle Hooker -shown above- with a (+1) score. This was two strokes clear of the field. Leighton Cup holder Hooker’s winning round of 93/74 included seven pars, five nett pars and six nett bogeys or worse.
There was a two-way tussle for second place between Island Champion Emma Noon, who won the nearest-the-pin prize on the 13th, and Jane Holt who won the Rose Bowl back in 2024. Both carded (-1). Noon shot a fantastic four-over par 78 and Holt belied her higher handicap by posting par on half a dozen holes. Based on their back-nines, Noon’s (-2) was one better than Holt’s (-3).
Diane Neale was on her own in fourth place on (-2). Club champion Sarah Blackman, who won the longest drive prize on the 12th, just held off Hannah Noon for fifth place. They both finished on (-3). Heather McKenna, whose home club is Port St. Mary, was the highest placed visitor.
Gavin Cleator, Bessie Cain’s grandson, kindly helped sponsor the event again this year and attended the clubhouse to present the prizes.
MALCOLM LAMBERT