Month: November 2026

Everyone utilizing the green tees should make it easier to determine who has won what at Castletown Golf Links. That was not the case on Saturday as eleven players disputing second and third places split over two divisions resulted in convoluted countback calculations that had to be done manually. Hopefully, ongoing teething troubles in setting up the ‘Golf Genius’ competition criteria will soon be a thing of the past.

However, the clear winner of Winter League round one on Saturday was Sam Murray (16), son of Simon who is the newly nominated vice-captain 2027. Sam’s 40 Stableford points included birdies on the 4th and 7th, seven pars, five nett pars and three bogeys. Only four slippery sixes and his triple bogey on the 11th mucked-up Murray Jnr’s journey to his first sub-80 round.

One stroke behind, honorary secretary Peter N. Thomas (15) and Terry Ditchfield (8) had to be separated by their back-six scores. Both stepped in with 39 points, split 22/17. Thomas fired a four over par front nine and a birdie on the 10th brought him back to just three over. Had Thomas not ‘tanked’ the 18th he could have won the event.

Third placed Ditchfield birdied the 1st, eagled the 3rd and nabbed the nearest-the-pin (NTP) prize with his tap-in birdie on the 8th. Out in level par, Ditchfield also birdied the 10th but a single point on the 11th, followed by a par on the 12th, were crucially counter-productive for back-six countback purposes, although he did top division one.

Three fellows finished on 38 points. Fourth overall, Michael Kinmond was rewarded with second place in division one and Pete Thomas collected the final division two prize so, despite his 38, Warren Rainey (9) missed out. There was then a six-way photo-finish on 37 points and only the final podium place in division one to fill.

David Bowen (14), Richard Wild (13) and John Ledwidge (10) were ineligible, so the spoils went to Oli Steriopulos (8) with his (18 +19 split). Tommy Doherty (3) came next with (21 +16) and was followed by Alan Rowe (2) who couldn’t capitalize on his amazing three-under-par front-nine and faded to (22 +15).

Daryl Callister collected the best gross prize with his one-over-par 73 and Tom Doyle launched the longest drive on the 7th to bag his box of balls. Other sleeves went to David Allan who landed closest on the 8th and Jaco Jansen was three inches short of a hole-in-one on the 16th.

Good midweek weather enticed 25 out for the mixed Stableford which was won by Colin C Magee with 39 points. Kyle McConnell came a close second on the same score. Andrew Gerrard topped division one with 38 points and Keith Bernard filched fourth on 37. The remaining division one placement prizes were taken by Roger Raatgever and Paul Keeley on 36 and 35 points respectively. Michelle Hooker, Stephen McCafferty and Rich Dunn, who finished in that order, also carded 35s.

There were 19 takers for the previous Sunday’s Stableford and Hannah Noon -shown above- had the bragging rights as her 98, nett 66, was worth 43 points, which was six better than husband Robert in third on 37. Mind you, Robert was playing off (+6) and went round in a mind-blowing seven-under-par 65. Completing the Noon sandwich, Shanon James squeezed 39 points from 16 scoring holes to secure second spot.

This coming Saturday there may be a few sore heads for the 4 clubs and a putter challenge because the club’s annual dinner and prize presentation takes place at King William’s College on Friday 13th. If you can’t attend that, there is always the £40 Beaujolais Day three-course meal at the Salt & Swing Café on the following Friday. The afternoon golf competition is purely optional.

MALCOLM LAMBERT

At long last, a perfect day on which to play the Steve Keggan Memorial at Castletown Golf Club. Thrice postponed, the event took place on sunny Saturday in a gentle north easterly which brought a hint of Autumn chill. All the tees were in operation, causing consternation in calculating who had actually won. The ‘Golf Genius’ App, like most software programs, ignored slope and course ratings, so gross scores had to be manually manipulated. One can imagine the late Steve’s wry smile; he was the oracle, often consulted when a ruling was required.

There was absolutely no doubt that Mark Grace (22) -shown on the left above with Alex Townell- won the top nett prize. He had a day we all dream of, when everything goes to plan. Lessons with assistant pro Rasheed Mohamed and plenty of practice resulted in an amazing round on 81, nett 59. It placed Grace a respectable 23rd overall, but an outrageous five shots clear after handicap adjustment.

Three players initially tied for second in the nett competition. Calculations concluded that general manager Andi Howland (13), playing off the big boy’s tees, secured second with his 77/64. Andy Dent (8) utilising the white tees went round in luscious level par and this placed him third on both a gross and nett basis. As this was primarily a gross competition, that was the prize he was awarded. This left the door ajar for Jamie Garrett (13) with his 77, nett 64.

For the main prize, ‘Golf Genius’ placed Dent above Tom Doyle – shown below- based on their back-six gross scores. Both had parred the course, taking 36 shots on each half. However, Scratch League player Doyle’s five birdies and five bogeys were bagged off the black tees whereas Dent had used the whites, and this counted against him, twice.

Clearly, Doyle’s black tees 72 was superior so he will collect the cup. Not so obvious, but after application of slope and course ratings, Daryl Callister’s black-tees 73 also out-trumped Dent’s 72. For those of you interested in the WHS calculations they are shown below, and it must be borne in mind that a lower ‘score differential’ indicates a better performance relative to the course’s difficulty:
The WHS formula is: (113 / Slope Rating) x (Gross Score – Course Rating)
Callister (73): (113/142) x (73-74.8) = a minus 1.4 score differential.
Dent (72): (113/137) x (72-73.1) = a minus 0.9 score differential.

It was much easier to work out that Chris Howland hit the longest drive on the 11th and sleeves of balls also went to Richard ‘Tic’ Connolly, Mike Travers and John Newson for their nearest-the-pin efforts on the 8th, 13th and 16th respectively.

Mike Horthuis added another win to his tally by taking the mixed midweek Stableford with 36 points. Paul Keeley came second with 28, and Keith Bernard bagged third on 27. Only four players took part so Andy Lagden, who came in after nine holes, collected fourth place on sweet 16.

There is still time for members and their partners to book tickets for the Captains’ Dinner and Prize Presentation taking place in the Barrovian Hall at King William’s College on Friday 13th November. It can officially be announced that former Ryder Cup and European Tour player Paul Way will be the after-dinner speaker. Tickets at £45 each are available from the captains or by leaving them a message via the pro-shop on 822211.

There were yet again issues in trying to reserve tee times during the Saturday 6pm scramble but this coming Saturday sees the start of the Winter League. Finally, the committee is pleased to announce that five-time recipient of the W. A. Kirkpatrick Singles Knockout Trophy Simon Murray has accepted the nomination to become the club’s 2027 vice-captain. This will be voted upon at the club’s Annual General Meeting on Saturday 28th November.

MALCOLM LAMBERT