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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

Once again, the weather wrecked weekend golf at Castletown GC, so the Steve Keegan Memorial has been moved to this coming Saturday. The Members’ Dinner in the Barrovian Hall at King William’s College on Friday 13th November is fast approaching, and some of the awards might well be presented by a former Ryder Cup and European Tour winner. Tickets at £45 per person are available from the captains or by leaving a message via the pro-shop on 822211.

Unfortunately, historic reports can no longer be viewed in the members’ area of the Castletown Golf Links website but, prior to their disappearance, AI extracted some interesting statistics which may be of interest. Analysis of competition entries and their winners over the past ten years reveal that David Allan, who regularly shoots his age’ has entered 550 competitions and won 17 of them.

Allan -shown above- who tops the chart of competitions entered by 61 starts, shares equal tenth place in the table of most wins. Allan’s win percentage of 3.09% includes his most memorable achievement, winning the Capital International-sponsored Castletown Cup on countback against Mike Horsthuis in 2018.
Allan’s usual playing partner Guy Pickard is second on the list of prolific players and by winning 18 of his 489 it places him seventh on the winner’s chart.

That list is led by Horsthuis -shown above- with 29 wins from 385 outings which gives him a win percentage of 7.53%. Horsthuis also went on to win the Castletown Cup in 2019.

Steven Boyd is third on both lists with 22 wins from 439 competitions but his percentage of 5.01% is eclipsed by Winter League specialist Frankie Doherty. 25 wins from 411 competitions puts Doherty down in seventh place on competitions entered but elevates him to second spot with his 6.08% conversion rate.

Simon Murray, winner of the 2011 Castletown Cup (above with then captain Steve McGowan) and five-time recipient of the W. A. Kirkpatrick singles knockout trophy, shares fourth place with Jane Holt and Julie Amphlett, each with 21 competition wins. Sam Skelton, senior club champion in 2023, 2024 and 2025, ranks fourth for competition entries, having played in 432 over the past ten years.

Your correspondent is pleased to report that via the new Castletown Golf App recent reports can now be accessed by clicking on ‘Club News’. There are also quick links to ‘Fixtures & Results’, plus you can also ‘Book a Table’ with the Salt & Swing Clubhouse Café, which is recommended if you want to enjoy their excellent Sunday roast.

MALCOLM LAMBERT

The ribbing began on the 1st tee at Castletown Golf Club, but Dandara’s Managing Director Austin McGuire -shown above- responded by striping it down the middle, clipping it close and strutting off with a birdie. Nett birdies on the 5th and 6th, a par on the 8th, plus three vital points over the final two holes showed McGuire dutifully dovetailed to help build a winning score.
McGuire’s playing partner in the pairs betterball competition on Saturday was Andy Dent who had an extraordinary round, contributing 33 of their winning 47 points over just 12 holes. Apart from two birdies and four nett birdies,

Dent -shown above- landed a nett eagle on the 7th and an even more impressive nett hole-in-one albatross five-pointer on the par-four 14th.
Two teams were initially tied in second on 45 points. Husband and wife pairing Stephen and Linda Fisk warmed up with 20 outward points. They made up for a disappointing nil-pointer on the 9th by covering the back-nine in six-under-par for 25 points. Linda’s nett eagle on the 11th having been equalled by Stephen’s efforts on the 15th.

William Laughlin with his younger brother David did it the other way round, their two four-pointers purloined early on. Out in seven-under-gross they amassed 25 points, but a mere two-under-par inward leg only translated to 20 points. Consequently, this left the Laughlins in third place.

There were more family connections in fourth place. Andi Howland and his father Chris combined to collect 44 points from their eight-under-par round. Six of their eleven nett birdies were carded on the back-nine and this was enough to consign Gary Ashe and Peter Easthope to fifth place as their 44 points was evenly apportioned.

Once again PJ Vermeulen powered his way to a box of balls. His back-tees drive had to travel 76 yards before it passed the point from which those off the yellow tees had hit. Never-the-less Vermeulen launched the longest drive on the 7th which of course he went on to birdie.

Chris Till continued his habit of edging out the president by replacing his name to win nearest-the-pin (NTP) on the 8th, last week it occurred on the 16th. Jeff Magee made his mark on the 13th, and the aforementioned Dent duly augmented his club-house credit with his pin-seeker on the 16th.

Having been postponed three times now, it is hoped that course and weather conditions will be favourable for the Steve Keegan Memorial medal to take place on Saturday.

Finally, congratulations to Robin Dawson, captain of Peel GC for his highly successful and novel campaign to raise funds for IOM Anti Cancer Association. It was a pleasure to participate in the Peel v Rest of the Island Inter-Club Captains Trophy on Friday (16th October). For the record, Peel won 10.5 points to 9.5 and the winning pair with a nett 60 betterball total was Dan Williams and Chris Till from Castletown GC. Chris had to dash off before the presentation, so Dan stepped up to receive the prize from Peel’s captain.
MALCOLM LAMBERT