Warwickshire Golf
COPPERTHWAITE CONTROLS STORM ALI
Warwickshire Open took place at Kenilworth Golf Club on 19th September in trying conditions.
In this Country we are used to the weather upsetting plans a little more than other Countries round the world, however this is normally in the form of either excess water or ice and snow. On this day we had, for the first time many can remember, an event curtailed due to high winds.
The conditions early morning were very still. So much so that i thought we were going to get away with it. However, this was most certainly the calm before the storm - storm Ali to be exact!
The course remained playable throughout the morning round although extremely tough with the straightest of ball flights being moved significantly through the air. Throughout this, we had no reports of balls moving on the green and no reports of conditions making it unplayable. Nevertheless, we are sure it must have been a little unpleasant and we did have planned a couple of tweaks to pin positions for the afternoon round.
However, just as round one was reaching its conclusion, storm Ali came through in more force with gusts upto 50 mph and along with it a tree came crashing down over Crewe Lane into the car park, the top of a tree near the 18th green and tiles flying off the Clubhouse roof. With this news play was suspended and players who had already headed out onto the course for round two were brought back in.
After checking a few weather forecasts and quickly realising that conditions were not likely to improve the decision was made to reduce the Warwickshire Open to an 18 hole event. This was a great shame for the event, but more so for the greenkeepers considering the great efforts their team had put in preparing the course ready for the Championship. As we all know, conditions have been trying all year for Golf Courses across the Country and I bet this felt like another blow to the stomach for Head Greenkeeper Richard Dorrington ands team. On behalf of us all thank you for your hard work.
Regardless to the weather, as 18 holes had been completed by all competitors the result of the Warwickshire Open stands.... and the results did not disappoint.
Neil Selwyn-Smith, Secretary of the PGA in Warwickshire, presented the top four professionals with their cheques. There were 3 professionals tied for 2nd place on 78 and they were, Nick Jenkins (Hearsall), Matthew Johnson (Stratford Park), Rob Challis (John Real Golf Centre). Taking the top Professional spot on 77 was Darren Murphy from Harborne Golf Club.
For the Amateurs some impressive scoring saw home member Luke Northwood return a gross 77 and finish in 5th position, taking the 4th position on a count back and also on 77 was Ryan James (Nuneaton). In 3rd spot was Joe Macilwraith (Olton) with a very steady round of 74 which was matched by Paul Walker (Maxstoke Park) who took the runner-up medal on count back. More impressive was that for his last 10 holes Paul was 2 under par!! ... and for the real stato's out there - he was the only player to have his handicap reduced for the Championship (although only by 0.1).
Last but not least our Champion for the 2018 Warwickshire Open on a truly fantastic score of 72 and also scoring 2 under par for his last 10 holes (and 3 under for the last 5!), was Stratford on Avon Golf Club's Rob Copperthwaite. Rob narrowly missed out on the Amateur Championship in June in a playoff against eventual winner Sam Broadhurst, is a worthy winner of the title.
Along with the Open Championship, there is a combined event made up of the accumulative score of the Amateur and the Open which is presented in the form of the T.P. Cooke Salver. In third place for this was Steve Creed (Maxstoke Park) on 219. In second was Joe Macilwraith (Olton) on 213 and there would be no prizes for guessing that the winner of the title for 2018 was Rob Copperthwaite on 210.
Speaking to Rob he plans to turn Professional after the Warwickshire Champion of Champions event on 24th October so we wish him well for the future and well done.
Our thanks go to all at Kenilworth Golf Club for their efforts. Stuart Leech and his team for opening up especially early for us and keeping everyone fed and watered, Paul Taylor the Club General Manager, Adam Gary the Club Pro and his team and the afore mentioned Greenkeeping Team headed up by Richard Dorrington. Thank you it is very much appreciated.
Matt Nixon
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