KANGAROO CUP Pairs Championship
Berkshire 2021
BERKSHIRE - 13th SEPTEMBER 2021
After a Summer which never seemed to arrive, play started on the Blue course with closest to the pin which was playing long due to head wind and the fact many of us aren’t getting any younger! A few players swallowed their pride and pulled the driver – with the first groups writing on the pin sheet – “You must be joking”. Jackson pipped Hammond for the prize.
There were 12 pairs in the event of whom 6 have been past Champions. Davenport & Hanna started well leading with 12 points after 4 holes but a pair of 2’s in the next 5 holes stopped their momentum. Lancaster & Patel both birdied the 3rd hole Par 5 for 4 points each but alas only one score counted! The pairs of Jameson & Jones and Pitchford & Pritchard both scored 7 points on the 6th hole Par5 with pairs Hedges & Taylor and Henry & Lumley both scoring 24 points on the five “Both scores counting” holes to turn with 33 points with Berry & Pimbley on 32 points with a further 3 pairs on 31 points.
On the back nine - Henry & Lumley scored 31 points which was all down to Henry’s 4 under par after 12 holes to lead after the morning round with 64 points. Pitchford & Pritchard added 3 more birdies on the back nine (six in total) for the best of the back nine 32 points to lie in 2nd place 63 points – Pitchford shooting a one over par 72. Maddison shot a one under par 70 backed up by solid play from partner Edelsten to finish the morning in 3rd place with 60 points. The teams of Hedges & Taylor and Berry & Pimbley both had a couple of poor “Both scores counting” holes in the last 5 holes to lie tied 4rd with 57 points.
As is often the case the afternoon round starts slowly after a good lunch and the old joints stiffen up. Pitchford & Pritchard had a buggy upgrade for the afternoon round so raced off down the Red course fairway with Hedges & Taylor in tow who had opted for the full 36-hole buggy treatment which resulted with the best front 9 holes scores of 32 & 31 points. The slimline team of Jackson & Naylor found form with 32 points but had left too much to do after the morning round ending with 60 points for best of the afternoon round. Henry was suffering from Pudding overload and struggled to find the form of the morning with Lumley in shock that his playing partner was not fulfilling his contract to play like a Bragg for 36 holes, only scoring 27 points and would need a strong back nine to make the podium! Hammond & Jopling put the poor morning round behind them and shot 30 points equalled by Jameson & Jones.
As we hear each April at Augusta it’s all down to the back nine on Sunday afternoon, well Monday in the case of the Kangaroo Cup! The buggy brigade had overlooked that electric buggies suffer lack of performance after 27 holes so their advantage diminished. With too many blobs appearing on their cards, resulting with only 24 points Hedges & Taylor and 26 points for Pitchford & Pritchard. They then had to wait for the field to finish to see if their 113 and 120 points would be enough to put them on the podium. Davenport & Hanna were the only team to score 7 points on the 14th in the afternoon round but could only manage 1 point on the 15th & 18th. Espley & Maciver found better form in the afternoon with 57 points but not enough to recover from the 2 x 1 points holes in the Better-ball holes in the morning to finish 4th on 111 points. Missed putts on the closing holes cost Henry & Lumley dearly to close with 55 points for the afternoon a total 119 a shot behind the winners Pitchford & Pritchard with 120 points.
