Cornwall Golf Union
Cruse In Control as Joe Lands Second Title
St Enodoc’s Joe Cruse captured his second Cornwall Amateur Championship title on Saturday as he beat Rob MacGregor (Tehidy Park) in the 36 hole final at West Cornwall Golf Club to conclude CGU County Week 2018. The weather was arguably the best of the week with wall to wall sunshine and the lightest of breezes complimenting a course prepared throughout in exceptional condition.
Cruse was never down in the match and got the final underway winning the first hole with a par 3. MacGregor got level on the 4th with a birdie and the pair exchanged halves over the next 4 holes. Cruse birdied the 9th to go 1 up again and the match remained all square through 12 holes before a par 4 for Cruse at the 13th got him 2 up for the first time. MacGregor immediately reduced the deficit as Cruse bogeyed the 14th. Cruse regained the 2 hole advantage at the 16th with a birdie 4 and further increased his advantage at the par 3 17th when MacGregor bogeyed the hole. Pars for both players at the 18th meant a 3 up lead for Cruse at the halfway point.
MacGregor birdied the first hole to reduce the deficit upon the resumption but immediately handed the second hole to Cruse after a 3 putt. The pair traded pars for the next 3 holes before 'Big Mac' claimed the 6th with a par 4 to go back to 2 down. A birdie 2 at the 7th saw him just one behind and the fightback appeared to be well and truly on.
Birdies at the 8th for both meant no change but a further birdie at the 9th put Cruse back into a two up lead. When Macgregor bogeyed the 10th Cruse was very much in the driving seat. MacGregor won the 12th with a birdie 4 before both made birdies on 13. The pair halved 14 and 15 so the match headed up the par 5 16th, with Cruse 2 up.
MacGregor hit the longer tee shot and Cruse was unable to get up in 2, coming up short and right of the green. MacGregor was in range but a mishit saw him having to play his third shot ahead of his opponent. He found the back left of the large green with the pin on the lower right. Cruse chipped up to 15 feet with MacGregor now facing a quick downhiller. He struck the putt well and it looked good all the way touching the edge of the hole but running an uncomfortable distance past. Cruse now had a putt to win and perhaps with a touch of nerves left it short. It was now essential for MacGregor to hole but his 6 footer slipped agonisingly by. Cruse this time made no mistake and rolled in his 3 footer to win. The two Cornwall County team mates then congratulated each other warmly.
Cruse was obviously delighted to claim his second county championship win. “It is a great feeling. It was a good final and for me to to have beaten a player of Rob’s calibre makes it extra special. I have played pretty well all week and to win this championship again is fantastic. Having (girlfriend) Steph on the bag has been really good too.”
An obviously disappointed MacGregor was though honest in his post match assessment “Joe is a really good golfer and he deserved to win - he played better than I did today.”
Other Amateur Championship News
The Amateur Championship got underway on Wednesday with 36 hole qualifying on a surprisingly cold and breezy day. Despite this there was some exceptional scoring primarily from Richard Jasper (Launceston) who followed an opening 3 over par 72 with a 6 under par 63 to top the qualifying list and claim the Scratch Cup on a total of 135. Just 2 shots behind him was MacGregor (69 & 68) with Simon Hobbs (Bowood Park) on level par 138 (72 & 66). Matt Richards returned 68 & 71 (139) and Cruse 74 & 67 (141) the same total as Sean Williams (Trevose).
The Handicap Challenge Cup was won by West Cornwall's Rod Handyside with two nett scores of 66 (132). One shot behind him on 133 was Williams on 133 (nett 68 & 65) and 3rd was Liam Wilson (Truro) on 137 (nett 72 & 65).
At the conclusion of the second round and seeking just 32 players to move into the matchplay stages it was necessary for a playoff. Four players were to be involved seeking just the one spot. After a short delay whilst a search was conducted for the four players, only 3 were able to tee it up in sudden death with the nominated holes being the 16th, 17th and 18th. Al McCulloch (Knebworth) was the first man to fall with a bogey at the par 5 16th leaving Marc Wilson (Truro) and Jack Irwin to continue. These two battled it out for a further 4 holes before Irwin cams through the 17th at the second time of asking.
Irwin's reward was to face Jasper at 7.30am the following morning but still on a high 'Jirwin' delivered in style seeing his opponent off 4&3.
Other Round 1 Results (Last 31)
Louis Gough (Carlyon Bay) won 4&3 v Ryan Curtis (Bude & N Cornwall)
Peter Simmons (Tehidy Park) won 1 up v Rod Handyside
Aaron Stephens (Newquay) won 6&5 v Liam Wilson
Matt Richards won 3&1 v Seamus Stevens (West Cornwall)
Alex Glasson (West Cornwall) won 3&2 v Cameron Gurd (Perranporth)
Cruse won 6&5 v Matthew Fox (China Fleet)
Richard Ackland (St Mellion) won 1 up v Jordan Musitano (West Cornwall)
MacGregor won 2 &1 v Jon Coleman (West Cornwall)
Paul Suddes (Truro) won 7&6 v Lawrie Bridges (Bude & N Cornwall)
Joe Reynard (Trevose) won 4&2 v Nick Gammon (Trevose)
Conor Wilson won 1 up over James Barnard (Tehidy Park)
Kieran Faulkner (Looe) won 5&4 v Hobbs
Phil Weaver won 6&4 v Andy Rowe (Looe)
Williams won 2&1 v Jack Mewton (Truro)
Luke Stevens (West Cornwall) won 1 up v Lee Cunningham (Newquay)
Round 2 Results (last 16)
Gough beat Irwin 2 up
Stephens beat Simmons 1 up
Glasson beat Richards 1 up
Cruse beat Ackland 3&2
MacGregor beat Suddes 7&5
Wilson beat Reynard 2&1
Faulkner beat Weaver 4&3
Stevens beat Williams 5&4
Quarter Final Results
Stephens beat Gough 1 up
Cruse beat Glasson 2&1
MacGregor beat Wilson 3&2
Faulkner beat Stevens 4&3
Semi Finals
Cruse beat Stephens 3&2
MacGregor beat Faulkner 3&2
Final
Cruse beat MacGregor 3&2
Knockout Stage Draw and Scores
Round Up of Other County Week Competitions
Royal Cornwall Goblets (Sunday 13th May)
Steve Briers and Dave Holland from Mullion paired well in the foursomes stableford competition to register a clear win in a field of 232 players (116 pairs) as they returned a score of 39 points. Their round contained three gross birdies and just the one hole where they failed to score. Managing 37 were the host club pairing of Sid Cryer and Andy Postans along with Perranporth greenkeeper Rob Cook partnered by Cornwall County player Josh Greenaway.
Leading Scores:
39 Steve Briers & David Holland Mullion Golf Club
37 David Cryer & Andy Postans West Cornwall Golf Club, Rob Cook & Josh Greenaway (St Enodoc Golf Club/Perranporth Golf Club)
36 Alan Howells & Dave Tregidgo Porthpean Golf Club, Simon Hobbs & Max Stockwell Bowood Park Golf Club, Kevin Veal & Gary Wignall West Cornwall Golf Club, Antony Richards & Matthew Richards West Cornwall Golf Club, Martin Oats & Tom Ruhrmund West Cornwall Golf Club
Royal Cornwall Goblets Full results
The Seniors Cup (Monday 14th May)
Cornwall Seniors team member Mike Wigley, now based at West Cornwall, claimed the Seniors Cup win with 38 points in the individual stableford, just pipping fellow club member Ian Coutts, who had a very successful week overall. Wigley’s round contained 3 birdies and 10 pars and scored on every hole.
Leading Scores:
38 Mike Wigley West Cornwall
37 Ian Coutts West Cornwall
36 Ian Alford West Cornwall, Ian Brown West Cornwall, John Arnold St Enodoc
The Founders Cup (Monday 14th May)
This competition was won by host club member Seamus Stevens who started in a fashion many would like to emulate. A poor tee shot to the par 3 first hole travelled out of bounds but Stevens struck lucky as the ball rebounded back onto the course. Not content with this good fortune Stevens promptly chipped in for an 'outrageous' two to set the wheels in motion for victory.
Leading Scores:
39 Seamus Stevens West Cornwall
38 Mike Wigley West Cornwall
37 Ian Coutts West Cornwall
36 Ian Alford West Cornwall, Ian Brown West Cornwall
Founders & Seniors Cup Results
The Royal Cornwall Challenge Cup (Tuesday 15th May)
This event saw some exceptional scoring and coming out on top of the pile were the Perranporth GC pairing of Gareth Evans (the Secretary at West Cornwall GC) and Martin Edwards (CGU Competitions Chairman). The pair dovetailed really well with each coming in on 9 holes as they registered a gross 66 in a pairs better ball. Last year’s winners Dave Tregidgo and Lewis Jackson put up a good defence but fell just the one point short, with the host club pairing of Tomas Newman and Ross Hutchings third.
Leading Scores:
46 Martin Edwards & Gareth Evans Perranporth
45 Lewis Jackson & Dave Tregidgo Perranporth/Porthpean
44 Tomas Newman & Ross Hutchings West Cornwall
43 Andy Rowe & Andy Beazley Looe/Truro, Joel Cameron & James Franklin West Cornwall
The Lawrance Cup (Thursday 17th May)
Launceston’s Steve Ham was the pick of the bunch as he won the Lawrance Cup individual stableford with a fine 38 points in a round containing 9 pars and one birdie. St Enodoc stalwarts Steve Buse and Mike Masters both scored 36 points.
Leading Scores:
38 Steve Ham Launceston
36 Steve Buse St Enodoc, Mike Masters St Enodoc
35 Gary Wal West Cornwall, Ian Coutts West Cornwall
The Western Morning News Challenge Cup (Friday 18th May)
West Cornwall trios dominated this event taking the first three spots in this three man team competition with two scores to count. Father and Son Mark and Ross Hutchings together with Tomas Newman returned an excellent 80 point total to just eke out the win over clubmates Antony Richards, Ian Alford and Ian Coutts. Radnor’s Mike Kent had the only hole in one of the week at the par 3 5th.
Leading Scores:
80 Mark Hutchings Ross Hutchings Tomas Newman West Cornwall
79 Antony Richards, Ian Alford Ian Coutts West Cornwall
77 Tom Ruhrmund, James Franklin Paul Lello West Cornwall
76 Paul Clahane, Nick Prior Mike Wigley Trevose
72 Danny Hoare Kevin Parker Keith Searle St Enodoc
A Team Club Championship
West Cornwall GC had kindly permitted the CGU to use the course on two Sundays preceding County Week itself in order to reduce the number of club teams down to just 4 for Finals Day on Saturday.
In the first of the A Team semis a strong Trevose team saw off an equally strong Tehidy Park team 2.5 - 0.5 and in the other semi Launceston overcame St Austell by the same margin.
The final between Trevose and Launceston saw the former on top throughout and although keenly contested Trevose claimed the spoils with another 2.5 - 0.5 victory.
Trevose: Steve Davies Mark Grootz Jon Tremain, George Leigh Joe Reynard Carl Burley
Launceston: Richard Jasper Ben Wevill Alan Creber John Harrison Chris Turner Peter Dennis
B Team Club Championship
The B Team semi results saw host club West Cornwall defeat Tehidy Park 2 - 1 and Truro beat St Austell 2.5 - 0.5.
West Cornwall were denied further prizeware as Truro came out on top in the final. This proved a close encounter with the deciding match going to the 18th hole.
Truro: Simon Bray Martin Rowe Darragh Dunleavy Graham Cowls Mark Bracey Ben Treleaven
West Cornwall: Mark Hutchings Malcolm Edmunds Rod Handyside Ian Hodge Richard Bunch Phil Sedgeman
The prize giving for all the week’s competitions was held on the terrace at the rear of the Ladies Pavilion in glorious sunshine. West Cornwall Club Captain Steve Turner first made presentations to Course Manager Keith Kemp and his team in recognition of the hard work they had put in to ensuring the course had been so well presented across the entire week. Similarly he made a presentation to Club Secretary Gareth Evans for his contribution to the success of the weeklong event.
Club President David Inch welcomed the CGU to West Cornwall and spoke of how pleased and proud the club were to be able to host county week.
CGU President Mike Ellis presented the prizes but before doing so expressed in detail the thanks of the CGU to all those at West Cornwall who had played a part in County Week. He too singled out Keith Kemp and his team for the outstanding condition of the course, something which had been repeatedly expressed by those participating. Additionally all club staff were thanked as were the many members who had volunteered for starting, spotting, flag waving and car parking duties - all of which were much appreciated. He also thanked the two referees Steve Ashby and, newcomer to the county,Peter Buchanan. The event had been blessed with good weather and this coupled with the course condition had provided a memorable week for all concerned.
Cornwall Team for SWCGA Week
With the presentations completed CGU County Captain Ian Veale named his team for the upcoming South Western Counties Golf Association meeting at Cumberwell Park GC, Wilts in June. The team includes debutants in the form of Sandy Kirton (Perranporth), County Junior Captain Joe Reynard (Trevose) and Jack Irwin (St Enodoc).
The full team is: Joe Cruse, Jack Irwin, Rob MacGregor, Joe Reynard, Sandy Kirton Conor Wilson (Perranporth), Aaron Stephens (Newquay), Josh Greenaway (St Enodoc), Richard Jasper (Launceston) Harry Hall and Matt Richards (West Cornwall). (Non-travelling reserve Simon Hobbs (Bowood Park).
Other County Week pictures to follow ......
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