On a bright but breezy day at Castletown Golf Club the ball bounced and bounded on, sometimes to freshly top-dressed greens, but often off the apron to nestle naughtily in bothersome bunkers.
Those with a deft touch trounced those who were a touch daft lifting their heads to see just how far they hadn’t hit the ball.
Adrian Jones (15) had some beautiful bounces and some perfect putts which brought on birdies at the 6th, 12th and 17th and pars on the 1st, 5th, 7th, 10th and lucky 13th.
Not so desirable were his double bogeys on the 3rd and 11th. Nett pars on all the other holes gave Jones a splendid six-under-par 66 and a one-shot win in the Cowley Groves-sponsored medal.
Coming a close second Iain Quine (19) stroked in six pars and poked in two birdies at the 3rd and 11th. Had he not had a silly seven at the 17th or double bogeys on the 5th, 6th, 8th and 16th, he would have signed for even less than his sensational 67.
A further shot back came Michael Kinmond (22); his four pars cancelled out by double bogeys on the 1st, 3rd, 11th and 16th. However, Kinmond’s 10 bogeys transformed into three nett birdies and seven nett pars, enabling him to finish third at four-under-par.
Beware the injured golfer, so the saying goes, and Mel Todd (7) proved the adage with a carefully crafted nett 69 as he limped round to carry off the category two cheque thanks to a birdie on the 14th and just five bogeys.
Category three/four fell to Lewis Howland (18) at two-under-par despite a triple bogey on the 9th. Four pars and a birdie on the par-five 12th helped his cause.
Order of merit leader Andrew Challenor (+1) once again bagged the best gross score with a lively level-par round which included a trio of birdies with matching bogeys.
Serial senior’s prize winner Peter Miller (11) added another with a fine 72 which included a triple bogey on the 4th.
Thankfully, it’s a club stableford competition this weekend.