With
Griffo veteran Robert Norman a late drop out due to illness, 20 players
lined up to do battle for the 20th running of the Golden Griffo. Amongst
the field were two notable debutants JOHN GRIFFIN,
the youngest ever entrant at 13 and HELEN ROBERTS,
the first female competitor in the tournaments 19 year history. Amidst
controversy over the different tee positions, HELEN
ROBERTS claimed the first prize of the day, narrowly
beating Dick Watkins to the Longest Drive accolade.
The Mr Blobby award was contested by unusually low scores with 5 blobs
leading in the clubhouse until PHIL BLACK
arrived in the last fourball to claim the title with 6 blobs overall.
Phil was spared the ritual embarrassment of wearing the “shirt
of shame” following its disappearance (The shirt has since been
found by “Pickles” the dog and will now be presented to
Phil at the 2011 breakfast).
In the main competition, PETE GRIFFIN was making a
bid to keep the trophy in the family with a 36 point haul from the morning
18. This was soon equalled by DAVE SIMSON but both
were blown away by ROGER FOGG who led the field at
lunch with a 40 point total. The cut fell at 32 points, with 6 players
progressing to the elite grouping, leaving 7 pairs striving for honour
in the Griffo Greensomes.
Despite the early forecast of rain for the afternoon the weather remained
bright and in a closely fought Greensomes contest, just 1 point separated
the top 4. JOHN GRIFFIN & TREVOR HOWARD finished
equal third with MIKE RAND& PHIL BLACK on 18 Points,
while STEVE KANE & HELEN ROBERTS finished runners
up on countback to the Griffo Greensomes Champions IAIN
CROSS & DICK WATKINS (19pts).
Amongst the elite, JON WANT posted the
first target of 48Pts overall enough to eventually finish in 3rd place.
In the last group JIM RUSSELL collapsed to a 9 point 9 hole total (3
of those were won on the last hole!) while PETE GRIFFIN and ROGER FOGG
locked horns in a tense battle to the finish. When Pete parred the last
from a bunkered tee-shot Roger was left with a 4 foot putt in order
to wrestle the trophy from the Griffin families grasp. In front of a
packed gallery his nerve held and ROGER
FOGG claimed the 2010 title with a 52 point total, one
clear of runner-up PETE GRIFFIN.
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