TERRY Merson was crowned Stamford Golf Club’s Winter League champion after snatching a dramatic victory from son Matthew.
Standing on the 18th tee on the final day of the winter-long competition, Matthew was in the driving seat to win the event.
However, he hit his shot out of bounds and, though he made two with his second ball, had to settle for one point after posting a four on the par three.
That enabled Terry, 64, to win the Winter League on a card play-off with Matt finishing runner-up.
Copley-based Terry’s prize was a remote-control GPS trolley with the Winter League sponsored by Eric Nield, from Electra Ltd.
In third place, and two points behind Terry, was Chris Exton with the top three in the same match on the last day which added to the drama and excitement.
Terry said: “It was quite exciting as well as nerve-wracking.
“As we stood on the 18th somebody said they hadn’t a clue what was happening with the scores.
That wasn’t the case with me as I knew exactly what was going on as my brain was like a computer.
“As we went into the last round with the three leaders grouped together, it changed the dynamics. You don’t play as freely, and it becomes tense as well as exciting.”
There were 19 scheduled competitions during the winter with the top seven to count towards the final standings.
Terry, who retired two years ago having run his own industrial fan manufacturing company, described this as his biggest win in golf.
The 13-handicapper was a later starter to golf only taking up the sport in his forties.
“It is not a cheap sport and I earned money for my kids to play before deciding to take it up,” he said.
Matthew plays off four and other son Lee, who holds the course record at Denton, is off one.
Terry began playing at Stamford before having a spell at Denton and returning to the Carrbrook club three years ago.
Gary Ormerod, who had a top-10 finish in the Winter League, also had cause to celebrate after scoring a hole-in-one at the 175-yard 16th hole in a Sunday Stableford.
• The delayed March medal saw Carleton Weldon (72-4-68) win the first division from Rob Irving (78-7-71) and Sam Hudson (77-5-72).
Michael Hewitt (85-14-71) headed division two from Tony Morton (85-13-72) and Barry Stokes (90-16-74) while in division three the 1-2-3 were Adam Howard (90-19-71), Stephen Wright (98-26-72) and George Mackey (94-19-75).
Chris Houfe (72-4-68) won the first division in the April monthly medal from Garry Foster (79-10-69), Simon Norcliffe (79-10-69) and Kevin Barber (72-8-69).
Division two was headed by Kevin Brown (88-19-69) from Barry Stokes (87-16-71), Keith Walker (87-14-73) and Chris Barnes (88-15-73).
David Ashworth (89-25-64) led the way in division three from Phillip Capewell (91-26-65) and Michael Taylor (90-21-69).
• Lesley Green triumphed in the women’s March monthly medal with a score of 96-26-70 from runner-up Joanne Green (126-54-72) and lady captain Heather McNeill (110-36-74).
Fiona Ibberson (108-30-78) claimed top spot in the April monthly medal by one shot from past lady captain Judith Whitehead (108-29-79).
• The Lancashire Golf Union has given its backing to GreenClub’s drive to make the golf industry more sustainable and is offering a £500 grant to any member club partnering with the sustainability specialists this month.
The county’s ruling body, one of the biggest golf unions in England with 139 golf clubs, has agreed to provide half the costs for any member venue signing up to the innovative GreenClub Lite service before May 1.
Mark Bardsley, county secretary of the Lancashire Golf Union, moved swiftly to act after Mike Gray, GreenClub’s business manager, outlined the importance of clubs and venues adopting an improved long-term approach to sustainability and carbon neutrality in the wake of the growing energy crisis at a recent presentation.
Bardsley said: “The ever-increasing cost of energy is at the top of the agenda of many of our clubs, and it’s important that we do whatever we can to support them in the present climate.
“After listening to Mike and reviewing what GreenClub has to offer, we were impressed with their expertise, and it made perfect sense for us to partner with them. We would encourage as many of our members as possible to take us up on our grant proposal.”
• For further information, call 0800 999 1904, email info@greenclub.energy or visit www.greenclub.energy