Spalding Trophy 2018
25-26 August, Knightswood
Eight pairs contested the Spalding trophy at Knightswood this year, teams largely consisting of one low handicap and one high handicap player. Favourites, inasmuch as they had won the first two playings of the trophy and were the lowest of the low bisquers and the lowest of the high bisquers, were John Surgener and Bill Strachan. However the manager had introduced a complication by giving all the other teams a small number of bisques. He intended these to be used to allow promising breaks, particularly peeling ones, to continue after errors. In the event quite a few were used to pick up breaks. The competition was as usual played as alternate stroke doubles to the laws of advanced play.
The Saturday was a beautiful day; Brian Durward described it as "a taps aff day". Three lawns were set out with double-banking on the best one and after the three rounds played Charlotte Townsend and Roger Binks were in the lead with three wins. The Sunday was less kind with fairly persistent rain and it was chilly for August: " a taps back oan day". Only two lawns were available, the local wildlife having extended some of the hoop holes on the other lawn into extremely large pits. After the splendid lunch provided by the Glasgow club, and attended by Eleanor Spalding and other members of her family, the final round remained to be played. The key match was Charlotte and Roger with four wins versus John and Bill with three. If the latter won, the trophy would, for the third time, have to be decided by a shoot out. It was very close, going to time as most games did over the weekend, and Charlotte and Roger won +1t.
Eleanor kindly presented the trophy, inside the clubhouse, and the manager presented bottles of wine to Alan Wilson and Robert Lay who ran away with the prize for most peels, many performed on the opponents with the wine very distinctly in mind.
David Appleton
Results
Wins | Beat | |
Charlotte Townsend & Roger Binks | 5 | Surgenor & Strachan +1T, Wilson & Lay +20T, Malcolm & Plant +20, Durward & Colling +9T, Walker & Jurasinska +6T |
John Surgenor & Bill Strachan | 3 | Wilson & Lay +6, Durward & Colling +2, Walker & Jurasinska +21 |
Alan Wilson & Robert Lay | 3 | Lennon & Thomson +10T, Walker & Jurasinska +4T, Saunders Robertson & Wright +11T |
Joe Lennon & James Thomson | 3 | Durward & Colling +1T, Malcolm & Plant +1T, Saunders Robertson & Wright +8T |
Alistair Malcolm & George Plant | 2 | Surgenor & Strachan +8T, Saunders Robertson & Wright +11T |
Brian Durward & Stefan Colling | 2 | Malcolm & Plant +23, Saunders Robertson & Wright +15 |
Walker & Jurasinska | 2 | Lennon & Thomson +4T, Saunders Robertson & Wright +12T |
Rosemary Saunders Robertson & Kevin Wright | 0 |