KANGAROO CUP Pairs Championship
Berkshire 2013
BERKSHIRE - 16th SEPTEMBER 2013
After a 3 year absence from the "Home of the Kangaroo Cup" the event returned to The Berkshire for the 7th time. We welcomed one new player Tom Ryan who was quickly sampling the Berkshire heather off the 1st tee and soon appreciated the initial four holes of better ball format, but sadly his partner Steve Cressy had the same idea - 1st hole zero points! I am pleased to report they didn't have another zero pointer for the rest of the day. Roger Berry returned after a 4 year sabbatical from sorting out Vodafone G4 launch. At lunch it was looking like one of the closest contested events for some time with Damien Hammond & Neil Jopling leading with 56 points, with 5 teams within 4 points, 3 of them past winning pairs. Billy Field having acquired Tom Ryan & Steve Cressy's buggy over lunch gave the new boy Tom Ryan even less chance which resulted in them finishing on the bottom of the pile. Hammond and Jopling continued their good golf of the morning round scoring 31 points at the turn, despite the lack of sleep starting to kick in, having only scored 1 point on the easy 9th hole - Benson & Dion scoring 5 points on that hole! The virgin pairing of Pimbley & Berry started well in the afternoon with nett birdie, nett eagle, nett birdie and had racked up 29 points at the turn. The final 9 holes saw the autumn sun appear and it was like millionaires golf having the course to ourselves. The Blue course is renowned for its tough finishing holes and the leaders Hammond & Jopling felt its bite scoring 1 point on the 15th and then again 1 point on the 16th to feel the trophy slipping from their grasp once again. Hammond & Jopling only scored 13 points in their last 5 holes to Onions & Philips' 20, Pimbley & Berry’s 18. At presentation when the final scores were announced, the glum faces of Hammond & Jopling turned to joy upon the news they had secured the trophy by 2 points on 109, from Pimbley & Berry 107 with Onions & Philips a further 3 points back on 104.
