Farrington Park held its first Men’s Major Medal competition of 2018 – the Max Stone Chalice, in glorious sunshine and light winds.

The Chalice is won by the player with the best nett score after two days of competition. Played in conjunction with the Chalice, the Riccio Trophy is presented to the player with the best gross score over the two days.

Pin positions on the first day tested the large field of 110 players. Good scores were carded by John Chedgy (75/68), Lee Bruton (72/68) and Jaime Webb (84/67), but the outstanding round of the day came from Jon Calway (80/65). A great achievement, as this was only Jon’s third round of golf this year.

In the Riccio Trophy, the best gross scores came from Stu Ponfield (73), countback put Liam Copp (73) in second place, with Lee Bruton in first place with 72 gross.

Day Two arrived with the glorious sunshine continuing and even warmer temperatures. The top 22 players still had a chance to lift the Max Stone Chalice; the players teeing off in reverse order with the leaders starting in the last groups. Many players improved on their day one scores in the second round. Notable rounds from Andy Penney (79/69), Dave Jewell, with two eagles on his card (82/69), Alex Bendell (75/68), Steve Harmer (83/67) and a great round from Gordon MacKay with 77/65.

But what a day for immediate Past Seniors’ Captain, Phil Thompson! He scored a terrific round of 74/65 to add to his first day’s score of 81/72 to become the Max Stone Chalice Champion with a total nett score of 137. Many congratulations to Phil on his excellent achievement. Congratulations to Lee Bruton, who was the winner of the Riccio Trophy, with the best gross scores of 72 and 75 over the two days, a total of 147.

At the presentation ceremony, Captain Shane Phelps thanked all the players for participating. Many thanks to head green-keeper, Andy Grabham and his team for the excellent condition and presentation of the course; thanks to the catering and bar staff for keeping all the thirsty golfers happy, and to the competition starter, Bobby Appleby and scorer, Chris Liberty, for their help in ensuring the smooth running of the competition and Liz Thomas for her help on the booking-in desk.

The next Major will be the Men’s Club Championship on 14th/15th July.

Jon Cowgill