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Ferranti Hackers 2023 – Rufford GC
Competition Report
Friday 15th Sept 2023, saw 27 players gather for the annual Ferranti Hackers Society day. Amongst them were last year’s champion Dave Farman (picking up the challenge to be the 1st person to retain the title) and 12 previous title winners (although for some you must go back 15 to 20 years since winning).
This year we welcomed the next generation of Hackers, with the participation of Neil Williams and Michael Delaney (sons of Richard and Mick respectively). Both made extremely promising debuts, one especially.
It was also great to welcome back Pat Delaney after his absence through illness and also the return of Albert O'Connor, who travelled with Pat from Gods own Eire. Unfortunately Ian Clarke had to pull out last minute due to catching THE dreaded lurgy days before the event.
Team Comp – “Paul Marsden Shield” 9-hole Texas Scramble
So, to the morning Team comp. An earlier than usual start time due to an administrative error at the club, led to a lower key first tee banterfest which saw 7 teams line it up:
Team 1: Dave Robinson, Andy Chamberlain and Richard Nicholls
Team 2: Dave Farman, Matthew Kite, Paul Bebbington and Andrew Ferguson
Team 3: Mick Delaney, Mark Fowler, Michael Delaney and Albert O'Connor
Team 4: Tom Redmond, Pat Delaney, Sturt Livingston and Andy Knights
Team 5: Andy Grice, Rob Blagg, Tim Goodings and Ian Simpson
Team 6: Richard Williams, Neil Williams, Steve Collins and Neil Allan
Team 7: Ian McColl, Matt Marsh, Carl Morgan, Chris Houghton
Report
Team 5 got off to a blistering start by taking advantage of having a shot on hole one and making a birdie. 4 points in the bag and spirits high. Teams 3 and 6 also collect birdies but with no shot have to settle for 3 points. The remaining teams collect 2 points each.
On the 2nd hole Team 3 pull level with Team 5 as the only team to pick up 3 points. All other teams stay steady as it goes with 2 points each. Teams 3 & 5 now hold a one point lead over Team 6. However Team 6 falter on the difficult 3rd hole picking up just a single point along side Team 7. Teams 3 & 5 hold steady and the joint lead with 2 points each, but 3 points each for Teams 1 & 4 pull them through to just one point behind the co-leaders.
The 4th hole proved no challenge for the Hackers teams as all but one scored 3 points. However Team 2 saw fit to birdie the hole and with an extra shot, bagged 4 points to add to their total. This saw Team 2 join Teams 1 & 4 just a single point behind the co-leaders. Tense or what?????
Hole 5 would see Team 5 falter and lose the co-lead, but recover well on the 6th with 3 points to join Teams 1 & 2 just a single point behind the solo leaders Team 3 who had secured a total of 16 points, with three to play.
Hole 7 however did for Team 3. With one of the team needing to get 2 drives in at this late stage and with the tricky 9th to come, the team decided to take one of these drives from just within the tree border, short left of the green. Despite a decent recovery shot up the slope to approximately 5ft, the final attempted putt for par hit the flag stick square in the face, and rather than dropping in to the hole, bounced out and rested a couple of inches away. Team 2 took immediate advantage bagging three points to take the lead on their own. 4 teams, 1, 3, 4 and 5 all now just 1 point further back.
At this point it looked like a hard task for Teams 6 & 7 to affect the final result and they confirmed their "all so ran" status by both scoring just 1 point on the 8th. Also faltering on Hole 8 were Team 4, also scoring a single point. With the tricky 9th to come it would take a small miracle for them to take the top prize.
So standing on the 9th tee, Team 2 held 20 points. Teams 1, 3 and 5 were one point behind on 19. All teams had the advantage of the 9th being stroke index 2. Time to make hay.
Team 1, 4 and 7 pick up 2 points which was one less that Teams 3, 5 & 6. Teams 3 & 5 both finish with 22pts, a countback, over the last 3 holes, put Team 5 ahead of Team 3 in the final standing and in the prizes. Team 1 has a final score of 21, Team 4 bag 20 points and Teams 6 & 7 both finish with 18. A countback for the final 6 holes puts Team 6 in last place. However, better things will come from this group later in the day.
Having stood with a single point advantage on the last tee box, Team 2 hammered it home by birdying the last green to record another 4 points having done so earlier on the 4th. By finishing 2 points clear, Team 2 recorded the largest winning margin for some time. Well played.
Final standings:
Winners: Team 2 (Paul, Andrew, Matthew, Dave) 24pts
2nd: Team 5 (Ian, Andy, Rob and Tim) 22pts
3rd: Team 3 (Albert, Mick, Michael and Mark) 22pts
Nearest Pin Winner: Andy Knights
Main Competition – 18 Hole Full Handicap Stableford
With everyone watered, fed and rested (see figure 1 below) during the unusually long interval between the morning and afternoon competitions, the Championship commenced with eager anticipation.
After hole 1 nett birdies for Albert, Rob, Dave R and Andrew, we saw 4 golfers take an early lead. Sadly zero pints for Neil A, Tom, Richard, Pat and Hammer. Steady starts for debutants Michael (2 pts) and Neil (1 pt) see them ease themselves in to the competition.
Blobs on hole 2 for Rob and Dave see them fall in to the pack whilst Albert and Andrew move to 5 points. Steady starts for Mick, Mark, Dave, Steve and Gricey see each sitting on 4 points in joint 3rd along side Neil W who picked up 3 points on the tricky par 5.
On the 3rd Albert fails to register a score and drops behind Andrew, Rob and Neil W who sit at the top of the pile with 6 points.
Pat picks up his first point on the 4th green, playing in the same 4 ball as Andy Knight, who had a chip in from 100 yards to collect the first 4 point score of the day. Other 4pt scores will follow for Rob, Gricey, Matthew, Andrew and Neil W. Staying at the 4th, Neil W bags another 3 points and moves to the leaders position on his own. Clearly showing no sign of nerves, the question will be can he keep ahead of the somewhat (mainly) older and competitive pack.
The answer to that question is an emphatic yes, as Neil picks up another 3 points on the 5th and 7th holes and moves to the turn with a majestic 20 points. Andrew holds on to his shirt tail with 19 points and having benefitted from some "sleepy bye byes" (see figure 1 below), Steve sits along side Rob on 18 points. A notable mention also for Tom Redmond. Having blobbed hole number 1, he returns 17 points on the next 8, to sit in joint 5th. Could he maintain that level of golf to see a former champion rise to the pinnacle again. Despite some on course coaching, Tom's challenge would slowly slip away (as expected), finishing 19th, returning just 10 more points. Also returning a good 8 holes after blobbing hole 1 was Pat Delaney, who finished the front 9 with 14 points and sat alongside his nephew Michael, and reigning champion Dave Farman, in 14th place.
So we head for home. After the 12th hole 11 players were split by just 3 points fighting for 2nd place. Up top, Neil (26 pts) now held a 3 point lead over the closest of this chasing pack, Tim. The gap opened to 5 points on the 14th and despite his best efforts, Tim wouldn't be able to claw the gap back and would finish 2nd, 3 points behind the winner, with 37 points, a total which most years would have seen Tim take home the marbles.
A late charge from Andrew, 11 points on the final 4 holes, would see him also finish with 37 points but take 3rd place by way of a countback. This score and final placing ensures that Andrew now sits on top of the Hackers World Rankings for 2023.
What was not a late charge came from Steve Collins (see figure 1 below). Having turned with 18 points, and with thoughts of perhaps taking the "silverware" home, he registered not a single point over the final nine holes. I'll repeat that. Having turned with 18 points, and with thoughts of perhaps taking the "silverware" home, he registered not a single point over the final nine holes. The society historians are sure that this capitulation has never been recorded in any Hackers meeting over the years, but they cant be arsed checking. Steve did however get some consolation as he picked up the annual booby prize bottle of pop. Better luck and hopefully a better nights sleep before the event next year Steve.
So having got his nose in front on the 4th green, debutant Neil Williams never looked back. Scoring 20 points on both halves of the 18 holes, he made an immediate impact on the annual Hackers competition. The look of worry and panic that was on his dads face as he handed in his score cards, was rightly replaced by one of pride, as Tom presented the Championship Trophy to Neil along with the obligatory golf balls and booze.
Congrats to 2023 WINNER - Neil Williams ….some way to introduce yourself!
Other prizes (afternoon):
Longest Drive: Paul Bebbington
Nearest Pin (7th): Andy Grice
Nearest Pin (17th): Andrew Ferguson
Tony Delaney Par 3 Comp
1st: Matthew Kite (10 pts)
2nd: Andrew Ferguson (9 pts)
3rd: Neil Allan (9 pts)
Booby Prize: Steve Collins for coming of the rails and the surrounding desert on the back 9
Figure 1. Steve recuperates after a hard morning driving a buggy, allowing him to blitz (just) the front 9 of the afternoon competition. We have requested Rufford GC install a bench on the 10th tee to allow Steve a chance at scoring at least one point on the back 9 next year.
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