Hot Putter Keeps Cool To Take Double Win in Mexico

The hotel was located in a beautiful spot with the infinity pool overlooking the beach and sea beyond. As usual a few members of the group had arrived early and reports back to HQ were very positive. The staff were very attentive and friendly, with each floor having their own butler service. The food on the whole was excellent. The only criticism being that the service was, on occasion, on the slow side. However, all things considered it was a good move to take the change of hotel and things were definitely more peaceful away from the conference.

Swim-up Bar at Le Blanc Resort and Spa

The first day AM AM team event was held at the Riveria Golf Club. This is a Jack Nicklaus design which provides a tough test of golf for all levels of ability. Accuracy from the tee was the key, many of the holes having the appearance of narrow “tunnel” fairways. As a result the scores were on the low side, the exception coming from the winning the team led by David Rothwell and including Ian James Bailey, Kathy Snowdon and Barbara Sturges.

The following day we arrived at the Moon Palace Golf Club. This is a 27 hole facility and another Jack Nicklaus design. The three nines certainly offer the golfer more room off the tee and the greens were certainly easier to navigate. For the first round we played the Dunes and the Lakes.

Brian Haynes and Phil Crossland both finished with the best score of the day on 32 points. Peter Sumner and Dave Rothwell were hot on their heels with 31 and Sandie Klimcke was just one further back.

The next day was the first of the two free days and many of the group relaxed on the beach or around one of the lovely swimming pools. Being on an all inclusive basis made life very easy and having your food and drink orders being delivered to your sunbed, really was a treat.

For the second round we returned to Riveria Cancun, where the tight nature of the course coupled with the difficult greens ensured that the scores remained on the low side for the second time.

As so often is the case, there was an exception to the rule and in this case Sandie Klimcke enjoyed a great day finishing with 36 points. Linda Crossland found her form and completed a superb round of 32 points. The rest of the pack was lead by Brian Haynes and Phil Crossland on 28.

At the half way stage Sandie had taken control with 66 points, five ahead of Linda. Brian and Phil were one shot adrift, both on 60.

The next day we had arranged for a texas scramble to be played at Moon Palace. However, on drawing back the curtains in the morning it soon became evident that the weather, which had been great so far, would be against us.

The clouds looked menacing as we set off and despite playing off forward tees in an effort to complete the round, the final group only made it to the sixth green before the lightening was too close and we were called in. After a pleasant lunch and a couple of refreshing drinks we assessed the situation. The rain had eased but the lighting was still in evidence. After waiting for another 30 minutes the rain returned and with standing water appearing on the course, it was time to surrender and head back to the hotel.

The weather forecast suggested that the next two days would be nice and sunny with rain possibly returning on the Friday. I therefore made the decision to move the free day to the Friday and play the final two rounds over the next couple of days. With tee times rearranged we returned to the Moon Palace course the following day where the sun was back. We were ready to take on the Nicklaus course again.

For the third round we played the loops of Jungle and Lakes. There are some tremendous holes on these courses but they are not easy. It was made even harder for the ladies as the tees on four of the holes were in the incorrect position. Despite this, the group’s leading score on the front nine came from Kathy Snowdon with 17.   Unfortunately, Kathy didn’t quite manage to keep things going on the back nine.

The best score of the day came from Ian James Bailey, who was one of several players chasing the last few tour points required to secure qualification to the finals week. Dave Rothwell continued his form with another solid round of 30 points, which was matched by Barbara Sturges, Peter Sumner, Brian Haynes and Mike Singleton.

Unfortunately the tournament leader after the first two rounds, Sandie Klimcke, was unable to play due to illness. This meant that Brian Haynes had moved to the top of the leaderboard on 90 points. Phil Crossland was lying in second position on 86 and Dave Rothwell was in third on 83. Behind them Ian James Bailey and Di Hudson both had 80.

The final round was played on the Jungle and Dunes loops at the Moon Palace. The ladies had adjustment shots allocated to them, due to the four incorrect tee positions on the previous round. It was another hot day with the sun shining, the course looked in great condition and as the group set off, we wondered if Brian could be caught.

If he carried on his form, it would be a tough ask, however, at the turn it was clear that he was struggling with only 8 points on the card. This gave the chasing pack hope. Phil had scored 14 and Dave 16 moving them both ahead of Brian. Meanwhile, Ian and Di were still in the hunt after scoring 17 and 16 respectively.

So it was all down the final nine holes. The Dunes is arguably the toughest of the three nines at the Moon, with water coming into play on the majority of holes, accuracy is required in order to score well. As the penultimate group came off the 18^th green it became clear that the winner was going to come from the final group. However, there were still important tour points at stake and both Mike Singleton and Peter Sumner had done enough to secure their qualification.

We gathered around the last green to see Dave Rothwell hole a tremendous putt. Brian had been in trouble on the hole and ended up with no score. Meanwhile Phil tapped in for his bogey 5 and 2 points. Ian just missed his putt to finish the back nine with a disappointing 9 points but still mannaged 26 for the round. As the group left the green the rumours were that Phil had won on countback from Brian. As we made our way back to the clubhouse there was just time for the final group to have a quick drink before the transfer back to the hotel.

However, there would be a final twist with the results. When all the cards were entered into the scoring system it became clear that Dave Rothwell’s 32 points had been enough to clinch victory by 2 points. Phil took second place and Brian third. Di Hudson’s final round of 28 points was sufficient to claim the leading lady spot and fourth position overall.

Our congratulations to Dave for his double win in both the AM-AM and main singles event in Mexico plus his qualification to the finals week. You can see the full list of qualifiers for the 2014 Grand Finals here and our new Order of Merit Service shows the standings going into the ultimate event of the season.

After all the qualifying events Tim Elliott has won the Order of Merit with 29 points with Patrick Vaulkhard coming in second 4 points behind.

Congratulations to all our event winners this season and everyone who has qualified for the 2014 Greencard Grand Finals at Quinta Do Lago – we look forward to seeing you there in November to see who will be crowned 2014 Tour Champion