A record Lawle Guby Open turnout was rewarded with fine weather once again – the Open has never been played in rain in its 10 year history.  Saturday 7th August 1999 was when the first ever competition was played, to wave farewell to Lance and Lucy on their round the world adventure. I imagine they’re as surprised as we are that they’re still in Nottingham 10 years later. Lucy was probably even more surprised to find that she wouldn’t be playing this year, due to an unfortunate lack of organisation on the part of Lawle Guby himself.
Anyway, the day of the Open was fair and 16 players eventually turned up, a new record. Making their debuts were Jimmy D (finally!), Phil and Malcolm. Martyn and Dan were welcomed back after a break the previous year, Martyn hampered by an ankle injury. There was a fair degree of consternation - mostly from Shandy  - as the handicaps were revealed. This year’s promotional items were also handed out, in an attempt to deflect some of the anger. However, the flames of ire were only stoked higher as Mark was apparently expecting personalised golf balls rather than the markers and tee-pegs that emerged.
Paul Gibbs, who won the trophy last year in controversial circumstances, had the honour of teeing off first. The jeers turned to cheers as his first shot shanked off into the heavy rough halfway between the tee and the hole. The 6 that he ended up with dented his hopes of becoming the first player to retain the hallowed trophy. Dan topped that with a 7, his lack of practise showing. Jake went one better with an 8, although he didn’t seem too bothered as his handicap of 36 took the hit. Mark, Martyn, David and Lance all started dangerously with 3’s.
Nerves out of the way and the second hole took a battering from some of the early favourites as Robert, Gary,  Lance and Malcolm scored pars and Phil showed his class with a birdie.  Jimmy D had a hole to forget, the scene of his hole-in-one twelve years ago turning into a Lawle Guby Open record breaking high of 10 for the second hole.
The third hole is the longest on the course and nobody could manage to par it. Trevor had a go at beating his 2008 record of 13 shots (also the most shots ever taken on a hole), but fell just short this year with a 12. Jimmy D added a 9 to his 10 from the previous hole, effectively costing him the tilt at the title that his later form merited.
Holes four and five passed without much incident, although Jacki scored a 10 on the fifth to bring her run of good scores to an abrupt end.
This clearly knocked her confidence as she followed it up with an 11 on the sixth. Phil bagged his second 3 in a row to tighten his hold as an early leader.
Hole eight was negotiated without much difficulty by all the players, while the ninth saw Jacki post her third double figure score of the day, although the fact that she had to make a dash for the toilets straight after might have been partly to blame. Jake finished the front nine by three putting again – his lack of concentration on the greens costing him at least 10 unnecessary shots that day.

As the field moved onto the second half of the course, with his handicap of 5 Gary was probably the favourite as he had also posted a record equalling 32 after nine holes. Phil, Lance and Martyn were all still in contention as was Trevor who had put together a run of low scores on holes five to nine. Mark and Eddie were still capable of mounting a challenge, but Robert looked to be out of the running for the eleventh competition in a row unless he could play considerably better on the back nine.
The tenth hole saw Jacki post a 5 – whatever illegal substances she had taken during her ‘toilet’ break, they appeared to be working. Jimmy D made a fine 3, his first par of the day, also his first par since 1998 and the start of what would be a strong back nine from him. Gary dropped a couple of shots with a 6, weakening his position slightly.
The next couple of holes saw the leaders maintain their status, although Martyn probably dropped out of contention around this point with a lost ball and a 7 and a 5.
Hole thirteen is often one of the trickier ones on the course. However, Robert managed his fourth 4 of the back nine and most players managed to negotiate it without too many problems.
The fourteenth hole is the venue for the ‘Closest-to-the-Pin’ competition. Phil set the standard with a shot to within 20ft of the hole and safely bagged a par. A number of players managed to find the green and make par. Robert controversially won with a shot to within just 8ft of the hole, but just off the green – some players apparently unfamiliar with the Lawle Guby rule that the ball doesn’t have to be on the green. In some previous years, nobody has hit the green – however, the prize has always been awarded to the ball closest to the flag, whether it is on the green or not. The pars that Robert picked up here and on the fifteenth hole gave real momentum to his title challenge.
The sixteenth saw Robert’s tee shot land on the green within 20ft of the flag with a great chance for another par. However, he faltered by three putting for a four. Gary made up ground with a great par and both players moved onto the seventeenth on nett scores of 55, with Phil on nett 59.
Robert’s tee shot on the seventeenth found the steep sided left hand bunker – hysterical laughter from Jake, Trevor and Jacki alerting the following group to the drama that was taking place. His first attempt to escape slammed into the bunker wall and rolled back into the sand. The second bunker shot almost made it out, but agonisingly fell back into the bunker. As Robert prepared to take his third shot in the sandy prison and his fourth in total, memories of the 2004 Lawle Guby Open flooded into his head when, well placed to win, he found the bunker on the sixteenth and took a 9 to lose the title by 3 shots. With this in mind, he aimed for a safety shot out the back of the bunker, onto the fairway and a probable 7 at best. However, in a dramatic last second decision, he aimed for the green again. This time the ball escaped the bunker, narrowly missing the flag but settling at least 10ft past.  With relief, Robert sank his putt and escaped onto the eighteenth tee with a 5. However, Gary holed out for a 4 on the same hole to move onto 59 at the eighteenth, compared to Robert’s 60.

On the eighteenth tee, Robert received news that Phil was the clubhouse leader on 66 after a 3 and a 4 on the last two holes. Needing a 5 or less to beat Phil, Robert’s tee shot with his trusty pitching wedge found the middle of the green – ending up just 3ft from the flag. A birdie meant that he was the new clubhouse leader on 62. Gary required a par at the same hole to force a playoff or a birdie to win the title. Unfortunately he was unaware of this situation and also became distracted by a £1 side bet with the other members of his playing group for the lowest score on this hole. His club selection of a 7-iron was influenced by the blustery wind swirling around the green. He hit his shot perfectly – a little too perfectly in fact as his shot sailed over the centre of the green and onwards in the direction of the car park. Chipping back towards the green, he could only manage a 5, handing the title to Robert by two shots and losing an extra £1 to Martyn in the process. Interviewed later, Gary stated “I would have been more miserable if I had known that I only required a 3 for a playoff”. Gary also laid the blame squarely at Robert’s door, stating that he “should have been there to confirm and update the last group with the current championship status, rather than heading rather suspiciously quickly to the Clubhouse”.

Was the Open fixed?
Several factors point towards the involvement of a Chinese betting ring to influence the result of this year’s Open. As long ago as April 2009, David Evans was predicting on the Lawle Guby Discussion Forum that Robert would win “by three shots” (see here). Then in August, Lawle Guby himself was removed from the Handicapping Committee under mysterious circumstances. Craig was bribed not to turn up – his generous handicap and improving form would have made him a dangerous competitor. Then Robert turned up to the competition with a winner’s t-shirt in his size and favourite colour, having had intensive and secretive lessons for the past six months.
So, where does the competition go from here? In an attempt to improve the image of the sport, Lawle Guby has been invited back onto the Handicapping Committee. Whether personalised balls will reappear next year is another question.