The 14th occasion of the Lawle Guby Open saw a turnout of 13 competitors who were rewarded once again with sunny, if a little blustery, conditions. The total of 13 was the lowest since 2008 and continues the downward trend of recent years. As usual, complaints about handicaps were rife at the first tee and, as usual, Robert handed out trinkets in an attempt to appease the angry hordes. The pencils and Lawle Guby tee-pegs quietened things down slightly and the first group gathered around the tee. The honour fell to defending champion Mark to tee-off and he steered his first shot to the relative safety of the grass just a metre or two to the right of the green. Robert hit his to a similar position, just off the back of the green. Lucy eventually arrived on the first green after a lengthy excursion in the rough and Lance chipped on in two without much trouble. However, when Robert putted his ball in for a birdie, the handicap complaints rose to a crescendo again, along with chants of “Rob, you fixed your handicap….”. No player came close to matching Robert’s 2 at the first and he therefore immediately gained an additional 2-6 shots on each competitor – a factor which would prove significant at the end. The next few holes passed with varying degrees of success – Alan became the first competitor in the history of the Open to birdie the 5th and Eddie birdied the 4th. Trevor followed his opening 4 with an 8 and a 7 and Lance struck back with four 4’s and a 3 over the closing six holes of the front 9. Andy W seemed out of sorts after his late arrival, scoring a couple of 6’s and 5’s on the front 9. Robert finished off the front 9 with a 5 which looked disappointing on paper but was in fact a good recovery after his tee shot went deep into the trees to the left of the hole. After nine holes, there was little to separate the players and a similar back nine or a small improvement could give at least half of the players a good chance of victory.

Eddie began the back nine with a statement of intent by hitting a 3 at the 10th but followed it up with a costly 6 at the next. Mark continued his run of good form, hitting a 4 at the 10th, his run of 4’s and 3’s which started at the 8th not coming to an end until a surprising 5 at the short 14th. Paul struck the fourth, and final, birdie of the day at the 11th – the first player to birdie this hole in the fourteen year history of the competition. The 12th saw Robert falter with a 5 and an unsavoury incident where the other players crowded around the hole in an attempt to put him off. The pressure had the reverse effect as Robert refocused for the closing six holes and scored no worse than a 4 at each. Instead, it was his playing companions who faltered – Lance scoring two 6’s and a 5, Lucy a 5, 6 and 7 and Mark a couple of 5’s over the same six holes. Lucy at least had the consolation of finishing with a par at the last and Alan and David followed suit, only to fall agonisingly short of the score posted by Robert, the new champion. Alan must look back on the run of four 5’s in five holes which probably cost him victory but had the consolation of posting the lowest score of the day – for David there was only the bitterness of another average performance. Ashley won the Closest to the Pin competition and Trevor took the Wooden Spoon home.