Hall pair’s winning flourish

Five pairings came in with 40 stableford points - the best scores of the day - and another eight were just behind on 39 points and left to reflect on those missed short putts.

The only outright winners were Bradley Hall’s Alliance regular Steve Hopkinson (6) and first-time partner Declan Wadcock (17), successful in the am-am section on countback.

Hopkinson, who usually partners either current Alliance president Mick Appleyard or Steve Sandie, came up with a crucial four-pointer on the 18th.

He hit a driver, six iron and then a wedge to 10 feet before sinking the putt on the par five 491-yard hole for a nett eagle.

That proved enough to edge out Alliance official Trevor Williams (13) and Ed Pearson (18) of Crosland Heath.

Countback is not used to separate combinations in the pro-am section so three pairings shared the prizes.

They included Crown Nest Park’s Gareth Evans and Rob Gee (5), who were members of the last four ball out on the course. Gee matched Hopkinson’s nett three on the last.

Dewbury’s long serving Nigel Hirst maintained his fine winter form, playing alongside Jonathan Binns (6), while the other joint pro-am winners were Tom Wild and Gary Ward (8) from the host club.

Ward was in excellent form with 10 pars and a birdie.

A grey start gave way to a warm, fine day. However, it was difficult to score well with the course still very wet and the tees pushed right back.

Bradley Hall pro Dave Delaney, who will be joining Olympic champion Mo Farah in the line-up for the London Marathon on Sunday week, came in with a respectable 37 points partnering Clive McFadzean and remarked: “I don’t think it will be as tough in London as it was out there!”

The next Alliance is the Ron Parkinson Memorial Trophy event at Ryburn on Tuesday, April 15.

The Page Trophy and Roger Heap Memorial Cup follow at Ogden on Tuesday, April 29 before the re-arranged Outlane event on Tuesday, May 6 to finish the programme.

Scores - pro-am: 1, G.Evans Pro & R.Gee 5 (Crow Nest Park) 40; 1, N.P.Hirst Pro & J.Binns 6 (Dewsbury) 40; 1, T.Wild Pro & G.Ward 8 (Bradley Park) 40; 4, D.Arber Pro & D.Bradley 11 (West End) 39; 4, J.Hill Pro & O.Shaw 7 (Bradley Park/Crosland Heath) 39; 4, J.Lester Pro & L.Pilkington 2 (Crosland Heath) 39; 7, J.Pearcey Pro & B.Workman 12 (Bradley Park) 38; 7, R.Stansfield Pro & D.Stafford 1 (Bradley Park/Todmorden) 38; 9, D.Delaney Pro & C.McFadzean 5 (Bradley Hall) 37; 10, T.Pollard Pro & J.Smith +1 (Bradley Hall) 36; 11, S.Race (Pro) & N.Paxman 8 (Meltham) 33.

Am-am: 1, D.Wadcock 17 & S.Hopkinson 6 (Bradley Hall) 40; 2, R.T.Williams 13 & E.Pearson 18 (Crosland Heath) 40; 3, D.Mitcheson 13 & D.Harrison 13 (Bradley Park) 39; 4, D.Campbell 5 & M.Maude 6 (Meltham) 39; 5, A.Crum 1 & C.Gaunt Scr (Dewsbury) 39; 6, M.Dempsey 10 & P.Newey 13 (Ind. Huddersfield) 39; 7, J.Caine 4 & B.Martin 12 (Crosland Heath/Bradley Park) 39; 8, P.Reynolds 17 & J.Firth 12 (Outlane) 38; 9, J.Ward Scr & D.Hartley 1 (Dewsbury) 37; 9, A.Dyson 6 & R.T.Owen 14 (Crosland Heath) 37; 9, A.Morrison 7 & G.Shuttleworth 10 (Bradley Hall) 37; 9, D.Knapton 12 & M.Knight 17 (Outlane) 37; 9, P.Caldwell 18 & A.Guest 12 (Bradley Hall) 37; 14, G.Proctor 9 & P.Marsland 13 (Crosland Heath) 36; 14, J.Lawton 5 & S.Beeby 5 (Outlane) 36; 14, K.Woolford 15 & I.Hunter 9 (Hanging Heaton) 36; 17, A.McMahan 8 & H.Bailey 14 (Dewsbury) 35; 17, A.Wallis 10 & N.Ward 15 (Crosland Heath) 35; 17, N.Hirst 11 & G.Hirst 7 (Outlane) 35; 17, T.Murphy 13 & R.Barker 16 (Crosland Heath) 35; 21, J.Jennings 5 & P.Newell 13 (Halifax) 34; 21, N.Day 7 & N.Roach 20 (Crow Nest Park) 34; 21, N.Sutton 7 & B.Cassidy 10 (Outlane) 34; 21, R.A.Airey 20 & A.S.Wormald 19 (Bradley Hall) 34; 21, T.Baier 13 & J.Fish 7 (Meltham) 34; 26, J.Crosland 8 & R.Johnson 15 (Meltham) 33; 26, K.Puckering 15 & R.Wilson 18 (Outlane) 33; 28, C.Hoyle 12 & D.Pickles 10 (Hebden Bridge) 32; 29, S.Whitham 11 & R.Wimpenny 13 (Crosland Heath) 31; 30, C.Richards 10 & D.Clitheroe 9 (Hebden Bridge 30; 30, E.Hawker 16 & T.Beddis 20 (Bradley Hall) 30; 32, L.Dyson 13 & M.Haigh 14 (Crosland Heath) 29; 32, P.Legard 16 & D.Gibson 16 (Dewsbury) 29; 34, E.Casper 11 & B.Moroney 16 (Outlane) 28; 34, E.Sechi 16 & D.Makin 17 (Outlane) 28; 34, J.Smith 13 & A.Mellor 13 (Longley Park/Outlane) 28; 34, J.Thompson 20 & B.Atkin 14 (Longley Park) 28; 34, P.Pitchforth 13 & C.Hartley 20 (Bradley Hall) 28; 39, G.Parker 11 & D.Deadman 9 (Bradley Hall) 27; 40, P.Hesselden 12 & C.Walker 14 (Bradley Hall) 23; 41, P.Davis 20 & R.Sharp 20 (Outlane) 20.

Professional order of merit leaders: 40 pts, Nigel Hirst (Dewsbury); 34, Gareth Evans (Crow Nest Park); 31, Dave Delaney (Bradley Hall).

Club Championship leaders: 325 pts, Metham and Crosland Heath; 324, Dewsbury.