National Alliance Championship at Halifax G.C.

This year the National Alliance Championship has moved north from the Midlands, where it has been held for the previous 4 years, to be hosted by the Halifax Huddersfield Alliance at Halifax Golf Club.

The championship trophy is contested by teams of 5 better balls with the best 4 scores to count. There is also an individual competition for the professionals with a prize fund of £1,000 and prizes for the best pairs not in the team prizes.

The competition was played from the new Blue tees at Ogden which gives added interest to the start as the carry from in front of the clubhouse to the fairway is 200 yards and in front of a much larger audience than usual.

For most of the day Halifax-Huddersfield were lying in second place on countback from East Lancs with 154 points but the last two teams out claimed the honours. The championship was won by Derbyshire 2 with 160 points from Nottinghamshire 2 who were 1 point behind on 159. A 40 point average over the new layout by players who had not seen the course before was a fine performance.

The top professional honour was shared by Manchester’s Dave Smith (Swindon Park) and Nottinghamshire’s Chris Hall (Rushcliffe) on 38 points. Joint third were K. Taylor and L. Woodward, both playing for team champions Derbyshire 2, with 36 points. Best of the local professionals were Gareth Evans (Crow Nest Park), 34, Dave Delaney (Halifax), 33, and Alliance President Rob Booth (Bradley Hall), 33.

Mike Dempsey and Pete Newey of Fixby claimed the best pair prize with 43 points with other best pairs from the Halifax Huddersfield Alliance being D. Delaney / T. Gerrard (Halifax),41, G. Evans / D. May (Crow Nest Park), 40, C.McFadzean / P. Airey, 41.

Next year this event will be held at Crosland Heath Golf Club.

A summary of the results is given below.

Teams points
Derbyshire 2 160
Nottinghamshire 2 159
East Lancs 154
Halifax Huddersfield 1 154
Liverpool 2 152
Halifax Huddersfield 3 152
Manchester & Dist 151
Nottinghamshire 1 151
Halifax Huddersfield 2 148
Derbyshire 1 142
Halifax Huddersfield 4 142
Liverpool 1 138
Leicester & Rutland 128

Professionals points
D.Smith Manchester & Dist 38
C.Hall Nottinghamshire 2 38
K.Taylor Derbyshire 2 36
L.Woodward Derbyshire 2 36
J.Webster East Lancs 35
G.Hamberton Manchester & Dist 35
T.Maxwell Manchester & Dist 35
M.Hollingworth Manchester & Dist 35
J.Lines Derbyshire 2 35
G.Evans Halifax Huddersfield 2 34
D.Delaney Halifax Huddersfield 1 33
R.Booth Halifax Huddersfield 2 33

Pairs points
C.Hall (Pro) / P.Higgins (4) Nottinghamshire 2 43
M.Dempsey (10) / P.Newey (15) Halifax Huddersfield 3 43
J.Staffford (Pro) / A.Hession (4) Derbyshire 2 41
D.Delaney (Pro) / T.Gerard (5) Halifax Huddersfield 1 41
D.Smith (pro) / J.O'Reiley (11) Manchester & Dist 41
P.Edwards (Pro) / J.Giles (4) Nottinghamshire 2 40
J.Lines (Pro) / M.Walley (9) Derbyshire 2 40
K.Taylor (Pro) / I.Bailey (9) Derbyshire 2 40
A.Willey (Pro) / C.Wright (8) Nottinghamshire 1 40
G.Evans (Pro) / D.May (5) Halifax Huddersfield 2 40
C.McFadzean (4) / P.Airey (12) Halifax Huddersfield 4 40
D.Hesselden (11) / D.Peel (6) Halifax Huddersfield 1 39
D.Astin (Pro) / A.Cryer (8) Halifax Huddersfield 1 37
D.Arber (Pro) / C.Regan (11) Halifax Huddersfield 1 37
S.Corp (Pro) / L.Lander (3) Halifax Huddersfield 3 37