Played over the course that gives its name to the trophy, event 12 in the ZFL North East Masters at the weekend was the highly popular Bishop Auckland Bowl.
Just for a change Masters leader, Morpeth's Mark Penny, didn't win but he scored more points than his rivals to extend his lead at the top of the rankings.
But the real story on the day was Richard Aisbitt from Brancepeth. Handily placed after a first round level par 72, just one shot behind Durham City's Graeme Marchbank, Aisbitt fired a new course record 64 to take the title by 9 shots from Marchbank & Silloth's John Longcake. Aisbitt already held the record with a 63 but, since then, the course has been lengthened. His win moves him up to 8th place in the table whilst Longcake improves one place to 9th & Marchbank five places to ease into 10th.
Former double Northumberland Champion, Mark Penny, shot two solid rounds of 75 & 74 to finish in a tie for seventh. But he would have been looking over his shoulder at another Brancepeth player, Michael Curry, lying third in the ZFL Masters, just behind defending champion Simon Lee from the City of Newcastle. But Curry was not able to capitalise on his first round 72, following it with a nightmare 81 to finish in a tie for 19th.
Lee didn't finish in the points & nor did City team mate, Phil Ridden, who withdrew with a wrist injury & missed his chance of overtaking Curry in the Masters league table. Mathematically, it's now a four horse race for the ZFL title between Penny, Lee, Curry & Ridden. If Penny can finish inside the top 10 in either of the last two tournaments, at Brancepeth & Woodham in two weeks time, then he will be the 2010 ZFL North East Masters Champion. This year, the ZFL North East Masters presentation will take place at the winner's home club. The battle for the top five prizes in the series is now between the current top 10 players in the table.
As always, Bishop Auckland organised the event very professionally & attracted 75 entrants, the highest in any of the ZFL qualifiers so far, and only had three 'no shows' although that's three too many. Even so, some tournaments have suffered from many more players than that failing to turn up. The course was in excellent condition but showed its teeth in the strong breeze with Scratch Scores of 73 & 72.
After Bishop Auckland, 135 players have scored points in the ZFL Masters series & are pretty evenly spread between players from Northumberland, Durham & further afield.
Top 10 players in the table are:
01 (01) Mark Penny (Morpeth) 1165.8 points
02 (02) Simon Lee (City of Newcastle) 840.8
03 (03) Michael Curry (Brancepeth) 833.7
04 (04) Phil Ridden (City of Newcastle) 793.3
05 (05) Nigel King (South Shields) 625.0
06 (06) Craig Penny (Morpeth) 609.5
07 (07) Sandy Twynholm (Morpeth) 570.0
08 (12) Richard Aisbitt (Brancepeth Castle) 525.0
09 (10) John Longcake (Silloth) 490.0
10 (15) Graeme Marchbank (Durham City) 444.2
Figures in brackets are positions after event 11 at Westerhope.
Just for a change Masters leader, Morpeth's Mark Penny, didn't win but he scored more points than his rivals to extend his lead at the top of the rankings.
But the real story on the day was Richard Aisbitt from Brancepeth. Handily placed after a first round level par 72, just one shot behind Durham City's Graeme Marchbank, Aisbitt fired a new course record 64 to take the title by 9 shots from Marchbank & Silloth's John Longcake. Aisbitt already held the record with a 63 but, since then, the course has been lengthened. His win moves him up to 8th place in the table whilst Longcake improves one place to 9th & Marchbank five places to ease into 10th.
Former double Northumberland Champion, Mark Penny, shot two solid rounds of 75 & 74 to finish in a tie for seventh. But he would have been looking over his shoulder at another Brancepeth player, Michael Curry, lying third in the ZFL Masters, just behind defending champion Simon Lee from the City of Newcastle. But Curry was not able to capitalise on his first round 72, following it with a nightmare 81 to finish in a tie for 19th.
Lee didn't finish in the points & nor did City team mate, Phil Ridden, who withdrew with a wrist injury & missed his chance of overtaking Curry in the Masters league table. Mathematically, it's now a four horse race for the ZFL title between Penny, Lee, Curry & Ridden. If Penny can finish inside the top 10 in either of the last two tournaments, at Brancepeth & Woodham in two weeks time, then he will be the 2010 ZFL North East Masters Champion. This year, the ZFL North East Masters presentation will take place at the winner's home club. The battle for the top five prizes in the series is now between the current top 10 players in the table.
As always, Bishop Auckland organised the event very professionally & attracted 75 entrants, the highest in any of the ZFL qualifiers so far, and only had three 'no shows' although that's three too many. Even so, some tournaments have suffered from many more players than that failing to turn up. The course was in excellent condition but showed its teeth in the strong breeze with Scratch Scores of 73 & 72.
After Bishop Auckland, 135 players have scored points in the ZFL Masters series & are pretty evenly spread between players from Northumberland, Durham & further afield.
Top 10 players in the table are:
01 (01) Mark Penny (Morpeth) 1165.8 points
02 (02) Simon Lee (City of Newcastle) 840.8
03 (03) Michael Curry (Brancepeth) 833.7
04 (04) Phil Ridden (City of Newcastle) 793.3
05 (05) Nigel King (South Shields) 625.0
06 (06) Craig Penny (Morpeth) 609.5
07 (07) Sandy Twynholm (Morpeth) 570.0
08 (12) Richard Aisbitt (Brancepeth Castle) 525.0
09 (10) John Longcake (Silloth) 490.0
10 (15) Graeme Marchbank (Durham City) 444.2
Figures in brackets are positions after event 11 at Westerhope.
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