Mark Penny Feeling Just Champion

Going into the final 'double header' weekend of the 2010 ZFL North East Masters, any one of the top four contenders could still secure the Masters title. Not only that, all of the top 10 were still in the hunt for 2nd to 5th places.

And events 13 & 14 at Brancepeth & new to the series Woodham, provided plenty of excitement & changes of positions. At Brancepeth, with defending Masters Champion Simon Lee lying 2nd in the series & 3rd placed Michael Curry (pictured left) absent, long time series leader, Mark Penny from Morpeth realistically only needed a top 15 finish to become champion. But a 13 over par total of 153, after rounds of 78 & 75, was only good enough for 17th leaving City of Newcastle's Phil Ridden needing to win to keep the pressure on. Two steady scores of 73 & 72 were only good for 5th however & Penny was Masters Champion.

Home player, Richard Aisbitt (pictured below right), followed his record breaking win at Bishop Auckland with another victory at Brancepeth. Rounds of 72 & 69, one over par, gave him a comfortable six shot margin over Bedale's Michael Henson with Durham's Graeme Marchbank two shots further back. Aisbitt's back to back victories vaulted him seven places to 5th in the ZFL table, the same position he enjoyed in 2009. Meanwhile, Ridden, 3rd last year, had jumped from 4th to 2nd.

At Woodham the next day, Brancepeth's Michael Curry came back with a bang. Rounds of 70 & 71 for a five under par 141 gave Curry a three shot victory over Bishop Auckland's J. Peart with Wynyard's Ben Tetlow another three shots adrift. Woodham's Director of Golf, Glen Lowery, was pleased to have got the event off the ground but was frustrated by over half the field failing to show up or withdrawing at the last minute.

Virtually every tournament has suffered from no shows & last minute withdrawals this year & Lowery voices an opinion shared by many. "This attitude doesn’t help the amateur game prosper in the way I feel it should. Many of these players are considered ambassadors for their clubs & role models to younger players. If they were on the professional circuit, they would receive a large fine and a hefty ban. To those who did turn out & play, I am truly grateful & I am going to offer these players free entry for the 2011 event!"

Top contenders for the final four prize places including Lee, Ridden & Aisbitt were all absent. Having finished just out of the points at Brancepeth, that gave the ever consistent Nigel King from South Shields a golden opportunity to re-claim 5th spot in the series - the position he had lost at Brancepeth due to Aisbitt's win & Mark Penny's brother, Craig's, 6th position. King took full advantage by finishing joint 6th at Woodham, pushing Penny & Aisbitt out of the ZFL prizes. His 5th place finish in the series was an improvement of two places over 2009.

Final positions in the ZFL North East Masters were:
01 Mark Penny (Morpeth) 1190.8 points
02 Michael Curry (Brancepeth) 1033.7
03 Phil Ridden (City of Newcastle) 913.3
04 Simon Lee (City of Newcastle) 840.8
05 Nigel King (South Shields) 730.0

A special presentation night for all the prize winners & guests has been arranged at Penny's home club, Morpeth, on Saturday 20 November. ZFL's MD, Andrew Leach, commented, "This is our second year as series sponsor & it was exciting to see the final results go down to the wire. I would congratulate the prize winners & the hundreds of players from all over the North East & beyond who have taken part in 2010 & made the ZFL North East Masters so interesting. I would also like to thank the participating clubs for all their hard work in staging the events. We are already planning 2011 & considering some positive changes to the format."