JAMIE HEYWOOD won the Mountain Ash Trophy at Saddleworth Golf Club after ensuring there was no repeat of the blunder that cost him victory in the competition eight years ago.
The 24-year-old was denied in the last major of the season in 2007 after forgetting to sign his card at the end of the 36-hole competition.
He explained: “I won the competition while still a junior but was disqualified for not signing my card so I made sure I didn’t make the same mistake again.
“After the earlier competition I was rushing off to play a junior match and that is why I forget to sign the card which was one of my worst moments in golf.”
Heywood, a business development, transport and fabrications manager, won the last major of the season for the first time after posting nett rounds of 70 and 66 for 136 in the 36-hole tournament.
He finished two shots clear of runner-up Lee Blainey whose 138 comprised rounds of 65 and 73 while third place went to Dean Jagger with 67 and 73 for 140.
Heywood began the second round five shots behind Blainey so had a lot of ground to make up to claim his second major – he won the Captain’s Prize in 2009. He has also won the Henry Hartley Trophy, the mixed foursomes knockout.
The four handicapper came up with a birdie blitz – four in the last six holes – to snatch victory.
He said: “I knew I had to shoot under par to win and the nett 66 was a one-under-par gross 70.
“It was also special as I played with my granddad Jeff Howarth in the second round. “
Heywood, who lives in Denton, has been a member at Saddleworth for 15 years having been been introduced to the game by his grandmother Lilian Howarth. Grandfather Jeff took up the game the following year and the pair regulary partner each other in competitions.
Heywood has been in a rich vein of form as the previous week he won the J W Holt Trophy, which was reported in last month’s Independent, and at the end of October he and Phil Paxford won the Schofield Shield to complete a hat trick of successes in the space of a month.
In the Schofield Shield, Heywood teamed up with Phil Paxford to amass 71 points in the Stableford, the same score as runners-up Jon Fancy and Lee Blainey who lost out on the card.
In third place were David Fox and Ian Buckley with 69.
Saddleworth’s knockout finals have also taken place with Ben Simpson winning the singles event for the Wharmton Trophy for his first-ever major.
Simpson (24) had a dramatic victory against Ben Chadderton winning at the first hole of a sudden death play off.
It looked as though Simpson, a civil engineer, had won until Chadderton rolled in a 30ft birdie putt on the last hole to square the match.
Four-handicapper Simpson said: “I thought I had won it, but it was a case of holding my nerve as Ben had the momentum going into the play-off.
“I posted a birdie at the 19th and was really happy and it was a great end to the season for me.”
The men’s pairs knockout for the Ladcastle Trophy was won by Neville Daniels and Brian Dyson who overcame Alan Entwistle and Andy Dunster 2 and 1 in the final.
Daniels, who has been playing golf for 41 years, described it as the biggest competition either of them had won.
The pair came through five round and Daniels, a 65-year-old chartered accountant from Moorside, said: “It was one of those years when everything went for us, and we had some exciting games.
“We are both high handicappers so had a lot of shots over our opponents which worked in our favours. We slotted in well together and complemented one another.
Spare a thought for Dunster, though, as he was beaten finalist in two other events as he and Julie Ward lost in the final of the Henry Hartley Mixed Knockout. They went down 3 and 2 to Ian Cash and Debbie Cockburn.
“I am the nearly man having lost two finals,” reflected Dunster.
Harry Long won the seniors’ F V Rhodes Trophy after scoring 36 points in the Stableford and triumphing after a three way card play-off.
Runner-up John Gates and third-placed Peter Beswick also scored 36 points.
A subsidiary for younger members was won by Marcus Wray with 40 points. Second was Ben Pullen (38) and third Stephen Pullen (38).
It’s the time of the year when turkey competitions are held and the first, an open event, was won by Nick Kerin and Mark Riley with 44 points as they edged out Mike Jackson and Steven Appleby who had the same score but who had to settle for second spot.
Third were Gary Simpson and James Buckley (43) while fourth were Lee Melia and Jon Fancy (42).
The final event of the men’s season, captain’s charity day, saw Richard Hughes and Darren Cudlip win the four-ball Stableford with 44 points.
It was a mighty close call, though, as second-placed Dean Jagger and Tony Isaacs along with Nigel Cooper and Graham Maly, who were in third place, also returned 44 points, but lost out on the card.
In fourth place with 43 points were Garry Banks and Dave Green.
The women’s Village Shield, a 12-hole Stableford, was won by Fiona Heston with 27 points from second-placed Sandra Hague with 23.
The winning village was a combined Greenfield and Uppermill team.
