05/08/2026
New Seniors Champion Golfer
The annual event to determine the Seniors Champion Golfer took place over 2 rounds on the 28th and 30th July under sunny skies with fairways continuing to provide their generous contributions to driving distances.
Before you are lulled into thinking that it must have been easy going, it's worth remembering Newton's third law of motion, which states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. What this means on a sun dried, parched golf course is that any ball coming down from height is going to bounce and, if the ball comes down on a bumpy bit of turf then the angle of the bounce is going to be completely unpredictable. The player that understands this can take advantage of the conditions by playing links style golf where the ball is kept as low as possible to reach the destination but high enough to miss the inordinate amount of humps and hollows on its journey.
Given the above, step forward the golfers who can vary their game according to the conditions and the champion will be one of them. If you are a one-trick pony who whacks the ball and hopes that the golfing gods will smile on you for 36 holes then you will be found wanting. In most players' experience, those same gods limit their generosity to one or two shots per round, the rest is up to the person swinging the club.
And so it was that the cream yet again rose to the top. Ladbrokes and Paddy Power both had the willowy Steve Duckett at evens to clinch his 10th consecutive title, a run of wins not seen since Ivor Griffiths managed 5 between 2007 and 2013. However, Bet365 and William Hill had heard rumours that a prodigal son had returned refreshed from the colonies and this information, coupled with the rumour that Mr D had a bit of twinge, was enough to make the aforementioned Saffer a tight odds-on favourite.
It was a mouthwatering battle for the Champions Cup with only 2 strokes between 1st and 3rd place after the first round but it was the second round where the pressure mounts and no quarter is neither asked nor given. And so it was, that returning with a gross 72 each, the reigning champion and the new champion put on a show of not just great golf, but of genuine admiration, respect and friendship that set the finest example to all of us who love this game.
Such was the quality on display that Chris Angell, a man who knows how to play this game came in 3rd but a whole 9 strokes behind the 2nd placed Steve Duckett
As if the drama of the Champions Cup wasn't enough, there was another competition going on for the Sandy Sanders Trophy, awarded to the best nett score over 2 rounds. Unlike the Champions Cup, this time there was a runaway winner with Alan Clifford cutting a dash like Ben Hur on his chariot as he tore up the fairways to shoot an 81 followed by an 85 giving him a combined nett score of 124. If your maths is anywhere decent you'll quickly see that his score was the equivalent of two nett 62's, a phenomenal two rounds by any standard and 9 shots better than his nearest rival in 2nd place.
