International Pairs UK

Withernsea Pair Cut It Fine After Winning English Crown At Carnoustie

WITHERNSEA PAIR CUT IT FINE AFTER WINNING ENGLISH CROWN AT CARNOUSTIE

Father-and-son team Steve and Steve Dale Jnr had little time to celebrate winning the English title at the 2008 International Pairs UK Finals at Carnoustie - as they had to dash back to their golf course to cut the greens the next morning.
The Withernsea pair narrowly missed out on being crowned UK champions as they amassed a total of 81 Stableford points in the 36-hole event in Scotland - just one point behind Cumbrian winners Alan McNichol and Richard Barnes.
But the Dales had taken four days off from their jobs as head and assistant greenkeeper at their course in East Yorkshire and had to make a hurried exit from Carnoustie so they made it back to Withernsea in time to resume their daily duties.
“We only play at a 9-hole course in Yorkshire so this has been a whole new experience for both of us,” said Dale, who plays off a handicap of 13, eleven more than his 22-year-old son.
“We played fantastically well and it was a shame to leave. I would have loved to have had a look in their greenkeeping hut to see what machinery they have but we had to get back as the greens at our club hadn’t been cut since we came up to Scotland and there would have been some very unhappy members otherwise!”
Dale and his son finished second after they were declared runners-up on countback from overnight leaders Craig Gibbon and Scott Templeman - who missed out on possible glory after double bogeying the notorious 18th hole.
And their reward will be to join UK champions McNichol and Barnes and the other national title winners in playing at the 2009 International Pairs World Final - which will be played at Carnoustie and Monifieth next October.
Keswick duo Alan McNichol and Richard Barnes put a series of calamitous mishaps off the course behind them to claim an unlikely victory in the event - which is run in association with VisitScotland and is the largest competition of its kind in the world for club golfers.
McNichol, who plays off 20, and 13-handicapper Barnes, lay three points off the lead after scoring 44 points on Carnoustie’s Burnside course, then surged through the field in the second round on the feared Championship Course to finish with 82 points.
But McNichol, 51, and Barnes, 43, revealed that they had virtually written off their chances of winning after a disastrous build-up to the second day of the competition - the world’s largest of its kind for club golfers.
A black cat had already walked in front of them as they strolled around Carnoustie the evening before the second round, but worse was to follow the next morning as they broke a six-foot mirror and then set off the fire alarm in their bedroom!
“We’d already forgotten our jackets for the gala dinner and had to make a hurried shopping trip into Dundee, then we had all this happen,” said Barnes, a social worker.
“The mirror just dropped off the inside of the wardrobe door. Alan then decided to do iron his trousers in our room while I was having a shower and a mixture of the steam from the bathroom and the iron set the alarm off. There was chaos.
“It’s a miracle we made it out on to the course at all but thankfully we were able to put all that behind us. We played really well and then got a bit of luck on the last when Alan’s putt did a lap of honour before dropping in the hole.”
McNichol, who is a steward at Keswick Golf Club, added: “We had never played any links courses in Scotland before this and our victory is all remarkable as our course doesn’t have any bunkers and we didn’t quite know what to do when we went in them.”
A magnificent birdie three at the 468-yard par four 14th hole helped Cottrell Park pair Steve Wood and Rhodri Davies claim the Welsh title with 79 points and earn a return trip to Carnoustie.
And John Maxwell and Steven Hunter, from Bonnybridge Golf Club, Falkirk, completed the list of national champions to go forward to the 2009 International Pairs World Final after being the only Scottish pair to qualify for the final.
Maxwell won the 2008 International Pairs World Final at The Duke’s, St Andrews, last month with a different partner, Stephen Brown, and he is relishing the chance to defend his title.
The four-handicapper said: “We didn’t really do ourselves justice in the final only scoring 70 points but it’s fantastic to know that I have the chance to come back to represent Scotland as defending world champion next year.”
Ross Honey, chairman of International Pairs, said: “Yet again, Carnoustie provided a great test and setting for such a closely fought competition.
“It never ceases to amaze me the standard of golf that is produced under such pressure and on one of the hardest courses in the world and the event was played in the true spirit of the game.
“This has been another fantastic 12 months for International Pairs, the competition will be played in more than 50 countries next year and it is growing all the time.”
Around 20,000 players took part in this year’s UK competition with 40 lucky pairs travelling to Carnoustie from across the UK after qualifying from semi-finals held at Ladybank, Blairgowrie, Monifieth, Letham Grange and The Players Club.
To enter International Pairs, play in the winter or summer match play events or to register a club, please call 01489 878509, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Alternatively, visit the Pairs’ website at www.internationalpairs.com.

Ends

2008 INTERNATIONAL PAIRS UK FINAL RESULT

1.) Alan McNichol and Richard Barnes (Keswick) - 82 points (UK champions)
2.) Steve Dale and Steve Dale Jnr (Withernsea) - 81 points (second on countback - English champions)
3.) Craig Gibbon and Scott Templeman (Laceby Manor) - 81 points

Welsh champions

Steve Wood and Rhodri Davies (Cottrell Park) - 79 points

Scottish champions

John Maxwell and Steven Hunter (Bonnybridge) - 70 points

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