Gloucestershire’s top scratch event is as exciting as ever

HENBURY’S honours board underlines both the quality of previous winners and the half-century of history associated with the City & County of Bristol Championship that is being staged on Sunday.

And few can argue with the assertion of captain David Windebank and president Eric Innes that this is the premier scratch competition in Gloucestershire.

Bristol & Clifton’s Peter Green won the first event in 1960 and again the following year. Ryder Cup players Brian Barnes (1963) and Gordon Brand Jnr, Tour players Mark Mouland, Mark Sanders, John E Morgan and Chris Wood, Walker Cup men Malcolm Lewis, Gary Wolstenholme and Mat Stanford, and Bath’s England amateur star Colin Edwards have also won at Henbury.

Former county captain and player Windebank said: “As we start our second half-century, we want to ensure the players enjoy a special day this year and we have one or two gifts for them all.”

And this week’s quality entry underlines its importance as home favourite Nick Day and Bristol & Clifton’s Andy Rudge go head-to-head to determine this year’s order of merit champion and winner of the Duchess Salver.

Plus-three player Day may have lost the club championship to fellow county player Nick Scholey in a play-off, but he remains favourite.

He can clinch his second Salver – the first was in 2004 – by winning on Sunday. A repetition of last year’s form, when he won by nine shots, will settle everything.

Although Day has logged 275 points and holds a 86-point lead over Rudge, both having played four of the five events to date, the Salver is decided by the best five scores from seven, so holder and plus-two player Rudge still has a chance, but he needs to add another victory to the Ashton Vase he claimed in May.

Day overtook him by winning both the county championship at Chipping Sodbury and the Failand Plate at Bristol & Clifton.

They are both likely to be pressed by Scholey and Chipping Sodbury’s Andy Hale, the other plus-one handicapper in a field that has been oversubscribed.

Other leadings positions: Tyler Hogarty (Rodway Hill) 132, Tom Workman (Stinchcombe Hill) 123, Sam Sullivan (Woodspring) 112, Hale 103, Brad Selwood (Knowle) 103.

● The final event is the Cotswold Trophy at Chipping Sodbury on October 10.