Kevin Budd’s Albatross on the 9th wins him the Mid Amateur Championship
The entry for this year’s Mid Amateur Championship was once again very disappointing with a field of just 27 players and on the day four failed to show. The first round also resulted in one withdrawal due to injury and last year’s champion was disqualified for unwittingly contravening a local rule. With 6 prizes on offer the chances of picking up a voucher was better than one in four. Next year must have a bigger field or the long term viability of this championship becomes doubtful.
 Many championships this year have suffered with inclement weather but at The Mendip on Sunday it was almost perfect for golf with a bright sky and no wind so it was surprising that the scoring was less than expected. After the first round Kevin Budd of Enmore Park and Bob Chandler of The Mendip were leading with 74 followed by Richard Jeffery of The Mendip on 75. The next two places were also filled by home players and only 7 players broke 80.
Duncan Offer of The Mendip with a 74 (151) and Bob Chandler a 77 (151) were early joint leaders after two rounds. The organising committee were at this stage basking in the sun and watching the field through the 9th and were fortunate enough to witness Kevin Budd put a 5 iron from 190 yards into the hole for a superb albatross picking up 3 shots and leaving him one over going through the turn. It was hard to see how he could lose and when he birdied the 18th it clearly was all over. Senior Vice President Dennis Longden presented the trophy to Kevin and thanked the catering staff for excellent service throughout the day, the green staff for presenting the course in superb condition with excellent greens and finally to the members of The Mendip for generously allowing the Union to hold the championship on their course. He commented on the disappointing number of entries and asked the players to make sure they entered next year with some of their golfing colleagues; next year the championship will be held at Orchardleigh Golf Club.
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