Vale Royal Abbey 4th March 2026

Vale Royal Abbey put on a day to remember

After a winter of dank, cold and windy weather endured by golfers throughout the region with many courses suffering waterlogging a full field of players enjoyed a great day in the MDGA Winter Series at Vale Royal Abbey GC.

Spring was welcomed in by wall-to wall sunshine and course drawing universal praise for its quality and conditions backed by the magnificent and historic Vale Royal Abbey off-course facilities.

The hotter pace of the slick greens caused a few putting adjustment problems but the average scores were much higher than in the opening fixture at Hart Common and it was close in all sections.

The top individual pro prize was shared by new dad Jamie Howarth (Davenport) and Andy Palmer (Chorley) on 40 ,one more than Phil Kelly, who was also the winner of the Nearest the Pin Prize.

The quality of Craig Corrigan and Phil Cooney (Houghwood) shone through in the Pro Am section as they led in with 43, one more than Rob and Paul Braithwaite, Alistair Waddell and Dave Gurusainghe (Chorlton) and Jamie Howarth and Paul Nightingale (Davenport)

Dave Smith (Hart Common) and Danny Beeley (Westhoughton) edged the Am Am section with 43, one more than Kris Partington (Alder Root) and Craig Gilligan (High Legh Park) who won a cpo from Charles Herbert (Alderley Edge) and Ross Birch (Conway).

Alliance President Ian Brooks, who was able to enjoy lounging in the sun for a large portion of the day, gave deserving praise to all at Vale Royal Abbey for providing such a memorable day and to all of the players for their efforts on the course.

Geoff Garnett

PosProfessional’s Individual StablefordPts
1=Jamie Howarth (Davenport)40
Andy Palmer (Chorley)40
3Phil Kelly39
4=Dan Croft (Huyton & Prescot)38
Rob Braithwaite38
6=Martyn Hamer (Davyhulme Park)37
Alistair Waddell (Chorlton cum Hardy)37
8=Ryan O’Neill36
Mark Smith (Stamford)36
Ian Ridgway (Disley)36
11Alex Pritchard (Poulton Park)35
12=Craig Corrigan34
Scott Howarth (Davenport)34
14Erin Parker (Styal)33
15=Grant Hamerton (Pike Fold)32
Mark Hancock (Stand)32
Craig Daggitt (Bramall Park)32
Alan Crompton (Wigan)32
19Ryan Owen (Styal)31
20=Tim Maxwell (Knutsford)30
Sean Owen (Bolton Old Links)30
22Tom Clancy (Cheadle)29
23Scott Jackson (Disley)28
24Tom Fenton (Bramhall)27
Colin MaroneyNR
Steve Ingham (Blackley)NR
PosPro AmPts
1Craig Corrigan & Phil Cooney (Houghwood)43
2Rob Braithwaite & Paul Braithwaite
3Alistair Waddell (Chorlton cum Hardy) & David Gurusinghe (Chorlton cum Hardy)42
4Jamie Howarth (Davenport) & John Nightingale (shaw Hill)42
5Martyn Hamer (Davyhulme Park) & Jack Cornes (Davyhulme Park)41
6Phil Kelly & Andy Angelone (Stamford)41
7Mark Smith (Stamford) & Richard Irving (Stamford)40
8Craig Daggitt (Bramall Park) & Ewan McCray (Bramall Park)40
9Andy Palmer (Chorley) & Craig Pickerill (Cheadle)40
10Scott Jackson (Disley) & Neil McGuinness (Disley)40
11Ian Ridgway (Disley) & Dave Bradbury (Disley)40
12Dan Croft (Huyton & Prescot) & Stephen Thompson (Chorlton cum Hardy)39
13Alex Pritchard (Poulton Park) & Tom Butterworth (Delamere Forest)39
14Grant Hamerton (Pike Fold) & Steve Horne (Pike Fold)39
15Tim Maxwell (Knutsford) & Eddie Ellis (Knutsford)38
16Mark Hancock (Stand) & Gareth Mawdsley (Stand)38
17Ryan Owen (Styal) & Luca Davies (Styal)38
18Sean Owen (Bolton Old Links) & Paul Greenhalgh (Turton)38
19Ryan O’Neill & Mike Grainger (Stamford)37
20Scott Howarth (Davenport) & Mike Lamb (Bramhall)37
21Colin Maroney & Joe Donnelly (Harwood)37
22Tom Clancy (Cheadle) & Mick Holmes (Cheadle)35
23Alan Crompton (Haigh Hall) & Austin Ball (Haigh Hall)35
24Erin Parker (Styal) & Tom Parker (Styal)35
25Tom Fenton (Bramhall) & Mike Fenton (Dunham Forest)34
26Steve Ingham (Blackley) & Sue Oldham (Blackley)32
PosAm AmPts
1Dave Smith (Hart Common) & Danny Beeley (Westhoughton)43
2Kris Partington (Alder Root) & Craig Gilligan (High Legh Park)42
3Charles Herbert (Alderley Edge) & Ross Birch (Conway)42
4Adam Wells (Fairfield) & Andrew Harlow (Fairfield)39
5Alistair Holloway (MDGA Captain) & Alan Gayle (Denton)39
6John Barrow (Flixton) & Bob Barrow (Davyhulme Park)39
7Rob Jackson (Regent Park) & Paul Donelan (Regent Park)39
8Chris Lee (Mellor) & Steve Heywood (Manchester)38
9Ian Thomason (Reddish Vale) & Steve Hamlet (Disley)38
10Carl Blackshaw (Regent Park) & Paul Bartle (Regent Park)37
11John Bell (Fairfield) & Bill O’Malley (Fairfield)36
12Darron Tickle (Blackley) & Mike Moxon (Blackley35
13Jeff Moran (Regent Park) & John Knowles (Regent Park)35
14Carleton Weldon (Stamford( & Spencer Lavery (Stamford)35
15Bob Irving (Stamford) & Steve Irving (Stamford)34
16Mark Pasquill (Leigh) & Ray Fogg (Poulton Park)34
17Richard Margrave (Stamford) & Paul Traynor (Saddleworth)34
18Paul Thornley (Flixton) & Chris Mulhearn (Flixton) 34
19Kam Wong (Bolton Old Links) & Betty Fan (Bolton Old Links)34
20Darren Clarke (Stamford) & Steve Milligan (Stamford)34
21Martyn Elly (Werneth Low) & Kevin Tottle (Wernerth Low)33
22Wayne Lindsay (Disley) & Nick Griffiths (Disley)33
23Balint Varga (Houghwood) & Michael Murrell (Houghwood)33
24Matt Foster (Werneth Low) & Dave Stearns (Werneth Low)32
25John Kilner (Hart Common) & Clint Davey (Ellesmere)32
26Graham Frees (Regent Park) & Mike Turner (Regent Park)32
27John Dempsey (Turton) & Anthony Lomax (Turton)32
28David Wakerley (Ellesmere) & Colin Donelan (Duxbury Park)31
29Tony Palmer (Chorley) & Andy Taylor (Chorley)31
30Greg Norbury (Flixton) & Phil Dearden (Flixton)30
31Simon Lo (Bolton Old Links) & Annie Wong (Bolton Old Links) 29
32Steve Smith (Stamford) & Graham Dowd (Stamford)27
Nearest the Pin: Phil Kelly