CHARLIE Harraway and Alison Kelly retained their titles when the club championships were contested on a very windy weekend at Cirencester Golf Club.

But there are new names on the nett championships roster as Andy Stocks lifted the Victory Cup and Karen Pracey-Jennings took the ladies’ equivalent.

Charlie, the champion in 2013, needed to win a play-off to take the title last year but his encore was somewhat easier, as he landed running with four birdies on his first eight holes before completing an exceptional round of one-under-par 70 on the opening day which was particularly challenging due to the 20mph-plus winds.

He followed his 70 with a steady 72 on Sunday for a level-par aggregate of 142, which left him five shots clear of the runner-up and general manager Leighton Walker who shot 74, 73 for a total of 147.

“I won the championship with 6-over last year and conditions were much tougher this time around, so I was delighted with my score,” said Charlie.

“I had been struggling with my game until a week before the competition when I suddenly hit a bit of form.

“I’ve been working hard on the putting and chipping greens and it paid off. I had just 25 putts on Saturday and 30 on Sunday.

“The early birdies on Saturday helped me massively and after a shaky start on Sunday it was good to birdie 11 and 12 to steady the nerves.

“Now I can look forward to the hat-trick attempt in 2021.”

This year the tournament started on the fourth with the last three holes therefore being played near the clubhouse.

Leighton closed his opening round with an eagle three on the 18th (3rd) and added another eagle with a two on the 13th (16th) despite the tricky pin position.

The admirable veteran Pete Stone plotted his way round for two rounds of 75 (150) to join the podium.

The challenging winds – with the flags on occasion bent double – led to a number of double-figure scores on holes.

Spare a thought for Sam Tanner whose opening 84 included a 15 on the par-five 14th (normally the 17th) which included a first drive which went out of bounds and a couple of subsequent lost balls.

Sam battled back with a magnificent best gross score of 68 on the Sunday.

So he was left to rue the fact that had he scored a par (as expected) on his one bad hole, he would have tied Charlie on 142 and forced a play-off.

Club Championship (gross scores)

1st – Charlie Harraway (70,72) 142; 2nd – Leighton Walker (74,73) 147; 3rd – Pete Stone (75,75) 150; 4th Dan Gregory (76,76) 152; 5th – Sam Tanner (84,68) 152; 6th – Toby Harris (77,76) 153; 7th – Steve Bishop (79,75) 154; 8th – James Moorcroft (76,78) 154; 9th – Tom O’Dell (75,79) 154; 10th – Tom Waller (78,78) 156.