Christian's Winter Win
30th November 2009
Christian Hauser proved once again he is the master of tough conditions with a 7 point win at The Winter Challenge.
With strong winds and heavy rain over the front nine, Christian battled through to finish on 44pts and claim his 2nd win on The SCC Tour.
A fantastic start saw Christian shoot 5 nett birdies over the first seven holes. With two nett bogeys at the 2nd and 7th, he had 17pts as the rain lashed down and the wind blew its strongest.
At this stage he was matched by Charles Chan, whose nett birdie at 4 was countered with a nett bogey at 5. He followed this up with a nett eagle, nett birdie to share the lead on 17pts through 7 holes.
They were two points clear of the field at this stage, with Roy White heading it up as the only other player under par.
A nett eagle at the 8th hole gave Christian a two point lead and one he would never relinquish. Christian reached the turn on 23pts. Charles remained in 2nd on 21pts. Four points further back were Will Lewis and Kamal Lakhani. Roy and Neil Willis were tied for 5th place at the halfway stage on 16pts.
A poor back nine for Kamal started with a nett bogey. Two more would follow on 13 and 15, add that together with a double bogey at the 12th hole and Kamal was playing an un-Kamal-like back nine. A nett birdie at the last would give Kamal 14pts on the back nine, which would eventually see him finish on 31pts down in a tie for 8th.
Charles suffered a worse start to his back nine failing to record any points at the 10th, 12th and 14th holes. Nett birdies at 15 & 17 would also give him 14pts on the back nine to finish in a tie for 3rd on 35pts.
Neil Willis, one of the steadiest players on the SCC Tour showed once again why he is seldom out of the top 5 players in a tournament. Having started his round poorly with four nett bogeys and two nett birdies on his front nine, Neil shot back to back birdies at the 11th and 12th holes to bring himself back to his handicap. A double bogey at the par 3 17th would be his only dropped shots on the back nine. He followed this with a nett birdie at the last to limit the damage and finish alongside Charles on 35pts.
Roy White had shot a mixed bag on the front nine, with two nett bogeys, two nett birdies and a double bogey. He started the back nine on a more positive note. Nett birdies at 10, 11 & 13 got him back on the right side of his handicap. A double bogey at 15 dropped him from 2nd place to 3rd. A nett birdie at 17 put him back on track and would have kept 3rd place on his own, but for a nett bogey at the final hole. He too would finish in a tie for 3rd on 35pts.
Will Lewis has been mentioned before as the man most likely to break through next on the SCC Tour for his first win. He once again showed why this must be the case. After turning with 17pts, Will then went on to nett birdie 12, 14 and 17 to move to 36pts. A nett bogey at the last hole was his only blemish on the back nine, but was enough to give him 2nd place on his own two points clear of 3rd.
But the day belonged to Christian. With conditions that had players believing that anyone shooting around 38pts was in with a shout to claim the title. Christian whose previous win came at The Rusper Classic in 2008, when the rain came down so hard, and then lightning moved into the area, that the tournament had to be reduced to 9 holes showed once again why the tough conditions suit him.
His 23pts on the front nine would have been superb in benign conditions, but with the wind and rain this was one of the best nines ever on the SCC Tour. Christian was in no mood to let up and when he shot 3 nett birdies in a row through the 10th, 11th and 12 holes he had opened up an 8 point lead. Relentlessly he carried out this demolition of The Woldingham. He had reached 36pts by the 14th hole and when he knocked in more nett birdies at 15 and 16 to open up his lead to 9pts he was on fire. Taking his foot off the pedal over the closing two holes must be the reason he closed with two nett birdies and a total of 44pts. A full 7pts ahead of Will.
This has to be Christian's greatest moment on The SCC Tour and has to be one of the best rounds shot, especially when you factor in the wind and rain. This might just be the catalyst that gives Christian a boost of confidence to believe that he can win a Swing.
Christian Hauser won the medal for Longest Drive at the 12th hole.
Lee Missen won the medal for Nearest The Pin at the 17th hole.
Christian currently heads up the field for The Winter Swing 2010 with 16pts for his win. Will is in 2nd on 14pts with Roy, Neil and Charles in 3rd on 12pts.
The SCC Tour takes around a nine week break over the Christmas and New Year period and will return for The National Stableford at Surrey National on 31st January 2010. This gives everyone plenty of time to work on the parts of their game and come back in the new year refreshed and ready to mount their challenge.
