OPEN DOUBLES – BERNARD O’MALLEY VICE-PRESIDENTS TROPHY 2024(sponsored by Birkdale Insurance Group)The Club’s annual Open Doubles competition took place on Saturday, when a full turnout of 32 pairs competed for the Bernard O’Malley Vice-Presidents Trophy. This is held to recognise the generous support given to the Club by Mr. O’Malley and Nationwide Produce over many years. The competition attracted a quality field, with pairs coming from Skelmersdale, Leyland, Preston, Liverpool, Wirral, Wigan and Pudsey to take part, as well as players from local clubs.
In the top half of the draw, Ray Bevington and Stuart Hodson from Garswood Hall reached the final, having survived a tough quarter-final match against Mark Holden and Steve McManus, winning 21-20 at the final end. Their opponents in the final were the Skem Park Rebels pairing of Ian Grady and Tim Hodge, who had overcome last year’s runners-up Alan Catterall and Danny Harding at the semi-final stage. The early stages of the final were closely contested, with the scoring being mainly in singles. After eleven ends, the pairing of Bevington and Hodson had built up a lead of 13-7 but at this point the game took a decisive turn as Grady and Hodge scored a three and a four in successive ends to take the lead at 14-13 and although Ray and Stuart counted a double to regain the lead, Ian and Tim won four of the next six ends to run out 21-18 winners. Congratulations to Ian and Tim on winning their first Hesketh Arms open title and to Ray and Stuart for producing some excellent performances throughout the day.
Many thanks to all the pairs who took part in this competition and to all those who came to watch and helped out with marking and measuring. We would also like to thank Gill for providing the sandwiches and Sue Davies for her hard work all day serving the refreshments. Also, thank you to our referee for the day, Keith Andrews, who helped with the smooth running of the competition. Last but not least, thank you to Birkdale Insurance Group for sponsoring the competition.