David Tamsitt and Warren Churms on the 1st tee
The Senior Section is providing referees for knockout finals this year. The first of these was the Holmwood Plate between Warren Churms and David Tamsitt. Jonathan Lean acted as referee and provided this commentary for the blog.
The day was cool but dry as Warren Churms and David Tamsitt met to play the final of the Holmwood Plate on the John O'Gaunt course. Having checked in the pro shop regarding handicaps it turned out that Warren had to give David 19 shots for the round.
The first hole started well for Warren. Regulation drive down the middle, pitch onto the green and two putts. David's drive drifted left into the trees and he recovered well. A pitch onto the green left him with a very long putt. His first putt was about 10 feet short and Warren was confident that he was about to win the hole. However, David holed the 10 foot putt with confidence and the hole was halved.
On the second Warren again played textbook golf with a good drive, pitch onto the green and two putts. David's drive drifted left. A good recovery but unfortunately his 3rd shot ended up in the bunker which he failed to get out of and conceded the hole to Warren.
Hole three was a repeat of the first two holes for Warren. Again a good drive and pitch on to the green and two putts. David again found a bunker he struggled to get out of and conceded the hole putting Warren two up after three holes.
It was on the 4th hole that the tide started to turn. David hit a good drive onto the lower tier of the green whereas Warren's drive went perilously close to out of bounds on the right. Warren's first pitch was a bit of a fluff but his second was almost holed, just shaving the pin. Warren was down in 5 so David had three putts for a win which he managed to do, pulling back the score to only one up to Warren.
It seemed at this point that David was just getting warmed up. On the long 5th hole Warren was on in three whereas David took four shots to get to the same place. Warren's two putts gave him the expected one over par 5 on the hole. However David sank a monster 20 foot putt to also get down in 5 but win the hole on handicap.
On the long 6th hole with stroke index one and David getting two shots, this proved a bit of a challenge for Warren. Even though he managed a par 4 on this very tricky hole, David got close to the green in 3 and an excellent pitch shot was conceded by Warren. Even though Warren parred the hole he lost because of the two shots that David got.
Having won three holes in a row David was now one up. David was on a roll. He even managed to find his bunker skills on the 7th by getting up and down out of the sand to win this hole also. Another good recovery from the bunker on the 8th and a 15 foot putt on the 9th for David took him to the turn 4 up. Having been two down after three holes he won the next six holes.
Warren managed to stop the rot on the 10th by coming up just short of the green with his drive, pitching on and two putts whereas David found the trees on the left and also a bunker only getting down in five therefore halving the hole. Normal service was resumed on the 11th hole though with David getting on in three and two putts which Warren could only equal thus losing the hole.
The 12th hole was halved but Warren managed to pull one back at the tricky 13th even though he found the stream on the right with his second shot. Back to 4 Down only.
The 14th hole was halved also but this put David dormie 4. So then came the crucial 15th hole. Both players played this hole well managing to get down in 5 but with his shot, David won the hole and therefore won the match 5 and 3.
The match was played in excellent spirits. Both players played really well but Warren found the 19 shots he had to give away just too much of a burden. Few players could have lived with David's run of six holes in a row having been two down.
Congratulations to David Tamsitt as the Holmwood Plate Champion for 2026.
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