28 Mar Player of The Year 2020

And here is the men’s Player of the Year 2020 – Isaac Davey Day.

Well, in a round about way anyway. There is more than one way to cut the POY cake but whatever number crunching is used it is a well deserved accolade and Isaac is a great chap to boot.

POY will be based on selected competitions for 2021 but, in this case, it is based on all played golf last season except for Summer League, Winter League, Seniors and Ladies competitions. The Silver Rabbit finals are not included either. We’ve gone for the ‘all golf’ criteria including 2019’s final Presidents Prize round just to see, well, who came out on top of the lot and to do it for a test – so unfortunately there’ll be no stewards enquiries if you’re rock bottom and can’t work it out.

“I seem to be way down the field, how does this thing work?”, you may ask. Well, each competition ranks you from 1st to last (such is the nature of competition) and, typically, the top 25 are awarded points – 25 points for 1st, 24 for 2nd and so on. Competitions such as the Fred Hirst awards points to the ‘blocks’ of semi finalists, quarter finalists etc. The Captains prize is a mix of these two methods. We’ll be polishing the computer all ready for the 2021 season but for now this is how they stand.

So what does the ranking tell us? Isaac’s victory is well deserved on most fronts – he played in most competitions, did very well in most of them and was one of the most improved players of the season. Andy Wade. tucking in just behind, scored well when it mattered and also saw a large drop in handicap. Craig Vest, while not moving into Tiger territory, was consistent in the big comps. Rob Watkins – winner of two majors – had a high average score but just didn’t play in enough competitions to take the prize. Arguably the best golfer out on the course, Chris Thornsby could well have nabbed top spot had he managed to record a score in the Fred Hirst – just missing out after being 5 mins late for registration….! Mick Heys, Joe Tomlinson and Steve Hill were steady all the way and Ryan Gaffney and Bobby Fielden were right up there with some explosive victories along the way.

The underlying message for 2021, and the glory of having your own parking space, is that you have to be in it to win it and the more comps you’re in the better. One more good score or so from any of the top ten players could have made all the difference.

…and here is it…Player of the Year so far!!

…all are trying to mimic Isaac’s [unofficial] achievement last year…