Robert Fulford won the East Anglian Golf Championship

[<<] [>>] by Jack Wicks
26th May 2005 (GC)

Robert Fulford walked to victory in the 2nd East Anglian Golf Open. Rob eased passed England captain Chris Sheen 7-2, 7-3 in the final, to pick up the cheque for £100.

The 16 relatively strong entrants were split in to two blocks with each player playing everyone else in a best of 2 format. The top two from each block proceeded to semi finals whilst 3 and 4 played for 3rd place. Fulford and Tim King progressed form block A along with Sheen and Roy Ware from Block B. Fluffy beat Ware comfortably 7-0, 7-4 while Sheen battled to overcome king 5-7, 7-5, 7-6

Robert was the most consistent player over the weekend, although by his own admission he had some awful shots. He lost only 1 game out of 18, to Wicks, but was pushed close by Dick Strover who couldn't quite hold his nerve and lost 7-6, 7-6. Strover had a magnificent chance in the first but made a schoolboy error in missing a dead straight hoop from hardly any distance, and was punished by Rob who ran hoop 13 from the boundary.

Rob dominated the final, impressing the crowd of 20 or so, with relentless clearances and some notable hoop running. Robert turned out to be too strong and the final turned out to be a bit of a disappointment with everyone feeling a little sorry for Chris.

The new law on playing the wrong ball caused a few problems, not least when neither player can remember what has happened. It was suggested that in a case where no one is sure, all four balls should be played from the closest penalty point, following the sequence set by the last ball played. This is a fair solution when it cannot be determined what has happened or who's fault it was.