Indestructible

En route to the 36-hole championship the 21-year-old Smith was involved in a collision in his car less than a chip shot away in distance from the entrance to the club.

He then had to wait for a tow truck before, donning his spikes, he ran to the first tee. There he was informed he had 20 seconds to hit his first shot or face disqualification. With no practice swings or loosening up the Fulford ace let fly, despite being racked by pain in his neck and shoulders.

The steely Smith not only negotiated the first hole, but played the full two rounds of the tournament in which he and Cleveland's Jason Jones partnered the eventual winner Simon Coumbe from Pontefract.

Coumbe is a Yorkshire team colleague of Smith and that, plus a push for more county Order of Merit points, persuaded the Pocklington-based ace to defy the pain barrier and carry on swinging.

Smith, who plays off scratch, declared: "Simon is a good friend from our county team and I did not want to pull out and leave it as a two-ball, which would have meant him and Jason having to wait around.

"I thought if I could get through the morning round then I might be able to post a better score in the afternoon and also get some points on the board in the Order of Merit.

"I must admit I was surprised I did make it round. I was in a bit of discomfort. While the putting was all right I could not really drive the ball well. But somebody gave me a couple of pain-killers and I was okay for the afternoon."

His improvement was evident in his scores, his first round 76 followed by 73 to give him a 149 total that left him midway down the 72-strong field.

However, he was a good 12 shots adrift of Coumbe, whom Smith said it was a privilege to play alongside, especially during a second round when he tore up the Fulford course with a five-under-par 67 decorated by six birdies to add to his earlier 70.

"He played brilliantly, especially in the afternoon. It was good to watch."

Smith, who works as a fitter for his father's firm, Pocklington Window Centre, has now targeted the final Order of Merit event at Moortown to get back on track. The September 16 tournament carries double points with 400 available to the winner.

Victory could restore Smith, whose ambition is to eventually become a professional player, to prime position after leading the table earlier on in the season.

Since he moved to Fulford from Heworth earlier this year Smith's game has improved immeasurably.

As a Yorkshire county player he has been encouraged to apply for extra coaching and has benefited from the tuition from esteemed Barlborough Links' coach Graham Walker as well as continuing to train with Steve Burdett, the Heworth pro, who is a long-time friend.

"I moved to Fulford basically because of the facilities they have and the higher level of competition at the club," said Smith.

"There's a lot of good players there now who are playing off scratch and I am determined to try to improve my golf to move on to a higher level."

YORKSHIRE Union of Golf Clubs' secretary Keith Dowswell was delighted by the welcome afforded by Fulford GC to the strokeplay championship.

He confirmed it was the first time that the county's strokeplay championship was held there since the event was changed from its Yorkshire Open format in 1986.

"There was some tremendous scoring," enthused the secretary.

"More than half the field broke 150 for the two rounds, which was quite admirable. There were some very fine performances in what was a high-quality field."

The best placed local player was Selby's Marcus Bugg, who was joint third on 141 after rounds of 72 and 69. Just one shot behind Bugg was Fulford's Matthew Kelly (71 71), while Ganton's Frazer Kelley posted 146 (72 74).

YORK Union lost 23-13 to East Riding in their Yorkshire Inter Union League match at Forest Park.

York were beaten 11-1 in the foursomes, Jonathan Plaxton (Fulford) and Adrian Lount (Pike Hills) gaining York's only point.

The singles were then washed out following a heavy thunderstorm which hit the York area and under the rules the singles were halved 12-12.

Champions Sheffield beat Halifax-Huddersfield 24-12 at Renshaw Park, Bradford beat Teesside 25-11 at Shipley and Leeds defeated Harrogate 19-17 at Otley. East Riding now hold a narrow lead over Bradford going into the final matches on September 2.

A NEAT one-two was posted in the York Union of Golf Clubs' ladies fourball event at Fulford GC.

The York GC's Caroline Kirk (six handicap) and Rosy Black (25) notched 43 stableford points to win from club-mates Sue Hogg (13) and Veronica Waters (11).

In third place was the Heworth pairing of Elaine Duffy (5) and Carol Simpson (9). The Fulford duos of Margaret Burton (18) and Angela Maguire (18), and Ann Robinson (12) and June Hutt (16) were fourth and fifth respectively.

ERIC Boston totalled 40 points to win the Heworth GC men's senior championship from R Beavis, who was second on count-back.

The juniors' Daily Telegraph competition was won by Thomas Spray with 92-28-69. He also had the joint lowest gross with Daniel Hattee.

Updated: 10:37 Saturday, August 25, 2001