Knowhow vital for Riley

FOUR-STAR DISPLAY . . . Mark Riley proudly shows off the Oldham and District Golf Championship trophy after winning the competition for the fourth time — the second time at his home course, Brookdale.

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GOLF:

EXPERIENCE overcame youthful exuberance as Mark Riley retained the Oldham and District Golf Championship in his own back yard.

The 51-year-old, from Chadderton, clinched a two-shot victory over teenager Rob Calow at Brookdale after rounds of 70 and 68.

Riley was lifting the coveted piece of silverware for the fourth time in total after previous successes in 1999, 2005 and 2009.

He said: “It is always great to win on your own course and I’ve done it twice now.

“Playing 36 holes in that kind of heat is hard work — it was the survival of the fittest and it doesn’t get any easier when you are pushing 52.

“I double-bogeyed the first hole in the second round, but I managed to birdie the next two to get back on an even keel. That was important in the context of the competition.

“I also had a couple of bogeys later on in the round, but again I managed to retrieve the situation with birdies on the next holes.”

Riley, who has beaten cancer three times, was two shots adrift of 17-year-old Calow at halfway, but was confident of reeling in the leader.

He added: “Rob played really well, but I knew it would be difficult for him to shoot another 68. If I managed somewhere in the region of 69, I thought I would be in with a shout.”

Next up for Riley is a shot at the British Seniors Open at Carnoustie.

He heads to Scotland for one of the qualifying events later this month and will be hoping to do better than last year when he failed to make the Open field at Sunningdale.

Riley said: “For £90 you get two practice rounds and a competition round on a top course. That can’t be bad.”

Calow, a member of Crompton of Royton, posted rounds of 68 and 72 for a score of 140.

But he did have the satisfaction of winning the Brierley Cup, awarded to the club with the best four gross scores on the day.

Calow, Jordan Flint, Andy Allen and Karl Sutcliffe were the successful quartet on 577.

Riley had to settle for second place in the team event, alongside club colleagues Gary A Smith, Steve Boyle and Peter Buckley on 580.

Boyle registered the leading nett score over 36 holes after rounds of 67 and 65.