Bower’s best bags silverware glory

“THE round of my life”. That’s how Steve Bower described it after he won the Chronicle Cup at Werneth.

The HGV driver, from Shaw, put the pedal to the metal claim victory by a stunning five-shots margin.

The 15-handicapper, who teed off in the morning, carded an outstanding gross 74 for a nett score of 59 — not bad going considering it was his debut on the course.

It was also the Crompton and Royton member’s first major success, and it came as a complete surprise.

Bower (41) said: “I’ve never played better than that — and it was my first time at Werneth as well.

“I didn’t know the dangers, but my two playing partners, Gary Banks and Paul Rainford, were very good at telling me the areas to avoid off the tee.

“It was the round of my life, most definitely.”

Bower, who was runner-up in Division Two in last year’s competition, praised the state of the putting surfaces at the Garden Suburbs course.

He said: “The greens were in excellent condition and I was able to putt with confidence.

“I’ve been struggling on the greens at Crompton and Royton, taking two or three putts, but they were better at Werneth. They ran very true and that helped a lot.

“It was fantastic day and a totally unexpected win — it was obviously my time.”

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