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 At the time of writing Mark Rowe has been making the headlines
again, having regained his form of ten years ago. I watched the TV
coverage from Sandwich as he played his way into contention in the
2003 Open only to be disqualified when it was belatedly discovered
that he and partner Jespar Parnevik had failed to exchange their
scorecards. I was sad to see him depart in this manner, but was not
surprised at the dignified manner in which he accepted this massive
blow. As he said, ‘rules are rules’ and a player is responsible for
ensuring that his score is marked correctly. I would not argue with
that, but like many others, I wonder how this can be allowed to
happen when so many officials are recording and checking scores. No
doubt there will be changes to the procedures for future Opens.*
[* The rule was amended in 2005]
Back at Ellesmere Port I still continued to play in competitions,
eventually winning forty. In 1996, at the age of 87, I won a monthly
Medal with a gross 76 and my handicap was cut from 8 to 7. I was
handicap secretary at that time and by the next season I was back to
8, but I had to knock myself again when I scored a 74 gross in the
Presidents Trophy. I was 88 and had beaten my age by 14 shots.
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