Simon Byford’s golf column: Alice Barlow combines with Bury St Edmunds club-mate Bianca Theeruth to win The Haskell Trophy at Diss Golf Club
The Haskell Trophy is the jewel in the crown of Suffolk Ladies’ Golf.
This inter-club knockout event sees the best two players at each club face off in a 36-hole scratch match. The foursomes format provides for exciting golf for the spectators, and one in which the players seem to revel in the topsy-turvy nature this format brings.
Combine the format across 36 holes, with some of the best players in the county, The Haskell is definitely one of the hardest competitions to win.
Bury St Edmunds were the reigning champions, with the partnership of Alice Barlow and Jasmine Points. After receiving a bye in the first round, Alice and Jasmine again represented Bury in the quarter-finals.
Following a gruelling match, the Bury pair won on the first extra play-off hole. This set up a semi-final tie against Bungay at Rookery Park.
Jasmine was unavailable, having moved to America to commence her college degree, and Bianca Theeruth was drafted in to pair with Alice. Together they comfortably won the semi-final 14&13 but knew that the final, against Ipswich GC to be held at Diss GC, would be a far tougher assignment.
Ipswich GC had the hugely experienced pairing of Sharon Luckman and Vanessa Bell representing them, while Bury St Edmunds team captain Joan Garret was on hand on the day to provide this report: “Despite the strong, chilly wind that moved the ball around and made the course play long, a quick start from Bury put them 2 up, but after nine holes Ipswich had retaliated and were 1 up.
“Ipswich maintained their advantage and came in 1 up at lunch time. However, Bury came back strongly after an excellent lunch and won five of the first six holes in the afternoon to go 4 up.
“They almost went 5 up as Ipswich's ball sat on the edge of the eighth hole before finally toppling in for a half in par. Ipswich got a hole back on the 11th hole with a good birdie, and then the next three holes were all halved.
“Then the match moved to the par 3 15th hole where, Alice hit a wonderful tee shot to five feet. Although Bianca missed the birdie putt the Ipswich pair unfortunately three-putted from long range to give Bury the final win by 4&3.”
A superb win for Bury, and particularly for Bianca, who is new to this level of golf having cut her handicap from 10 to 7 in the last 12 months. Well played both.
Thetford GC
With Storm Amy wreaking havoc across the country, 77 players teed up in the October Medal held at Thetford.
It was not a surprise that scoring was very high, however there were a few who managed to shrug off the gale force winds – none more so that Tristan Adams, who completed his round in an amazing nett 66.
His score was so good it was an incredible six shots better than second place Richard Scott on nett 72 and Jason Huggins with nett 73.
The PCC for the day – the adjustment made to handicaps based on the scores across the field – was +2 shots, reflecting that average scoring was high. Congratulations to Jason Huggins and Joshua Bailey, both shooting the best gross score with 75s.
Meanwhile, Terry Blacktopp added another to his bulging collection this year with victory in the final of the inaugural Seniors Knockout. He beat John French in a keenly fought match.
Terry is also in the final of the Bullough Cup at Newmarket – an open competition to players across the region, with the top 32 qualifiers playing a knockout across the year.
Thetford’s Elite Scratch team played John O’Gaunt in their final group match of their Inter-County Scratch League.
Played by five clubs across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Bedfordshire, the top two in the group stage qualify for the play-off final.
Thetford’s team have consistently been at the top of the table, and in their final match a 4-4 draw was good enough to see the team reach the season-ending final.
Team captain Kevin Cooke said: “We are lucky to have a deep squad of players to draw from. Each has played a part in getting us to this stage in some very keenly-contested matches. We are excited about the upcoming final and my problem is who to pick to play, which is never an easy task.”
Haverhill GC
Huge congratulations go to Lyn Fish on winning the Ladies’ Fraser Plate, which is played across the midweek and weekend Stableford events.
Lyn scored a massive 43 points to secure the victory from Siobhan Harrison and Carol Lee, who both scored 35 points.
The Juniors Dave Quinney Trophy was won by Theo Lumm with 41 points, winning by four points from Oliver Stroud in second with 37 points, Theo Bampton came in third, also with 37 points but The Count ruling his back nine was below Oliver’s score. Well done Theo on winning one of Haverhill’s major junior trophies.
Elsewhere, 31 teams entered the Anniversary Shield at the weekend, which saw Dominic Bowers, Paul Turner, Philip Harris and Aaron Beetson as the victors with a nett 49.
In second place with nett 51 was the team of Rob Burleigh, Adam Norton, Tim Streamer and Kevin Whistlecraft, while in third place, also with 51, but succumbing to the calculations of The Count, was the team of Robbie Rudge, Stephen Piotrowski, Colin Rudge and Michael Bennett. Well done to all in what everyone considers a fantastic format.
Pat Kennedy and the Haverhill GC Ladies were outstanding in organising a great event for the 13 teams of four, representing 16 different clubs from near and far. The competition was best two scores from four, with the winning team made up from four separate clubs; Ipswich, Benton Hall, Brett Vale and Newton Green.
The Suffolk GC
Starting with a Midweek Stableford, the members at The Suffolk had three competitions to play for this week.
Alexander Flack took top spot with a superb round of 39 points, while George Pedro saw his 37 points only good enough for second place, one shot clear of Alf Jackson in third on 36.
Then it was the turn of the Weekend October Medal. Terry Hall scored the lowest on a brutal day for golf. His nett 79 was six shots clear of Bob Moye in second on nett 85, who in turn was five shots ahead of John Dale in third on nett 90. Strong wind is definitely not a golfers’ friend.
Then to Sunday, where calmer conditions saw better scoring, although the wind was still a factor.
Glen Barker continued his run of recent form, winning on nett 75. The Count checked the cards and decided Duane Towns’ nett 76 was superior to that of Daniel Kaye, who had to settle for third.