Simon Byford’s golf column: Bury Abbey Rotary’s annual golf day at Stowmarket Golf Club a success with action from Haverhill, Bury St Edmunds and Suffolk Golf Clubs
Bury Abbey Rotary’s annual golf day was held at Stowmarket Golf Club with 88 golfers playing on the day.
A total of £6,180 was raised by headline charity SARS (Suffolk Accident Rescue Service), beating last year’s total by £365.
SARS provide specialist volunteer responders to assist the East of England Ambulance Service at the scenes of serious medical emergencies or trauma.
This year the golf day was supported by many generous sponsors, including 16 golf hole sponsors
Nic Hardy the Golf Day Organiser said: “It was a fabulous day, and the weather was glorious. The money was raised from the entry fees, on course challenges, a raffle, and generous sponsorship from local firms. I am very grateful to the volunteers from Bury Abbey Rotary Club for their support on the day.”
The winners with 120 points were the team from Diaper Poultry. The team consisted of Steve Jones, Mike Sinclair, David Diaper and Andy Sullivan.
In second place with 118 points were Bury St Edmunds 41 Club.
Haverhill GC
Haverhill GC member Pat Kennedy enjoyed the ultimate Open Championship experience courtesy of Mastercard.
Winning the national 'Race To The Open' competition at Royal Liverpool earlier in the year garnered an invite to Royal Troon during the Championship.
Pat commented that she was ‘wined and dined, and had a fantastic time watching some great golf, none more so than Justin Rose’.
In the race for the Claret Jug, Justin fell just short of Xander Schauffele, both producing scintillating golf over the weekend.
Congratulations to Pat on her just rewards after her fantastic playing season, and good luck trying to retain your title next year.
Bury St Edmunds Golf Club
It was a satisfying win for the Bury St Edmunds GC Hambro team in the semi-final of this prestigious knockout competition.
Having been 8 up at lunch, Bury eventually defeated Felixstowe GC on neutral ground at Rushmere GC by 19 holes. This puts Bury into the final where they will face Bungay & Waveney Valley.
In the Ladies’ Weston competition it was not such an easy affair. The latest match saw the five=player scratch team visit Aldeburgh GC, a notoriously tricky course with a strong historical home advantage.
After lead player Alice Barlow drew, and Jasmine Points won her match, the next two players Liz Bezance and Mariette Robbertse could not match their opponents, leaving the overall score at 2.5-1.5 in favour of the home team.
Still out on the course was Julie Byford. The match came down to the 18th hole, and with both teams, caddies and hangers on all watching the final hole unfold, Julie was able to pull out the win to secure an overall tie – and a very happy away team.
Ian Madams showed that his recent hard work in coaching and practice is starting to pay off, as he topped the leaderboard in the July Mixed Midweek Stableford. His 38 points was three clear of Dave Reid and Melvyn Taylor on 35 points, The Count putting Dave in second place.
While Rose was attempting to win The Open Championship, the BSE Juniors where trying to qualify in the tournament that bears his name.
In conjunction with The Daily Telegraph, this national competition allows every club to host a qualifier, with regional and national finals in store for the top scoring juniors.
William Cobbald, fresh from visiting Royal Troon earlier in the week, was clearly inspired by the golf he saw, as he brought his best game back to Suffolk. Scoring a nett 72 from his 15 handicap, he was victorious by one shot.
Three players returned a nett 73 which gave The Count some calculations. Louis Sturman was judged to be second, Ethan McCleary was third and Lucas Bond fourth.
The Suffolk GC
The Seniors 4BBB competition entered round six, and there was a pair of familiar names atop the leaderboard. Ian Jonsson & Haslett Schofield scored a fantastic 42 points, with Roger McGann & Bob Hope second on 38, and Peter Fairweather & Alan Horne third, also with the same return of 38 points.
John Dale produced a strong showing in the Midweek Stableford, scoring 35 points in tough conditions. Dave King was second on 32 and James Laflin third on 28.
There was a weekend of Stableford action too, and once again James ‘Chips’ Laflin was left just short. Thirty-five points was only good enough for second place, behind John Pritchard on 36 points. Paul Dobbyn lost out on The Count’s decision to finish third with his 35 points.
In the Sunday iteration of the Stableford, Warren Howell returned 37 points to win by one shot. Alf Jackson was second on 36 with Stevie Hargreaves third on 34.
Finally, we watched with great enjoyment as the players in The Open Championship battled tough conditions.
The one big takeaway that I feel us golfers can all take is the way the players stick to their process and stay in the moment. We may not all have the technical expertise to execute the amazing shots that we saw, but we can at least plan as well as they do.
Taking note of how the ball is lying, where the hazards are, the distance required for the shot, how far our clubs actually go, which direction the wind is blowing; these are all factors that we can assess before the shot in our planning phase. Doing this every time will give us all the best chance to then execute a shot that will have a more positive outcome.
To summarise, ensure that your pre-shot planning phase is consistent, covers all the information required for the shot, then stick to that decision as you play the shot. Then see what the outcome is and go again.
Have a great golfing week.
