Simon Byford’s golf column: Suffolk Golf Union hosts centenary day at Woodbridge Golf Club
Woodbridge Golf Club was the venue for the Suffolk Golf Union’s Centenary Golf Day – celebrating 100 years of this fantastic organisation that does so much for golf across all levels of the game.
By running championships, inter-club knockout events and providing coaching, the Union aims to provide competitive opportunities for as many of the affiliated member clubs as possible.
Lots of the competitions we report on each week are hosted by the SGU, and its is always a great honour to represent your club either individually or as part of a team.
The SGU also orchestrate the county representative teams, from under-14 junior boys right up to the men’s first team. Again, this opportunity to represent your county is such an honour.
From personal experience I am super proud to help run the Suffolk Development Hubs, which brings junior boys and girls under-14 together to provide a cohesive coaching programme to help supplement the coaching the juniors get at their home clubs.
The weather was not kind to the 125 players, but Woodbridge was still presented in fantastic condition.
With such a large entry the competition was split into two, and both courses were in operation.
The Heath (18 hole) Course hosted the two invitees from each of the 30 affiliated clubs, while the rest of the pairing were made up of the SGU officers and invited guests.
Those pairings then played the Forest (9 Hole) Course once the 18 hole course startsheet was full.
I was lucky enough to be extended an invite, and played the 9 hole Forest Course for the first time. I was amazed at the quality and interesting layout. If you ever get a chance to play it I highly recommend.
On to the results and on the Heath Course it was the team from Southwold comprising John Pywell and Terry Smith who scored 43 points to take the win.
The Count was required for the minor placings as there were five teams on 42 points. It was determined the Phil Platten and Michael Olding from Aldeburgh were second, with Martin Dines (Whitstable & Seasalter GC) and Russell Wood (Dyke GC) in third.
On the Forest Course 43 was again good enough for the win, but this time The Count stepped in for first place decision making. Ian Woodhead (Newton Green GC) and Stuart McCallum had the superior back nine, ahead of Chris Ginn and Dick Barton of Woodbridge. Third plce went to Nick Owles (Bungay GC) and David Duffell (Seckford GC) on 41.
Overall a fantastic day was had, and good luck to the SGU in their next 100 years.
Stowmarket GC
The Stowmarket Juniors held their club championships across two days this past weekend.
There were prizes for both gross and nett so all the juniors in the section could compete.
After one round one Henry Ridgeon and Ollie Grogan were tied with gross 79, meaning the Sunday round would be a straight shootout.
Both players struggled in round two with changing conditions, but it was Henry who prevailed by two shots in the end to claim the overall gross prize.
Reece (the younger) Edwards got off to a cracking start in the nett competition, with a 68 in the first round. He couldn’t quite hold on in round two with a 77, which meant George Prentice and his consistent scoring of 71 and 73 nett would take first prize.
It was a good double for George as he also won the Stableford handicap prize at the Suffolk Junior Championships at Aldeburgh earlier in the season.
Thetford GC
It was also championship time for the Thetford GC Ladies. Again the format is 36 holes across two days, with gross and nett prizes up for grabs.
In the gross competition Kath Malvern prevailed by just a single shot, her 166 over the two rounds was good enough to pip Laura Todd. It has been a good recent run of form for Kath, who came second in the Norfolk Vets Championship at Eaton last month.
Todd was rewarded with not just second place in the gross competition but also the victory in the nett competition, where here 151 total was again just one shot better than Carmen Betty and Fiona Whute. Carmen got the nod from The Count for second place.
The Thetford GC teams also delivered another strong set of results. Starting with a win for the Scratch team, they beat Great Yarmouth and Caister 3-2. This moves the team to the next round of the Norfolk County scratch knockout.
The Handicap League team got their campaign back on track with a 3-1 win over Royal Norwich, played at home. A couple of recent defeats threatened this year’s campaign, but the team now have a chance of promotion should results go their way.
Finally, it was the turn of Thetford juniors to deliver a knuckle biting win in the Norfolk County Bass Cup. The boys tied the match after 18 holes 2-2, and it was at the second extra hole that Thetford triumphed.
The team now advance to the semi-final, a great achievement for this new team.
Haverhill GC
The Haverhill Ladies competed on neutral ground at Rushmere GC against Halesworth GC in the Stearn competition.
Halesworth are the reigning champions so it was set to be a tough match. Halesworth held a 2-1 lead after the morning matches, but Haverhill fought back and the afternoon matches were nip and tuck.
In the end the afternoon session was halved 1 ½ points apiece, which meant that Halesworth were the winners and progress to the next round.
Have a great golfing week.