Simon Byford’s golf column: Sam Forgan and Jimmy Price land the big prizes at the Suffolk Men’s Open Championship at Bury St Edmunds Golf Club
The format was a 36-hole event played on one day which was open to both amateurs and professionals alike. And with the SGU and Bury St Edmunds GC both celebrating their centenary years in 2024, it was only right that the tournament was held at Bury.
Two shotgun starts were the order of the day, with the 64 competitors spreading to all parts of the course.
Bury St Edmunds GC was in immaculate condition, with the overnight rain just softening the course a touch.
The morning round saw BSE member Jack Nicholson card a fabulous 67, which included five birdies in six holes. Culford director of golf, PGA professional and former Bury member Lawrence Dodd carded a bogey-free 68 to sit one shot back, with Sam Forgan, Habebul Islam, Callum Pearce and Ben Coleman shooting 69.
The afternoon saw more changeable weather, and combined with the added pressure of round two, there was lots to play for.
Bury club president Judy Hamshere said in her speech following the event, that 36 holes in a day is ‘the purest form of scratch golf, and will more often than not produce the best winner on the day’ – and this seemingly proved the case.
Forgan, who is the PGA professional at Felixstowe GC, has been cleaning up in Suffolk and East Region events this year, and alongside his qualification in the Open Championship in 2021, is definitely the man in form. He followed his morning 69 with a 67 to card eight-under-par and a two-shot margin of victory.
Second spot went to Islam, who is a professional attached to Ipswich GC, with his pair of 69s put him at 6 under par. It was third place for Dodd, who after a slow afternoon start finished his final nine holes in 3 under par, but it was only good enough for a 73.
With the top three placings going to professional golfers, the Easterbrook Trophy for the leading amateur would be hotly contested.
In the scratch event there was much discussion around whether there would be a play-off to resolve a tie, but this is not the case unfortunately in the amateur ranks.
For that we bring in our old friend The Count, and his work was needed here as three amateurs were tied on 2 under par after 36 holes. This meant that in the first instance it would be the lowest afternoon round that would take the title, and that was enough to decide the placings.
With a 73 in round two, Callum Pearce (Aldeburgh) took third place, second went to Sam Renville (Bury St Edmunds) with his 72, and the victor was Jimmy Price with an afternoon 71.
Following the presentation Forgan gave a brilliant speech, highlighting the fantastic course conditions, great running of the event and also how good it was to see juniors playing. The experience for lots of these players to play with the best in the county will stand them in good stead for future competition.
Congratulations to Sam and Jimmy on a fantastic day of golf, and to The SGU and BSE GC on running an excellent championship.
Thetford GC
Thetford’s scratch team won their final league match of the season, beating Peterborough Milton away. This means that the team advance to the season-ending final against an opposition that will be decided by other results.
Although playing away the team delivered a dominant result, halving the first match and winning all the other seven games to deliver an emphatic result.
Team captain Matt Harben said: “it’s been a wonderful season, winning every match except one. We have a great squad and have used and rotated many players across the year. I’m sure all will be pushing to be part of the team selected for the play-off final.”
Meanwhile, the final of the Ladies’ Handicap Knockout was played in perfect conditions on the stunning Thetford course. The two finalists Heather Keeble and June Stocker faced off with Keeble giving 11 shots on the day. The match was a tight affair thanks to the handicap shots, with Keeble holing a tricky downhill putt on the first to halve the hole.
The match was deadlocked through to the 12th when Keeble managed to go 1 up for the first time in the match. From this platform she leveraged her consistency to take next four holes and eventually win on 15th.
Congratulations to both players for getting to the final, and to Heather for playing solid golf throughout the match to take the Candelabra Trophy.
Bury St Edmunds GC
The Napier Bowl is a mixed foursomes medal competition and constitutes one of Bury’s Major events, having been contested since 1935.
The scoring was superb in this tricky format, with the victors being Julie Burman and Jess I’Anson, who returned a superb nett 66.
Second place went to Bianca Theeruth and Adam Hooper-Greenhill with nett 69 and third place was Chris and David Reid on nett 70.
Elsewhere, the 9 Hole Course members contested a Stableford competition. Michael Coleman was the winner on 19 points, with Janice Clarke second on 17 and John White third on 15.
And the September Mixed Medal was also played on the 18 hole course, and it was a family affair as Jane Hurst pipped her husband Paul for the victory, with the help of The Count, after both returned a nett 71. Third place went to John Warboys on nett 72.
The Suffolk Seniors held their charity day – and Texas Scramble was the format of choice. Scoring was good, with Raymond Keil, Richard Edmondson and Derek Bloomfield the winners with a nett 65. Second place went to Roger McGann, Eric Gray and Mike Downes just one shot adrift on nett 66. The day was heralded as a great success as The Suffolk GC continue their tradition of supporting local charities with great distinction.
Have a great golfing week.
