Simon Byford’s golf column: Action from The Suffolk, Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Golf Clubs plus Matt Alderton’s monthly offer
You may have seen the column looks a little different this week. I am delighted to announce that Matt Alderton, PGA professional, has agreed to support the article and each month we will be offering something specific to our readers available from the Pro Shop at Bury St Edmunds Golf Club.
This month, prepare yourself for winter with a free snood when purchasing any waterproof jacket or trouser from stock. With clothing from Galvin Green, Under Armour, FootJoy, Ping, Rohnisch and Glenmuir available, there is sure to be something that suits.
Simply bring the voucher below to the shop or quote the reference to activate the offer.
The Suffolk GC
The Suffolk Seniors held their monthly fun day, playing a Scramble in teams of three. It was a return to form for one of our regularly featured Suffolk members, Haslett Schofield, as he led his team to victory accompanied by Roger McGann and Derek Blomfield.
They scored a nett 68 to win by one stroke from two teams on 69 that needed to be separated by The Count. The team of Adrian Banns, Ian Jonsson and Norman Hartley were the fortunate ones to be awarded second, with Richard Graves, Paul Anderson and Bob Hope in third.
The Social Greensomes competition provided a pre-cursor for the upcoming Winter League competition, which will also be contested using the greensomes format.
There were some excellent scores on a sunny day conducive to good rounds. Matt Franklin and Warren Howell dovetailed best to head the leaderboard with a stunning 45 points. Second was Barry Franklin and Chris Carnaby on 42 points with John Dale and Terry Hall third on 40 points.
Bury St Edmunds GC
It was the final founders event of the Bury St Edmunds GC centenary programme, recognising the excellent work of important individuals in the initial setting up of the club. John Parkington was the mayor of Bury St Edmunds when Colonel Guinness approached the town council with his offer of some land.
Consequently, the council set up a committee to investigate the provision of a municipal golf course. Mindful of the caveat imposed by colonel Guinness, that any scheme should never be a charge on the rates, the council concluded that any such scheme would need to be taken forward by a private company.
Therefore, and in order to take the project forward, the council decided to launch an appeal via the Bury Free Press, and a letter to residents, signed by John Parkington and six other councillors, was published on the October 7 1922, and this led to the formation of Bury St Edmunds Golf Club Ltd.
John Parkington was still mayor in 1924 and was present at the formal opening of the club in October of that year. He remained active in the club for a number of years and in 1925 he donated the Parkington Cup to the newly formed Ladies Section. This singles match play trophy has been played for every year since, with the exception of the war years.
The event itself comprised separate Men’s and Ladies Stableford competitions and attracted over 130 players. In the Ladies event, Division One was won by Jackie Over with 40 points, Beverley Allen was second on 35 points and Vivian Kemp third on 32. Jane Hurst got the nod from The Count for Division Two when her 30 points was deemed better than Caroline Emmett’s.
The Men also competed in two Divisions, and again the top score in Division One was 40 points. Perennial winner Mike Brooks was once again top dog, with Sam Turner second on 39 and Simon Cole third with 38. Division Two was also decided by The Count, with Chris Bugg edging out Anthony Gibney after both returned 38 points. Third was Andy Donnison with 36.
The Brega Mixed Family Foursomes is exactly what it says on the tin. You have to be a mixed pair, from within the same family. Despite there being many combinations available, there was only one pairing in the field that wasn’t husband/wife. It just so happened that that pair of father Nick Bonney and daughter Amy Wyer, were the champions. They returned an excellent 37 points, one point ahead of Ian & Viv Whittaker on 36, and Denis & Helen O’Connell on 34.
Thetford GC
Recent heavy rains have not been a handicap to golf at Thetford which, no matter what the weather, benefits from dry sandy terrain that is wonderfully playable all autumn and winter.
Last week saw the Junior Captain’s Challenge – a junior/adult pairs competition – won by Harrison & Tristan Adams with a fine 38 points, one point ahead of tied runners up Sullivan Goddard and Joshua Chamberlin and Jon and Joshua Challicon. The Junior section at Thetford continue to grow and grow and the club welcomes any juniors who want to join and play golf.
The September medal was won by Terry Pettitt with a net 69 by one shot from Gary Robinson, and the Daily Mail Foursomes qualifying winners were Rhys Nightingale & Dan Kelly.
September also saw the annual Clarkes of Walsham ‘Iron Man Challenge’ which requires competitors to play with only irons up to a maximum of a four iron, a real test. The winner with a fine score of 38 points was Dean Scott, even more impressive as he only had two shots.
Have a great golfing week.