Championship season continues unabated with Stowmarket and Haverhill holding their respective Club Championships.
It was a full Championship weekend at Stowmarket with all the Men’s, Ladies’ and Seniors’ competitions held, while at Haverhill it was the Club Championship and the Spenny Tatum Cup – another gross event but for players over 8.8 handicap index.
The main Gross Championship at Stowmarket was a titanic battle between two stalwarts.
Haverhill Golf Club winners Jack Bartlett and Jack Marsh Picture: Linda Alexander
Jack Forgan has represented Stowmarket since junior level and Alex Davey is back to amateur golf having worked in the shop and coached at the club previously.
Alex held a three-shot lead heading into the final six holes, but an eagle on the 13th helped Jack pull back to within one shot.
However, Alex himself birdied the 17th to hold a safe cushion into the final hole and the victory. His two rounds of 69 was some very solid golf indeed.
Dawn Flood took home all the ladies’ trophies, wining both the gross and nett championships.
James O’Doherty won the Senior Mens’ gross and Jane Darling took the Ladies’ senior gross.
In the nett versions, Kenton Jameson was Senior men’s and Vicky Whitelaw the Senior Ladies’ winners.
Meanwhile, at Haverhill, the Championship were for the male members of the club.
The F Johnson Trophy is for the main title and the Spenny Tatum Cup is for handicap indexes above 8.8, with both competitions played over 36 holes in one day.
Jack Warwick held the lead at lunch after a superb gross 71 in the main event with Josh Emery second on 73.
Ben Steward came from out of the chasing pack to put pressure on the leader Jack with a gross 73.
Playing in the same group as Josh, Jack Bartlett needed a long uphill putt for par on the last hole to claim victory. He duly delivered and his gross 149 was one-shot clear of Josh Emery in second on 150.
The Spenny Tatum Cup also had some great scoring, with Jack Marsh and captain Lee Russell leading the way with a gross 81.
There were a few in and around the low to mid 80s, which lead to an anxious wait for the full field to come in, which included Eric Armstrong with a second round gross 79 to put himself into a play-off with Marsh.
It came as a bit of a shock to Jack, not only did he have to go and prepare for a play-off having been in for some time, he had to do so with his car keys missing! Not to fear as they were soon returned and off we went on the play-off.
Jack won on the first play-off hole with a very impressive two putt from the back of the green to the front.
Thetford GC
The club president, David Sutton, welcomed 104 competitors to take part in a Guildford Greensomes Stableford.
The winners with an incredible score of 49 points were Mark and Judith Heffer, beating off Peter and Stuart Terry, who posted 47 points earlier in the day.
The president provided lunch, music and close up magic for all on the patio to round off a thoroughly enjoyable and social day.
Thetford also hosted its popular open AmAm competition for ladies across the region.
A total of 120 players took to the course with sun and a breeze in the air For those whose golf was not at its best there was comfort with a wonderful spread on offer at the Halfway House, and following golf a rolling buffet thanks to chef Tony Walton and his team. The winners with 95 points were the team from Bramford consisting of Chris Kilgallen, Tracy Ward, Marianne Hall and Penny Summers, while three teams tied on 94 points – Royal Cromer, Foxhill Country Club and Wensum Valley.
An amazing sum of £510 was raised for the Brain Tumour Trust via the raffle thanks to the generosity of the participants.
The Breckland Cup is a popular competition played under the Guildford Greensome format – players take two shots then foursomes after this. This year’s competition featured great scores and heartbreak. The winners were Dan Kelly and Rhys Nightingale, who pipped David Ball and Matthew Wabe after they returned the same score but fell foul of The Count’s calculations.
However, spare a thought for Paul Ellis and Robert McGregor who played the round of their lives to shoot 47 points at the top of the leaderboard. However, this turned to agony as they forgot to sign their card and were disqualified – a mistake we all run in fear of.
Meanwhile, Thetford’s senior section enjoyed their own charity day playing a Texas scramble event. The winners with a very creditable nett 55 were David Goddard, Stephen Locke, Stephen McIlroy and Michael Prowse.
The prestigious mixed club competition for the Carter Rose Bowls was won this year by Peter Disher and Debbie Pollard-Barnes. Scoring 45 points, they clinched the title ahead of Christopher Clarke and Jan Fawdry in second place (41 points).
The Suffolk GC
The members of The Suffolk had another busy week. Starting things off was the Scratch Cup, one of the clubs major events.
Gary Last added to his Club Championship by gaining another gross trophy. His 78 was seven shots clear of his nearest rival, Chris Carnaby. However, Chris’ score was good enough to claim the nett prize on the day, by virtue of The Count, ahead of Brian Hay, another name that seems to be creeping up a lot recently.
In fact Brian also had to settle for second in the Midweek Stableford. On another day his 38 points would be good enough for victory, but nobody told Don Lynch the script.
His 43 points eclipsed the whole field and would have had him feeling 10ft tall for the day.
The seniors’ section had a Medal event. Bob Hope scored nett 71 for a one-shot margin of victory over Nick Rippington on 72 and Andrew Rudd on 73.
Two days later they held a Stableford event and David Broster took top spot with 36 points. Adrian Crowe was second on 35 and Adrian Banns third on 33.
Have a great golfing week.