Haverhill Golf Club started its half century celebrations in style with the Driving In of the new captains for 2026.
Taking the club into it’s 50th year are club captain Alan Bampton, ladies’ captain Sandy Taylor and seniors’ captain Eamonn Bareham, while the junior captain will be Charlie Hammond.
The club has grown from its origin as a nine-hole course into one of the most popular 18 hole courses in Suffolk, regularly receiving great feedback on the condition of the course, especially the greens.
Haverhill Golf Club is celebrating its 50th year Picture: Linda Alexander
We wish the incoming captains and all the member a great celebratory year ahead.
Thetford GC
Thetford Golf Club held a new team competition – the floodlit skills challenge – with teams of four competing under floodlights across four disciplines: putting, chipping, bunkers and pitching.
The event was fully booked out with many other members, friends and visitors attending to cheer on the players. The lights created a special and intimate atmosphere that added to the evening.
One highlight was the opportunity for anyone to play a bunker shot from in front of the clubhouse to the 18th green with the opportunity to win a Titleist Vokey wedge if you holed the ball.
With a £1 entry going to the captain’s charity, there were 282 entries, with the closest shot ending just seven inches away.
The next event is scheduled for Friday, February 13 – please contact the Pro Shop at Thetford if you are interested.
Elsewhere, Graham Sloan pipped three others by virtue of The Count to win the January Medal at Thetford.
His fine nett 69 saw him beat Ian Harvey and Steve Cox, with both of these players taking six down the par 4 18th.
Indeed, Graham started with a double bogey followed by a triple, so to end up winning was a great achievement.
The fourth of the six rounds of the Winter League was as popular as ever.
Heading this Fourball Better-Ball round were Olaf Gent and James Whitting with 43 points – their highlight was the eagle 3 by Gent on the 13th.
Three teams were on second place – Malcolm Fleet & Captain Mark Twogood, David Brewer & Nick Marshall and Gary & Dean Scott, all on 42 points.
Next week is the fifth round, which is foursomes, that will be key in shaping who is in the hunt for the overall title, which is narrowing up nicely.
Stowmarket GC
Stowmarket GC held a weekend of Stableford competition for their male members.
Despite only 16 holes being open, some of the scoring was fantastic.
Colin Leathers is a perennial name atop the Division 1 rankings and his 32 points on Saturday was no exception.
Mark Turnbull and Kenton Jameson both had 31 points but had to settle for second and third respectively.
Division 2 saw David Boom score a remarkable 37 points over the 16 holes. Second was Stuart Buttle on 34 and Andrew Self on 32, both themselves excellent scores across the shortened course.
Tony Gomez secured Division 3 with 31 points, one shot ahead of Archie Simpson in second and Steve Brown in third, both scoring 30 points.
Brown got his revenge on Sunday, however, scoring 37 points to secure top spot in Division 3.
This time The Count was on his side as Andrew Coxhead also scored 37 for second place and Peter Kerridge third with 34.
Turnbull produced the round of the day with 40 points to take Division 1.
Nick Ridley was second with 37 and Ian Ramsay third on 34.
Liam Jones won Division 2 scoring 34 points, and again The Count was required for the minor placings as Adrian Baker got the nod over Max Skinner, both players returning 32 points.
The Suffolk GC
The Suffolk seniors played a Stableford competition and it was a day for Christian names beginning with A.
Andrew Read took top spot with 36 points, while Adrian Banns was second on 32, with the help of The Count from another Adrian, Crowe this time, also on 32.
The following week it was almost a repeat story as Read again topped the leaderboard, with 36 points yet again.
This time David Broster broke the run of A-named players coming in second also on 36 points. But there was another Andrew – Rudd – this time coming in third on 34 points.
Bury St Edmunds GC
The third round of the Winter Goblets was played, and with only one round remaining, things are starting to heat up.
Charlie Goodridge and Will Kirkham took full advantage by scoring 41 points.
Perennial nuisances in this even – and mentioned maybe once or twice in this column – Nick Bonney and Colin Gray, made their move as they scored 40 points.
Meanwhile, Dean Shave and Toby Whiting rounded out the top three scoring 39 points.
In the overall standings, Shave and Whiting are top on 111 points, Bonney and Gray sit second on 109, with Sam Bridges and Jeremy Paxton third on 104.
With one score to drop from the four rounds, Bonney and Gray have a 30 while Shave and Whiting have a 34.
Will the current two-shot lead be enough when the final round is played on February 15th, or will someone else come out of the chasing pack to take what would be a surprise win?
Have a great golfing week.
