Simon Byford’s golf column: Alice Barlow and Sam Renville retain titles at Bury St Edmunds Golf Club
Royal Worlington & Newmarket
We start at Royal Worlington Golf Club, and the two men’s club championships held on Saturday. The format is 27 holes in a single day, 18 holes in the morning, followed by another single loop around ‘The Sacred 9’. The Millenium Mug goes to the gross winner, and the Bunbury Challenge Cup to the best nett score.
Our club champs is 27 holes on one day – 18, then 9 in the afternoon.
Daniel Griggs (+1) was the hot favourite going into the day, and his gross 71 in the morning was good enough for a three shot lead over Thomas Hadfield (6). The afternoon round of 9 holes meant that any mistakes could cost dearly as there wouldn’t be time to atone, however Daniel Griggs returned 36 strokes with 2 birdies and 3 bogeys to post 107 gross total. William Notley (3) finished 5 shots behind on 112, with Jeremy Baldwin in third 1 shot further adrift. Special mention to Omar Malik (2) for his afternoon 34 which was some consolation after a morning round to forget.
The Bunbury Challenge Cup was a closer run affair, with the top 4 places separated by just two shots. We already mentioned Thomas Hadfield’s morning round, which equated to a nett 68, and he sat only two shots behind Louis Wright. Playing from a 10 handicap, Louis started with 5 straight gross pars, eventually returning a nett 66 to top the leaderboard.
The afternoon saw lots of changes, as nett 34s from both Christopher Arnold (9) and Jeremy Baldwin (5) put them level par and 1 over respectively in the clubhouse.
Louis Wright however wasn’t going to let the Bunbury get away from him, and despite a 3 over par nett 38, his total of 104 and one under par score was good enough to win by one shot.
Congratulations to Daniel & Louis on their victories, and thanks to Ben Kerr (Head Professional) for sending across the results.
Bury St Edmunds
The club championships at Bury St Edmunds is a two day affair, with 18 holes played on each day. The weekend combines the main gross championships for both men and ladies, plus the Bobby Jones Trophy and Millenium Plate for the best nett scores male and female. Alice Barlow was hoping for five in a row in the ladies event, while Sam Renville was aiming to retain his title from 12 months earlier.
Alice, playing off a handicap of +4 was red hot favourite, and her gross 73 and 72 (3 under par) total of 145 was good enough to win by a comfortable margain. To score two under par rounds, when all the expectation is on you is fantastic, well done Alice on a deserved win. Special mention to Mariette Robbertse for a gross 79 in round 2 to finish runner-up in the Championships. The Millenium Plate was a closer run event with six players within seven shots after round 1. However Sue Russell was never going to let anyone disrupt her story following her opening nett 70 with a 76 to win by two shots. Alison Bass nearly had all the right sums but just came up short in second place.
The Bobby Jones was a runaway victory for Adrian Leggett who score two nett 67s to win handsomely by eight shots. Special mention for Chris Gwinnett-Sharp on his runner-up place, proving once again that age is just a number.
The men’s gross Championship was so close after day one, nobody could have predicted a winner, with 13 players within five shots of the lead held by Michael Gee & Craig Nurse with 72. But just like the ladies championship, Sam Renville (+1) did not want to relinquish his title, and his pair of 73s was good enough for the win and his shot at the hat-trick next year.
At Stowmarket, Championship weekend is again a 2 day affair for both male and female players, but with a senior prize played over 18 holes. James O’Doherty cleaned up the gross prizes with a 69 to claim the seniors prize, and a 141 (69/72) for the mens title. Mark Wilder was second in the men’s competition by one shot, and Kenton Jameson second in the senior mens.
It was runner-up for Mark Wilder in the men’s nett too, again only one shot adrift (such heartbreak). Ben Grogan took the nett title, with Neil Holcombe the seniors nett prize.
Fresh off the county ladies week, Sophie Kubitzek took the ladies gross prize, with Fiona Ferrie in second place. In our first outing of the week for CountBack, Charlotte Wallace won the formula in the ladies nett prize, ahead of Anne Fenning. Tisha Mortlock took the senior ladies gross event, with Trish Wilding winning the senior ladies nett event.
Thetford
Despite all the forecasts to the contrary, the weather for President Gill Welham’s Day at Thetford Golf Club was perfect. 116 players took to the course for the 9am shotgun start with the unusual playing format of 6 holes Greensomes, six holes Texas scramble and six holes Better ball.
The winning pair on the day with 45 points were Trevor Wignall and Stephen Locke, closely followed by Shaun Burton and Robert Herkes in second place with 43 points.
The next six pairs all had 41 points, which meant CountBack was once again employed, with Paula and Andrew Claxton in the Count’s good books for third place.
Congratulations to all the many winners this week, and thank you to everyone who helps contribute to my report by sending photos, news and results. Have a great golfing week.
