Golf: All this week's news from around the clubs

of Golf Clubs

THE Ilkley Centenary Junior Team Championship never seems to enjoy the best of the weather, and this year was no exception at Otley.

However, the cold and cloudy conditions did not dampen the boys’ enthusiasm or the quality of their play.

The 21-28 handicap division was won by Grant McIntyre with 92 and Thomas Kitching led the 11-20 category on 80.

Curtis Wilding, one of the Union's top junior golfers, produced a 73 to win the 10 category.

He finished one shot ahead of Mark Bennison, and two clear of Scott Clarkson and Jack Lampkin.

The Ilkley pair went on to excel the next day at the Yorkshire Boys' Championship at a rain soaked Pannal. Scott's rounds of 73 & 69 were good enough for him to be crowned champion, and Jack won the prize for the best first round score with a 71.

In the team competition Knaresborough A's score of 261 looked likely to win until they were pipped late on by Bedale A with 257.

The northern club last won the title in 1995.

Their captain, Alex Johnson, celebrated his selection for the Harrogate Union Junior team to play Sheffield, with a 76.

He was well supported by Jonny Rayner (87), and Alex Kettlewell (94).

President’s Prize Day at Ripon City: Despite heavy rain falling throughout the morning the Ripon course held up well on Harrogate Union President Vince Kane's Prize Day.

Par was deemed to be a good score in these conditions and three promising young golfers held the lead with 36 points for much of the day.

Left hander Chris Henderson held first place on countback from Josh Bassitt and Matt Edmiston.

However, by early afternoon the rain ceased and as usual a late winner emerged, in the shape of local golfer, Ian Sherwin.

Ian's 40 points took him well clear of the field, and included one of only two 2s scored in the day - a birdie at the difficult fifth.

It might have been better as Ian failed to score on two holes.

Josh Bassitt won the best gross with a fine 72.

Results: 1. 40pts I Sherwin (6) Ripon City, 2. 36pts C Henderson (4) Oakdale, 3. 36pts M Edmiston (5) Oakdale, 4. 35pts D O'Sullivan (16) Rudding Park, 5. 35pts A Pickard (6) Ripon City, 6. 35pts N Rusling (11) Pannal. Best Gross 72 Josh Bassitt (2) Ripon City. Longest Drive (11th): R Herrington (Oakdale). Nearest Pin (14th): B Whiteley (Rudding Park).

Seniors Championship Stableford: One of the most popular competitions in the Union Calendar when ‘The Riper Years Brigade’ are able to enjoy a round of golf which respects not only their age and ability, and apart from the overall winners in the Otley Trophy and Scratch Trophy.

Two winners in each age categories of 55-59 years, 60-64 years, 65-69 years and over 70 years, were also awarded prizes

Played this year at Knaresborough Golf Club on a course now in top condition the course was not matched by the weather which although early competitors enjoyed dry conditions later competitors had to cope with drizzle and heavy rain for part of their rounds.

Not surprisingly Knaresborough Golf Club members , who are great supporters of Harrogate Union events, figured prominently in the prizes.

And Brian Clifford with 43 points easily beat the standard scratch for the day of 37 points and carried off the major prize, The Otley Trophy.

The Otley Trophy 43 points Brian Clifford (Knaresborough). 42 points Harry Taylor ( Knaresborough ) 41 points David Rhodes (Knaresborough).

Scratch Trophy 43 points Brian Clifford, but as the rule states that you can only win one prize he collected the major prize .

The Otley Trophy 34 points David Brecken ( Rudding Park). 30 points Ray Howarth (Knaresborough).

Age Category Group Winners. 55 – 59 Age Group. 38 points Bob Fawbert (Rudding Park) 37 points Stan Duddles (Knaresborough).

60 – 64 Age Group Howard Dawson (Bedale). 38 points Maurice Whorley (Knaresborough). 65 – 69 Age Group 37 points Ian Watt (Otley). 36 points Graham Hunter (Knaresborough).

Over 70 Age Group39 points Vic Bradley (Knaresborough) 37 points Don Perry (Knaresborough).

Harrogate Juniors V Sheffield Juniors: A challenge for Bill Caw and Bob Haldon, The Union’s Junior Coordinator, and Junior Development Officer respectively in the match played at Harrogate Golf Club on a brilliant Spring day.

The match felt something of a David & Goliath contest, the smallest versus the largest unions and the Sheffield Union came determined to restore the balance in their favour after previous defeats.

The Foursome matches led the way with only Josh Bassitt & Curtis Wilding together with Greg Archer & Alex Johnson claiming victories and Eddie Ash & Michael Bond managing a half.

In the early matches, it was left to the last pairing, new team members Greg Archer & Alex Johnson, to restore some semblance of respectability with a one up victory

The afternoon singles followed a similar pattern with leading singles Josh Bassitt and Scott Clarkson recording victories by margins of 2&1 and 4&3 respectively.

And with Jack Lampkin halving his match it was the tail end of Greg Archer and Alex Johnson to return singles victories by margins of 5&4 and 3&2 respectively.

It was very pleasing to the President Vince Kane, Bill Caw and Bob Haldon to note the strong support from Harrogate Union Members.

Foursomes: Josh Bassitt & Curtis Wilding won 2 & 1 over Sam Young & Eddie Gray. Scott Clarkson & Mark Bennison lost 4&3 to Tom Thornhill & Dominic Moon. Eddie Ash & Michael Bond halved with Tom Perry & Chris Parker. Jack Lampkin & Chris Clark lost 3&2 to Jamie Harrison & Matt Wright . Mark Edmiston & Joe Ullock lost 3&2 to Chris Pearce & James Gulliver. Greg Archer & Alex Johnson won 1up over Joe Dean & Matt Cavill.

Foursome Result Harrogate Union 5 points Sheffield Union 7 points

Singles: J.Bassitt (Ripon City) won 2&1 over T. Thornhill (Rotherham). S. Clarkson (Ilkley) won 4&3 over E.Gray (Hallowes). C.Wilding (Oakdale) lost 2&1 to D.Moon (Rotherham). M.Bennison lost 3&2 to S.Young (Rotherham). E.Ash (Harrogate) lost 1 down to Matt Wright (Silkstone). J.Lampkin (Ilkley) halved with T.Perry ( Abbeydale). M.Bond (Oakdale). lost 3&2 to C.Pearce (Phoenix). C.Clark (Rudding Park) lost 3&2 to J.Gulliver (Phoenix). M. Edmiston (Oakdale) lost 3&2 to C.Parker (Dore & Totley). . J.Ullock (Otley) lost 7&6 to M.Cavill (Birley Wood) G.Archer (Rudding Park). Won 5&4 over J.Harrison (Rotherham). A.Johnson (Bedale) won 3&2 over J.Dean (Birley Wood)

Singles Result Harrogate Union 9 points Sheffield Union 15 points

Overall Result Harrogate Union 14 points Sheffield Union 22 points

Harrogate Golf Club

A number of annual trophies were competed for on Sunday May 17.

Results - Annual Medal: 1, Jonathan Kingston, 2, Paul Mitchell, 3, Peter Nicholson.

Norwood Shield: 1,David Sagar; 2, Tom Murphy; 3, Frank Deacon.

Stewart Cup: 1, Mark Winter, 2, John Kean, 3, Derrick Nicholson.

Saturday June 1 - A field of 152 competitors played in the Anniversary Salver, the excellent scores resulted in a number of handicap reductions.

Congratulations to Shaun Johnson who won the Salver with an excellent net score of 64.

Results - 1, Shaun Johnson 77 13 64; 2, Jonathan Kingston 72 7 65; 3, Alastair Davidson 74 8 66; 4, Nick Iveson 71 5 66; 5, Stuart Goodsall 82 16 66.

Ladies: Tues May 20 - Excellent scoring in the May Stableford resulted in a close contest for the top places, particularly in the Silver division.

Here, Jenny Hill had an outstanding round, scoring 38 points.

Jenny was closely followed by Julie Darren and Wendy Skaife with 37 points.

Liz Helme was the clear winner of Bronze A, 34 points and Cheryl Lewis of Bronze B with 36 points.

The Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Cup attracted a field of 40 ladies, with Jenny Hill as the outright winner.

Results - Silver Division1, Jenny Hill 10 38; 2, Julie Darren 18 37; 3, Wendy Skaife 10 37.

Bronze A Division: 1, Liz Helme 28 34; 2, Pat Capps 23 31; 3, Maggie Gobbi 29 29.

Bronze B Division:1, Cheryl Lewis 34 36; 2, Margaret Bleasdale 33 33; 3, Vanessa Newman 36 32.

Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Cup:1, Jenny Hill 10 38; 2, Julie Darren 18 37 ;3, Wendy Skaife 10 37.

Tues May 27 - May Extra Medal and Challenge Bowl - The May Extra Medal and Challenge Bowl were played in wintry conditions but nonetheless there were some excellent scores.Julie Darren had an outstanding round and her handicap was reduced.

Congratulations also to Dawn Eades and Margaret Brown who played well and had their handicaps reduced too.

The Challenge Bowl competition is played in conjunction with the medal and is open to all ladies with handicaps of up to 30.

The eight players with the best nett scores go through to play a knock out for this trophy which will be presented at the ladies’ AGM.

Results : Challenge Bowl:1, Julie Darren 84 17 67; 2, Margaret Brown 101 28 73; 3, Mo Scatchard 97 20 77 bb9.

May Extra Medal Silver division: 1, Julie Darren 84 17 67;2, Mo Scatchard 97 20 77 bb9; 3, Wendy Skaife 87 10 77.

Bronze A and B: 1, Dawn Eades 109 36 73 bb6; 2, Margaret Brown 101 28 73; 3, Cynthia Parker 103 24 79(Bronze A and B were merged for this competition).

Flaxby Park Golf Club

One of last year’s most consistent players managed back to back wins in the latest two tournaments at Flaxby.

Tony Robinson, whose handicap is in free-fall, stole a march on everyone with victories in both the May Stableford and the Mid week Medal two days later.

Sunday May 25 was the First Competition, which was played in some of the most difficult conditions of the spring with winds gusting to 20 mph for the 70 competitors.

Division One - Tony Robinson - 36 points, Sandy Johnson 32, Stephen Rogers 32.

Division 2: Geoff Pickard 33, Phillip Rhodes 32, Bernard Thompson 31.

Division 3:Simon Hogg 31, Stephen Bolam 27, John Parker 26.

On Tuesday 47 players took to the course again.

Division 1:Tony Robinson 80-7-73, Sandy Johnson 89-13-76, Guiseppe Salva 93-14-79.

Division 2 - Richard Miller - 9319-74, Gary Smith 93-18-75, Geoff Pickard 95-20-75.

Division 3 Roger Monks - 101-26-75, Chris Young 99-23-76, Michael Fenwick-Scott 103-26-77.

In the Ladies division Marie Poon 114-36-78, Lady Captain Sam Potter 102-24-78.

Bedale Golf Club

Forbes Trophy: A Mixed Stableford competition for a trophy presented by Late Past Captain David Forbes to mark her Lady Captaincy of Bedale Golf Club in 1977. Leading Scores 42 points Andy Lawrence & Gillian Petrie also Simon Gaskell & bill Barclay. Card countback required.

Men’s Invitation Day: A chance for Bedale members to entertain their golfing friends and the chance of winning a prize. The winners with an excellent 64 on a countback were Tim Morris and former Bedale member Steven Whitwham.

Prize winners 64 Tim Morris & Steven Whitwham Also S.Jones & J.Franklin 67 J.Turnbull & R.Bright also R. Kennerley & E.Turner and T. Pratt & S.Pratt. Best Gross a 76 by J.Gatenby & J.Meynell.

Harrogate Union: Ilkley Centenary Junior Team Championship: An excellent day for Bedale Golf Club Juniors.

Played at Otley Golf Club on a miserable day for weather Bedale claimed first and fourth places in this Inter Union Event. The ’A’ Team of Alexander Johnson 76 in 0-10 Handicap Category. Jonathon Rayner 87 in 11 – 20 Category. Alexander Kettlewell 94 in 21 – 28 Category, totalling 257 won by four clear points from the home team Otley.

Whilst the ‘B’ Team of Daniel Brown 75 0 -10 Category. James Dalton 94. 11 – 20 Category Colin Boland 97. 21 – 28 category finished with 266 equal with Rudding Park. Well done Bedale Juniors! The last time Bedale Juniors won this Trophy was in 1995.

Harrogate Union Seniors Championship: 40 points returned by Howard Dawson at Knaresborough Golf Club in wet conditions was the winner in the 60 – 64 Age Group Category of the Competition

Ladies A Team Matches: Two results for the A team.

A. An away match against Middlesborough Brass Castle Ladies resulted in victory by a margin of 4.5 to 2.5.

B. A Home fixture against Thirsk & Northallerton resulted in a draw 3.5 to 3.5

Juniors April Medal: 66 Alexander Morris (36). 70 Gary Lodge (14). 71 Colin Boland (18). 73 Jonathon Rayner (17) and Matthew Kettlewell (22) card countback.

George Darwin Trophy: A countback required to identify the winner 67 Callum Jonas (10). And Daniel Brown (6). 72 James Dalton (13) 74 Alexander Kettlewell (23).

Harrogate & District Union - Harrogate Union V Sheffield Union Juniors: To round off Alexander Johnson’s week, having already being part of the Ilkley Centenary winning Team he, was picked to play in the Inter Union Junior match against Sheffield Union and was able to claim victories in not only his Foursome match with his partner Greg Archer from Rudding Park but also won his Singles on his first appearance.

Ripon City Golf Club

The annual men’s invitation day is always popular and proved to be so again this year with a strong field enjoying balmy conditions with very little breeze.

Good scores were expected and were delivered in spades in this better ball medal competition off three-quarter handicaps.

Prizes were in good supply for leaders, best scores in an out, lowest gross and two nearest the pin awards making the day enjoyably competitive.

“Golfer of the Year 2007” Nigel Pickard and his playing guest Bobby Blackburn from Durham City GC were chosen to forego a place in order to take the lowest gross instead with an excellent 69.

This meant that Mark Sherwin and Wayne Crick (Oakdale) took second place with a net 63 (Gross 66).

Outright winners of the competition by a clearance of three shots with a net of 60 were Tony Lightfoot and Knaresborough’s Harvey Mason; an unassailable result, even in the pleasant playing conditions.

There were five pairs in the running for third place on 64 with Stuart Easdon and Simon Wyett of Wetherby taking it with the best back 6.

Assistant pro Jason Norwood and his father David (Oakdale) carded a worthy 69 gross that could have been so much better than the 7th place at the end of the net 64 count-backs.

Jason was reported to comment that Mr Norwood (Senior) may have ‘gassed it’ towards the end.

Other pairings had tales of “what might have been” but no more so than Carl Beadle and his nephew Matt Thirkell (Harrogate).

Four under after 9 and a birdie on the tenth looked for all the world to have the momentum to win. In the next seven holes, at least four putts lipped out to leave them with a frustrating 66.

Another visitor from Knaresborough, Ian Pickles, teamed up with Keith Burrell to card the best front nine with 28.

Dave Varley and his companion Bob Avery took the back nine honours with 33.

The ninth hole was the location for the nearest the pin in two, won by invitee Scott Phillips, landing his second shot less than half a yard from the hole.

It was different story at the par 3 14th where Steve Banks’ (Pontefract) putt was almost 9 feet away to win and he also managed to sink it for a two.

Such is the reputation of Ripon’s superb course and greens these days, many golfers travelled significant distances to play in the Invitation Day including at least one from abroad (well, almost).

Mr Andrew Rockett travelled from the northern Scottish Borders, where he rejoices in membership of both Lauder GC and The Woll GC (Selkirk) for collective fees of less than one average annual English club fee.

Good job he didn’t win anything as that would only have rubbed it in although it probably cost him ten times his entry fee in fuel to get here!

Men’s Invitation Day May 31 2008: Results: 1,A Lightfoot & H Mason (Knaresborough) 60. 2, M Sherwin & W Crick (Oakdale) 63. 3, S Easdon & S Wyett (Wetherby) 64. 4, K Marga & S Skinner (Durham) 64. 5, P Waterson & J Parsons (Harrogate) 64. 6th: J Norwood & D Norwood (Oakdale) 64.

Rabbits Section: The Rabbits Captain, Ron Hails, held his “Home Day” Competition on May 25.

The purpose of this social day’s golf was to raise funds for chosen charities; the Arthritis Association and the Walled Garden Association. 210 was raised on the day and donations were split equally between the two.

Up and coming Rabbits fixtures are the return match at Middlesbrough on June 14 where Ron will be looking to have honour satisfied against the only club to win against Ripon Rabbits this season and the Thornton Trophy, a YRGA competition with representation from across the county, this year being hosted at Ripon.

Home Day results were: Gentlemen: 1st: Nigel Pickard & Brian Bushell (42). 2nd: Tony Walker & Frank Ferris (39)

Mixed: 1st: Linda & Peter Robinson (37) after count back. 2nd: Faith & Bob Bishop (37)

Ladies: 1st: Audrey Cussons & June Bramley (38). 2nd: Judith Webb & Tracy Clavis (33)

Social Golf: A shotgun Stableford Waltz, social Golf competition was held on Bank Holiday Monday with 44 members taking part.

The competition was played over 18 holes on the 'Old nine' (2 x 9 holes), which brought back memories for many who played the 9 hole course prior to 1993 and was a shock to the system for others.

The winners were:- Dave Varley, Chris Henderson, Keith Smith and Wyn Headford, 2nd Frank Ferris, Bob Bishop, Barbara Spedding & Audrey Cussons & 3rd Mike Easby, Keith Clark, Pat Bean and Carol Harland.

Masham Golf Club

Ladies Spring Open Day, Friday May 30: The day was dry, mild and not too sunny, in other words, perfect!

The course was fresh, having had a quarter of an inch of rain over night and played beautifully. (The greens staff having been out at 5am!)

There was a total of 104 competitors having come from a variety of clubs, both in and outside of the Yorkshire boundary all of whom expressed how much they had enjoyed the day even though, for some, their scores may have suggested otherwise!

It was noted in Brenda Loveday’s, (Lady Captain) speech that the greens staff worked very hard during the year and particularly hard in the week leading up to the Opens weekend.

Thanks were expressed to the greens staff for the excellent condition of the course and also to the caterers Pam and her staff and to Beth behind the bar.

The Lady Captain stated that it would be impossible to manage such an event without the help and support of the willing volunteers and asked everyone to join with her in thanking all those who had helped in any way.

Results: 1, J Meakin, L Eagle, P Watts and P Hillas (Masham and Bedale) 44 Points; 2, Withers, K Bridges, Grelling and D Warren, (Selby) 43; 3, A Stebbing, A Sims, J Houlbrooke and M Newton (Masham and ) 42; 4, V Davis, K Jones, J Magee and W Hennser (Masham, Bedale and away) 41. There were 5 Two Balls,

And finally, 96.00 was raised in the Halfway House for the Captains’ charities.

Men’s Spring Open Day, Saturday May 31 2008.

The day was even drier, warmer and the sun shone for most of the time. Even “more” perfect than the day before, if that were possible.

There was a total of 84 competitors taking part in the competition, like the Ladies Open, coming from clubs near and far, all of whom enjoyed a most wonderful round of golf. After the day’s golf many of those taking part, passed the remark that it was a great pleasure “just to be playing at Masham”.

A remark that did not go unnoticed by the Club Captain, David Snowden, in his speech before presenting the prizes.

The captain offered his thanks to all those that made the day the success it had been including the greens staff, the catering staff and all those helpers in the booking in tent and the starters.

Special congratulations went to Chris Smith who managed a hole-in-one on the par 3, 13th, a distance of 206 yards on the day.

He also passed the comment that Chris was quick to leave after his meal and questioned whether anybody had seen the whisky bottle!

The Results:- 1, Messrs Stockdale and Blackburn (Ripon) 41; 2, M’s Brady and Monaghan (Masham and partner) 42; 3, M’s Stannard and Mason 41 pts. 4, on the back 9 with 41 M’s I’anson and Adamson, (Masham and partner)

Longest Drive Andrew Binks, (Green’s Chairman, Masham), Nearest the pin, Stuart Carr, (Masham) and 6 Two Balls, plus the Hole in One, Chris Smith (Bedale).

Mixed Spring Open Day, Sunday June 1: There could not have been a greater contrast between the weather for the Mixed than for the Men’s and Ladies Opens. It started to rain at about 940am and persistently “threw it down” until 2.30pm.

It was chilly and at one stage the competition looked very much like having to be abandoned.

The greens were filling up but with the quick thinking of the Green’s Chairman, Andrew Binks and his squeegee at no stage did they become unplayable. The organiser, the Lady Captain, Brenda Loveday was under tremendous pressure from some to abandon and from others to “keep going”. So Brenda made the decision to continue her game until she found a green unplayable.

She was pleased (and relieved) to find all the greens playable until the rain ceased and then it was “business as usual”. It would be true to say that the better scores were to be found in amongst those who began in the afternoon but never the less most competitors “battled on regardless”

The Club Captain gave the speech and the Lady Captain gave out the prizes. Once again thanks went to the Greens staff for enabling play to continue in the most trying of conditions and to all the helpers and catering staff.

The Captain summed up the Open weekend by saying how successful they had been with the attendances, the course and thanked all those who had made it possible. He mentioned in finishing that there were a few places remaining for the Autumn Opens, September 12, 13 and 14.

Results:- 1, Harrison x 2 and Lavers x 2 (Otley) 79 points (76 being par for the day); 2, Broadley/Davis and Websters x 2 (Masham and away) 78; 3, Mackenzie x 2 and Taylor x 2 (Castle Eden and Blackwell Grange) 75; 4, Withers x 3 and Bridges, (Selby) 75pts on the back 9.

There were 6 Two Balls.

Oakdale Golf Club

Well, the weather gods were listening last week and responded with just enough of the ‘wet stuff’ to keep things on track for Peter Bell’s Captains weekend which begins next Thursday with the Oakdale Juniors event.

Can we officially request that conditions are more suitable than the total washout and subsequent flooding suffered last year by Neil Lyons!

The Oakdale summer competitions are all progressing well with Matt Sealby beating Graeme Wilcox in The Presidents Prize.

Other results in this competition were, Peter Kirsopp bt Bruce Light and then moved into the second round by beating Tim Thorley. Dave Norwood bt Gregg Kidd, Brian Black bt Tim Noddings at the 19th hole, 2007/8 Captain Neil Lyons bt Les Lomax and Iain Scrimger bt Chas Birchall.

Only one match has been completed in The Scratch Matchplay, Russell Thompson overcoming Graham Ball.

The Freeholders Trophy has seen wins for Peter Baxter & Phil Ramshaw who beat Steve Jones & Peter Davis, James &Phil Ireland who beat Shane Stanley & Simon Woolcock, Neil Clark & Dave Boyd who beat Paul Kendall & Mike Reilly, Russ Thompson & Mervyn Robinson who beat John Stableford & Peter Kirsopp, David Hodgson & Chris Evans who beat Scott Brown & Gregg Kidd, George Atkinson & Geoff Thompson who beat Garry Sykes & Clive Brazier, Barry Stevenson & Geoff Turner who beat Alistair Ritchie & Jim Boyd, Paddy Kidd & Ashley Prail who beat Neil Robson & Alan Russell and Graham Ball & Peter Chambers who beat Chris Henderson & Mike Bond.

In the knockout stages of The MAP Cup Ian Lovatt has beaten Jack Walls to move into the next round.

The Jack Wertheimer has seen wins for Jim Harrington & John Stableford against Sean Ramplin & Sodesh Jaymal, Tony Onslow & John Noble have beaten Darren Pitt & Clive Brazier, Chris Greenhill & Martino de Mola beat Paddy Kidd & Jim Boyd, Mark Woolley & David Hodgson have beaten Jonathan Dale & Joe Wiley, Andy Ford & Lee Keates beat Tom Hesketh & George Atkinson, Iaian & Geoff Scrimger beat Mick Ramshaw & Mark Purnell and Mike Wilding & Peter Davis have beaten Andy Partridge & Patrick Allen. Martin Turner & Kevin Ayscough have also progressed to the next round.

In The Rabbits Nelson Trophy singles Ted Exley beat Peter Miller, Alister Maclean bt Alex McManus, John Bullock bt Victor Douglas, Neil Samuel bt John Craven, Chris Greenhill bt Bill Schlegel, Steve Jones bt Tom Stanford, Don Parker bt Shaun Stevenson, Terry Wheeldon bt Denis Canham and Barry Plummer bt Stan Flockhart. In The Henry Mayze 4 ball competition there have bee wins for John Barclay & Ralph Bradley against Ted Exley & Alan de Lacy and Phil Grant & Peter Wearmouth against Denis Canham & David Atkinson.

Rabbits Captain Phil Grant is travelling to Dinsdale Spa near Darlington for his away day trip on July 9. The day will consist of bacon sandwiches & coffee, lunch, golf and dinner. Anyone wishing to participate is encouraged to enter their name on the list which is on the Rabbits notice board in the tunnel.

Ladies; Eighteen pairs took part in the Ping 4-Ball Better Ball stableford competition on Tuesday May 26.

The winners, Anne Jones & Joyce Slater, who are continuing to show excellent form, progress to the English Ladies Golf Association regional final. Second place was taken by Anne Brownlie & Geraldine Nuttall.

The Ladies B Team represented by Maggie Ritchie, Jane Crosby, Lyndsay Graham, Patsy Rochester, Ronnie Hague, Clodagh Foreshaw and Joyce Dexter, scored a notable win in their home tie against Bracken Ghyll, reversing their defeat of the previous week by winning by six and a half to a half.

Pannal Golf Club

Men’s Medal, Barber Bratby, and EGU “Gold Medal.”: Our past captain Peter Rhodes started the season lamenting that his long standing “5” handicap had slipped, allegedly due to advancing years.

Just a glitch! A fine gross 71, nett 65 restored youth, pride, and the reward of the Gold Medal for the best nett round of the day, as well as a win in the first division.

Second was I Douglas, 70-2-68, third, Stuart Mcfarlane, on the leaderboard despite the recent handicap reduction, 71-3-68.

2nd Division: J Aspen, 79-13-66, R Emmett, 79-12-67, R J B Rhodes, 80-12-68.

3rd Division: S Duffy, 85-18-67, R Downing, 87-17-70, J Halliday, 92-21-71.

Ladies’ May Stableford, and “Grannies’ Cup: “It’s wet, it must be Tuesday” is the current theme amongst our ladies, who nevertheless returned some good scores, in the poor conditions.

Winner in Division 1, was Mrs. L Hindmarch, 37 points, who also took the “Grannies’” Cup, 2nd Mrs. J Caw, 36 points.

Div.2 Mrs P Harris 34 points, Mrs S Guitard 33 points.

Captains’ Charity Evening: Captains R Booth and G Callander hosted a fun golf and dinner evening, enjoyed by all who attended, and won by Tony Booth, wife Linda, sometimes assisted by the lower handicaps of T Rhodes, and immediate past Captain G Tallman. Mr F Flaherty delighted in his role as “Items Auctioneer” to raise further funds in the after dinner auction.

Rudding Park Golf Club

Tuesday May 20 saw the MayBelles Stableford Trophy take place.

This is the first major competition of the year for the Ladies section, which has been eagerly anticipated by many.

With Brenda Edmondson (Lady Captain) rounding up the troops to compete, a fantastic field showed for the prestigious prize. Third place was taken by the ever present Alice Boothroyd with 31 points, who also recorded a birdie on the long par 5; 16th. Mary Kennedy’s return to fitness has been arduous; however the practice seemed to have paid off, grabbing second place with 33 points.

However, winning the event and receiving the MayBelles Trophy was Suzanne Robertson with 38 points, who continues her impressive return to form.

With scoring conditions enhanced by the superb condition of the course, only 3 twos or better were recorded on the day by Carol Whiteley, Diane Szawlowski and Alice Boothroyd.

Congratulations to all the ladies that showed to make the competition so competitive, and with more and more joining, the section will soon be flourishing with new talent.

The Midweek Stableford was held on Wednesday May 21.

Course conditions were once again spectacular for the event, which was matched for once by the weather.

With a tightly knit field, top spots were decided on count-back from a staggering 9 competitors.

Finally, finishing third with a better back nine was Graham Scott with 35 points, Michael Peach came second with 36 points.

However, winning the event was Rob Farnell with 36 points, who thought that after finishing his round wouldn’t even make it into the top 10.

The greens proved too good for the competitors today with no twos recorded, the money from which will go to the Captains’ Charity.

On Sunday May 25 the Junior team took on Ripon City at home. With the strongest winds seen this season, conditions proved to be tricky. Rudding Park started well claiming early points, however Ripon proved that they are strong competitors this year pulling proceedings level with two groups left out on the course. Ripon won the penultimate match, with Rudding Park getting a half in the last match, so the away side took the victory with a 5 - 4 margin.

Well done to both teams for a fantastic performance.

Monday saw the Bank Holiday Seniors’ Medal take place. Amongst blustery conditions players were again treated to a fantastic course, which looked certain to play hard with tree damaging gales.

Graeme Ogilvie finished in third place with a gross 81 (nett 71) which also secured him best gross for the competition.

Second place went to Michael Rimmington with a nett 71, whose round also included a two on the 8th.

Grabbing first spot for the first time this season was Michael Traynor with a superb nett 67, which now takes Michael down to 22.

The only other two recorded in the event went to the resilient John Ward on the 11th. Thursday May 29 was the Seniors Stableford and as the wind dropped so did the scoring.

There were 30 entries in all and in first place was Art Severn with 40 points, second and third could only be separated by countback and Bill Mcnamara finished just ahead of Michael Traynor both with 39 points.

We also had a team match in the evening and our Bainbridge team had a convincing win against Romanby.

Our juniors also had a good win in their team match with Thirsk and Northallerton on Saturday 31.

Captains’ Weekend 2008 has been finalised with sign up sheets now available. Tickets can be purchased for the event from the beginning of June, which has surprises in store which cannot be missed. The 21 and 22 June promise to be fun for all, so sign up and support your Captains today.

Wetherby Golf Club

So called 'flaming June' has started worse than a damp squib with the Mixed Invitation Day on Sunday played at least for the early starters in continuous rain.

This Tuesday the Ladies were intending to play their second major of the year, the first round of the Ann Scargill Trophy, but this was called off shortly before the course was closed at 9am.

They played their first major on Tuesday last week, the Birks Flag competition with an entry of over 70.

The objective is to finish at the 18th under the course standard scratch and see how far one can go starting again at the 1st tee before running out of shots.

With one shot in hand, Joan Waterhouse was the sole competitor to tee off again, but several others landed on the 18th green with Sue Smith and Sally Leckie holing out to become the runners-up.

On Monday night in better conditions the Scratch Team played Headingley at home.

Winning by two matches to one, the four points elevated them to top of the Div. 3 table with 14 points, two more than Sand Moor & Low Laithes.

The Juniors are also doing well in their quest to regain Division One status and achieve success in the other Leeds & District Junior events

Last week in the first round of the Cup they won against nearest neighbours Wike Ridge at home. Wins for both Michael Large by 2&1 and Jack Vince by 3&2, with debutante Mathew Pears, going down 4&3.

The Team also played in the Junior Team Championship at Waterton Park in atrocious conditions affecting the scores of all competing teams and by the end most players were glad to get off the course.

The highlight of the day was Jack Vince's Hole In One (which wasn't !). On the second hole Jack hit his first shot wide of the par-3 green into the rough.

He played a provisional which went straight into the hole !

Unfortunately the first ball was found and he had to settle for a 4.

Junior Tadcaster Lions Trophy: 1, Alistair Currie(13),70; 2, Oliver Bryant(28),70; 3, M Wilkinson(13),72.

Over 28Hdcp.1, R Hopkins(48), 59; 2, J Moxon(32) 68; 3, F Jackson(54) 79.

MIxed Invitation - (4b-b-b)1. 91pts - E Nichols, Jenny Sharpe, M Dale, Sue Dale.(Withington) 2. 86 - R Hoodles, Ann Hoodless, D Kaye, S Kaye.(Crossland Heath) 3. 85- R Ball, Marjorie Sissons, G Ball, Carol Ball.(Oakdale)

Birks Flag Trophy Winner: Joan Waterhouse (13), 72; Runners Up: Sue Smith (12),73, Sally Leckie(27), 73

Scarcroft Golf Club

Thirty-one Scarcroft lady golfers abandoned their golf clubs, put on their running shoes and ran, jogged and walked 5km in the Cancer Research UK Race for Life at Harrogate Showground last week.

Lady Captain, Ursula Turner, said it was an awful night but there was a great atmosphere and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as well as raising over 3,000 for this worthy cause.

“Horses for courses” is an old adage which once more applied when first and second in last year's 4BBB Rimmel Trophy finished in the frame for the 4BBB Summer Knockout Qualifier held on May 3.

The placings were however reversed when Paul Pickup and Stuart Clayton, shooting a 63, had their revenge over Simon Verity and Chris Day by one shot.

The Midweek Stableford on May 7 was won by scratch man Steve Cain with a tremendous 39 pointsbeating Ian Varley (12) on a count-back.

“Great fun”was most people’s opinion of our Members Day on May 10, the four-person team, two to count format allowing Men, Ladies and Juniors to play together.

However,'' exciting '', was probably the adjective used by 13 year old Tom Day who, with his dad, Chris Day, Dean Moran and Steve Smith, scored 86 points only to be beaten into second place on back 6 count-back by Rita Harrison, Mark Squire, Frank Regan and Mike Webster.

Rising star 15 year old Mike Johnston playing off 3 amassed 38 points on May 11 to win the Junior's Lewis Trophy just easing out Rob Fisher (10) on count-back

Brilliant weather and excellent course conditions were features of our Seniors Open Day on May 12 when 69 pairs competed in the 4BBB format. The winners with 42 points were A.Robinson and M Lewin from Ashby Decoy.

Low handicappers dominated the Midweek Medal on May 21 when Mark Fearby(5) shot 68 to comfortably beat Tony Myers (7) by 2 shots with in form Ian Varley(11) a further shot away 3rd.

Conditions proved tough for the May Monthly Medal on the 24th with the lowest score being a nett 68 by, old blue eyes himself, David Thompson (14) to win Division Two (11 to 15 inc). In Division One (0 to 10 inc) Phil Joynes (5)carded a 69 to beat Steve Cain (0) on count back and the same score saw new Member David Robinson(28) win Division Three (16 to 28 inc). The winning scores were much better for our Professional's Day on May 31 with overall honours going to the on fire David Robinson (26) who won Division 3 for the second week running with a nett 65 and qualified to play in the Greg Norman Pro Am with our Pro David Hughes later this year. On any other day Division One winner Paul Dickinson's (7) 66 would have been good enough as would second place Steve Greenwood's excellent 67 (gross 69).An equally good 66 by Robert Crawford took the Second Division money.

Everbody's thanks go to David Hughes for donating 240 in prize vouchers. The day ended with a brilliant dinner and disco evening enjoyed by over 100 people.

EMAIL your golf news to amy.craven@ypn.co.uk by 5pm on Tuesdays.