Golf report: The latest news and results from the Harrogate region's golf clubs

Harrogate Golf Club:

It has been a quiet season for Paul Lai but he came to life last Saturday by winning Division 1, of the September Medal. This was the last chance to secure his place in the play off for the “Annual Medal” to be played at the end of the season.

Lai’s nett 66 just edged out two others who can be relied on to feature well in the monthly medals, Richard Danby and Steve Wright who were tied on nett 65.

Captain Elect, David Underwood has discovered some form lately which continued with a good win in Division 2 also with nett 66.

As in Division 1, there was a real scramble for the places, with Jonathan Pepper, Malcolm Dawson & John Shepherd all tied on nett 67.

Lowest score on the day belonged to Michael Gray, with his nett 65 winning Division 3. Joe Isle on nett 67 claimed second from Ian McDowell who was one shot behind.

Underwood and Gray will join Lai along with all of this seasons monthly Medal winners in the “Annual Medal” play off.

Results: Div. 1, 1st P. Lai, 74-8=66. 2nd R. Danby, 73-6=67 (bb9). 3rd S. Wright, 77-10=67. Div. 2, 1st D. Underwood, 79-13=66. 2nd J. Pepper, 81-14=67 (bb9). 3rd M. Dawson, 84-17=67 (bb9). Div. 3, 1st M. Gray, 87-22=65. 2nd J. Isle 90-23=67. 3rd I. McDowell, 90-22=68.

Thirty seven ladies played the Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday combined Stableford and Seniors Cup. The big scores came in from Division 3 with Carol Coleman winning with a terrific 44 points and therefore also receiving the Seniors Cup.

Results: Div. 1. 1st Valerie Thornborrow, 34 pts. 2nd Boo Orman, 34 pts. 3rd Vanessa Conway, 33 pts. Div. 2. 1st Sheila Robertson, 38 pts. 2nd Margaret Bleasdale, 36 pts. 3rd Jane Moorhouse, 35 pts. Div. 3. 1st Carol Coleman, 44 pts. 2nd Dee Lewin Jones, 40 pts. 3rd Ann Jowett, 37 pts.

9-hole Stableford: 1st Margaret Lander, 23pts. 2nd Judy Leake, 18 pts. 3rd Helga Perkins, 18 pts.

The mid-week Stableford gave us an excellent competition with two players tied on 40 points. With the better back nine it was David Craven (16) who came out top of the 42 entrants ahead of Gary Hague (19). Tim Moorhouse playing off scratch took third with an impressive 38 points.

On Sunday we played the annual mixed competition, the Bessie Bamford. The format is a Foursomes Medal where the Ladies invite a gentleman who they do not usually play with to partner them. It was a good day for Cheryl Lewis and Doug Gillies as they won by a clear four shots.

Results: 1st Doug Gillies and Cheryl Lewis, 85-18.5=66.5. 2nd Paul Mayfield and Elizabeth Goody, 97-26.5=70.5 (bb9). 3rd David Thornborrow and Margaret Bleasdale, 88-17.5=70.5 (bb9).

Pannal Golf Club:

It was a double competition week for the ladies beginning on Tuesday 30th with a non-trophy Stableford.

The Red course Division One winner was Sophie Jacob with 38 points followed in second by Amanda Dunn and Division Two winner was Gill Roberts (40 points) beating Gill Whiting into second. Josie Long won the 9 hole Green Course event.

On Thursday there was a 13 Hole Stableford competition from the Green Tees playing for the Freda Rhodes Trophy. Eligible players had to be 65 or over on the 1st January. The winner was Lucy Hindmarsh with 26 points closely followed by Dine Faith with 25 who beat Betsy Haldon into third place on a countback.

On the same day a strong field competed for the Men’s Over 75 Trophy which is a Stableford over 18 holes. Ian Walmsley was a comfortable winner with 40 points ahead of Michael Rhodes on 38 points and Rob Farnell on 37.

The top eight players from the June Medal qualified to play for the Barber-Bratby Trophy which is a Match Play knock-out Competition with the final taking place this week and decided over 36 holes.

2018 Men’s Captain and Club Musical Maestro Mike Starkings ran out the winner, beating Oliver Mantle by 5&4.

Saturday’s competition was a two part affair with both the September Medal and the Annual medal being contested simultaneously.

The usually strong Saturday field of 143 players participated over three Divisions. In Division One it was David Everingham (6) with a nett 68 who lead the way followed by Gareth Whiles (6) nett 69 and Gary Beeston (7) nett 70 in third. Best Gross overall and in this Division was Simon Walker (+2) on 72.

Scoring in Division two was similarly competitive where Graham Hindmarsh (14) won by just one shot with a nett 69 over Sue Holden (12) nett 70 pipping Andy North (10) on countback into third but Andy had the consolation of the Division’s best gross of the day with 80.

In Division Three Mark Chitty (28) was the winner of the September Medal with the best round of the day on nett 66. Two shots behind was Mark Homer (19) with Stephen Jordan (15) a further one shot back but recording the best gross in the Division with an 84.

Putting was clearly a strength on Saturday with no less than 43 two’s recorded! The Annual Medal is contested by the players who have won the monthly medals throughout the season in each of the three Divisions which were won respectively by David Everingham (Division One), Oliver Mantle (Division Two) and Richard Ponsford (Division Three).

Oakdale Golf Club:

Mixed Competition. The Simpson Trophy was played on Monday 29th August. There was a good turnout of 26 pairs and the winners were Mick Emmerson & Anne Jones with a splendid nett 63. Second were Anthony Glazier & Patsy Rochester nett 66 (BB) and third was our Club Captain John Dixon & Lynn Wood with nett 66.

Ladies. On Sunday (28th) and Tuesday (30th) the ladies played the September Medal & Break through Breast Cancer charity competition. The winner was Janet Jelley (43) with a 67 nett. Second was Louise Eardley (22) with 70 nett (bb9) and third Julie Smith (23) with 70 nett.

Men. The September Wednesday Medal was played on 31st August with 93 entrants and the overall winner was Alan Key (15) scoring a 67 nett. The best gross was Paul Donaldson (6) with 79. Division 1 was won by Andrew Laird (11) with 72 nett from Chris Evans (7) on count back from Paul Donaldson (5), Peter Brown (7) and Paul Bushall (7) with 73 nett. Division 2 was won by Alan Key with his 67 nett from Toby Eastaugh (16) with 70 nett. Division 3 was won by Brian Chattaway (19) with 71 nett, but coming up on the rails in second place was Tony Doveston (20) with 72 nett. There were 10 twos recorded.

The September Monthly Medal was played on Saturday (3rd) with 115 entrants. The overall winner was Tony Edmondson (20) on count back from Neil Lyons (5) with nett 65. The best gross on the day was Neil Lyons with a splendid 70 gross and he also won Division 1 with 65 nett from Mick Hickling (7) with 67 nett . Division 2 was Tony Edmondson with 65 nett from Allan Underwood (15) with 66 nett. Eric Winterburn with 24 shots won Division 3 on count back from Mark Woolley (19) with 68 nett. There were 21 twos recorded.

President’s Prize. On Sunday Mick Emerson played Luke Durkin in the 36 hole final of the President’s Prize with our President Penny Baxter accompanied the players during part of the match. Mike had to gave Luke 8 shots in each round. After the first round, Luke turned 1 up with some very accurate long driving. Luke won the 19th with a birdie to go 2 up. Mick hit back with steady golf and got back to level with par golf including a birdie at the 8th. Holes were exchanged until Mick won the 14th to go ahead for the first time in the afternoon. Luke hit back with a birdie at 15th and a par at 16 took him one up. Mick birdied 17th to take the match down 18th. Luke found trouble off the tee and Mick closed the game out on the 36th after an epic battle with a par at the last.

Captain’s 9 Hole. The competition was played on Thursday (1st) from white & red tees was won by Max Shepherd (10) with 24 points from Craig Milner (10) on count back from Like Saville (16) with 19 points.

Seniors 9 Hole. The competition was played on Monday (29th) from the green tees and was won by David Eley (17) with 23 points from Ross Bingley (18) with 20 points.

Juniors. On Tuesday (30th) the Junior Cup Competition was played and Cameron Gallagher (23) shot 65 nett. In second place, on count back from William Jones (16), was Charlie Hayfield (4) with 69 nett. In his round William scored birdies on the third and the ninth.

Rabbits NERGA event. On Sunday (2nd) Oakdale hosted the last area event where seven other club teams from across Yorkshire joined us to decide the two clubs to play in the finals at Ramside Hall on 1st October. Although Oakdale had the best team score on the day Whitby and Drax will be going to the finals.

Masham Golf Club:

Ladies Section: Sunday, September 4, Ladies Prince of Wales Trophy Sunday’s competition saw a staggering result for one lady member as Jackie Jones took first place with an incredible net 58. Admittedly, Jackie being new to golf, had a high handicap to start with, but all golfers have to start somewhere and it is to Jackie’s credit that her play is improving all the time therefore her handicap is coming down which means it will soon be competitive against other lady members at the club, so well done Jackie!

Results. 1st Jackie Jones, 2nd Jackie Thirsk, 3rd Mandy Boak.

Thursday, September 1, Ladies EG Medal: 1st Div. 1st Pat Watts, 2nd Penny Nicklas, 3rd Anne Stebbing. 2nd Div. 1st Judy Wall, 2nd Sue Whitehead, 3rd Pam Brown. 3rd Div. 1st Jeanne Banham, 2nd Jackie Jones, 3rd Sheila Alsop.

Men’s Section: Same day, Prince of Wales Trophy: Overall winner went to “Jocky” Beckett 87(20)67.

Division 1 (Handicap Index up to 16.4): 1st Mick Powell 82(14)68, 2nd Jonathan Stansfield 82(12)70, 3rd Alan Sturdy 83(11)72 (b9)

Division 2 (HI 16.5 – 26.4): 1st James Ebbage 86(18)68 (b9), 2nd Dave Nicklas 93(25)68 (b9), 3rd Andrew Fallows 90(22)68, 1x2ball, James Ebbage (hole13).

Knaresborough Golf Club:

In a highly competitive leading group, Emmott Parr-Gallagher (6) dug out his best Medal showing so far to shoot a winning score of 67 in division one.

Key to his success was his sure -fire targeting with his iron approaches, giving himself vital chances to make par or better, or when necessary getting ‘up and down’ to save pars with the 52 degree wedge.

He dropped nothing till a bogey at 13 but that was countered by the four birdies he chalked up.

First was at the short third when a pitching wedge gave him an easy two-footer, then came a birdie three at the 410 yard seventh after he’d carried a fairways bunker and struck a wedge fo five feet short of the flag.

The third and most improbable, at the 12th, followed after he’d driven his ball over trees and onto the 17th fairway. He hoisted a nine iron over trees and finished 10 foot left of the pin to make the birdie.

At 14 his three wood drive found a green side bunker. He chipped out to tap in range. His only double bogey of the day came at the index one 15th after he’d driven into hedges and had to chip out.

When he overhit his iron beyond the green, he was unfortunate not to make gross par with a five with his chip back.

Three successive pars in the closing holes almost included another birdie, lost at the 17th when he lipped out.

Birdies at the fifth and 12th helped Richard Binns (10) on his way to second place with 69 with Stuart Reid (10) third on countback.

A new member since April, Peter Jeans (16) also produced his best result off the Medal tees to top division two with 69.

Though he may have missed a number of greens in regulation, his chipping was functioning well and he sank single putts five times to save par including at the 18th and did the same at 10 and 13 to earn nett pars.

Four behind him posted 71s but Colin Launder (17) topped that group by virtue of countback, followed in third spot by Chris Saul (17).

Best nett result of the day was that of James Smithson (31), another new name at the top of the leader board in division three where he shot an eye-catching nine under par 63.

In second on 66 was Richard Taylor (18) with Stuart Strike (18) on 67.

Ten years old Zach Sloanes celebrated his selection for the Yorkshire County winter development programme by shooting 70 to lead Knaresborough’s Juniors Medal.

He was picked out at a Yorkshire Golf identification day for under 13s where he was well below the handicap requirement.

Second in the Club Medal was Oliver Cairns (25) on 79 with Alfie Cass (29) third on 94.