Golf round-up: The latest news from around the region's courses

Harrogate GC

Harrogate’s ladies played their December Stableford over 16 holes on the Orange course recently and with the frozen ground, temporary tees were in operation.

With those tricky conditions, the stand-out performance came from Judith Nickols in Division Two, finishing with a terrific 32 points.

In a very close finish in Division One, Lady Captain, Boo Orman won, just edging Judy Holroyde into second with Celia Fowler taking third place.

Results: Division One - 1st Boo Orman 22 pts; 2nd Judy Holroyde, 22 pts; 3rd Celia Fowler, 21 pts.

Division Two - 1st Judith Nickols, 32 pts; 2nd Liz Haw, 21 pts; 3rd Elizabeth Goody,20 pts.

Division Three – 1st Elizabeth Walkinshaw, 15 pts; 2nd Sue Hood, 11 pts.

Members know that Christmas is just around the corner when the club hosts its annual Turkey Trot competitions, where players are just allowed to take three clubs plus a putter on to the course.

The men played their version of this festive fixture last Saturday, with the ladies contesting theirs this week.

The men this year played a pairs Stableford format of Four Ball Better-ball. As usual during the shorter days the competition was played over 16 holes.

The very low temperatures of the week continued and the players had to contend with a frosty and bone-hard course with temporary Greens.

Despite the variable bounce and restricted club choice the scores were very good with half of the large field scoring par or better.

Three pairs came in with 37 points or 5 better than par but they were tied in second place and were placed after a countback.

Dave Walkinshaw & Richard Louden took fourth and Andy Tipling & Peter Bainbridge were placed third with David May & David Taylor finishing in second place having the best back 8 holes of the trio.

The winners were Bill Fraser & Keith Peters who signed for an excellent 39 points.

Pannal GC

No fewer than 73 of Pannal’s ladies attended Christmas lunch on December 13 following their nine-hole green tee Greensomes competition.

Contesting that event were 26 players, and the winners were Clare Davies and Dee Miller on 23 points, beating Vicky Eyre and Sophie Jacob on countback.

In total, £285 was raised for the Captains’ charity, Rainbow Dementia, in the afternoon’s raffle.

Alison Kitson and Susan Taylor were the lucky ticket holders winning the on-course tuition prize with Assistant Pro Ollie White.

December 15 was the date for the thrice-weekly Roll-Up Christmas competition and lunch.

The winners of the Brian Clark Memorial Trophy were Derek Lunn and Philip Wilkinson with 39 points

December 17th’s competition was limited to 15 holes to maximise the number of competitors on the shortest daylight Saturday of the year.

In total, 31 pairs braved cold conditions with temporary greens in place once again.

Jim Toms and Mark Chitty came out on top with an excellent 44 points, beating Derek Christmas and Rick Warburton into second on 43. Phil Hudson and Norman Lightfoot came in third just one point further back.

Masham GC

As usual, this year’s Christmas Mixed was well attended with more than 30 members taking part.

Unfortunately, the ground was frozen and temperatures were hovering around freezing point, so, wisely, the organisers, Maureen and David Dillon decided to shorten the competition, much to the relief of all those looking like aliens in their cold weather outfits.

Being the Christmas Mixed, the format was mixed, with something different on each hole, much to the enjoyment of those taking part.

Of course, with the frozen conditions, those unlucky enough to hit the greens found their balls bouncing or running off even faster than entering the solid turf, leaving players with 30-feet chips back on in some cases. Unless, of course, they were ‘lucky’ enough to hit a bunker, in which case competitors obviously stayed nearer the green.

So, game over, back in the warm club house with Pam’s lovely smelling turkey carvery to look forward to, everybody thawed out, sharing their stories of their afternoon’s game.

Once the eating of the Christmas feast was over, Maureen and David Dillon got down to the business of handing out presents and prizes.

However, this year’s dinner was tinged with sadness as it is the last Mixed competition that the Dillons will be organising as they are moving on to a different club in the New Year.

During the presentations it was announced that Bob Tunstall and Sheila Alsop will be taking over running the Mixed Section from January.

Back to the giving of gifts. Maureen Dillon presented Pam and all her helpers with gifts in appreciation for all the excellent meals that the mixed section has enjoyed throughout the year and to Helen, for keeping thirsty throats quenched, especially through the long hot summer months, (easily forgotten at the moment!) and to the green-keepers for their hard endeavours throughout the season.

On to the prizes and, in first place with a very creditable 43 points, were Maureen Dillon and Sue and Alec Whitehead. In second place were Melanie Couchman, Mandy Boak and Neil Garbutt on 41 points, while Jackie Thirsk, Sheila Alsop and Bob Tunstall came third on 39 points.

One final presentation was made by Lady Captain, Penny Nichols, to Maureen and David Dillon in thanks for their commitment to and great organisation of the Mixed Section over the past few years.

Bedale GC

December 14 – Ladies Stableford: 1st Evelyn Weighell (29) 39 pts; 2nd Kate Clark (30) 33 pts; 3rd Claire Retchless (43) 32 pts.

December 16 – Seniors 9 Hole Stableford:1st Richard Stevens (17) 21 pts; 2nd Chris Griffiths (35) 19 pts; 3rd Steve Gibbins (19) 13 pts.

December 16 – Friday Animals 9 Hole Stableford: 1st Sheila Grant, Colin Tipton, Ged Wilkinson & Andy Limage 64 pts; 2nd John Sample, Steve Black, Karolina Aurelius & Craig Lawson 59 pts; 3rd Dave Hall, Scott Gray, Patricia Knox & Al Aurelius 58 pts; 4th Pam Rawlin, Mike Edwards, Jim Hargan & Peter Dawson 54 pts.