Golf round-up: The latest news from Harrogate & district's courses

Harrogate GC

The chase for silverware enticed 146 players to enter the July Medal, a competition which incorporated Harrogate’s Centenary Salver – a trophy awarded to the player with the best nett score.

Ralph Taylor finished with an impressive nett 68 in Division One to record a close win by one shot from Luke Donnelly. Tom Birtwhistle and Mark Richardson finished tied on nett 70 with Birtwhistle placed third on count-back.

Patrick Harper has been in the thick of things recently, raising funds for the Rob Burrow Appeal with a 72-hole challenge last month, then hitting a hole-in-one on the 12th before his excellent nett 67 gave him the Division Two crown in the Medal.

Richard Britten’s recent good form saw him home in second place with a nett 69. Four players were then tied on nett 70, with Bob Fox having the better run-in to take third from Samuel Morley, Joe Whiteley and Steve Dunn.

To complete a good day for the family, Kevin Birtwhistle put together a great round of nett 66, not only winning Division Three, but also taking the Centenary Salver with the lowest nett score of the day.

Similar to Divisions One and Two, it was crowded at the top in the third tier, with John Robinson, Geoff Skaife and Joe Isle all coming in on nett 70. However, they didn’t quite make top three as Paul Wardell and Mel Goody scored nett 68, with Wardell taking second after the count-back.

James Brennan has the capacity to jog along for a few weeks without troubling the scorers, but then he bursts into deadly action. This he did to great effect in a mid-week Stableford, storming to an extravagant 43 points to win by four points. Ian Blackstone and Arthur Severn contested second place, tied on 39 points.

It was the lower handicap player, Blackstone, who had the better back nine and secured second place.

Harrogate’s Ladies recently went on an exchange day to Worksop GC.

Captain Charlotte Franks said of the excursion: “We had a blast. We were made to feel very welcome and on arrival were greeted by Lee Westwood’s mum, Trish.

"After a something to eat it was out to play on a beautiful woodland course with a few challenges very different to Harrogate.

" It was a much longer course than ours, so exercised our calf muscles. After playing we enjoyed an excellent salad buffet. It was a really fab day.”

Results: Team event. 1st Sue Almond/Linda McPhee/Lorraine Blackamore/Jenny Hill (Ghost Player), 129 pts; 2nd Elaine Shepherd/Karen Myers/Maggi Gobbi/Charlotte Franks, 116 pts; 3rd Pat Capps/Sheila Robertson/Margaret Brown/Lindsay Bancroft, 115 pts.

Knaresborough GC

Brenda Moore (16) remembered the old golf saying “when it’s breezy, swing it easy” as she teed-off in blustery conditions in the ladies’ July Medal.

Good as her word, she opened with a great drive at the first, followed by a recovery wood to seven feet from the back pin. The putt just lipped out to deny her the birdie.

But the ‘swing easy’ thought prevailed as she navigated the front-nine well, then opened the back stretch with a birdie on the ascending 10th.

Another penetrating drive to the right angle corner set up a five wood to land 80 yards short of the green. A nine iron lobbed up to two foot left a simple birdie.

The back-nine story was even better, helping her to a three-under 72 to win Division One. Julie Willey (9) finished second on 74 with Julie Hargreaves (22) third on 76.

In Division Two, Carol Wakelin (29) just edged ahead of the competition to shoot a winning level par 75. She was pursued by Sue Williams (22) who finished with a 76 while in third place was Maria Howland (26) on 79.

In Division Three, Pamela Hunter (43) swept aside all the hazards - ditches and bunkers are normally magnetic - to complete the front-nine an eye-opening six under par.

Over the back half she made hay over most of the par-fives, but after making the index one green at the 13th in four, concentration deserted her and she took five putts to get down. But the good work elsewhere yielded a final score of 67, a massive eight under par.

Close by in another impressive sub-par round was Julie Curry (32) on 69 with Chris Shield (45) on 77.

John Robinson (12) notched up back to back wins in the Seniors Rollup, polishing off a second victory in Division One with 38 points. It was the first time he’d ever had successive wins in club competitions.

Six successive pars from six to 11 laid a vital cushion of 16 points as he closed out the back-nine to lead from David Donaldson (12) on 37 and Peter Gartside (13).

David Crossley (38) topped Division Three with 38 points ahead of Colin Bell (17) on the countback and Jim Cliff (21), who came third on 37.

Captain’s Day for the Men was a washout as thunder and rain rolled across the course intermittently, forcing Tom Halliday to reschedule his event for Saturday, July 29.

Pannal GC

Sunday July 2 saw Pannal hold an Open Medal where a countback was needed to decide third place with Matthew Atkinson beating Phil Stott as both men scored a nett 72.

One shot ahead of them was Gary MacNair on 71, but the winner was Brian Goddard with a nett 70.

The second competition of the week was on July 3 and was once again an Open Medal.

On this occasion, Ralph Pearce’s nett 70 made him the clear winner by three shots from Gary Beeston, who in turn was two shots better than third-placed Steve Rogers.

Tuesday July 4 was the Ladies’ annual Exchange Day where 40 players took a coach trip to Sherwood Forest GC in Nottinghamshire with 32 ladies coming to Pannal, fulsome in their praise for Pannal’s course and hospitality.

The Pannal Ladies also had an enjoyable day on what was described by team-members as a highly attractive yet challenging course. The second, third and fourth-placed teams all scored 77 points but the winners Gerry Callendar, Janet Jones, Ros Samuels and Dawn Fabbroni, who finished well clear on 81 points.

Nearest the Pin went to Ali Gould in Division One and Gill Roberts in Division Two. Longest Drive at the 6th was secured by Ros Samuels and Gill Roberts was Nearest the Line at the 13th.

On Wednesday July 5, 20 members took part in the weekly Captains’ Night. Peter Chambers and Frank Flaherty were the latest to add themselves to the list of contenders for the Chadwick Trophy event in mid-August.

Chambers finished on an excellent 31 points, two ahead of Flaherty. Gareth Whiles came in third with 28, one ahead of Mike Rogers.

Finally on Saturday July 8, the Men’s Club Championship (scratch) and Butterworth Trophy (handicap) took place concurrently over a 36-hole medal format.

Despite the dire weather forecast and rumbles of thunder during the morning, both rounds were successfully completed. However, conditions remained tough with the morning rain being succeeded by the heat and humidity of the afternoon.

In the Butterworth Trophy, Gary MacNair narrowly pipped his son Callum for third on a countback after both scored nett 143, with David Thomas taking second place on nett 141.

It was however, Men’s vice president Lindsay Mckenzie who took home the trophy with an outstanding nett score of 139.

Pannal’s Club Championship was a very close affair, with Jason Taylor edging out Simon Walker on second-round countback, with both players recording a 36-hole score of 145.

But, the 2023 Championship went to Will Rushworth for the sixth time, after he shot rounds of 73 and 71 for a two-round total of 144.

Oakdale GC

Oakdale Ladies ‘B’ team played their last match at home on June 29. On a sunny day with the course in good condition the team secured a fine win against West Bradford. A fitting end to a very good season.

The Ladies’ July Medal & Silver Cup Qualifier were played on July 2 and July 4. The winner and best overall score was Christine Walters (27) with 65 nett.

Division One was won by Karen Leake (10) with 69 nett and second was Patsy Rochester (11) with 70 nett.

Division Two went to Christine Walters, with Paula James (27) coming second with a 69 nett. Eight ladies qualified to play in the Silver Cup knock-out stages.

The July Nine-hole Q Medal was played on July 4 and won by Marion Holliday with 35 nett.

The Ladies’ 36-hole competition on July 9 was won by Leake (9) with 74+75 = 149, with Rochester (10) coming second with 75+77 = 152. Julia Whittington was third with 75+79 = 154.

On Ladies Captain’s Day, Penny Baxter (10) won best gross with 85 shots.

The Oakdale Putter was won by Charlie Hayfield with 70 & 73 gross, a total of 143. He came in two shots ahead of Michael Robson on 71+74 = 145. Third was James Wilcox on 152.

The winners of round four of the Oakdale Open Series were Andy Thorpe (3) & Michael Jones (15) with 47 points. Second were Mike Taylor (6) & Michael Arnfield (11) on countback from Tom Stephenson (14) & Ryan Digings (13) with 46 points.

On July 5, 43 of the best amateurs in the North of England visited Oakdale to play the Oakdale Acorn.

This 36-hole scratch competition was established in the 1980s and is one of a series of such events played in the North each year.

The winner was Jacob Hodgson (Hull GC) with a 2 under score of 69+71 = 140. Second was Daniel Clark-Cotes (Basildon GC) with 74+69 = 143. Third was Jack Whaley with 74+70 = 144 and Lucas Martin (Rotherham GC) fourth with 70+75 = 145.

July 9 saw the Oakdale’s juniors play their first match in the Dorothy Calvert Trophy away at Bedale. Despite the rain, a thrilling match ensued with the match ending in a 6-6 draw with three wins apiece.

Representing Oakdale were Charlie Hayfield, Cameron Gallagher, Mila Dodds, Tom Bromiley, Tobias Holdsworth and Sam Johnston.

Harrogate Union

Harrogate & District Union of Golf Clubs president Alistair Davidson recently welcomed 76 golfers to President’s Day at Harrogate GC.

The format was four-player team, Stableford competition with two best scores to count. A blustery wind made conditions difficult but the scoring was exceptional, 13 teams finishing with totals of 80 points and above.

Third place went to a team consisting of Doug Gillies and William Culver-Dodds from the home club and Nigel Saville and Nigel Crowther from nearby Knaresborough. They scored 86 points, a point less than the all-Harrogate team of Andy Partridge, Robin Nichols, Gary Marsh and David Underwood.

Underwood, Harrogate’s Men’s captain, won the prize for nearest-the-pin, however, the eventual winners with 88 points were Andy Langford from Romanby, Gary Hunt of Ripon City, and Frank Foy and Keith Hunt both of Thirsk & Northallerton.

Rudding Park GC

Ranger Trophy Results: 1st Paul Whitehead & John Stover 47pts; 2nd David Pullan & Martin Mathieson 46pts; 3rd Place Johnny O’Mara & Dan Burton 44pts; 4th Graeme Ogilvie & Archie Hughes 41pts; 5th Steve Walmsley & Alexa Walmsley 41pts*.

Rudding Park’s Seniors beat Sandburn Hall 5-1 with Carl Kennady and Richard Brewster taking the prize for the best of the winners with a 5&4 victory.

Rudding Park’s Stableford competition featured 27 participants and the top six finishers all played to par or better.

Out in first place and the clear winner by three points was Dougie Dickie scoring 40 points off a 14 handicap. In second spot, on countback, was Earl Hintz with 37 points.

Third position went to James Crowther with 37 points, while in fourth place was Martin Mathieson on 36 points.

A Texas Scramble format competition with a mixture of three-man and four-man teams saw Carl Kennady, Richard Brewster, Mick Boothroyd and David Grimson finish second.

But, with a gross score of 62/nett 56, which included nine birdies & an eagle with 1 bogey, the winning team consisted of John Noble, Mark Addison, Mev Berwick and Dave Smart.

No fewer than 80 players entered the President’s Salver competition on July 1. It was a medal format from the white tees over two rounds.

Leading the field on day one were James Orton, Alan Bradley and James Woo. With a reverse draw from 7am on Sunday morning, the course had fresh pins and a mow to ensure the greens were ready for play.

The overall winner with a nett of 140 was Paul Johnson. Runner-up was James Orton (145) on countback. Third was Chris Warren (145).

Rudding Park’s Memorial Trophy saw 50 entrants playing Stableford golf from the purple tee.

This trophy was donated by Bryan Holmes in honour of all of the club’s players who can no longer walk the fairways

The eventual winner was Captain David Balbi with a score of 42 points.