Golfers are super-busy at Selsey... juniors in luck at Bognor

Selsey's winter mixed greensomes winnersSelsey's winter mixed greensomes winners
Selsey's winter mixed greensomes winners

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Selsey ladies have been busy since the start of the season.

Their first club match was against Bognor ladies. Selsey lost but everyone enjoyed a match followed by tea.

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The Centenary Foursomes was won by Sharon Williams and Grace Bishop with 38 points. Second were Eddie Williamson and Barbara Winter with 31; Doreen Scragg and Judy Sharpe were third with 30.

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The men’s, veterans and ladies held their mixed winter greensomes on a warm and fair day with not too much wind.

Winners Reg Ewens and Sharon Williams were awarded a trophy and golf balls by lady captain Barbara Ewens.

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Many Selsey ladies’ competitions are now played on Saturdays and Mondays. This has been appreciated by the weekend ladies who now feel they really are part of the ladies’ section.

The committee have decided to resurrect a trophy for a competition to be held annually on a Saturday. This will be known as the Ladies’ Weekend Trophy.

The Ladies held their first open day. Sixteen ladies enjoyed a morning of getting to know the rudiments of golf and two more made enquiries after seeing advertisements. All visitors had the chance to putt on the green outside the clubhouse and were then taken on the driving range where they were able to hit the ball with various clubs supplied by members.

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It was a great success – a lot of interest was expressed and free trial rounds of nine holes are now being played with 16 of the ladies. Three have already joined and the section hope more to come.

Practice was followed by coffee, cake, a chat and a raffle with prizes supplied by Selsey Country Club general manager Louisa Colquhoun.

All the ladies attending said how much they enjoyed the morning.

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If any lady is interested in discovering golf and giving it a go, contact Rita Green on 01243 604158.

A new professional, Gary Hughes, has taken over at Selsey Golf Club and was welcomed by the veterans’ captain Reg Ewens.

Hughes has replaced the previous pro, Peter Grindley who had been at Selsey for 37 years and was given a grand send-off by the members.

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He has had a lot of experience as a club Pro, being a head coach in Germany and Sicily. He was also PGA coach at clubs in London and Swansea before becoming head coach at Chichester GC, before joining Selsey.

He was born in Neath, Wales, and has an 11-year-old son, Lloyd.

Hughes’ coaching philosophy is that golf is essentially an instinctive sport, and he helps to create the environment for people of all ages and abilities to play to learn.

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His main golf coaching influences are Fred Shoemaker (Extraordinary Golf) and Kendal McWade (Instinctive Golf) who have coached him to make golf simple and fun.

Hughes’ main golfing influences as a player have been Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam and Gary Player.

He has won three PGA events – one in Wales, one in Germany and one in Italy and has had four holes in one.

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Hughes is looking forward to the challenges ahead at Selsey.

BOGNOR

In the prestigious county Blakes’ Foursomes Cup, Bognor beat current holders Chichester 3-1.

Bognor’s winning team comprised club captain Norman Lee and David Hicks, Chris Jenkinson and Roland Heath, Simon Watts and John Cable plus Peter Lott and David Chalmers. The matches were all reasonably close.

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Bognor have a very tough home draw in the quarter-finals against Worthing.

More than 90 Bognor GC men turned out for the Whitsun Cup, played in very difficult and windy conditions. Neil Slater won with an excellent score of gross 83, nett 64. Slater beat Jake Stoneham on countback. Stoneham, playing off a three handicap, shot a gross 67.

Third was Richard Doherty with 85 (66). Considering the conditions, the scores were excellent.

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Results: Div 1- Jake Stoneham 67 (64), 2 Gordon Catt 73 (67), 3 Don McLeod 77 (68). Div 2 – 1 Paul Brennan 82 (70), 2 Phil Lee 85 (71), 3 Graham Harmes 84 (71). Div 3 – 1 Neil Slater 83 (64), 2 Richard Doherty 85 (66), 3 Duncan Sinclair 87 (69).

A total of 90 men played in the men’s midweek Stableford, again played in very difficult gusty conditions. Winner with 37 points was Andrew Greig; second was Derek ‘Oscar’ Wild and third on countback was Gee Fenwick.

After a 3-2 win for Bognor against Worthing, the Evening League foursomes team travelled to Worthing for the return match with high expectations although the very high winds and notoriously-tricky greens were a daunting prospect.

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After an emergency drop-out by one of the Bognor team with only one and a half hours to tee off, the hunt was on to find a replacement at such short notice. John Woodhead stepped into the breach and made it to the tee on time.

The combination of a strong Worthing team on their home ground and testing greens saw Bognor defeated 3-2.

Bognor’s Rob Comins and Ron Stevens lost 3-2, Roy Kempson and Ian Paine won 3-2, John Woodhead and Peter Stoneham lost 6-5, Richard Perry and Mark Watson lost 4-3 and Simon Watts and Richard Beresford won 3-2.

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Bognor juniors’ 36-hole President’s Trophy was sponsored by club president Peter Mitchell. The event is considered to be the first ‘major’ of the year and is always hotly contested.

Thhe sun stayed out and the morning round ebbed and flow. Scores of 37 and 38 set by Jake Stoneham and Harry Isham were a solid start, then Katie Field pushed through with 40 only to be eclipsed by Harry Malin who shot 45 points – which equated to 71 gross off his ten handicap.

Fully fed, the players set off in the afternoon in score order. Ben Taylor (last year’s champion) made a charge with 40 from the second group but the leaders were not for buckling.

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Stoneham, playing off four, shot 42 (gross 68), Field played a second 40-point round to total 80 for the day. But Malin finished with 41 to take the top prize, trophy and a cut-glass memento and become the first major winner this year.

Isham took both nearest pin prices, and Peter Mitchell was praised for his support for the event.

There was also a special mention for Josh Stevenson who had a personal-best round in the afternoon.

COWDRAY PARK

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Cowdray are hosting a charity pro-am day in aid of the Shooting Star Chase this Sunday. The event is widely acknowledged to be the biggest pro-mm in Sussex, and will be a fun-filled day for golfers, families and friends.

Tim Allen, Cowdray’s director of golf, said: “We are very much looking forward to hosting the Cowdray Pro-Am, which is the centrepiece of our busy season.

“Many people have worked very hard to co-ordinate this event and we are delighted to be raising funds for Shooting Star Chase children’s hospice, which is club captain’s Mark Jasper’s chosen charity for the year.

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“The players will enjoy our immaculate golf course, but there is plenty to do in the afternoon for families and friends. Please come and join us for what promises to be a great day.”  

Teams of four, including one professional and three amateurs, will play 18 holes. The best two nett scores count on each hole. There will be fantastic prizes for professionals and amateurs including a Mini courtesy of Barons Hindhead BMW for anyone who scores a hole in one on the ninth hole. There will also be bespoke jewellery courtesy of Matthew James London for a hole in one on the third.

Cowdray GC have a long-standing connection with Shooting Star Chase children’s hospice, who provide support to families 365 days a year.

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The first game tees off at 7.30am. From 1pm, there will be a bouncy castle, children’s entertainer and food available for guests. Prizes will be presented at 8.30pm.

GOODWOOD

Eddie Bullock has been appointed by Lord March as the honorary president of Golf At Goodwood, having stepped down from his role as non-executive director.

Bullock, who was captain of the PGA from 2011 to 2013 and whose wealth of experience in the business of golf has seen him in many advisory roles across the sport, was on the board of directors at Goodwood for more than seven years and during that time saw the club evolve into a contemporary golf community.

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Lord March said: “Eddie Bullock has been a non-executive Director of the Goodwood Estate Company for more than seven years and his involvement with golf has seen the business grow significantly.

“I am delighted he has agreed to become honorary president of Golf At Goodwood and in that capacity he will continue to help and guide us to become one of the finest golf experiences in the UK. We are very grateful to Eddie for all he has done for us and much look forward to his continued involvement at Goodwood in his new role.”

Describing the appointment as ‘a great honour,’ Bullock will be a linchpin of the organisation, representing Golf At Goodwood on his travels within the industry.

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He said: “Among the many advisory and supporting roles I have done, this is undoubtedly the most prestigious. It was a great honour when Lord March invited me to become honorary president and it is my aim to help Goodwood sustain its popularity, continue to evolve the playing experience and to make golf more attractive to a broader range of people.

“We want to back up our claims of being female and junior friendly with real experiences and make the place feel like a truly welcoming club for families. Goodwood feels like a part of my DNA and I am passionate about seeing the business grow.”

Stuart Gillett, general manager of Golf and Leisure at Goodwood, said: “Eddie has been instrumental in helping drive the vision of Golf At Goodwood forward. I have found him a great ally in creating a very different culture and dynamic within the club.

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“His desire to keep driving service standards is second to none and when coupled with his experience within golf has helped us forge a wonderful partnership that has arguably led to Golf At Goodwood being one of the best success stories within golf over the past five years.

“Within this new role he will continue to drive the profile of Golf At Goodwood and help us achieve the recognition we desire as a club and golf experience.

“From a personal point of view he has helped me progress into a more rounded manager and leader. This has helped me build a great team and we are both extremely proud of the progression the likes of Amy Yeates and Chris Fitt have had in their career after time at Goodwood.”

LITTLEHAMPTON

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For the first time Littlehampton Golf Club was chosen to host the prestigious ladies’ Sussex county champioships on its links course.

Forty-eight of the best lady amateur golfers from across the county battled it out over three days. There was some excellent scoring including a five-under-par 68 on day one from West Sussex GC member Alice Barnes, breaking the existing course record that had stood since 1984.

Following a 36-hole medal qualifying round on Friday, the top 16 entered matchplay knockout competitions to determine the overall winner.

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Chelsea Masters, from Highwoods, and Alice Barnes played out a marathon semi-final with Chelsea eventually winning through on the fifth extra hole.

But, in the final later in the day, Masters herself came up against a superb performance from Royal Eastbourne golfer, Brandy Rook, who took the championship by 6&4.

Receiving her trophy from the Sussex ladies president Chris Handson, Rook expressed natural delight that she came out on top of such a talented field of players. She thanked Littlehampton for staging the event efficiently and made special mention of the course which she described as amazing.

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