Goodwood golfers are awesome in the foursomes

Playing in Littlehampton, the six Goodwood representatives began their day with a semi-final showdown against Bognor, who brought out their big guns in Chloe Court and Heather Tidy.

With a place in the final up for grabs, it was Goodwood’s Pam Leach and Barbara Parker who played some excellent golf to win their match against Court and Vincent (lady captain) on the 12th hole to secure Goodwood a 2-1 victory.

With confidence running high after a stellar victory in the semi-final stages, Golf At Goodwood faced Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club in the final. In what was a highly competitive round between the two teams, it was Royal Ashdown Forest who came out eventual winners with the match going down to the last put on the 18th hole.

This event is the ladies’ third year of this inter club event and after a shaky start the Golf At Goodwood team managed the quarter finals last year and this year have gone one better and achieved runner-up status.

On the route to the final, matches were played at home and away venues and along the way the Golf At Goodwood team have beaten Boars Head (away), Cuckfield (home), Highwoods (away), Chartham Park (at The Dyke) and Bognor (at Littlehampton).

The Goodwood team consisted of Pam Leach, Diane Simpson, Carol Smith, Amber Cockram, Sarah Simpson, Barbara Parker.

Stuart Gillett, Golf At Goodwood general manager, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for our ladies and pleasing to see all their hard work paying off. It is brilliant to see Golf At Goodwood reaching the highest level of club golf this year and I look forward to more success in the future.”

Golf At Goodwood member Chris Kerr took advantage of the glorious sunshine to set a new record on the Downs course in the Lord Esme Cup – the final event of the 2015 Golf At Goodwood Order of Merit series.

The 33-year-old from Chichester hit a brilliant nett 64, gross 66 to finish six under, scoring nine birdies to claim an empathic victory and a new course record on Golf At Goodwood’s famous Downs course.

Kerr has been a member of Golf At Goodwood for many years and was the current record holder from June 2013 when he shot gross 69. His impressive performance at the weekend which saw him surpass his own record by three clear shots, confirming his calibre as one of the finest amateurs to grace the Downs course.

The final order of merit of the year brought with it high anticipation and excitement with qualification to the order of merit challenge up for grabs which saw more than 70 competitors take to the top 100 Downs course.

The medal format always plays mind games long before the first tee and the sense of anticipation was strong around the pro shop and the driving range with the starter getting play under way at 7.30am.

Early on the breeze was blustery causing indecision on club selection. The first hole was 190 yards to the pin but playing more like 210 yards because of the windy conditions. However, the sun soon broke through which created a lot of smiles up on the Downs.

The greens were proving tricky with most players unaware of the pace of them on the Downs course. The recent wet but warm weather has allowed for good growth on the green to get the playing surfaces running smooth. The greens were running at 10.5ft on the stimpmeter which is great for this time of year with many members congratulating the Golf At Goodwood greenkeeping team.

The final event of the order of merit sees the top 20 players qualifying to play in the order of merit challenge this Sunday. In addition, the top five players in both the seniors and ladies’ order of merit will also qualify for the grand finale.

SELSEY

The men’s section began a busy month with the Maurice Jewell Cup, a Stableford. The weather was perfect for golf but the pin positions were in very tricky positions. The winner was Simon Aspital with 40 points.

The monthly medal strokeplay event was won in division one by Andrew Terry with nett 65, three shots under course par. Terry, who plays off 14, had a gross score of 79 and this qualified him to be awarded the Seal badge – given to any player who completes a round with a gross 79 or under in a medal competition. This entitles the player to enter a special competition for the silver badge holders.

The Daily Mail Foursomes is a strokeplay competition played by all sections of the club at various times of the year. The winners were Matt Hurst and Barry Rishman with nett 65.5, who qualify to play in the Daily Mail national competition to be played in 2016.

The Denny Terry Cup was presented by Denny when he was captain in 2008, the club’s centenary year. He plays in the men’s and the veterans’ section and has been a member of the club since 1966.

The weather was atrocious and many teams of three did not finish. The winners who battled the elements were Matt Hurst, Jeff Wooton and Tony Nelson, who scored 107 points.

The annual match between the Golf Club and the Country Club is very competitive. The match was very close at all stages and the final result was 5½-5½. As the Country Club won last year, they retained the cup.

The men’s captain organised a new event, the Captain’s Charity Day, and it was a huge success. An 18-hole competition was won by Terry Stevens and Billy Aspital with 46 points.

There was a raffle with many prizes and the proceeds and entry fees will go to St Wilfrid’s Hospice.

COWDRAY PARK

Cowdray Park seniors travelled to Farnham to face the home side on the back of their excellent win at West Sussex. Sadly history did not repeat itself with the home side triumphing by 6-2, thus avenging their 6½-1½ defeat at Cowdray earlier in the year.

Match manager David Wickham and Ian Heustice received a taste of their own medicine when the home pair beat them by the identical score to which they won at home.

Cowdray welcomed new member Chris Hutchins into the fold and he and the powerful Paul Owen looked a likely combination, but despite Owen playing four under his handicap of eight, the concession of shots to the home pair proved too much and the visitors were beaten on the 18th hole.

At 6-0 to Farnham it looked as though the home side were going to complete a whitewash but stout work by the final two pairs avoided this. Chris Hoare and Mark Kelly won by 3&2, while the redoubtable George Crouch with Eric Bounton won by 4&2. Despite the loss all the Cowdray Park players enjoyed the occasion.

Results (Cowdray Park names first): David Wickham & Ian Heustice lost to Mark Forrester & Philip Robinson 5&4; Paul Owen & Chris Hutchins lost to Colin Smith & David Lowery 1dn; David Tilley & Peter Hallt lost to Tony Wilson & Iain Aitken 1dn; Roger Poat & Alan Godfree lost to Roger Sear & Mike Davell 4&2; Allen Sibley & John Smith lost to John Penniceard & David Mason 2&1; Mike Holden & Barry Overington lost to Peter Miller & John Suirdale 3&2; Chris Hoare & Mark Kelly beat Peter Lawrence & John Marns 3&2; George Crouch & Eric Bounton beat Roy Benfield & Mike Prior 4&2.

Cowdray Park seniors played their first home game since losing their 100 per cent home record when they entertained the Puttenham Pilgrims on a dry, bright day.

Cowdray’s lead pair of match manager Bill Brownlee and seniors’ vice-captain Derek Smith were holding their own until Puttenham’s Tony Luscombe altered the game. On three successive holes he played three stunning iron shots into the green followed by single putts for birdies to put his side in command.

When the visitors won the second match it seemed a second home defeat was likely. However the hosts’ middle-order pairs came to the rescue with wide-margin wins – John Doran and Terry Adsett overcame the concession of shots to their opponents to win by 6&4, immediately followed by the ‘Wisborough Green Mafia’ of John Newman and Barry Overington, who had a comfortable 4&3 win to make the match score 2-2.

The next match was halved, meaning the pressure was on the final pair of Mike Cardiff and Gary Strowbridge for a result, but they were blissfully unaware of what had happened in front of them and had an easy 5&3 win to give give Cowdray a narrow win on the day by 3½-2½, and revenge for their 5-1 defeat at Puttenham.

Results (Cowdray names first): Bill Brownlee & Derek Smith lost to John Scott & Tony Luscombe 3&2; Ian Heustice & Peter Hallt lost to David Vowles & Alan Gilmore 2dn; John Doran & Terry Adsett beat Ray Graham & Norman Perry 6&4; John Newman & Barry Overington beat John Hawksley & Mike Farmer 4&3; David Wickham & Clive Brine halved with Martin Williams & Peter Williams; Mike Cardiff & Gary Strowbridge beat Malcolm Jeffrey & Richard Lisowski 5&3.

The ladies of Cowdray Park Golf Club held their prestigious annual pro-am. Despite the gloomy forecast they were blessed with a beautiful sunny day with the course in a stunning condition. The day was sponsored by Moore Stephens accountants.

Twenty-four teams of ladies and their chosen professional golfers representing clubs from Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey played in a medal format with the best two scores on every hole to count towards the overall team score.

Leading the way with a score of 16 under par was a team led by the professional at Boars Head Golf Centre in Crowborough.

Anthony Killik from Brighton & Hove and his team of ladies came in second with 14 under. Third were ladies who play at Bognor, Chichester and Cowdray with their professional Dan Clark, based in Bournemouth. Their score was ten under.

The raffle raised £360 for the Lady Captain’s charity, Macmillan.

n The ladies who had won a medal during the year qualified to play in the Smail Trophy. The winner was Brenda Rees returning a nett 76. Runner-up was Margaret Curwood with 77, with third place going on countback to Lil Cummins, also on 77.

BOGNOR

Sixty ladies played a four-ball better-ball second leg of their autumn meeting. The day started brightly but heavy showers did affect things later.

While it was very wet underfoot, good scores were achieved.

Included in the competition were nearest-the-pin and nearest-in-two prizes.

Winner of the meeting’s Milbourne Cup was Wendy Johnson (pictured) with a score of 71. She will be the new ladies’ vice-captain soon when Berit Smallcorn will take over the position of ladies’ captain.

The winner of the Aggregate Cup, combining the best scores of spring meeting and autumn meeting, was Heather Tidy with a total score of 159. The winners of the four-ball better-ball were Lin Harbutt and Chris Tuke.

On a cold and damp morning, 72 players took part in a four-man team Stableford where the best two scores per hole counted. Winners were Norman Lee, Alan Simmonds, Miller Stevenson and Gordon Catt with an excellent 87 points.

Second with 85 were Martin Leo, Ian Stoneham, Peter Stoneham and Vic Vincent and third with 84s were Alan Entecott, Roy Tidy, Barry O’Brien and Chris Johnson.

Bognor seniors travelled to Hayling and on an excellent golfing day the game swung end to end for the four pairs. In the end Hayling got their noses in front for a 5-3 win.

Roger Selway and Richard Kaemena had an excellent 5&4 win over their opponents but Paul Black and David Turner had a day to forget.

Results: Allan Delves & Frank Hodder halved, Paul Black & David Turner lost 6&4, Peter Bell & Richard Perry lost 5&3, David Chalmers & Russel Braham won 3&2, Roger Selway & Richard Kaemena won 5&4, Peter Lott & Clive Millett lost 5&4, Gary Steventon & Alan Fitzgerald lost 5&4, Andy Isitt & Chris Hickling halved.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking sports news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be among the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make this website your homepage

2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex

3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

Share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!