The flagship event of the year took place last weekend, The Club Championship. There were 133 players taking part on Saturday all trying to make the cut through to Sunday where the top 40 players and ties were set to battle it out to become the Winch Gold Medal champion or Club Scratch Medal winner.
Scoring was fantastic on Saturday; we had a 3 way tie at the top of the Winch Gold Medal with Terry Fogarty, John Barron & Norman Rose all returning with nett 68. There were a whole host of nett 69, 70 and 71 following up just behind so there was no let up for the guys who were sitting at the top.
In the Scratch Medal we had a 2 way tie with Sam Shearer and Shaun Macklin both firing in gross 69s with closest competitor sitting on 72, not a million miles away but the contest could turn into a 2 horse race if people started to drop off.
Conditions were much tougher on Sunday; the course was faster and firmer handing out lots of indifferent bounces…typical to that of a major championship! In The Winch Gold Medal Terry, John & Norman couldn't quite recreate the magic from Saturday and couldn't hold on to claim victory. The round of the day came from Ted Friend who fired in a nett 67 playing off 5 handicap but this still wasn't enough to win as Keith Jenkins added another nett 69 to his first round 69 to steal victory by 2 shots.
Well done Keith!
Unfortunately in the Scratch Medal, Sam Shearer had to retire injured after 5 holes as he damaged his wrist but that doesn't mean it was a clear path for Shaun Macklin to lift the crown.
There were still other experienced, seasoned players out there with the likes of Rob Osmond, Scott Mutter & Mike Bush all trying to catch Shaun.
Slowly 1 by 1 however, they started to fall away making it clear Shaun was to be crowned the winner and with his finishing birdie 3 on the 18th victory was assured!
Well done Shaun, well deserved!
Mollie Lawrence
Last week Mollie's golf took her up to The Nottinghamshire Golf & Country Club for the English Girls' Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship. There were over 100 girls all trying to claim victory but first they had to negotiate their way past the halfway cut which was set at the top 40 places and ties which inevitably turned out to be 14 over par, Mollie smashed that target and was sitting on 4 over par after rounds of 76 & 74.
Mollie followed that up with a superb round of 1 under par, 72 and putting herself right into contention. A final round of 76 left her in a tie for 5th place to finish the tournament. She has had a very solid couple of weeks which will stand her in good stead for when she heads up to Royal St David's GC for the Girl's British Open Amateur Championship.
Good luck Mollie!
US PGA Sweepstake
Well the Major Championships are over for another year and wow what an exciting year it's been for golf, all 4 majors won by first time winners!
Last week's US PGA Championship, yet again, threw up some surprises. After claiming his maiden victory at the US Open, Dustin Johnson was tipped to recreate his winning formula but how wrong was what that prediction? It was great to see Jimmy Walker win in such an amazing fashion with a wire to wire victory at Baltusrol GC even with world number 1 Jason Day breathing down his neck.
Even more spectacular, however, was the US PGA Sweepstake results! Sharing the top prize was John Trendler, Howard Comber & Open Sweepstake Champion Ian Jardine, all of which had their ProShop accounts boosted by a whopping £200 each!
