Sunday, 7th January saw the Farrington Park junior section gather for their annual presentation. It was clear from the vast number of young golfers present that the future of the junior section and golf in general at Farrington Park is looking very healthy indeed.
After an opening speech from club captain Shane Phelps, PGA pro Terry Williams and nine-hole (Manor) course organiser Mark Wickham presented prizes to the younger junior members, who attend the Sunday Tiger group sessions and Manor course competitions, including an amazing demonstration of ball-striking from Tiger of the year, five-year-old Reese Tucker.
Prizes were awarded for Most Dedicated Player – Josh Mowat, Under-Eleven Golfer of the Year – Oliver Barlass, ET Trophy (order of merit) – Max Curtis, Most Improved Girl – Abbie Moore, Most Improved Boy – Harley Wickham and Mum/Dad Caddy of the Year – Simon Curtis.
Additional prizes were presented following the Manor course Club Championships held in August. The winners were: White Tee’s Best gross – Abby Gray, White Tee’s Best Net – Frankie Dezis, Red Tee’s Best Gross – Libbie Dezis, Red Tee’s Best net – Abbie Moore.
Proceedings then moved on to awards for achievements on the eighteen-hole (Duchy) course, with junior organiser Peter Hansford awarding prizes for the major silverware and semi-monthly stableford competitions. The winners were: Order of Merit champion – Jackson Carey, Easter Challenge champion – Abby Gray, Singles Matchplay champion – Izzy Hansford, Junior Club Champion – Alex Marshall and Most Improved Junior – Alex Marshall.
Finally, it seemed fitting that Farrington Park’s first female junior captain, Izzy Hansford, handed over the baton to the incoming 2018 junior captain, Abby Gray, with consecutive girl captains showing the sheer depth of talent on display from Farrington Park Juniors.
Head PGA pro Jonathan Lawrence then gave the closing speech, highlighting the feeling of pride Farrington Park have over having such a strong group of junior golfers, with thanks given to the junior organisers, PGA coaches and helpers for all their hard work in 2017, and looking forward to another successful season in 2018.
After the disappointment of the cancellation of the first Ladies’ Morning of the New Year due to the continuing bad weather, 42 ladies were happy to meet on 11th January for a Three-Game Challenge Stableford.
Playing in pairs on a combined handicap, each team had to play the first six holes using the Greensomes format. The next six holes were played as Foursomes and the final six holes were played as a Texas Scramble.
The fine weather and light wind (even the sun made several appearances) contributed to the enjoyment of the day. The scoring was very good given the winter golf conditions. Plenty of teams made two-spot birdies, and count-back determined the placing of the sixth to third-placed teams after four teams finished on 38 points.
Wendy Butt and Lo Dallocco secured third place on a better count-back, ahead of Jenny Ahlberg and Lena Warren (fourth), Lally Gibson and Fiona Hassard (fifth), and Denise Baker and Debbie Jones (sixth).
Second place went to the long-hitting duo of Carol King and Sandra Hares, who finished with a fine 39 points. They were just pipped to the top spot by Sue Forshaw and Jane Ball, who secured victory when Sue’s long range putt on the par-five eighteenth hole, found the hole for a birdie four, scoring four points, to give them a winning score of 42 points.
In the first Senior competition of 2018, the later starters had a definite advantage, with the improving weather conditions making play a little easier.
The ideal way to blow away those Christmas cobwebs and walk off those extra mince pies is to play a four-ball betterball competition where all four players are totally involved.
Some outrageous scoring suggested a teetotal approach over the Christmas break, or perhaps some extra sessions in the gym – both options seem highly unlikely!