He's the Main man to win Chichester golf title

For the final round the greens were rolled again to maintain the pure putting surfaces, and the pin locations were all changed.

Main came home with an impressive one-over-par 73 to beat Faulkner by ten shots after he finished with an 84 in the afternoon.

Well done to all that completed the 36 holes in the heat.

Results: 1 Richard Main 149; 2 Paul Faulkner 159; 3 Tommy Keet 163.

BOGNOR

Bognor held their annual double competition, the Hardwick Bowl, for men with handicaps up to 12, and the Junior Cup for those with a handicap above 12.

Nearly 90 men turned out in excellent conditions and Gary Embleton won the Hardwick Bowl with an excellent gross 74, nett 65. Second was Gary Maskell with 75/66; third Billy Darby with 76/68.

Mark Prothero won the Junior Challenge Cup with 86/68. Second was Martin Donohoe on countback with 86/68 and third was Adrian Smith on 88/69.

Bognor seniors travelled the short distance to Southwick Park and after being the first club last year to win at Southwick for more than two years, Bognor came tumbling back to earth this year and lost 4-2.

Seniors’ captain Chris Hickling did his bit with his partner Terry Kuhler in returning a good 3&2 win. Mike Oates and Allan Delves led from the off before losing the 17th and 18th to go in one down – such cruel luck.

Southwick were great hosts and Bognor look forward to hosting them in September

Results: Chris Hickling & Terry Kuhlew won 3&2, Mike Oates & Allan Delves lost 1 down, David Turner & Steve King lost 2&1, Jim Stephenson & Richard Kaemena lost 3&2, Ian Bright & Mick Matthews won 3&2, Andy Isitt & Brian Madgwick lost 4&3.

A total of 64 Bognor seniors played in the popular Brian Poston Greensomes. Brian was club secretary for many years up to his retirement in the late 1990s and is still a regular player at the club.

Winners with an excellent score of nett 63.5 were Roger Leverton and Phil Lee ahead of Cliff Willis and Roy Kempson with 64. Third on countback were Peter Bell and Alan Fitzgerald and fourth with nett 64.5 were Paul Archer and Peter Selby.

Nearest the pins were awarded and also Brian’s favourite of drive nearest the rope on hole 17. This particular prize was won by Paul Archer, whose tee shot apparently hit two trees and ended up right against the rope. Brian presented the prizes after a meal.

Five Bognor ladies – Chloe Court, Heather Tidy, Sian Southerton, Katy Field and Teresa Byrne –took part in the ladies’ county championship, played over three days at Littlehampton.

Court, Tidy and Southerton qualified for the knockout rounds. Court lost in the first round but went on the win the plate. Tidy reached the semi-finals but lost to the eventual winner. Southerton lost in the first round of the knockout.

Court and Tidy were selected to represent Sussex at counties week, which is this week at Littlestone, and Southerton has been selected to play for the county seconds.

The first round of the Langmead Medal Challenge was played in wind and rain and only 16 ladies took part. conditions were much improved for the second round so a separate 18 hole competition was held as well.

The overall winner for the two rounds was Sue Crossen. Berit Smallcorn was second and Rita West was third.

18-hole competition results: Silver division - 1 Sue Sidebotham, 2 Suzanne Taylor, 3 Sian Southerton; Bronze A division - 1 Berit Smallcorn, 2 Margaret Martin. Bronze B division - 1 Eileen Morris, 2 Kim Mercer. Bronze C division - 1 Di Crook, 2 Maleta Moore.

Bognor’s current and past lady captains played in the Past Captain’s Cup. The winner was June Salt, Davina Rumsby was second and Margaret Martin was third.

The ladies’ invitation four-ball better-ball saw 14 pairs take part on one of the hottest days anyone could remember.Winners were Louise Colvin and her guest Jenny Elliott from Brighton & Hove.

GOODWOOD

Golf At Goodwood academy manager Chris McDonnell has achieved a long-held dream to qualify for the PGA Cup. McDonnell will represent Great Britain and Ireland when they face the USA in the tournament at Foxhills, Surrey, in September.

McDonnell succeeded in qualifying for Albert MacKenzie’s squad by finishing fourth at the PGA Championships at Luttrellstown Castle in Dublin, where he equalled the course record with a round of 65 – seven under par – in the second round.

In 2015, McDonnell narrowly missed out on qualification for the biennial PGA Cup by half a point, so is understandably delighted to have made the cut this time.

He said: “The target for the week was to finish in the top six so I would qualify for the PGA Cup. There was a chance of winning but once I knew this wasn’t possible with a few holes to play, it was all about making sure I qualified.

“Winning the PGA Club Professionals’ Championships and qualifying for the PGA Cup are the highest achievements a PGA professional can achieve. I’ve been lucky enough to do both now, so I’m unbelievably happy with myself!”

Luttrellstown Castle was playing a monstrous 7347 yards for the PGA Championships, with different playing conditions each day. McDonnell started the tournament with a onr over par 73, despite high winds making the course even more challenging.

In round two, McDonnell moved in second with his superb 65 putting him one shot behind leader Paul O’Hara. With a constant 30mph wind and persistent, heavy rain, round three proved extremely tough, but McDonnell limited the damage with a score of 77, putting him tied for the lead.

The wind stayed for the final round, but without rain, McDonnell shot a one over par 73, which secured him a fourth place finish and a qualification for the PGA Cup.

McDonnell said; “My whole game felt good all week. I actually played my best golf in the final two rounds, even though my score didn’t suggest so. When conditions got tough it really did test your ability to control your ball flight and distance. If there was a slight flaw, it was my putting in the final round. But all in all it was a very consistent week under huge amounts of pressure.”

Stuart Gillett, general manager for golf and leisure at Goodwood, said; “We would like to congratulate Chris on his superb achievement and we are extremely proud to have him as one of our full-time PGA professionals.”

Golf At Goodwood has partnered with bagSOLO to sponsor the junior teams at the club. Goodwood has a growing reputation for an active junior section and the county and regional representation from their junior members is growing fast.

bagSOLO is a custom shipping, delivery and tracking service for sports equipment. bagSOLO exists to transport golfing, skiing and cycling equipment from home or workplace and take it directly to a hotel, golf course, resort or holiday home anywhere in the world.

Golf At Goodwood has been working with bagSOLO for the last year to provide its members with the additional benefit of its excellent bag travel service and this new partnership represents a great next step in building the relationship. The support of bagSOLO has allowed the club to provide shirts, performance tops and caps for the junior team that has been very well received.

Stuart Gillett, General Manager for Golf and Leisure at Goodwood, said: “We are delighted to be able to provide our juniors with some fabulous team kit through the support of bagSOLO. The juniors absolutely love the clothing and caps and it makes them feel very proud to represent Team Goodwood.”

Mike Coyne, CEO of bagSOLO added; “We’re delighted to have Golf at Goodwood as a partner and see this relationship in particular as one of the cornerstones of our business model.”

COWDRAY

Cowdray seniors’ busy summer season of inter-club matches against a very strong Worthing side, which included two single-figure handicapers.

Cowdray got off to a promising start with match manager and former seniors’ captain Sam Howes and Mark Kelly eventually winning 3&1.

The second match was heading in the same direction with Robin Phillips and Dave Gaff leading three up at the 12th, only for Worthing pair Sam Amadass and Dave Pond to turn on the form, winning the next four holes to overtake the Cowdray pair and win the match one up.

Cowdray’s own low handicapper Alan Gormley (hcp 5) was playing with immediate past seniors’ captain Derek Smith. They dovetailed beautifully to made relatively-light work of their match to win 5&4.

Yet again, the Cowdray lead was shortlived when current seniors’ captain Mike Hughes and Colin Tebbutt found themselves on the wrong end of a 6&5 loss.

The reliable Colin West and Tony Sapsworth again restored Cowdray’s lead – only for it to be lost again in the next match which was the first to start on the 17th tee.

In the end, the result was a very enjoyable 4-4 draw.

Cowdray visit Worthing in August.

Results: Howes and Kelly won 3&1, Phillips and Gaff lost 1 down, Smith and Gormley won 5&4, Hughes and Tebbutt lost 6&5, Sapsworth and West won 2&1, Burden and Overington lost 3&2, Doney and Hallt won 5&4, Holden and Pat Harrison lost 3&2.

On a very hot day, Cowdray ladies competed in the Ping four-ball better-ball competition.

Results: 1 Terry Hughes and Brenda Rees 39pts; 2 Wendy Street and Barbara Smith 37; 3 Nicki Moores and Helen Silver 37.

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