Play follows prayer at Chichester golf veterans remember

Conditions on the course were difficult with strong winds and blustery showers. Low Stableford scores prevailed.

Don Philips adapted to the conditions best of all, winning the individual trophy with 35 points. Bev Shrives-Wrist was second with 32 points.

The remaining 30 veterans struggled through to the end. Those who had served in the Royal Air Force narrowly defeated their Army friends, with the Royal Navy further behind in the team event.

All entrance fees were donated to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and for a wreath to be laid at the Remembrance ceremony in Selsey.

* Chichester ladies held their annual prizegiving and annual meeting.

A cheque for £2,142,39 was presented to the Chichester Stroke Club on behalf of lady captain Jane Buckley. The money had been raised during her year as captain through charity games, raffles and donations.

Prizes were presented to ladies for competitions and trophies played for during the season.

Club champion was Sang Porter and senior club champion Elaine Fell. The most improved player was Viv May-Hearn.

The annual meeting included reports from the sections’ committee and the election of officers for next year.

Other results - 3 Musketeers - 1 Caroline Hawkes, Lynn Plowman, Treyn Haynes 100; 2 Elaine Fell, Val Swain, Denise Lansley 98; 3 Sang Porter, Judith Whittaker and Secret Partner 96; Waltz - 1 Sang Porter, Lisa Mitchelmore and Rachael Hutchinson 77; 2 Caroline Hawkes. Marie Conner and Val Swain 76; 3 Mary-Lou Litton, Hannah Stephens and Kathy Donohoe 67.

BOGNOR

November golfing events – new to the club three years ago – set out raise money for Prostate Cancer UK, the charity that helps so many with a nasty but all-too-common disease.

The club were delighted that a record 132 players took to the course to support the event. It was run as a Stableford Texas scramble, and with the perfect weather and course conditions the scores were remarkable.

Congratulations to the winning team of Jake Vines, Matt Gleave, Jeff Clarke, Neil Slater with a score of 92 points. Second with 91 were Derek Dady, Lionel Hickey, Den Burgess, Bill Houlton and third with 90 were Adie Smith, Alan Cramp, Graham Halliday and Dave Bevan.

Nearly £1,000 was raised for the charity.

Bognor seniors held their last ‘major’ of the year last week. Known as the Poppy Day competition, members who were in a service represented them in a team competition and were joined by many non-services members.

Each of the Army, RAF, Navy and Home Guard had 21 players representing them and everyone did well in wet and windy conditions.

The winning Service team was the Army, with Michael Lanham picking up the trophy.

The Poppy stableford was won by Chris Jenkinson with an excellent 39 points, just edging out Malcolm Dodds on countback. Third with 37 was Jim Stepehnson.

Each service’s next best scores were awarded prizes and these went to: Navy – Gezz White, RAF – Terry Kuhler, Army – Mike Oates and Home Guard – Horace Roberts.

There was a host of other prizes presented. Seniors’ captain Mike Oates presented the prizes after a bangers-and-mash meal. The whole event was superb and thanks went to those on the committee who had organised the day.

All players took part in a serenade of wartime songs. The Poppy collection raised £248.

* A strong field of Bognor juniors turned out for the Riseborough Jug, an event introduced to the calendar by long-serving member Stanley Riseborough, whose family is synonymous with the club.

Good scoring conditions brought out the best in players. Nearest-the-pin winner was Tom Hendrick.

The main event saw the second play-off of the year between Jake Stoneham, who scored a gross 69 to amass 39 points, and Charlie Broggi who managed his best score of the year.

The first hole saw both players drive off into good positions. Broggi eventually holed his putt to win the trophy. Stoneham won the Tartan trophy scratch prize played on the same day.

* This year’s junior Bognor Open had just more than 40 entries, with the quality of players very high.

The event is run by John Malin and with several club members helping start, ball spot and man the scoreboard.

In glorious sunshine 16 players scored below par on handicap and four scored below par gross.

The prizes were dominated by Bognor, who filled the first three places on the main gross list with Harry Isham just beating Jake Stoneham on the back nine both having scored impressive 68s. This was Isham’s first competition score under par and should give him a big boost. Third place went to Harry Malin.

The nett competition was very competitive with Bognor’s Charlie Maginnis scoring an incredible nett 60 (including a double bogey on the last). Second was Will Oates from Royal Eastbourne with 61, which most thought would be good enough. Max Herring from Goodwood was third on 64.

The nearest the pin prizes were shared between Oates, Fergal Crichton-Coote (Cooden Beach GC), Joseph Byrne ( Cottesmore GC) and Stoneham (Bognor).

Also played on the day was the Overton Team Salver, played every year for Sussex clubs. This year’s winning team was Bognor represented by Katie Field (captain), Isham, Stoneham and Malin.

Field went on to Royal Eastbourne GC for the autumn meeting, the final event on the girls’ county scene. After a tough day of scoring Katie emerged as the scratch order of merit winner over the season. She also had the honour of earning her county colours and was presented with her badge.

New captain kicks off for good causeGet your cricket gear on for game of golfCOWDRAY PARK

The Men’s Medal was won by Nick Caws with a nett score of 67. Second was Scott Evans on 68 and third Paul Silver with 69.

The club’s 19th Hole greensomes were won by Mick Shotter and Kevin White with 42 points, ahead of Chris Dormer and Mick Fillary on 41.

GOODWOOD

Golf At Goodwood ambassador Toby Tree provided advice and inspiration to some of the club’s most aspiring and competitive juniors during a special performance coaching session.

Hosted on the Downs Course driving range and putting green, eight juniors were treated to a two-and-a-half-hour masterclass, which focused on getting the most out of their training.

Tree, a European Challenge Tour professional who made it through to the final stage of ‘Q School’ with the aim of gaining a card for the 2019 European Tour, imparted his wealth of knowledge on warming up and maintaining flexibility, playing different shots and tailoring each training session to achieve different goals.

Stressing the importance of training with others in order to maintain motivation, Tree said: “It’s great that Goodwood hosts events like this, getting the juniors all down practising together.

“When you are practising, you want friends and a group to work with, because practising on your own can get boring at times and playing with others helps keep you competitive. The set up at Goodwood is really good and the facilities here have personally helped me a lot with my game.”

Talking about how he hoped to inspire the Goodwood juniors, Tree said; “When I was younger there was a few people that I looked up to and being able to see how they did things was really helpful. I think it’s good for them to be able to see players who are bit older, how they play and whether what they do is similar or different – hopefully that can help them improve.”

Among the juniors learning from Tree was Joe Sykes, Goodwood’s youngest ever Scratch team player.

He said: “The session with Toby was a great experience for all the juniors attending and the stories he told us about life on the tour made it really interesting and valuable. I look forward to watching his progress and hope that he can make it onto the European Tour!”

In terms of his own game, Tree reflected on an up and down year, but was keen to look ahead. He said: “I had a good start to the year, with a couple of top fives, a top ten and a top 20 in my first four tournaments, before a decent start to the Challenge Tour, but I was a bit disappointed with the middle and end of the season, especially following an injury playing in Ireland.

“I have Q School now and that is a great opportunity to gain a playing card for the European Tour in 2019.”