Rohan roars to Chichester junior open title

It was great to see Chichester's biggest field of juniors playing in the NA Al Nassar junior open. A mix of boys and girls, 20 in total, took part.
Rohan Miah receives the junior open trophy from Mark WoodRohan Miah receives the junior open trophy from Mark Wood
Rohan Miah receives the junior open trophy from Mark Wood

The course and weather were perfect and the greens had been rolled, so good scores were on the cards for any player who could hold their nerve and win this great competition.

Rohan Miah from Horsham Golf Club scored a superb 73 (one over par) on the Cathedral course and received the trophy from PGA Pro Mark Wood.

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Results: Winner: Rohan Miah gross 73 (Horsham Golf Club); Runner Up: Peter Davies 77 (Goodwood Golf Club). Div 1 Winner (Handicap 0-5) Rohan Miah nett 68; Runner-up (Handicap 0-5) Maddie Ripiner 79 (Meon Valley Golf Club. Div 2 Winner (Handicap 6-12) Peter Davies nett 70; Runner-up (Handicap 6-12): Xan Westerdijk nett 72 (Goodwood Golf Club). Div 3 Winner (Handicap 13+) Toby Evan nett 68 (Chichester Golf Club); runner-up (Handicap 13+) Ethan Randell nett 72 (East Sussex National Golf Club).

Junior membership is available from just £120 per year at the Hunston-based club. Visit www.chichestergolf.com or attend their membership open day on May 6.

GOODWOOD

The Park course played host to the Goodwood Junior Masters Medal, part of the season-long Order of Merit.

Joshua McCartain and Ethan Stride made up the first two-ball and led the field with confident tee shots, but soon found out why the first hole would play the hardest of the day.

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Harry Callow, Jamie Burchell and Harry Malin were next to play and Malin quickly established himself as the man to beat, making six pars on the front nine holes.

After a rocky first four holes, McCartain found his form and finished the front nine with a series of pars and a birdie at the sixth, keeping the pressure on the leader.

Also making a birdie at the sixth, Burchell was beginning to challenge Malin’s lead and only two shots separated them at the turn.

The afternoon boasted a remarkable display of consistency from the leaders, with not a single score worse than a bogey recorded between the three of them and Burchell making his second birdie of the day on the 14th hole.

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In the end, nobody could pass Malin, whose steady scoring saw him over the line with a fantastic score of nett 65. His hours spent on the putting green are clearly paying off.

Early the following Sunday the seniors made their way to the Downs for the Goodwood Masters Medal. The competition started with some brilliant scoring among those in the early groups.

Alistair Adams and Tim Easdown made the most of the beautiful conditions to score birdies on the second, Ian Hamlett landed a birdie on the third and Philip K Burns claimed one on the fifth.

Quick to establish themselves as contenders were Harry Callow and Peter Davies, who had both played in the Junior Masters Medal on the Saturday. Both did well to take on two medal competitions on consecutive days.

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Statistically, the seventh and 14th holes proved the most difficult on the day with only 14 out of a field of 65 recording par or better on either hole. David Light was the only player to land a birdie on the seventh.

The final result had to be settled on countback between six competitors who returned a nett score of 69.

Jason Nicholls came out on top and was delighted with his win. He said: “Winning Sunday’s medal on the Downs was part of a great day for me. The weather was glorious and I played with two great guys, Neil and David, both of whom were new to me.

“The course was in pretty good shape and I struck the ball really well on the back nine, which won me the event on countback. To cap it all, I’d had £2 each way on my favourite golfer, Sergio Garcia, winning The Masters at 45-1. Muchas Gracias Sergio!”

BOGNOR

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A splendid 108 men played each day in the Spring Tankard, an excellent turnout.

On Saturday the fog caused a two-hour delay in the tee times. The weather improved and was incredible for early April and all enjoyed playing on the course which was in super condition. 

A big vote of thanks went to Rob Brown and the greenkeeping team for all their hard work.

Ladies’ captain Wendy Johnson gave up her time to act as starter for both days of the competition. Wendy spent more than 13 hours on the first tee over the two days and her effort in helping the competition run as smooth as possible was appreciated.

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There were some excellent scores in the sunshine and Grant Twine won the Spring Tankard with fantastic scores of 65 and 66, a total of 131. Second was Stuart Poyser on 134, beating Peter Stoneham on countback.

By having the best score on the Saturday, Twine also won the Sussex County Golf Union Centenary Jug and he has qualified to represent Bognor in the regional qualifying competition in October.

The winner of the regional event goes through to represent the county in the national competition at Woodhall Spa next year.

The scratch side of the competition saw a very high standard of scores. Andy Brown won with scores of 70 and 68, a two-under-par total of 138. Jordan Vincent came second with scores of 70 and 71, a one-over-par total of 141.

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Results: Saturday, Div 1 - Peter Stoneham 72 nett 66, Gary Embleton 77 nett 67, Jack Taylor 73 nett 68; Div 2 – Grant Twine 79 nett 65, Jack Bingham 80 nett 68, Paul Brennan 81 nett 68; Div 3 – Lionel Hickey 93 nett 69, Jerry Rixon 87 nett 69, Andrew Greig 86 nett 70. Sunday, Div 1 – Jake Stoneham 69 nett 65, Kevin Holton76 nett 67, Andy Brown 68 nett 67; Div 2 – Stuart Poyser 76 nett 64, Chris Lovell 80 nett 66, Grant twine 80 nett 67; Div 3 – Jeff Clark 85 nett 69, Matthew Gleave 87 nett 69, Stephen Reynolds 94 nett 71

BOGNOR v COWDRAY PARK

Bognor seniors hosted Cowdray Park on a bright but cool day, and in a very tight game just won 3½-2½.

Cowdray’s match captain Phil Harrison, partnered by John Durrell, cruised to a 5-3 win over Bognor’s Jim Catt and John Woodhead.

John slipped into a ditch, which required a complete change of clothes, but he bravely carried on.

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The home side levelled in match two after a close contest, with Bognor’s club captain Chris Hickling having a fine back nine. After a gritty display from Mick King and David Wickham, Cowdray re-took the lead.

In the next match Cowdray’s top player Dave Lucking had to concede numerous shots to the home pair, but along with Eric Bounton they fought to the end, but lost 2&1.

Another close match followed with Colin Tebbutt and Robin Phillips only losing on the final hole before the closest match of the day closed proceedings.

Mark Kelly and Roy Penrose looked to be on the way to levelling for Cowdray when they were two up with four to play but the dogged home pair fought back to halve the tie and give Bognor a narrow win.

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Both captains commented on the great golf played and the fine spirit of the teams. The return match in early June is eagerly awaited.

Results: Jim Catt & John Woodhead lost 5&3 to Phil Harrison & John Durrell, Chris Hickling & Trevor Till beat Brian Brockhurst & Rob Doney 2 up, David Turner & Ray Leggett lost 2&1 to Mike King & David Wickham, Bryan Madgwick & Richard Beresford beat Dave Lucking & Eric Bounton 2up, Frank Hodder & Paul Black beat Colin Tebbutt & Robin Phillips 1up, Richard Hedge & Clive Millett halved with Mark Kelly & Roy Penrose.

COWDRAY PARK

Caroline Haynes and Jo Fife organised a superb Easter prize day for Cowdray ladies, supplying Easter treats for everyone to enjoy – and even getting the weather right.

The format of the day was a Bowmaker – teams of four with two best scores to count on each hole.

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Results: 1 Jo Fife, Vicky Lush, Mary Sexton Maureen Bailey 118pts; 2 Gaynor Dudman, Gayle Blockey, Sandra Barber, Amanda Paddle 113; 3 Ann Tyrrell, Cath Yates, Pauline Alexander, Helen Chapman 110.

AVISFORD PARK

Avisford Park GC held their own version of the Ryder Cup, with 52 players involved.

Each team had an allocated captain, with Europe captained by Andy Adams and the USA by Rob Kuszka.

On the first day, it was up to each captain to split their team into two. One half played foursomes and the other half played four-ball better-ball.

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After the foursomes results, the USA led 5-1 in a very one-sided affair. After the four-ball better-ball groups came in, they led 9-4.

Day two brought singles matchplay. Early on, Europe started to claw back the deficit, getting to within three points, but the USA pulled away again, winning eight in a row in the middle section of the draw.

It was too much for Europe and the USA finally won the competition 24-15.

Kuszka becomes the first captain to win the STM Ryder Cup.

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