Festive cheer for members at Crow Nest

On Saturday Crow Nest Park Golf Club members gathered in the clubhouse for a members Christmas party.

Despite the appalling snow storm raging outside nearly 50 hardy members attended and received an early present from the Golf Club Management.

General Manager, Les Holmes advised the members that a decision had been made to "Freeze" the membership subscriptions for the season 2010/2011 at the same level as this season. As you can expect the members received the announcement with a round of applause.

Holmes stated, "The announcement went down extremely well, and follows last years reduction in subscription levels. Next year, full playing members will pay on average £45 per member less, than they did in 2008."

He added, "Some who take advantage of an early payment offer will actually pay £69 less. We continue to offer good quality golfing facilities at a competitive price, Even our Club Snowman is happy with our announcement!!!!"

The photo indeed shows the Club Snowman smiling at the announcement.

Is this the most amazing golf club in the World?

The Huddersfield Golf Blog by name is all about golf in Huddersfield and the surrounding area, and we like to keep it that way!

So for us to post an article about a golf club hundreds of miles away, in of all places France, you may think that we have had a drop too much of Cabernet Sauvignon as we head towards the festive period. However, this amazing course was pointed out by one of our regular readers and contributors so we thought it was worth highlighting.

Outlane member Bob Hazelden reported, "This is one of the most remarkable golf clubs I have ever come across. My wife Bren and our two golfing friends, Pam and Allan Hoyes, go to France every year and have played several courses in the area of Provence where we stay. However, there is one course that is in the next village which is so exclusive and secret it doesn't even have a name!"

To find more about this intriguing course, which some say doesn't even exist and certainly doesn't have a website, we would advise that you read this article about Vidauban Golf Club, which translates to "Goat Track".

Hazelden finished by saying, "I hope you find this of interest because it's quite amazing and I will let you know if we ever get to play it!!"

Juniors keeping it in the family at Outlane

Outlane junior member, Cameron West, is enjoying his golf at the moment and his father Stuart is certainly getting the best out of him as they scored an amazing 57 points in the second division of the Pro's 4-Ball Betterball competition on Saturday.

With Cameron coming in on 14 holes they registered a fine win from David Cromack and Dennis Pearcey who's score of 60 just pipped Derek Wood and William Iredale into second spot.

The first Division again saw a familiar family combination winning with Junior Captain, Bryn Jenkinson getting the best out of his grandfather Granville. Their tally of 57 was again three shots better than second placed ex-junior Steve Howlett and Ken Robinson who had a shot to spare over Kevin Pendlebury and Peter Hey.

1st Division:
G.Jenkinson / B.Jenkinson = 57 nett
S.Howlett / K.Robinson = 60 nett
K.Pendlebury / P.Hey = 61 nett

2nd Division:
S.West / C.West = 57 nett
D.Cromack / D.Pearcey = 60 nett
D.Wood / W.Iredale = 61 nett

Top Honours for Outlane Juniors

The annual Presentation evening proved to be very fruitful for the junior section at Outlane Golf Club.

Many of the club's youngsters collected prizes including top awards in several of the Major Trophies. Mark Saville (pictured left) won Junior Golfer Of The Year and collected the Pennine Trophy.

Junior organiser Bob Hazelden said "Outlane is probably one of the few clubs who let juniors play in major competitions and it is obviously paying off. The comments from members at the presentation night was an absolute credit to them."

The below photograph shows three of the club's latest juniors, who have just got their handicaps with established members Cameron West and Mark Saville. From left to right; West, Saville, Tom Winpenny, Nathan Lockwood and Elliott Wilson.

Badrock & Leek dominate Hebden Bridge Alliance

Having secured victory in the corresponding fixture last season, HHDGA President Richard Badrock and Fred Leek from Castlefields once again took top honors around Hebden Bridge last Tuesday.

Scoring an excellent 44 points, with a superb front nine of 23, they won easily by three points from home pairing Chris Hoyle and Dave Rigler on 41 points.

Richard and Fred continuing their fine form, having won the second alliance fixture at Dewsbury this season, found the Hebden Bridge course to their liking and they were only one over gross after nine. This form continued through the back nine with the only glitch being on the seventeenth where neither were able to score, by this time however, they had already done enough to secure victory.

In the Pro-Am section Woodsome Hall professional Chris Hanson and his partner James Beattie claimed first position with a superb 41 points, this was enough to win the competition by just one point. The pair from Woodsome Hall and Bradley Hall between them scored a gross level par 68 for their round equating to five under net! In what was a welcome return to the alliance fixtures for Chris, after his successful trip to Dubai, it was obvious that he has brought some of that winning form back with him.

In second place was professional order of merit leader Rob Booth and his partner Andy Hare from Bradley Hall with 40 points.

See the full results.

In what was has quickly become a regular fixture for an Alliance to be held at Hebden Bridge the weather was actually very good. The day was dry and surprisingly warm. The course itself was in good condition and had stood up to Novembers rain very well, with only the third fairway being particularly wet. With the usual support from clubs members and staff through volunteering to ball spot the day was an overwhelming success.

James Washington, treasurer of the Alliance and recently appointment Manager at Bradford Golf Club, said, "The service and hospitality received at Hebden Bridge was excellent and many complimented the Christmas fayre afterwards. The Alliance would also like to thank Hebden Bridge, and in particular Geoff Holmes for his efforts in helping to organise the day."

The next event is at Wortley Golf Club on Wednesday 30th December for the Alliances first Christmas trip. Support for the event has been excellent and there are only a few places left. The cost is £30, which includes travel, breakfast and dinner, 18-hole golf competition and an excellent prize table.

Meanwhile you can also now view the Champion Club points table online. This is awarded to the best performing club throughout the season and is based on the cumulative Stableford points tally for the best score by a club at each alliance event. The club with the most points at the season end will be crowned champion club.

Alwoodley Announced as Grand Final Venue

As reported last month there will be a brand new matchplay competition for Yorkshire golfers to contest in 2010.

The Yorkshire Matchplay Golf Championship is a new knockout tournament set to launch next year and is open exclusively to amateur golfers in Yorkshire so long as they are a member of a club affiliated to the county union.

The competition is split into four sections; North, East, South and West with the winners of each region, in both the Individual and Pairs event, invited to contest the Grand Final next September. And is has just been announced that The Alwoodley Golf Club in Leeds will host the climax of this new tournament.

The man behind the tournament is Huddersfield man, Edward Battye, and he is thrilled to have secured the Alister MacKenzie designed course as the Grand Final venue, “I am over the moon that we have managed to be able to finalise such a fantastic course as the location for our finale. I personally rank it as the best in Yorkshire and believe that the chance to play here will add an extra incentive for those entering 'The Race to Alwoodley'.”

Alwoodley is steeped in tradition and is currently ranked by the independent website, www.top100golfcourses.co.uk, as the 25th best in England – the 13th highest rated inland course. The club was founded in 1907 and forms part of the famous stretch of golfing territory on the northern fringe of Leeds. The course got a five star rating in Golf World’s "1000 Best Courses in Britain & Ireland" and according to Today's Golfer is "one of the best-kept secrets in British golf."

Since the turn of the millennium the testing heathland course has already hosted a plethora of major tournaments, both amateur and professional, including; the Yorkshire Amateur Championship, the British Mid-Amateur Championship, The English Amateur Championship, the British Ladies Open Strokeplay Championship and the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship. It has also been a regional qualifying course for The Open on several occasions and has been chosen to host the 2011 English Women’s Open Strokeplay Championship.

Julie Slater, the Manager at Alwoodley commented, “We are really pleased to be the host venue for the Grand Final of the Yorkshire Matchplay Golf Championship and delighted to be associated with this new tournament in it's inaugural year. I am sure the grand finalists will enjoy their day on our fine championship course."

That is unlikely to be in doubt because as well as two rounds on the famous links the finalists will be greeted with breakfast on arrival where a draw will be made for opponents prior to the semi-finals. They will enjoy a light lunch before the morning winners do battle in the afternoon to determine the overall champions. For the morning losers a third place play-off will be held whilst the day is concluded with a presentation dinner.

Entries do not officially open until January, however, golfers can find out more information and register their interest by visiting www.yorkshirematchplay.com.

Halifax Scratch team win the Emmott Bowl with help from former Juniors

The annual match between the Halifax Scratch Team and their Junior counterparts took place last Saturday on a wet and cold Ogden morning.

Each team had six players plus the organiser of each section in a matchplay format over 18 holes. First out was Scratch team organiser Tony Gerrard (7hcp) against Junior organizer Darren Davison (6hcp). After a shaky start from Davison the lead went to Gerrard taking a 1up lead through the first four holes. Two solid shots to the par four 5th gave Davison the hole to level the scores and after winning four of the next five it gave the Juniors a commanding lead which Davison was to hold onto winning the first game.

Next out was Clive Crawshaw (2hcp), the current Club Champion and one the best matchplay players the club has ever had, up against in-form Junior Connah Judson (16hcp). Some solid golf by both players resulted in the match evenly tied all the way round with neither of them taking more than a one hole lead at any time in the contest. The game was finally won on the last hole when Connah's final putt came up inches short giving Crawshaw a one-hole victory.

With the scores 1 - 1 the next game was between Simon Wilson (3hcp) and Jack Waterworth (20hcp) with Wilson carrying on his fantastic form that he's had all year with three birdies and three pars in the first six holes. This gave the Scratch team member a 5-up lead that Waterworth could not match. This saw Wilson take the third game and a 2 - 1 lead in the overall match.

Game four saw former Junior Stephen Sweeney (4hcp) against Liam Dean (16hcp) and once again the scratch team player showed his class with a handful of birdies to take a 3-up lead at the turn which he managed to hold onto despite the brave efforts of Dean to win the game 3&2.

The Junior team now losing 3 - 1 in the match needed something to happen to keep them in the tie and next up was Junior Girl Georgia Wilson (16hcp) up against another former Junior Luke Mudd (5hcp). The impressive and big hitting Wilson took the lead early on and extended it to 4up through 12 holes before Mudd started to chip away. But he left it too late and ran out of holes, Wilson finally putting another point on the scoreboard for the Juniors wining 1-up.

The next game was evenly matched as both players were off five handicap and up for the Scratch team was another former Junior, Tim Pollard. He was up against Jamie Smith who has played for the Scratch team this year but his loyalties lie firmly with the Junior side. With the match evenly balanced through the first few holes the big hitting Pollard used his short game to perfection chipping in on the fifth hole to extended his lead to 2-up. Consistent play by both players kept the game at 2-up to Pollard and another hole late in the game gave the point to Pollard that the Scratch team needed to win the Emmott Bowl.

The final match which was between Steve Smith (5hcp) and Junior Captain Nick Bennetts (11hcp) was not played as Junior Captain Nick was unable to make it due to illness so the final score was Scratch Team 5, Junior Team 2.

Davison commented after the match, "The future looks good for the Halifax Junior Section as we have four former juniors now playing for the scratch team and many more to come through in the likes of Jamie Smith and promising players such as Connah Judson and Liam Dean. They will be looking to follow the likes of Mudd, Sweeney, Cowie and Pollard into the scratch setup in the years to come." He added, "Without the support from the likes of David Lightfoot, Les Lawson and John Pickles who regularly donate funds to the junior section which allows them to have junior lessons and lower membership fees the junior section would not be as strong as it now so many thanks goes to all who help with the junior section."

Captains Dinner at Dewsbury District Golf Club

The Annual Captains Dinner at Dewsbury District Golf Club took place on Friday 4th December.

The Dinner was hosted by Captain Mr. Phil Smith and was a very well attended occasion. It was enjoyed by club members and guests alike.

The invited guests were mainly made up of Captains from many of the neighbouring clubs within the Huddersfield and Halifax Union. After the Dinner and formal part of the evening entertainment was provided by Mr. Malcolm Lord, a well known after dinner speaker.

The photo shows Smith entertaining his guests and fellow Golf Club Captains prior to the Dinner as well as club members enjoying the evening.

Hebden Bridge Start Times

The start-times for the next HHDGA meeting are now available to view online.

The event takes place at Hebden Bridge Golf Club on Tuesday 8th December.

View starting times.

Crosland & Wood in December Victories

The December Stableford at Outlane produced some very good scores with Anthony Crosland winning by 1 point from Steven West.

West was playing with his young son, Cameron, who was playing in only his second competition after getting his handicap. However, the 13-year-old scored a very creditable 31 points.

The second division saw Derek Wood winning comfortably by 4 points from another 13-year-old, Michael Thomas, which saw his handicap reduce from 26 to 23.6 which bodes well for the Outlane junior section.

Division 1
Anthony Crosland = 41 points
Steven West = 40 points
Paul O'Hara = 40 poinrs
David Petts = 39 points

Division 2
Derek Wood = 48 points
Michael Thomas = 44 points
Keith Skippins = 42 points
John Drake = 42 points

Meanwhile the Outlane Golf Club are currently having a FREE junior membership category if one of the parents join as a full member .