The Halifax Championships, which are hosted in rotation between the three 18 hole Halifax Golf Clubs, Halifax, Bradley Hall and West End, were this year held at Bradley Hall.
There was an excellent field both in terms of numbers and especially in quality, with exactly half the competitors having single figure handicaps and of those were a large proportion of the Union team players over the last few years.
The competition was the 'brainchild' of a Bradley Hall stalwart of many years, Geoffrey Pitchforth, and it is open to members of the Halifax clubs and their surrounding neighbours from Todmorden to Crow Nest and Queensbury to the Huddersfield boundary. It has been organised on an annual basis for around 50 years. The 'Halifax Champion' is the player with the best gross score on the day and there are also prizes for the best nett scores.
The day began at 7.30am in damp and misty conditions and the last group of the 84 competitors walked off the under clear blue skies on a beautiful summery evening.
Two of the early starters, David Stafford (1) and Ian Marsland (2), both of West End, set the pace with gross scores of 71, separated only by the par 3 of Ian as opposed to the bogey 4 of David on the final hole. Some came close, notably other West End members, Charles Burke (9)
Chris Ingham (2), Paul Gott(2) all with 73's along with the same score by Ben Adamson (scr) of Crow Nest.
It appeared that perhaps the winner was to come from West End but in the penultimate group of three members of the Bradley Hall scratch team, Club Captain David Whitaker (4), Martin Cockcroft (3) and probably the best amateur golfer in the area over the past 25 years, Andrew Whitworth (scr), the latter of whom matched the gross scores with his 71 and taking the trophy for the ninth time on the strength of his better back nine score.
In the competition for the best nett scores, there was a magnificent nett 64 from Charles Burke (9) of West End which proved to be 4 shots better than the second place of Mark Bailey (7) and 5 better than of third placed Josh Fairburn (6), both of Bradley Hall.
The final prize for the nearest to the pin on the last hole was won by Andy Bryan (8) who put his tee shot to within 10 feet and pick up a £50 voucher.
All in all it was a very successful day and next year the competition will be held at West End when it is hoped that another 'class' field will compete for the title.
Leading Scores:-
Gross
A.R.Whitworth 71 (back 9) HALIFAX CHAMPION
I.Marsland 71
D.Stafford 71
P.Gott 73
C.Ingham 73
B.Adamson 73
C.Burke 73
S.Martin 74
J.Fairhurst 74
A.Hare 74
Nett
C.Burke 64
M.Bailey 68
J.Fairburn 69
D.Alexis 70
C.Ingham 71
S.Sandie 71
P.Beck 71
S.Scott 71
M.Mitchell 71
C.Gee 71
There was an excellent field both in terms of numbers and especially in quality, with exactly half the competitors having single figure handicaps and of those were a large proportion of the Union team players over the last few years.
The competition was the 'brainchild' of a Bradley Hall stalwart of many years, Geoffrey Pitchforth, and it is open to members of the Halifax clubs and their surrounding neighbours from Todmorden to Crow Nest and Queensbury to the Huddersfield boundary. It has been organised on an annual basis for around 50 years. The 'Halifax Champion' is the player with the best gross score on the day and there are also prizes for the best nett scores.
The day began at 7.30am in damp and misty conditions and the last group of the 84 competitors walked off the under clear blue skies on a beautiful summery evening.
Two of the early starters, David Stafford (1) and Ian Marsland (2), both of West End, set the pace with gross scores of 71, separated only by the par 3 of Ian as opposed to the bogey 4 of David on the final hole. Some came close, notably other West End members, Charles Burke (9)
Chris Ingham (2), Paul Gott(2) all with 73's along with the same score by Ben Adamson (scr) of Crow Nest.
It appeared that perhaps the winner was to come from West End but in the penultimate group of three members of the Bradley Hall scratch team, Club Captain David Whitaker (4), Martin Cockcroft (3) and probably the best amateur golfer in the area over the past 25 years, Andrew Whitworth (scr), the latter of whom matched the gross scores with his 71 and taking the trophy for the ninth time on the strength of his better back nine score.
In the competition for the best nett scores, there was a magnificent nett 64 from Charles Burke (9) of West End which proved to be 4 shots better than the second place of Mark Bailey (7) and 5 better than of third placed Josh Fairburn (6), both of Bradley Hall.
The final prize for the nearest to the pin on the last hole was won by Andy Bryan (8) who put his tee shot to within 10 feet and pick up a £50 voucher.
All in all it was a very successful day and next year the competition will be held at West End when it is hoped that another 'class' field will compete for the title.
Leading Scores:-
Gross
A.R.Whitworth 71 (back 9) HALIFAX CHAMPION
I.Marsland 71
D.Stafford 71
P.Gott 73
C.Ingham 73
B.Adamson 73
C.Burke 73
S.Martin 74
J.Fairhurst 74
A.Hare 74
Nett
C.Burke 64
M.Bailey 68
J.Fairburn 69
D.Alexis 70
C.Ingham 71
S.Sandie 71
P.Beck 71
S.Scott 71
M.Mitchell 71
C.Gee 71
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