President's Plate
Shrewsbury Golf Club defeated Llanymynech to win the President's Plate in a thrilling tie on Sunday. The tie was finely poised after the 1st leg at 1.5-1.5 with Shrewsbury 5 holes up, but home advantage can often be enormous at such courses and Llanymynech started as slight favourites.
In an effort to get early momentum, Barry Ruddick and Sean McCarthy were sent out first and in a tight game edged into an early lead. In the second match, Andy Mallett and Tom Kerr traded birdies with their opposition and also moved into an promising position. The final game saw Martyn Travis and Ian Forbes take on Dave Caldwell and Basil Griffiths, arguably Shropshire's finest amateur golfer over his entire career. A cagey opening saw most of the opening holes halved.
The galleries were treated to some sensational golf from players on both sides and the benign conditions allowed the target golf to continue throughout the opening exchanges, with Shrewsbury slightly in the ascendency.
Llanymynech's long 9th hole is rightly regarded as a monster but all 3 Shrewsbury pairs birdied this tough hole and moving on to the Back 9 Shrewsbury were 3up, 3up and 2up and seemed to be on their way to a famous win.
Forbes and Travis made the perfect start to the inward 9 by eagling the short 11th, but that was to spark a determined comeback by all 3 Llanymynech pairs and as they continued to win hole after hole the match was very quickly turned. Kerr and Mallet lost 3 on the spin to return to all-square, Travis and Forbes were all of a sudden down and the lead of the opening pair was swiftly back to just 2 holes. The large gallery of spectators were able to enjoy the drama and the high standard of golf on option and it was clear that the next move would be the decisive one.
Happily, it was the Shrewsbury team that proved to thrive under pressure. Tom Kerr's magnificent approach to the 15th proved enough to move back into the lead, and simultaneously Ruddick and McCarthy showed the class that has elevated them to County First team stalwarts by ruthlessly closing out the final holes and registering a 5 holes victory that would be decisive. Forbes and Travis ensured that no more holes would slip away and despite their narrow defeat did not allow the home team the big win that they now required. A solid par on the tough 16th was enough to for the middle game to go dormie 2-up and victory was now assured.
Alan Lewis and Dave Gilmour, the respective Hargrove captains, shook hands and Shrewsbury Golf Club were crowned President's Plate champions. The close bond between these two clubs was once again in evidence in the spirit in which the game was played and both teams enjoyed drinks and a meal together once the presentations were made.
Full Result
First leg: Shrewsbury 1.5 - 1.5 Llanymynech
Second Leg: Llanymynech 1-2 Shrewsbury
- Barry Ruddick & Sean McCarthy beat Tom King & James Hampson 5up
- Tom Kerr & Andy Mallett beat Adam Hilditch & Wilf Williams 1up
- Ian Forbes & Martyn Travis lost to Basil Griffiths & Dave Caldwell 2 down.
Overall result: Shrewsbury won 3.5-2.5
Winter Stableford
Congratulations to the following winners.
Div 1
Stephen Haylett - 42pts
Andy Deacon - 39pts
Stephen Webb - 37pts
Div 2
Keith Baker - 39pts
Clive Mabbutt - 38pts
Joe Davis - 38pts
A two in this competition was worth £8.79
Seniors Stableford
Due to heavy fog on Thursday the Seniors Stableford had to be cancelled. The seniors section has rescheduled this competition for Thursday 2nd April.
Seniors Coaching
The seniors coaching next Wednesday will be focusing on bunker shots and lob shots. Please click here or phone the pro shop on 01743 874581 stating which session you would like to attend either 10am or 11am.
Ladies Coffee Morning and Fashion Show
The Fashion Show, organised by the Ladies section and the pro shop, was a huge success with ladies from Shrewsbury Golf Club and other Shropshire clubs buying their new golfing outfits for 2015.
Tina Robinson, our Lady Captain, was very pleased with the day and was happy to announce that £157 was raised for the Captain's Charity (Neonatal Unit at Princess Royal Telford Hospital) and £183 for the Ladies Section.
Many thanks go to all the models and people who helped to make this a great event.
The Lady Captain's coffee morning and fashion show was, as always, very well supported and all this year's new clothing was very well received. A large thank you to all the ladies who helped to make this day successful and well done to our brave models who all looked fantastic in their new outfits.
This year we had sales representatives from Nike, Abacus and Glenmuir who all very kindly gave away some products for the charity raffle. Congratulations to Elaine Adams who won a £50 voucher to spend with Abacus, Sheila Combes who won a Glenmuir shirt and Maggie Holmes from Market Draytonwho won a pair of Nike shoes.
Thank you to all the ladies that attended and thank you for your orders and purchases.
Thank you to David Kidby for the photos
Ladies Coaching Tuesday Mornings
We will be holding some group coaching for the ladies section. All ladies are welcome to attend. Sessions will be on Tuesdays running from 10am - 11am. The sessions will be ideal practice for the upcoming golfing season.
Cost per person per session attended will be £7.50 .
Please speak to the Pro shop staff or click here for more information and to book a place.
Tue 14th April - Using Woods
Tue 21st April - Chipping
Tue 28th April - Pitching
Tue 5th May - Iron play
Tue 12th May - Bunker Play/Lob Shots
Tue 19th May - Putting
Handicap League 2015
The fixtures for the 2015 Handicap League have been arranged. For those not familiar with the format it is four ball better ball matchplay competition played off current handicap between club teams of 6 pairs each. Juniors less than 18 years of age are not eligible to play. (Sorry) Of the 12 players representing each club six players will have a handicap of 12 or less, one of whom will appear in each pair, and the other player will have a handicap of 13 or over but not exceeding 24. A player of over 24 handicap may play off 24 handicap. If you wish to play please indicate below your interest by adding your name to the list on the clubhouse notice board or contact me, Phil Millar, on 07866 916763. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.
Sat April 4th 11:00 Home v The Shropshire
Sat April 25th 11:00 Away v The Shropshire
Sat May 2nd 11:00 Home v Market Drayton
Sat May 9th 11:30 Away v Market Drayton
Sun May 24th 11:30 Home v Llanymynech
Sun June 28th 13:00 Away v Llanymynech
PING i25 Clearance
Driver - were £249 now £149
Fairway - were £179 now £99
Hybrids - were 139 now £89
Ladies PING Serene Irons
We have 1 brand new set of ladies PING Serene Irons, 7 to SW were £399 now only £250 . PING have now launched a new set of Ladies irons (Rhapsody) which are available to try in the Pro Shop.
