JUNIOR MEMBERSHIP AVAILABLE

CLICK HERE FOR A MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM

WINTER SPECIAL

18 HOLES OF GOLF
Two course meal or an all day Breakfast
(Food available 8.30am - 2.30pm)
£23.00 per Person

Tuesday to Friday
4th Nov 08 until 31st March 09
Further details on availability and bookings to be arranged with
Professional Paul Wilby on
01440 712628
Haverhill Golf Club,
Coupals Road,
Haverhill,
Suffolk CB9 7UW

The Future’s Bright at Haverhill Golf Club

Paul Wilby, newly appointed PGA Club Professional at Haverhill Golf
Club, is looking to the local community to find youngsters who have
aspirations of becoming a member of Haverhill Golf Club and to become
part of this friendly Members’ Club future.

Paul and his Assistant Professional, Ollie Rush, are about to embark
on a junior programme where non-members will be welcomed to coaching
sessions, starting from just £4.00 per hour. These will be group
sessions and golf clubs will be provided free of charge to those who
do not have their own. The one hour classes are available by booking,
by contacting one of the golf staff on 01440 712628. The classes
start at 10.00am and 11.00am and run for 1 hour. More sessions will
be created to meet demand where necessary.

Both Paul and Ollie are currently working with the School’s Golf
Partnership, and will be visiting schools in the local area to pass
on their skills and knowledge to pupils who are interested in taking
up golf.

Paul has recently moved from Fynn Valley Golf Club in Ipswich, where
he was the Director of Golf for the last 5 years. He has also
recently been appointed as Chairman of the Suffolk Professional
Golfers’ Association, having been the county’s Professional Captain
from 2004 to early 2008. Paul has also worked for the Royal Family of
Brunei as a golf commentator and has worked with international golf
coaches Dennis Pugh and David Leadbetter (who coached Nick Faldo
during the late 80s and 90s).

Ollie Rush, who has moved from Newton Green to work with Paul, will
focus on making Sundays a junior golf day, where all youngsters will
be welcome to come and enjoy this great game and all that it has to
offer. Paul will be running an academy for the junior members of
Haverhill which will give them a minimum of 82 hours group
instruction during the course of a year.

Any non-member who shows a keen interest may have the chance to
become a member and join in with the academy to further their golfing
skills and obtain a golf handicap, which will then allow the young
person to play in Club competitions.

Both Professionals also teach adults to play golf and cater for
everyone from the person who has never picked up a golf club through
to a Professional Golfer’s standard.

If you would like to know more about coaching at Haverhill Golf Club,
then please speak to a member of the golf team on 01440 712628.

2008 Haverhill Junior Girls Open

......another great success!

Organiser Pam Ratford was very pleased with the number of young ladies that played at Coupals Road in the Girl's Open. Siobhan Pamenter (Upminster) was the scratch winner and Katy Nichol (Cambs. Menzies) the handicap victor. There were also a stableford and a 10 hole event for the younger girls and these were won by Harriet Haywood (St. Ives) and Amy Goodfellow (Gog Magog). Emily, Miranda and Siobhan are pictured on the putting green with Club Captain Terry Bishop, Professional Paul Wilby and Pam.

2008 'Men's Invitation Day'

A winner was the consenus of the members and their guests who played in the 'Men's Invitation Day' event. It turned out to be a competitive 27 holes of greensomes and 4BBB medal but nobody could top the accumulative 97 score of Gerry Scott and Ian Smith who are pictured with Club Captain Terry Bishop following the presentation of 'The Project Bowl'.

The proceeds of this years Classic have now been presented. All the donations were equal sums of £4,000 and these went to St. Nicholas Hospice, East Anglian Children's Hospice and Rotary Club Charities.
Members of the organising committee were joined by Barbara Gale (St. Nicholas) and Sue Meader (Each) with Haverhill's Past Captain Peter Bowers who just happened along to meet Barbara and present her with an additional cheque for £1,623 for the Hospice. Peter's donation was raised from various activities held during his year of Captaincy.

2008 SENIORS OPEN

112 seniors competed for this years Open which again was a 4BBB stableford played over 18holes and was won by Jim Walker and Barry Carter (Gog Magog). Their score was 43 points which got them home by one thanks to Barry's chip in birdie at the last hole.

Jim and Barry are pictured with Senior's Captain Harry Thompson

SPONSORSHIP FOR OUR SMART JUNIORS - August 2008 

It is thanks to the sponsorship of Grant Dobinson of ‘Polar Pools’ that Haverhill’s juniors are now splendidly kitted out in new shirts and slipovers. Grant, whose swimming pools, saunas and spas company which has been established in Haverhill since the mid seventies, is pictured with the clubs Peter Bowers and some of the boys prior to the Newton Green match.

For full results of the Newton Green  match go to results page

New Senior's Trophy

 

Instigated by Haverhill's Len Adams and Stan Brown of Gosfield Lake the seniors have enhanced their matches between the two clubs. Len is pictured with the current Senior's Captain, Harry Thompson, as the new shield which will be held by the winning club is officially handed over to Haverhill for safe keeping. A word of warning though to our veterans is be a little wary as with over 50 matches this summer we would not have a cabinet big enough to hold trophies for every confrontation.

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES

Pictured are two of our greens staff who have endeavoured with the rest of the team this year to present the golf course in such good order. It is congratulations to both of them who both have good reason for celebration. Carl Taylor, who is seen with Club Captain Terry Bishop, has been promoted and is now Glenn Norris's Deputy Head Keeper whilst Trainee, Craig Sisson has passed his NVQ level 2 exams.

*****
5 Star Establishment
*****

Caterer Jon Grimshaw was more than happy after opening his morning post and discovering he had been awarded a 5 Star Food Hygiene Rating by Braintree District Council. The legend under the five gold stars on the certificate simply says it all, "EXCELLENT".

Great Captain's Day For Terry

Club Captain Terry Bishop is pictured with Pauline Calmet and Jim Walker

Terry Bishop presided over his “Captain’s Day” on Sunday when he was joined by some 120 plus members. There were a number of chances to win prizes during the event or bid for lots in the evening auction which followed prize giving. At the end of a highly enjoyable competition it was “The Air Ambulance” organisation who turned out to be the biggest winners as Terry, who is still counting the pennies, is anticipating making a donation of £2k from the proceeds.

Go to the results pages for more details

PHIL'S farewell as Alliance Secretary

Suffolk Alliance (Winter) Secretary, Phil Segger, bade farewell to the role following the 2008 AGM which was held at Haverhill Golf Club. His 11 year stint is the longest any encumbent has held the position and Philip will be sorely missed by some 300 members who play competitions on a club circuit throughout the winter months.

The final action of President John Whiting was to thank Phil for his sustained efforts over the years as he presented a plaque on behalf of the organisation. He then handed over to Doug Renyard who added a specially commisioned piece on behalf of the Alliance members of the Haverhill Club. Phil is pictured along with John and Haverhill's President Christopher Briggs.

 SOCIAL EVENTS 2008 

The Social and Catering Committee have been looking at a programme for 2008. At this present time next years Fixture List is being compiled and there are some date clashes but we are assuming the proposed events will go ahead during the designated months so we have listed them below for your early perusal.



MIDSUMMER MADNESS 14th JUNE

AUSTRALIAN WALTZ 18th JULY

FOXES & RABBITS 23rd AUGUST 

End of Summer Bash 13th SEPTEMBER 

CASINO NIGHT Sat 18th OCTOBER

QUIZ NIGHT Sat 15th NOVEMBER


NEW YEARS PARTY Wed 31st DECEMBER

FREE GOLF COACHING 2008

Club Professional Nick Duc is once again this summer involved in the EGU/EWGA scheme and the dates for those who wish to try their hand at golf are 7th, 14th and 21st June at either 10am or 11.30am.

Non golfing members of the public are invited to come along and test their skills free of charge under the supervision of Nick and his assistant Steven Moye all thanks to the sponsorship of the games ruling bodies.

Following the tremendous response by juniors last year Nick is also dedicating sessions solely for them on the 4th and 5th August at 10am and 2pm.

Interested then it maybe be wise to make an early contact with the Professionals on 01440 712628.

FAREWELL STEVEN ............

Well we have had him since he was 12 years old so it is now down to somebody else to look after him for a while. On saying that though he will be missed but no doubt Steven Moye will be back to pay us a visit from time to time. Now he has been rubber stamped as a PGA Professional Steven has been offered a position at ‘The Berkshire’ and has grabbed the opportunity to further his career at this Heathland (wooded) club which has two 18’s and is situated in Ascot. There were a large number of members who attended his farewell do and Steven is pictured with our Presidential representatives, Chris Briggs and Peter Bowers.

DEAL - NO DEAL - the televised version

It was standing room only when Linda Eastwell’s game was finally televised. The buffet had been served and the drinks were flowing as Linda started opening boxes with resultant loud cheers or groans. We should have taken our audience to Bristol really as they would have put the studio audience to shame. The gathering in the club house for us rounded off Linda’s brush with fame and we are amazed she was able to go all those months without revealing her prize. We understand that after a small celebration she will be acquiring a new kitchen and will still be able to put a tidy sum aside for a rainy day.

SENIORS NEWSLETTER APRIL 2008

You may wonder why we have produced this newsletter for the Senior Section. Unfortunately the Company who produced the club newsletter has failed to get the necessary advertising revenue, so are unable to print the journal without the club financing it.

Those of us lucky enough to attend our annual dinner in February enjoyed a fine start to the new year with a truly fine spread put on by Jon and his staff, for which we were all grateful; and of course our thanks to Shirley for the tremendous organisation of the event.

Unfortunately our dear friend Jackie Adams is not enjoying the best of health at the moment. We wish her a speedy and thorough recovery. It would be nice to see Stella back playing again, hopefully soon. Also Mick Frere, who is still suffering back problems. – Get well soon!

I am sure by now that you have seen our ‘Flying Milkman’ (Doug Hardy) on the course, with his new machine! Don’t be afraid to stop him with any new orders you may require!
I know who I will be getting my Xmas hamper from this year!

Our season opening Day Out was at Channels Golf Club on the 11th March, was another very successful outing again organised by Brian Johnson, with 42 Competitors taking part.
The winner was Dennis White with 38 points. Second Brian Saunders on countback from Roger (The Driver) Campbell with Basil Sargeant fourth, again on countback, who all scored 36 points. The two nearest the pin prizes went to Captain Harry and Bill Lancee.

Mrs Kernutt was out guest at the club in March for our prizegiving morning.
The winners presented with prizes were:-

Mott Cup Peter Bowers
Ladies Cup Doreen Darbey
Bleasdale Cup Ann Thompson/Peter Cundall
Men’s 18 Hole Winter league Jim Walker
Kernutt Trophy John Norris

We do hope that as many seniors as possible will turn out on Monday 12th May (list on board) for the inaugural Alan Wakeman Trophy, for which Shirley has kindly donated the trophy and prizes.

Captain Harry is well into his year with matches coming thick and fast. At this moment eleven matches have been played, two of which were mixed games.

During May the Parks Trophy team, this year under the guidance of Jim Walker, are off to Ufford Park for their first round match. On paper Jim appears to have a strong team to choose from – We wish them well.

We also take this opportunity to wish success to the club’s Hambro and Tolly teams this season.

Ending this newsletter, we take the opportunity to wish Terry Bishop and Linda Macfarlane a successful and, more importantly, pleasurable year of Captaincy.

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

We understand that it was actually John Eastwell who rang the number before thrusting the phone into his wife's hand and this move eventually led to Linda appearing on the Channel 4 show 'Deal or No Deal'. Here she is pictured with the host of the programme Noel Edmonds and John on conclusion of her game. There was no pint pulling behind the Bar whilst she had a spell at the studios in Bristol where we know she had a good time along with all the other contestants. Her best text received during this period was probably the one declaring that it was really hard work being a celebrity but we believe she must have found it even harder keeping it a secret the fact she was even going to appear, as she is always pretty keen to have a chat.
Well done Linda we consider you are the star of the show and look forward to watching your appearances over the coming weeks.

............and then the snow just melted away full report on results pages

A RED HOT TIP ?

An added bonus for those visiting our Professional’s Shop these days may not relate only to your swing or the latest clubs on the market but possibly a horse going to the post in the 3.30 at Huntingdon. The Club’s professional and management team just failed to capture the £1k top prize in The Cambridge News “Go Naps” winter competition by the very narrowest of margins of less than £2. The resultant runners up cheque though which was presented to Stella Renyard by Amy Starkey, the Managing Director of Huntingdon Racecourse, has been added to the Club’s resources. Our thanks go to the newspaper whom organise the competition for 250 plus clubs in the area and also to the charming Amy and her company who sponsor the event.

The team is l/r Stuart Darbey, Doug & Stella Renyard, Nick Duc and Steven Moye

WINNERS OF THE PAST CAPTAINS' TROPHY..again!

Pictured l/r in the winning team are: Mich Calmet, Lee Chandler, Robert Scott and Gerry Scott.

The coveted Past Captain's Trophy went to Gerry Scott's team for a second time when they recorded 114 stableford points after battling against some fierce South Westerly winds and rain squalls. The format was the best three scores at each hole playing from a 7/8ths of handicap mark and what a dream start they had. Two birdies at the 1st and three more at the 2nd was certainly a launch pad for the round which got tougher as demonstrated at the par 5, 6th hole with many a player taking four shots to find the putting surface.

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SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 2008/09

7 DAY £570.00

5 DAY £480.00

COUNTRY £100.00

ASSOCIATED £50.00 + VAT

SOCIAL £15.00 + VAT

JUNIORS £110.00

A new scheme has been introduced for incoming juniors, which involves an introductory 5 day membership for the first month, details will be available from the Club Secretary or Junior organiser.

Age Related Discounts - 5 Day Members who have been with the club for 10 years will receive a discount which will be deducted on payment of Invoice.
April 1st will be the qualifying date for the discounts. Birthday’s falling after this date will come into force the following year.

Over 70 10%
Over 75 20%
Over 80 30%


JOINING FEE ADULTS £400

JUNIOR £30

The playing year was rounded off at the beginning of March when Jan Bowers, the Club Captain's wife, presented the trophies to the competition winners of the previous 12 months. Following dinner the prize table was slowly emptied before Club Champion, David Quinney, responded on behalf of the victorius assembly. Above are captured some of the players with Jan.

Mixed Winter Foursomes 2008

Pictured are the finalists Gerry Scott, Pauline Calmet, Denise and Jim Walker who were neck and neck there never being more than one hole between them all the way round the course. Edging ahead the Walkers were in the lead at the 18th tee and a final hole halved with fives saw them home 1 up

St Nicholas Hospice benefits

from Past Lady Captain Jackies charity fund

Our Past Lady Captain, Jackie Condon, making her donation to St Nicholas Hospice. This was half of the money she collected for charity during her year in office. The remainder has been donated to the Blue Cross animal charity.

IF THE COR* IS GREATER THAN 0.83 THEN IT IS AND UNDER RULE 4-1 YOU ARE DISQUALIFIED

THE GOLFER ACTS AS HIS OWN REFEREE – THE RULE WILL THUS BE APPLIED IN ALL CASES.

TO CHECK YOUR DRIVER CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE OR VISIT WWW.RANDA.ORG

* COR - Coefficient of Restitution

The 1st of January 2008 sees the non conforming driver ban in force. We have yet to find a golf publication which does not carry a reminder of the rule changes concerning these clubs so there should be no reason why you are not aware of the situation.
No matter how aggrieved you may possibly feel that you have previously been sold a dud, they will now be illegal.

Apparently under revised R&A Rules there is a penalty of two strokes per hole for carrying such a club with a maximum of four shots per round and in match play it is a loss of hole with a maximum loss of two holes per round, using one is disqualification.

*********************************

FULL STROKE ALLOWANCES

Please be aware that from 1st January 2008 there are changes to the 2004 Congu Handicapping System. For all competitions commencing on or after this date the recommended match play stroke allowances currently in force become mandatory. At this stage the only exception will be in Greensomes competitions.

Any competition starting before this date and which is in progress will abide by the stroke allowances that were in force when the event commenced.

GREEN KEEPERS RETIREMENT

After the official presentations on the evening of his retirement Head Green keeper Alan Carter quietly commented there was a lot more he could have said when he responded and we agreed with him it was not necessary as the course itself is testament to the effort that has been put in since he switched roles to that of green keeper following his earlier years at the club as ordinary and committee member.

Club Captain Peter Bowers had researched Alan’s take over period discovering there were early frosts that winter and there was also a big bald patch on the top level of the 4th green (which is today the 14th). At that time a small amount of the decrepit greens machinery we possessed was housed in the old Gurteen’s wooden garage situated beside Woodlands Hotel. The visitor to this building would have spotted the hooks that were situated internally above the double doors where the hams used to hang to mature.

Time moved on rapidly and following construction of the present greens shed on the course itself came the purchase of land and the development of the nine holes which took us to the current eighteen. Improvement has always been the target and many members will be unaware of the hours of research and hard work that has got us to the position we are today.

Now for Alan it is corrective surgery for a knee problem which was the result of an old football injury and hopefully then he will be spotted on the course more often honing the single figure handicap he has retained for several decades.

NEW HEAD GREENKEEPER

Haverhill Golf Club welcomes Glenn Norris as their new Head Greenkeeper.

Although Glenn is only 31 years old he has considerable experience in the greens department having been at Coupals Road since leaving school some 16 years ago. Always keen to learn Glenn achieved his NVQ at Level 3 and added to this many other facets of the business including spraying, chain sawing, digger driving etc. During his handover year he has developed his administration techniques and has already produced a 10 year suggestive plan for the course.

We wish him well in his new role knowing full well he will strive to take the course to even greater heights.

Glenn at work 

MEN’S MATCHES

In a previous issue we revealed the mysteries of the ladies County competitions and as we feel sure there are a number of members unaware of what goes on in the male golf world the following will hopefully unravel the details:-

HAMBRO CUP

This is one of four County competitions and generally regarded as the Blue Riband event. It is for teams of eight players and the format is foursomes played over a full 36 holes. All the rounds are drawn and it is an interclub knockout. The handicap range is plus to 9.

TOLLY COBBOLD CUP

The Tolly Cobbold is identical in format to the Hambro Cup with the difference being the players are higher handicappers who are between 10 and 18. Both this and the Hambro are played either home or away on the same days. Total holes won over the day decide the result.

STENSON SHIELD

This is a scratch event between teams of eight. The morning is devoted to foursomes and post lunch comes the singles segment. Again all rounds are drawn on a home or away basis.

PARKS TROPHY

The Parks is a senior’s event with a minimum age of 55 years. In each team two of the members must be over 65. Four pair of players competes over 18 holes utilising a 4BBB format. The maximum handicap is 16.

CURRY CUP

Being an invitational event organised by Colne Valley Golf Club the participants are primarily Essex clubs currently though there are three Suffolk clubs involved.

Three leagues of 5 teams play during the summer months and each league winner plus the highest points scorer go into a drawn knockout semi-final then final.

Each team comprises of 12 players split into two categories. Category One has six members with a maximum handicap of 10 but the accumulative total of their handicaps must not total less than 42. The other category contains the remaining six team members within a handicap band of 10-18, minimum accumulated total being 72.

The morning games are foursomes and post lunch singles played between matching categories. If a match is tied overall, as no game goes beyond 18 holes, then it is the nominated higher category players who are involved in any playoff to decide the match result.

CLUB MATCHES

These are simply interclub matches when any agreed number of players competes against each other. There are times when alternative disciplines are employed but usually the format is 4BBB.

SOCIETY DAYS

We are not big on visiting societies but those that have discovered they can experience a competitively priced day on a quality course are already booking for next year.

If you are interested and require more details then contact Linda Farrant, Telephone 01440 761951, who will be only too pleased to offer you a provisional date and also forward our current Society Brochure.

STURMER VILLAGE HALL CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT
By Ann Aken

On a perfect day on Friday 19th October, the Sturmer Charity tournament started with a misty Suffolk morning but quickly warmed up with sunny skies and warm temperatures, and the course was in excellent shape.

Competitors began the day with a tasty bacon buttie. The golfers also enjoyed the opportunity to participate in many skill challenges including closest to the pin competitions, longest drive for male and female golfers and double your money on the 12th green. Our sponsors were recognised by abundant signage on the course.

The charity golf tournament provided a fun filled day for the golfers navigating their way around the course. Seventeen teams of four competed in a foursomes stableford and August Computers came out on top. The event was followed by a superb carvery dinner in the clubhouse and the awards were presented by Vice President Peter Owen. The whole occasion was much enjoyed by all.

We still have a few outstanding receipts to collect but the total raised to date is just over £2,000, which is amazing and will be used towards the cost of resurfacing the village hall forecourt.

We look forward to seeing everyone next year at the 7th annual tournament. Thanks to all the committee members for their hard work, our sponsors for their support of the event and Haverhill Golf Club for their hospitality and professionalism. We know the members and guests who attended had a great time and appreciated the fellowship on the course and the hospitality of the clubhouse.

The three winning teams were August Computers (pictured) 95 points, Sarand 82 points and The Master B’s 82 points.

OPEN WINNERS  2007

Pictured above are our Mixed Open winners Brian Runham (Menzies) and his partner Helen Philpotts (Brampton Park). There were 104 entrants on the start sheet and despite another potentially wet day the sun eventually came out and there were no more popular victors than Brian, who plays off a single figure handicap, and Helen who are regular visitors to Haverhill.

LADIES OPEN



Lady Captain Jackie Condon with Jean and Angela

41 stableford points was the leading score by Jean Adams and Angela Waite who took the Ladies Open. It was the same score as the Mixed Open winners.

SENIORS OPEN




Len Adams is with Seniors winners Brian Smy and Bob Allison from the Diss club. You have guessed the points accumulated already, 41.

NEARLY A VISITING PARTY



As for this lot, what can one say? They loved having their picture taken even though several of them could not get to the 1st tee in time and you will no doubt recognise some of our own members amongst the group. Still it is nice to see our Club President and Captain out on the course along with members of the Stour Valley Golf Society. Remember if you wish to visit Coupals Road in a similar group then give our Secretary Linda Farrant a call.

EGU COACHING SCHEME

In our last news update we reported on our participation in the EGU Free Coaching Scheme for adults and then juniors. Following this theme continued when our Professional Nick Duc devoted his time to our own juniors, again within the framework of an EGU sponsored course. Nick is pictured on the chipping green with some of his pupils.

TOM CAMPBELL

It does not seem 21 years ago that proud Dad Roger Campbell dragged us over to the Woodlands car park and flung open the rear door of his Ford Sierra and introduced us to the Campbell twins. The big one has slipped back to spend a further year at Durham University whilst his brother Tom has stepped into the business world and is currently on a six month research contract for Glaxo Smith Kline at the Cambridge Science Park.

Tom did rather well in his younger golfing days at Haverhill being a Past Junior Club Champion and Junior Captain also a member of the Suffolk Junior Team. He certainly also excelled at school moving on from Linton Village College to Hills Road 6th Form College before gaining entrance to the University of Warwick.

During the time he was attending University we had the odd report from Dad and spotted Tom around the club during holidays so we were aware he was doing reasonably well. Subsequently it came as no surprise to learn that he had gained a 1st Class Honours Degree in Bio-Chemistry and he was also the top student over the three years of the course

Tom on Graduation Day

JUNIORS

It seemed that during the summer holidays the juniors were playing competitions every day as they had an intensive period of events, so many in fact the C.A.B.Edwards Championships joined the Autumn Cup in the mid-term week.

The Edwards was played over two days and the scratch winner was Oliver Cracknell who had Jack Warwick and Tom Marsh in his slipstream. In the handicap section Jack Read took overall honours from Chris Vince and Fraser Curl.

L/r Jack R, Fraser, Chris, Jack and Oliver

Two days later it was the turn of Fraser Curl who showed the field a clean pair of heels winning the Autumn Cup by a wide margin. In the stableford section Alex Archer, who had only just been promoted to the white tees, also produced a very good round to capture the top prize.

The current Junior Captain is Harry Mills and towards the end of the summer holidays he organised Junior Captain’s Day and his winning medal round was at the expense of fellow County player, Oliver Cracknell. In the stableford event for the higher handicappers a lot of points were required to come out on top. In the end, after several re-checks to ensure the points recorded were correct, it was Robert Rudge with a massive 49 who eased Edward Baker into second spot.

L/r Oliver, Harry, Robert and Edward

Edward Baker had not yet finished collecting prizes as his next foray was with a mixed pair in the Melford Cup. Along with Gerry Wheatley and Bill Lancee the trio more than assisted by Edward came up trumps taking top spot.

And finally the winners of The Golf Foundation Adult/Junior Foursomes were Jack Warwick and Steve Nichols.

L/r Jack and Steve

Congratulations

These are in order for our assistant professional, Steven Moye, who has passed his PGA exams. He now carries the status of a Level 3 Golf Coach.

Two other members who have reached a further stage in their pursuit of golf are Oliver Cracknell and Harry Mills. Both boys who have been part of the Suffolk Coaching Scheme for some years have taken a final step into the top level. Former Cambridgeshire Schools Champion Oliver and Harry have both been invited to join the County under 18 squad.

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 SENIORS REPORT  
Len Adams writes

Our season of matches has come to an end with an even greater number wanting to play. Of games played we won 21, halved 4 and lost 16.

I have greatly enjoyed my year as Captain, which is all thanks to everyone in the section, and I am sure with continued support Harry Thompson will enjoy 2008 as much.

I would like to thank Brian Wimpory and Norman White for again making an excellent job of running the Senior’s Open. It was a repeat full entry of 112 competitors with the winning pair of Brian Smy and for the second year running Bob Allison from Diss Golf Club. Runners up were Roy Hodges and Peter Bernadine from Gosfield Lake. A fine day with good prizes and terrific food served by Jon and his staff was enjoyed by all present.

Our Summer Singles competition was won this year by Jim Walker who beat Brian Johnson in the final. Our Summer Fourball Knockout final was a keenly contested game with victory going to the pairing of Bob Campbell and Bob Hammett beating Peter Mercer and Jim Rennie.

We finished our season with the second of our “Away Days” with 45 of us going to the Thetford Golf Club on a beautiful day in early November. The course was in great shape and the scoring reflected the toughness of the course. The winner was Dennis White with 34 points on countback from Geoff Bush. Third was Dennis Harkness and fourth Mick Turner. There were two nearest the pins: these were won by Paul Wallace and Dave Ross. The prize for the best score on the par threes was kindly donated by Jim Walker and won by John Condon.

I would like to finish by thanking Harry, Pat, Brian, Roger and Dick for all their support and hard work during my year, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Finally many thanks again to Brian Wimpory who for the past 10 years has organised both summer and winter leagues. These have now been passed to the committee to run.

AN AFTERNOON TO REMEMBER

Unfortunately the chance came just after the schools re-opened following the summer holidays but two of our juniors Edward Baker and Chris Vince organised themselves and thanks to our friends at The Golf Foundation were able to receive coaching at Stoke by Nayland courtesy of the PGA Seniors Tour.

The pair was lucky to come under the wing of Nick Job who in his professional career has rubbed shoulders with the best. We remember him appearing in the 1980 Hennessy Cup team in a side that included Nick Faldo, Sam Torrance, Sandy Lyle, Neil Coles and Mark James. The European opposition that year included Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer. In the 1980’s Nick became Club Professional at Richmond Golf Club and in his first full season on the Senior’s Tour became their Open Champion. He has not finished outside the top 20 in the Order of Merit during the last four years

Nick Job with Edward Baker and Chris Vince

Judging by recent results from Edward and Chris they obviously learnt from their lesson and also have a golfing memory to savour thanks to the PGA Seniors Tour.

Seniors v Juniors

Len Adams with Nicky Weller and some of his team

In response to the query of have the seniors ever beaten the juniors the answer from Senior’s Captain Len Adams was they were working on it. At least Len looks a little happier than his predecessors did in previous years when the match shield was handed over. Straight match play yet again saw off the old boys and it was a very happy acting Captain Nicky Weller who accepted the trophy on the juniors behalf.

JUNIOR GIRL’S OPEN

This event is becoming a regular in our calendar since Pam Ratford got it off the ground. There is never a very big field but all the young ladies seem to enjoy it and make no mistake there are some really good golfers amongst them. We noticed this year that even the higher handicap girls were very positive with their games and are sure their handicaps will come tumbling down.

On the day it was Cheryl Chisholm (74) who took the medal from Laura Tuttle (76) whilst Lauren Keeley Hunt (73) was the scratch winner. The girls home clubs being Stowmarket, Newmarket Links and Royston.

St.Neots apparently has only three girl members and two of them competed and dominated the stableford. Donna Hayden’s 29 points was two too many for her club mate Alex Hutchinson.

The winners with Pam Ratford & Peter Bowers

The Birdman Swoops

Thanks to Simon Ladd, who we christened The Birdman, we have been able to develop our website video a stage further as can be seen at www.club-noticeboard.co.uk. Taking to the skies in his Para motor Simon has added a further dimension to our presentation of the golf course and certainly his efforts offer a fresh perspective.

Now you can have a golf balls eye view of the fairways and the back 9 in particular, with the more mature surroundings, looks quite impressive. We now have a range of images which you will see pop up from time to time in future club projects.

Men's Invitation Day 2007

Mick and Eric with Club President Chris Briggs

Again this year it was a small field that contested this 27 hole event but nevertheless it turned out to be a really good day as was expressed by one visitor who got up after the prize giving and thanked the Club and his partner for inviting him. The sentiment was the same from everybody who attended and we in particular wish to thank the sponsors for their more than generous contributions to the prize fund. It was a real value for money day.

The overall winners were a pair well known to us in the form of Eric and Mick Kiddle who playing some superb golf in the 4BBB element returned a total of 70 stableford points. Gerry Scott and Mick Parmenter and Steve and Cleve Nichols were the runners up.

Charity Golf Classic

The presentation ceremony
Left to right Chris, each ladies, Sue, John and Terry

Following this year’s Charity Golf Classic, two cheques were recently presented to the beneficiaries. £8,276.00 went to East Anglian Children’s Hospice and was gratefully received by Sue Meader. The remaining £6,000.00 was presented to John Senior, President of Haverhill Rotary Club, by our Vice Captain Terry Bishop.

This year’s event has now taken the charity fund to over £94,000 since we started the event some eight years ago which is a tremendous achievement. With your help next year should exceed the £100,000 mark.

We have already started thinking about next year and the date has been set for Saturday 28th June 2008 so please mark it in your diaries now. The main beneficiary will again be E.A.C.H and we will try to get Russ Williams back for the evening entertainment as he was such a hit this year.

A breakdown of the income from the event is as follows:

Nearly £2,500 came from donations of which a special mention must be made of Graham Spencer, Howard Ward and Andy Mason who

always give the event 100% support. The raffle tickets raised £2,000 and the committee’s thanks go to Mark Chapman who donated the flat screen TV. Of course this event could not take place without the full support of the Golf Club main committee and the entrance fees raised nearly £6,000. The events on the day raised over £3,000 which included the auction in the evening.

Our main sponsors this year were Printwise Group, Polar Pools and Breeze Business Solutions. Our special thanks go to them and all our advertisers in the programme who helped raise a further £1,500.

Thank you to all the golf club members who helped on the day. Special thanks go to the girls on the registration that were there nearly all day and to Stuart, our starter, who kept the day moving with the traditional light hearted banter.

Thank you all once again for your generosity and I look forward to your continued support next year.

Christopher Briggs
Club President

HGC Award Winners - 'Sports Club Of The Year’

Haverhill Golf Club are now Anglia Regions ‘Sports Club Of The Year’.
The award was made at Greene King’s ‘Awards For Excellence 2007’ ceremony held in Woodbridge earlier this week. Co-presenter on the evening was the Bury St. Edmunds based brewery representative, Tania Wreathall, who is pictured with the Golf Clubs Doug Renyard.