Chris Boughton's golf column: Tyler Weaver scoops top prize at Flempton Club Junior Club Championship
A strong field contested the 36-hole Flempton Club Junior Championship over the weekend of September 12-13.
Fine weather brought some good scores with 1-handicapper Tyler Weaver shooting a one over gross score of 141 to take the honours followed by Sam Jensen (1hcp) on 147 and George Jackson (5hcp) on 148.
The handicap honours went to George Jackson, shooting a two under 138 closely followed by Tyler on 139 and Adam Waterman (12 hcp) on 141.
Tyler was also crowned junior champion at Bury St Edmunds Golf Club in July following closely on from his outstanding performance in the Faldo Under-16 competition series.
Tyler attends Culford School and is one of the stars at Lawrence Dodd’s Golf Academy at the school.
He is surrounded by sporting excellence. His father Jason was a highly acclaimed flat race jockey with more than 1,000 wins in his 14-year career. And his younger brother Max is also an exceptional young golfer. The brothers are fine golfing prospects and have already played in international competitions.
Stowmarket Golf Club
Stowmarket held their Men’s Club Championships over two days with 126 members taking part.
Scratch handicap member Bryan Graham is this year’s Club Champion (Gross) with a two-day score of 144. Jon Brown (1 handicap) was close behind in second spot with 145 and 4-handcapper Andrew Grogan came third with 148.
Former club captain Mark Tibbenham is the club’s Nett Champion with a score of 138 followed by Grogan with 140 and Sam O’Doherty on 142.
In the 19+ handicap category, also played over two rounds and two days, Josh Knights (19hcp) won the gross crown with 181 and Lucas Brittain was the runner-up. Brittain came out on top in the nett with 136 and Knights came second (143).
Bury St Edmunds Golf Club
There was a huge turn-out for the Tim Brinton Trophy at the Bury St Edmunds Golf Club for a midweek competition last Tuesday.
A total of 133 golfers competed in fine weather conditions returning some good leading scores in both divisions.
In Division 1, Donald Keith scored 43 points to take top spot followed by Thomas Brough with 42 and Malcolm Parkinson with 40.
The leading scores in Division 2 were even more impressive. Ian Howell led the way with 44 points followed closely by Paul Nightingale with 43 and Robert Marshall on 41. In fourth place Rob Hills scored 40.
On Saturday, Bury St Edmunds GC held their annual Jim Bright Salver for past captains of the club.
Recent ex-captain Marthinus Robbertse came out on top with 38 Stableford points. Current club President David Kerswell was the runner-up just missing out on count-back. Steve Finch came in with 36pts for third place.
The Ladies also held their Past Captains’ Cup on Saturday where the winner was Judy Hamshere with 38 points. Elizabeth Robinson was three points behind in second place and Joan Garrett came third with 33.
The Suffolk Golf Club
In the Men’s Midweek Stableford Qualifier at The Suffolk, Jim Chapman was the victor with an impressive return of 44 points.
Chapman started well with a birdie on the 1st hole and another on the 6th and completed his front nine holes in one under gross. His final tally of 44pts was eight shots better than his handicap.
Richard Clegg also started with a birdie on the first and was just two under gross at the turn and finished runner-up with 42pts.
Joe Symonds now leads the midweek Order of Merit with 28 points after seven rounds, following his third place on the day with 37pts. Chapman is in second place in the league table with 26pts and Alf Sandford lies third with 24.
The club’s Ladies’ section also held a midweek qualifier on Wednesday last week with Jacky Thomas coming out on top with 37 points from her 16-handicap. Runner-up Sheila Burns just missed out on count-back after returning the same score. Young Emilie Thomas was third.
Simon Hodson and Len Hopkinson are joint leaders in the club’s Saturday Order of Merit with 29 points apiece after seven rounds.
In the latest competition in the series, Hodson took first place on count-back from Mark Thomas, with them both scoring 38 points.
Three handicapper Hopkinson finished in third spot with 37. Richard Tungate, Chris Tate and Alf Sandford all finished with 36 points for 4th, 5th and 6th places respectively. Tate lies in third spot in the Order of Merit with 27pts.
On Sunday ,former jockey and the club’s current men’s captain, Gordan Markham, was first past the post and the winner by several lengths in the Sunday Stableford competition at the club. His score of 40 was six points ahead of runner-up Paul Dobbyn who returned 34pts. Lee Reynolds came third on count-back from Stephen Brown who was fourth. Both scored 33.
Markham had a good week as he also paired up with club Pro Adam Trett at Royal Norwich GC last Monday in the PGA Pro-Captain-East event. They finished in a credible fifth place in a field of 53 pairs.
The Royal Norwich GC relocated to Weston Estate in Norwich opening in September 2019 from Drayton Road (Opening day star guest was Ian Poulter) and Trett said: “The course and facilities at the new club were superb.”
