Simon Byford's golf column: Bury St Edmunds' Alice Barlow adds prestigious Hampshire Rose Challenge trophy to growing collection
With John Rahm collecting the Green Jacket in an enthralling Masters, the golf season is now officially upon us.
And it wasn’t just the Spanish sensation collecting trophies this week because Bury St Edmunds Golf Club’s Alice Barlow has been winning national titles and improving her standing on the world golf stage.
I am lucky enough to see first hand the work Alice puts into her game every week at the club, and these early-season rewards are testament to that grind.
She took a huge step towards her goal of turning pro by winning the prestigious Hampshire Rose Challenge trophy. The event is paired with another prestigious event – The Roehampton Gold Cup – which was played 24 hours earlier and involves professional golfers as well as top amateur golfers.
Alice finished 11th overall at Roehampton and second in the amateur field.
The two amateur events are combined for a 7-hole aggregate event called the Gold Rose and world amateur ranking (WAGR) points are available from this.
The morning round at North Hants was played in severe cold and breezy conditions which made it very tricky indeed. Only one player in the field managed a sub par round with Alice struggling all the way round and she could only card a seven over par 80.
The afternoon, however, saw a marked improvement in the weather and Alice seemed to click into gear, carding a four under par 69 to leave her tied in the clubhouse with her group playing partner Herry Ji.
Both players were three over par total, which meant a sudden death play-off on 10 and 18. Knowing that the play-off was coming and that the 10th hole was a par 3, 5 iron shot, Alice and her caddie (dad) decided to head to the nets and stay loose with plenty of 5 iron shots.
Alice won the toss so teed off first and her 5 iron tee shot to the 170-yard pin was sublime and left only five feet. Herry put her tee shot 25 feet short of the pin, only to then race her first putt past and could only make a four. Alice, therefore, had the luxury of two putts from five feet to seal the Hampshire Rose title. Alice also took the Gold Rose trophy donated by Justin Rose for the combined event by two shots.
Next on the agenda for Alice is the Helen Holm Scottish Open at the end of April, before heading to defend the Welsh Women’s Open Strokeplay in early May.
If all goes well the plan is to turn professional after the R&A Amateur Championship in June, then accrue some LET earnings to gain a card for next season, otherwise it will be the LET Qualifying School.
We all wish you the best for the season ahead Alice, and a big thanks to you and your dad for providing all the information above.
Thetford GC (Report by Gill Welham)
The ladies held their annual Closed Spring Meeting – the first major golfing event of the year.
The course was showing its true splendour in the wonderful sunshine which was much appreciated by all the participants.
The event was well supported and the clubhouse was buzzing with noise for the presentation that followed.
Ladies’ captain Vicki Smith presented Sue Saunders with the Woodland Trophy for the best Gross with a score of 85 gross and the Highfield Trophy to Heather Keeble for the best nett of 77.
Stowmarket GC
The Stowmarket senior men took part in the Charles Grayston Medal.
Division 1 was won by Des Palmer with a nett 68 and Barry Austin came second with nett 72. Division 2 winner was Alan Learmonth (67) and Andrew Coxhead (69) was runner-up.
The Ladies Medal was a three-division event with Carolyn Heywood’s nett 75 top of Division 1, Georgina Anderson (78) top of Division 2 and Gillian Freeman (85) winning Division 3.
Meanwhile, the Junior Easter Cup was an Edwards family affair. Big brother Finley managed to come out on top with 31 points and Reece had to settle for second place with his 28 points. Lastly, there was the Masters Texas Scramble social event, which was won with a ridiculous nett 54 by S.Arnold/A.Pickett/D.Smith/M.Williams.
The Suffolk GC
Augusta may have their Green Jacket, but The Suffolk have their very own Maroon Masters Jacket.
It is a tradition on Masters weekend every year, and this year’s edition was won by Len Hopkinson with 41 points ahead of James ‘Chips’ Laflin and Jim ‘Can’t Chip’ Chapman on 40 points.
Chips got his win, however, in the Midweek Stableford, James returning a level handicap 36 points to top the field.
The Senior men held a medal won by Rob Kennedy with a nett 69, and a fourball betterball event, won with 45 points by Derek Bloomfield and Anthony Lawes.
Bury St Edmunds GC
Another major event got under way for the Bury St Edmunds men. The Croger Cup is a medal qualifier, where the top eight players progress to a matchplay knockout to determine the Croger winner.
The eight players will be: Sean Studd, Paul Glasswell, Barry Hurren, Roger Nicholson, Sam Morley, Mike Brooks, Tim Tyte and Peter Sandry.
Julie Byford came out on top in another Medal, with the lowest gross and nett score in Division 1, 87-9-78. Louise Andrews topped Division 2 with a nett 80, and Division 3 was won by Caroline Sumpter with 79.
As the week’s continue to get busier, we have an exciting event to report on next week, so I look forward to sharing that with you, and as always have a great golfing week.
