On a morning where heavy rainfall threatened to ruin things, the weather cleared and play got underway and proceeded without any further interruptions. The competition was tight at the top, with one point separating the top four pairs, and emerging victorious were the Bridgnorth pairing of Paulette & Bill Morris, with 41 points. They were one ahead of a three-way tie on 40 points, with Debbie & Hugh Jones, of Borth & Ynyslas, taking second place after a card countback.
Many thanks to everyone who supported the event, and special thanks to Tracey Cheshire for organising the sign-in desk.
Competitors in our 36 Hole Scratch Salver competition had to endure very tough, windy conditions, and having finished second last year, it was Callum Brown, of Bridgnorth, who showed his mettle to go one better this year in scoring a fine first round 68 (-2), followed by a solid 72, to secure a four shot victory with an excellent level-par total of 140. His closest challenger was Shifnal's James Showell, who followed up his morning 74 with a fine 70, for 144. Kidderminster's Steve Clarke shot 74+72 (146), for third place, ahead of Ludlow's Ross Magill who scored 73+73 (146). Taking top spot in the net competition was Hereford's William Skinner, with net 69+72 (141), two ahead of second placed David Waldron, from Churchill & Blakedown, who scored 70+73 (143).
Many thanks to our starters for keeping things running smoothly.
Bridgnorth's Jon Guest took top honours in this year's Seniors Open Medal with a fine net 67. He had a two shot margin of victory over second placed Paul Sumner, of Puckrup Hall, who beat Ludlow's Bill Billson on the back nine, after both returned a net 69. Ludlow golfers took all of the remaining net prizes, with Andy Dixon (70) fourth, Mike Belshaw (70) fifth, David Foreman (71) sixth and Richard Edwards (71) seventh.
The event attracted a big field of 77 golfers from 30 different clubs, including the likes of Woburn and Royal St. Davids, with the lower handicappers vying to shoot the best gross score and get their hands on the Gordon Reynolds Trophy. This year's winner was Kington's Nigel Griffiths, with a score of 73.
Once again our Open Am-Am, played on Sunday 31st March, attracted a full field of 164 golfers (41 teams) and produced some fine scoring. Leading the way, with an excellent 89 points total, was the Ludlow team of Neill Smith, Alan Meyrick, Jonathan Price & George Smith. They were 3 points clear of Ludlow's John Davies, Anthony Griffiths, Neil May & Kevin Fincher, who beat Stourbridge's Mark Mason, Stephen Round, Terry James & Mark Yates on the back nine, after both teams scored 86 points.
Many thanks to all the competitors for supporting the event, thanks also to our starters for keeping things running smoothly.
Our Winter Open Betterball Stableford competitions reached their conclusion on Thursday, with the fourth and final event seeing another fantastic entry of 100 golfers, enjoying more great winter golf at Ludlow Golf Club. Coming out on top, with a fine 45 points, were the Bridgnorth pair of Nigel Ridgeway & Philip Kay, beating second placed Phil Spencer & Steve Phillpotts, of Bransford, by one point. Jack Barker & Noel Talbot, of Wharton Park and Droitwich, took third place with 42 points, with Bridgnorth's Micky Benting & Hugh McNeill fourth on 41 points, beating Ludlow's Neill Smith & Nick Bird (Kings Norton) on the back nine.
Shooting a superb betterball gross of 63 (-7) for 43 points, Ludlow's Darren Humphries & Dave Fish easily took the best gross prize.
All four events in this Open Winter Series, (Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb), have been played without any cancellations due to weather, and they have attracted a total of 372 golfers, from far and wide, in the knowledge that they will be able to enjoy some winter golf on the driest course in the Midlands. Our thanks go to all the competitors for their continued support of our events, and congratulations to all the prize winners.
The Winter Open Stableford competition was played on Saturday 10th Feb and it saw a strong showing by Ludlow members, nearly taking a clean sweep of all the prizes. Leading the way in Division One was Darren Humphries, with 40 points, two clear of second placed Neill Smith. The one visitor in the net prizes, taking third place with 37 points, was Penn GC's David Wagstaff, with Andy Dixon fourth on 36 points and Dave Fish fifth with 35.
Division Two saw a Ludlow clean sweep, led by Phil Jones, with 40 points, beating Shaun Noble by two, in second, with Mariana Senior third with 36, Simon Herdsfield fourth with 35 and Kevin Humphries fifth with 33 points.
The best gross prize went to Tom Blizzard, from Droitwich GC, with 34 points.
Into a new year and the January Winter Open Betterball served as a reminder of Ludlow's status as the "go-to" venue for winter golf, as it attracted a fantastic turnout of 100 golfers from far and wide. Runaway winners, with a superb 47 points, were Arscott's Tom Thorns & Jake Duckett, four points clear of second placed David Ritchie & Danny Bucknall, also of Arscott. Taking third place were Bransford's Mitchell Fowles & Andrew Lammas, with 42 points, ahead of a tie, on 41 points, between Droitwich's Jon Topping & Howard Weston and Peter Shimmin & Howard King of Bridgnorth. The gross prize was won by Ludlow's Dave Fish & Darren Humphries with an excellent 40 points.
Following on from the Open Betterball, the first of our Winter Series individual Stableford competitions was played on Saturday 16th December, and it attracted a fine turnout of 65 golfers. Taking top spot in Division One, with 39 points, was Steve Green, from Rose Hill GC. He was two points clear of Ludlow's Andrew Sheppard, himself one point clear of a three-way tie on 36 points, between Ludlow's Rupert Munton, Darren Humphries and Neill Smith, taking third to fifth places respectively after a card count back. Division Two was won by Ludlow's Rick James, with 40 points, two clear of Ben Morgan (Ludlow), in second, with Ludlow's Phil Jones and Steve Ross third and fourth respectively, tied on 33 points. Last of the prize winners was Hagley's Colin Parker with 32 points. The best gross score of the day was returned by Bridgnorth's Callum Brown with 36 points.
Having withstood the relentless wet weather, throughout November and December, the course remained open and the second Winter Open Betterball Stableford went ahead, attracting a full field of 84 players. Coming out on top, with a fine 44 points, were Ludlow's own Dave Fish & Darren Humphries, putting them three clear of a three-way tie, separated by card countbacks. Taking second place were the Ludlow/Wrekin pair of Sherman Hardy-Lane & Mike Curel, ahead of Penn's Simon Golsby & Mick Mathews, with Ludlow's Vice Capt. Rupert Munton & Mike Belshaw in fourth, after all scored 41 points. Market Drayton's Bob O'Regan & Mike Trumper took fifth prize, with 40 points. The gross prize was won by Ludlow's Nick Apperley & Alan Meyrick with 36 points.
Our first Winter Open Betterball Stableford was played on Thursday and conditions became increasingly difficult, as the day wore on, with strong winds gusting but thankfully it stayed dry. The conditions weren't a match for the Kidderminster pairing of Tim Down & John Hall, however, as they returned a superb 43 points, to take the top prize. A three-way tie, on 41 points, followed them with Penn's Simon Golsby & Ian Thomas, Enville & Stourbridge's Mick Dunn & Kevin Porter and Enville's Mick Powell & Danny Moore taking 2nd to 4th places, respectively, after a card countback. The best Ludlow pairing, taking 5th place with 39 points, were Norman Emery & Andy Parry. The best gross prize went to Ludlow's Nick Apperley & Neill Smith, with 35 points.
Once again our October Open Texas Scramble attracted a huge field of 38 teams (152 golfers), all enjoying the superb course conditions, Ludlow has to offer.
Ludlow's Maurice Clarke, along with his team of Shrewsbury golfers, Will Alcock, Colin Thaw & Matthew Thaw took top honours with their net 52, beating Hereford's Richard Hemming, Ben Stringer, James Tutty & Jack Jones on the back nine. Jon Kendrick (Ludlow) with his Stourbridge team of Martin Howett, Mark Davies & Mark Mason took third place with a net 53. The best gross score was returned by Ludlow's George Watton, Darren Humphries, Liam Magill & Shrewsbury's Tom Kerr, scoring 53 (-17).
Many congratulations to all the prize winners and a huge thank you to all those who supported this event.
The Seniors Open Am-Am competition attracted a field of 29 teams and saw home advantage pay off for Ludlow's Bill Billson, Mike Garrini, Dick Davies & Colin Willis as they returned an impressive 90 points, to top the leaderboard. They were four points clear of second placed Ian Evans, Phillip Foster, John Bleakley & Ian Playford from Wergs GC, who beat Ludlow's Dave Mytton, Colin Badlan, Neil May & Mike Belshaw, on the back nine. They, themselves, secured third place by virtue of a better back nine, from Phil Manns, Richard Stevens, Jim Bland & Tim Hollingworth from Alexander Park GC.
Our Seniors Open Betterball Stableford was played on Wednesday, and, proving as popular as ever, it attracted a field of 152 players. It seemed to be a case of saving the best 'til last as the winning pair emerged at the tail end of the field, and it was none other than the Ludlow pairing of Jim Peters and Geoff Rose who achieved a stunning total of 49 points. They were four points clear of their nearest challengers, Ludlow's John Phillips & Chris Bott, themselves two points ahead of club president, Ian Hankinson and his partner Graham Perry (from Bull Bay GC). Tied with them, but losing out on the back nine, were South Staffordshire's Paul Snape and Stephen Jones.
Returning the best Gross score, of 36 points, was the pairing of Simon Golsby and Mick Mathews from Penn Golf Club.
Once again the feedback from the competitors was very complimentary, with regards the course, hospitality and the running of the event.
Many congratulations to all the prize winners and our thanks for supporting this event.
Sadly, due to some horrendous weather early on Saturday, the Open Betterball Stableford competition was cancelled, but Sunday saw us rounding the weekend off with the Open Mixed Am-Am.
With much better weather, and thankfully only a few sporadic showers, the 17 teams enjoyed a fine day's golf. Taking their place atop the leaderboard, with a fine score of 79 points was the Shifnal based team of Brian Shepherd, Sara Shepherd, Kevin Walker & Dee Walker. Two points behind, in second place was Ludlow's own Graham & Samantha Clark, Neil Lewis & Jayne Smith, themselves one point ahead of third placed Kevin Fincher, Liz Clewley, Rob Amphlett & Debra Fearnley
With a few spot prizes available for both Men and Ladies it made for a fun and competitive day for all.
Congratulations to the prize winners and a huge thank you to everyone who supported this event and, indeed, our whole weekend. We look forward to our Opens in October and hope to see you all soon.
On Friday 4th August our Weekend of Golf opened with a Texas Scramble, and it was very nearly a case of deja vu, as the first team out, Ludlow's Dave Scriven, Ricky James, Derek James & Dave Evans tried to repeat their feat of last year of leading from start to finish, after they set an impressive target of net 53.1. Alas, for them, it fell slightly short this time, as they took second place behind the victorious team of Lloyd Roberts, Ollie Jackson, Chris Johnson and Chris Holmes, from Llanymynech, with their superb score of net 52.7.
Taking third place was the team of Graham and Samantha Clark, Pat Collier & Neil Lewis (all from Ludlow), with their score of net 53.9, just 0.05 ahead of fourth place.
With a great turnout of 184 players, a notable increase on last year, the comments regarding the course and clubhouse hospitality were, once again, very complimentary. Congratulations to all the prize winners, and many thanks to all those who supported the event.