Sponsored by the Beds County Golf Union, DDGC junior golf member Ryan Smith attended the Lee Westwood academy this past week at Brampton Heath GC in Northampton. The academy consisted of an intense three day coaching programme covering all aspects of the game and the feedback form completed by the coaches has certainly given Ryan some learning areas to work on.

He was lucky to be able to meet Lee himself (he flew in by helicopter – Lee not Ryan!!) and as part of the competitive element of the academy Ryan won the U12/13 section.

It is great to see our young talent being developed in this way. What an experience!

Played Saturday 30 July 2011

1st  J. Draper 65
1st  R. Jones 65
3rd B Walls 67 ocb

Play off for Trophy.

Firstly, a HUGE thanks to all those members who kindly and generously donated 100s of golf balls (and even some golf clubs)  to the juniors last month. And I have got to add that there were some really good ones placed in there too and not just ex practice balls.

But guess what. The  junior golfing season is now in full swing and WE HAVE RUN OUT

Cast your minds back to the time when you first learnt to play. Losing golf balls was an unnecessary evil in your pursuit of a decent score. Finding a Pro V in the rough or in the woods was all part of the fun. But whereas I seem to find / buy / win more balls than I lose, over a season, this is not the same for our juniors. Losing 17 golf balls in a  single game is the stark reality that they face on a  windy day on the top of the downs.

So, to redress this imbalance, we need your help. We have placed a light blue laundry basket by the side of the junior notice board, at the bottom of the stairs that we would like to see fed with old golf balls. If you have any ‘second user’ golf balls that you do not need then please leave them in the basket for our junior section.

This will go a long way in helping the juniors enjoy their golf and take more risks in their shot making now that their season is in full swing

In the Beds County Interclub competition, DDGC entered 3 competitive teams at Beadlow Manor. 81 players entered the event with the prize of representing the county at a National event at Woodhall Spa on offer. There were some real  ’stand out’ performances on the day with Ryan Smith navigating himself around the course in level par to take 3rd place. Luke Bisset came 4th with 43 points and from a  strong field of competitive juniors that was pretty solid stuff. New handicaps await both of them for tomorrow’s stableford competition!

I was quick to be reminded that if only we had chosen Luke, Ryan & one of the 2 Alex’s for our team, it would have been DDGC travelling to Woodhall Spa instead of the eventual winners AspleyGuise. But the opportunity to play competitive golf and representing the club has been extended to a few more younger players from the junior section that will bode well for the future

I still think the real challenge was getting 9 boys to the match on a work day so many thanks to all the parents and grandparents who took the day off to get everyone there. Next year will be easier.

Individual
3rd Ryan Smith 44
4th Luke Bisset 43

Team Event

16th Dunstable Downs 2 104
Alex  Winter (27) 37
Alex Tipping (17) 37
Chris Aherne (19) 30 

21st Dunstable Downs 3 98
Luke  Bisset (18) 43
Elliot Roch (10) 31
Charles Draper (26) 24

 23rd Dunstable Downs 1 91
Ryan Smith (8) 44
Ryan Craig (24) 29
Bradley Howard (26) 18

South Beds get the better of Dunstable Downs

On a very pleasant day on Saturday -our club side struggled against a South Beds side that showed their knowledge of their own course by giving Dunstable a good trouncing in that they won the match 6 games to one.

The Captain and Vice captain lost their match 4 and 3 with South Beds Captain contributing in part but his Vice- Richard Tallon playing to 4 under his handicap to make it very difficult for Graham and David.

The Juniors consisting of Alexander Winter and Alex Tipping playing off  27 and 17 respectively were always going to have  a tough match playing against a 4 handicapper-Sam Flannery and Alex Bithrey playing off 16 and in spite of Alex playing 8 below his handicap they still lost 2 and 1. It was great to see the youngsters enjoying themselves and being very competitive in a full club match.

The team however as a whole could do a lot better but congratulations go to John Winter and Mick Filby who were the only winners.

The next match is entertaining Leamington and this comprises a team of twenty from each side. The practice ground would appear to be in order before this match!!!

Torrey Pines Golf Course, which is located in the La Jolla area of San Diego, CA, hosts the Callaway Jr. World Golf Championship every year in July. This prestigious international golf tournament brings over 1,000 of the world’s best junior golfers to the scenic bluffs of Torrey Pines Golf Courses to compete for the “World’s Best Junior Golfer.”

DDGC’s own Freya Daniels competed for the first time and it has proven to be a real ‘eye opener’ for her. Our Californian man who was on the scene witnessed the whole event and told the DDGC news desk,  “This has been one of those  experiences for young Freya. The girls from far east and parts of US are playing 5-8 hours a day and are ’home schooled’;  the work ethic and commitment to golf  is unbelievable. In practice we played with two girls from Japan who shot 2 under and 4 under respectively, amazing! Freya was 10 over and her best score of the week! “

Our reporter certainly had to look twice when he saw a 5ft 6 10 year old hit it 240 yards !!! He added, “There were 78 girls playing in the age 10 group. In the official practice round she shot 66 but on competition days returned 77, 83 and 76.  Freya drove the ball well but the very fast greens, water hazards and big bunkers on this typical American course really caught her out.

Freya played 6 rounds in total with girls from US, Japan, Thailand and it was an intense environment and great learning experience. This is just another great experience for one of the DDGC junior team whose next action, in this country, will be up against the DDGC Presidents Team next month. The Presidents team better watch out.

Robert Sutton is playing in the English Amateur Championships at Woburn on 25th to 30th July

Stage One: Stroke Play
Two rounds of 18 holes stroke play over two days (Monday and Tuesday), one round on the Marquess and one round on the Duchess Course.

 Stage Two: Match Play
The players with the 64 lowest scores after the stroke play rounds will compete in the match play stages, starting on Wednesday. In the case of ties for 64th place, stroke play countback (General Condition 7b) will apply to the round played on the Marquess course as nominated by the Championship Committee. Players will be seeded according to their stroke play finishing place and this stage of the Championship will be played on the Marquess course. 

Robert is playing on the Duchess course on Monday 25th July at 12:20
and on the Marquess on Tuesday 26th July at 08:50
We wish him all the best I am sure he would appreciate your support

It can be done!!  Despite the weather,  the 100 holes were completed on Thursday, 21st July.  The challenge was played under medal conditions with scores of 46 for 1st 10 holes and 79, 80, 81, 84 and 86 for the remaining 90 holes (5 rounds)  – a total of 456 shots.

On behalf of the Lady Vice Captain, Jenny and myself, I would like to thank all of those members who generously contributed over £1100 for Michael Sobel House charity.

Also a special thanks to those people who assisted on the day.

Dave Price, Vice Captain

The Weather was atrocious for the men’s Invitation on Saturday however this could not dampen the spirits of the 88 Competitors-which was a better field than the previous year. 29 guest clubs were represented and all enjoyed the facilities and the excellent condition of the course.

In spite of the conditions there were still some excellent scores and overall first with a quite magnificent 65 points was Danny Head and Mark Blanchard from South Beds. This represented 9 under par and its significance could be judged by the fact that second place (Sean Moloney and Kevin Morley (Grantham) were 59 points which was also very creditable considering the conditions.

The morning 18 holes was a four ball better ball followed by a 10 hole extended foursome – whereby each team plays his partners drive and then they decide which ball to play to complete the hole on a foursome basis.

Other results:-

3^rd place overall…David Broom & Bruce Gardner (East Herts)-59 pts

a.m.

1^st Tom Redmond & Tom Quin (South Beds) -39 pts

2^nd. Mick Vickers & Tom Patis (Chalgrave )-39pts

3^rd. Roy Drage & Robert Drage (Hallamshire-39 pts

p.m.

1^st Martin O’Reilly & Pat Purcell (South Beds) -24 pts.

2^nd. John Hill & Bill Witheford (South Beds) – 22 pts

3^rd. Rob Hawkesworth & Nick Wilson (Woburn)- 21 pts

Nearest the pin on the 18^th -Adam Holmes (Dunstable Downs)

Longest Drive on the 11^th -Tim Patis (Woburn)