26/09/06 - Lightcliffe, Bradley Park and Meltham all tasted success in the HHDUGC Foursomes Finals held at Dewsbury District Golf Club on Sunday 24th September.

In an extremely close match Lightcliffe beat defending Scratch Champions Meltham on the final green of the 36-hole contest.

Meanwhile in the Handicap section Bradley Park saw off Woodsome Hall in another close match by a margin of 2&1.

The Junior fixture was not quite as close, in fact it was heavily one sided with Meltham running out 15&13 winners!

Scratch

Handicap

Juniors

19/09/06 - CHRIS Hanson was really in the fast lane during his latest PGA Europro Tour outing at Whittlebury Park.

As one of the top four in the order of merit the Crosland Heath product was invited to nearby Silverstone to experience going round the GP track in high performance cars.

18/09/06 - Twenty-six years on from his first victory Andrew Whitworth racked up win number ten in the The Halifax, Huddersfield and District Union of Golf Clubs Match Play Championship sponsored by BM Howarth, Computer Solutions of Halifax. 

The finals were played over Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September 2006 at the Centenary celebrating Halifax West End Golf Club.

Whitworth overcame Meltham youngster and fellow Union Team mate Toby Garret in a close and tense 36 hole final which the more experienced Halifax Bradley Hall man edged by 2 holes to 1. It was Whitworth's tenth victory out of only 13 starts, his first win coming in 1983.

Whitworth never trailed in final and at one stage looked like he may well run away with the match going 4up after 13 holes in the morning. Whitworth paid tribute to Garrett who hung in and even got the match back to all square with just six holes to play after Whitworth had four bogeys in five holes to open the door for the 18 year old. However a birdie two on the 13th and a win with a par on the next regained a two hole cushion for Whitworth which he held onto until the 17th where the pair shook hands.

Whitworth had earned his place in the final after a 3&2 victory over fellow Bradley Hall club mate Martin Cockcroft the afternoon before. That was after a morning off due to Richard Broadley withdrawing from the tournament to concentrate on earning Yorkshire Order of Merit points, giving Whitworth a walk-over.

Garret saw off Brad Tupman 2&1 before beating Roger Hunt, also from Meltham by the same margin.

Whitworth who is the Captain at his club next year will look to defend the title in 2007.

Match Scoring:

16/09/06 - the  Huddersfield Golf Club Ladies Scratch Team successfully retained the Yorkshire Ladies County Golf Association Scratch Team Trophy at the Oaks Golf Club on Wednesday 13th September beating Rotherham in the final. More 

11/09/06 - The HHDUGC earned a creditable 3^rd place in the Yorkshire Inter District Union Team Championship held at Horsforth Golf Club on Sunday 10^th September 2006.

With Four HHDUGC players out on the course, namely lead man Ben Crowther, Edward Battye, Iain Powell, and Richard Broadley, the early morning mist which had been hanging about all morning, descended heavily causing play to be suspended for 45 minutes.

Sadly for Battye who was 1 under before the delay, on the restart he faltered and slipped back to a 76 for his first round, Crowther added some backbone to the score with a solid round of 72, meanwhile Iain Powell was constructing one of the best morning rounds with a 1 under par 70 to put the HHDUGC in great shape. Unfortunately Broadley was struggling with his game a start of 5, 6 left him 3 over after 2 holes, and he ended up having to settle for a 78 which was disappointing by Richards standards.

Toby Garrett who was making his debut in the senior team championship, dropped shots at the first with a 3 putt, and a missed green on the par 3 3^rd of which he was unable to get up and down, however Garrett battled for the next 15 holes to hand in a score of 75.

Anchor player Graham McLean struggled early on with the pace of the greens and had to settle for an uncharacteristic 79, which left the HHDUGC with a first round total of 450 in 3^rd place 2 shots behind the Harrogate Union in 2^nd place, and 13 shots behind leaders the Leeds Union.

The afternoon rounds started in much better golfing conditions, with the greens firming up and becoming faster, all the team felt that there was a better score out there on the course, and that pulling back the 13 shot deficit was not unachievable.

Crowther was 3 over after 12 holes and dropped another shot over the final 6 holes to finish with a score of 76, Battye was 2 over after 12, then birdied 13 but again unfortunately dropped a shot on the final 6 holes to finish with 73.

Powell by his own admission got a little tired and made a few mistakes on the back 9 starting with a 3 putt on 12, finally ending up with a 75 which proved to be the best HHDUGC score with a total of 145. An out of sorts Broadley stuck to the task well and posted a hard fought 75, Garrett played solidly in his afternoon round see sawing between 2 over and 1 over for much of his round, he birdied the par 5 16^th to go back to 1 over, before finishing with a bogey 6 on 18 after having hit his lay up shot into a lateral water hazard to finish with a 73.

This left McLean out on the course, a bogey on 11 took him to 3 over, but back to back birdies on 12 and 13 got him to 1 over, but bogies on 14 & 17 left him with a 74, leaving the HHDUGC with a total of 896, 5 behind a rejuvenated Sheffield Union who had an afternoon total of 434 to leapfrog into 2^nd place behind the eventual winners the Leeds Union with a total of 868.

04/09/06 - The HHDUGC senior team concluded their league season with an emphatic win over the East Riding Union at Halifax Golf Club despite not even playing a shot in the afternoon singles as deteriorating weather cut short the final league match of the season.

The 22-14 win leapfrogged them above the East Riding Union to finish in fourth place in the final table, in what has been a transitional season for both the team and team captain Chris Mear.

Mear reflected on the 2006 season, "I have been without 3 or 4 of the top senior players in the district on most occasions, and if these players had been available on a regular basis I am sure that we would have been challenging for the league title." He went on to add, "Close matches away at both Teeside and York could so easily have gone our way and the unfortunate abandoned halved match against the Bradford union when I probably had my best team proved to be the difference between being in contention and finishing in mid table."

Solid golf and local knowledge helped the home side leaving the morning foursomes score in favour of the home team 10 – 2.

The conditions for the afternoon singles were deteriorating fast and after a long consultation between the two Presidents of their respectable Unions and the team captains, the agreement was made to not play the singles matches because of the worsening state of the weather meaning that the singles were shared 12 points each leaving a final score of 22 – 14 in favour of the home union.

This final result also means that Richard Broadley wins the order of merit sponsored by Parnell Riley, with Ben Crowther in second place.  

Full Report   

04/09/06 - HHDUGC Senior Team Captain Chris Mear has named his six man team for the Yorkshire Inter District Team Championship at Horsforth Golf Club on Sunday 10th September. The team is Ben Crowther, Edward Battye (both Dewsbury), Graham McLean, Toby Garrett (both Meltham), Richard Broadley (Huddersfield) and Iain Powell (Hebden Bridge). James Thompson from Meltham is reserve.

02/09/06 - Latest Yorkshire Order of Merit results and up to date table now live. More.

01/09/06 - Chris Hanson collected valuable EuroPro Tour Order of Merit pounds as he finished in a tie for 18th in the Hollins Hall event. He remains in 4th position overall.

More

31/08/06 - Chris Hanson added a 1 over par 72 to his opening 68 to lie in a tie for 23rd place after round two of the Hollins Hall EuroPro Tour event. David Astin looked set to miss the cut after scoring a 76.

30/08/06 - Chris Hanson made an eagle three on route to a 3 under par score of 68 in the opening round of the Hollins Hall EuroPro Tour Event. He lies just two places of the lead as he looks to consolidate his 4th position in the Order of Merit where he is currently in place for a Challenge Tour exemption for 2007. David Astin from Hebden Bridge also shot a 68.

29/08/06 - Chris Hanson shot a 1 under par 70 to finish 4th in the Hollins Hall Pro-Am.

29/08/06 - Chris Dyson scored back to back rounds of 70 to win the Earl of Dartmouth Trophy around his home Woodsome Hall course by three shots from a trio of players in an event which was previously washed out by heavy rain the week before. 

Leading Scores:

C Dyson 70, 70 - 140

M Broadbent 74, 69 - 143

G McLean 71, 72 - 143

A Smith 68, 75 - 143

E Battye 74, 72 - 146

Best Nett:

J Wood: 66, 70 - 136

27/08/06 - Brad Tupman was in fantastic form in the opening rounds of the HHDUGC Matchplay Championship at Bradley Hall Golf Club. Tupman overcame the testing conditions with some solid golf to dispatch both last years finalists, defending champion Ben Crowther (Dewsbury) and 2005 runner-up Graham McLean (Meltham). Tupman now faces Meltham youngster Toby Garrett. 

Andy Whitworth playing around his own course disposed of Paul Richardson (Hebden Bridge) and Martin Wray (Saddleworth), neither match progressing beyond the 12th hole as the past winner, on several occasions, cruised through. Whitworth now meets Richard Broadley (Huddersfield) in the tie of the quarter-finals after the ex Bradley Hall player defeated Adam Crum (Dewsbury) then Robert Stansfield (Hebden Bridge) in a sudden death play-off. 

The rest of the draw to be played at West End Golf Club in two weeks time also sees Ryan Rawson (Dewsbury) take on Martin Cockcroft (Bradley Hall) and Steve Bower versus Roger Hunt (both Meltham). 

Andy Whitworth was in top form.

Full Draw   

24/08/06 - Chris Hanson missed the cut by two strokes in the Sweeney Environmental Classic at Stonebridge Golf Club.

23/08/06 - Chris Hanson fired a one over par round of 70 to sit 8 shots of the lead in 53rd position after the first round of the Sweeney Environmental Classic at Stonebridge Golf Club.

21/08/06 - HHDUGC Juniors looked to be on the way to a comfortable win against Sheffield in their final league match of the season at Outlane but defeat in the final five singles matches meant that the South Yorkshire side snatched an unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat.

The home side led 8 – 4 after the morning foursomes with two players making their debuts showing lots of promise.  Matthew Parker (Lightcliffe) paired with Sam Bridges won his match 2 & 1 whilst Adam Cryer (Hebden Bridge) paired with Lloyd Cramp won his match 4 & 2.

Good wins in the afternoon singles from Sam Bridges, Lloyd Cramp and Stephen Sweeney making his last league appearance as a junior, kept the score well in the home team’s favour.

Halved matches were secured by Alex Battye, Matthew Colcombe and Ryan Greenwood, so much depended on the outcome of the top singles tie between James Thompson (Meltham) and Jonathan Smart (Hallamshire).

Smart, the current Yorkshire Boys Champion, who spent 7 months at the David Leadbetter Academy in Florida, was a tough test for the Meltham youngster but Thompson was ready for the battle. Both players recorded 6 birdies in the first 12 holes leaving the match all square.  Thompson bogeyed the uphill 15^th to go 1 down but then birdied the 17^th to get back to all square.  Another bogey at the last left him 5 under par but unlucky to lose a great match 1 down.

After 7 of the 12 singles the score stood at 17 – 9 to HHDUGC but somehow Sheffield managed to win all the five remaining matches to run out winners by
19 – 17.

The result leaves Halifax-Huddersfield firmly in the bottom half of the league despite the encouraging away win against league winners Harrogate. 

21/08/06 -  The HHDUGC senior side returned to winning ways in their home match against the Harrogate union at Dewsbury District Golf Club.

After disappointing results away against the Teeside and York Unions, the team were determined to get back to winning ways against a Harrogate side, buoyant after their Junior team had lifted the IDU Junior league title earlier in the week.

 On a dark and dank Sunday morning that promised the threat of rain, which fortunately never materialised, the home pairing of current Union matchplay Champion Ben Crowther and Edward Battye got the home team challenge underway, after a solid start they built up a 2 hole lead after 9 holes, and eventually won their match on the 15^th green by the margin of 4&3.

 Richard Broadley and Iain Powell playing together for the first time this season had a ding dong battle with Harrogate’s Joe Buckley and Ben Renfrew before finally winning on the last hole 1 up.

 The team went down in the next couple of foursomes matches with Graham McLean and James Thompson losing 1 down, whilst Frank Greaves and Toby Garrett also lost, 2&1. 

The Bradley hall duo of Andy Shaw and Andy Appleyard gelled together well and finally closed out their match on the last hole winning 1 up. 

Dewsbury District home player Adam Crum was paired with the newly crowned PS Cockroft Champion Fraser Scholefield, with Adam’s home course knowledge and Fraser’s good form they ran out worthy winners by 3&1.

 At the lunch break HHDUGC held a comfortable lead of 8 – 4 after the morning foursomes. 

In the afternoon singles Ben Crowther again lead from the front and was a comfortable winner beating Tom Hesketh 3&2. 

Edward Battye followed in Ben’s footsteps, finally winning a very close encounter with Mike Henson 2&1.

 Richard Broadley kept up the good work beating Ben Renfrew on the 17^th hole 2&1, which also keeps up his challenge at the top of the order of merit with 1 game to play.

 At this stage in the proceedings the HHDUGC team were well on their way to victory. There were however slight blips, losses by Graham McLean and Andy Shaw gave the visitors a slim chance, but fine wins by Frank Greaves 3&2, Toby Garrett 2 up, and Iain Powell 4&3 put the match beyond the reach of the Harrogate Union.

 Adam Crum battled hard but went down 2&1, James Thompson added another 2 points to the HHDUGC total, with a fine late comeback in the last 2 holes, 1 down with 2 to play James knocked in a 15 foot birdie putt on 17, and followed this up with a great 9 iron to 10 feet on the last holing the putt to win the match 1 up. 

Andy Appleyard could not reproduce the form of his previous match and eventually went down 2&1. 

This left Fraser Scholefield out on the course battling away, 3 down with 3 to play, Fraser finally lost on the last hole by the margin of 1 down.

 All in all a better performance, in a somewhat up and down season, with our final game at Halifax Ogden against the East Riding Union in 2 weeks time, the side will be looking to finish the league season on a high note.