Lancashire’s Bryan Hughes celebrates after holing a monster putt to earn his county a half that denied Sussex a first English Seniors County Championship title at Stanton-on-the-Wold Golf Club. Picture by LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY

SUSSEX Seniors are fired up to win this year’s English Senior County Finals having come within a whisker of being crowned champions at Stanton-on-the-Wolds a year ago.

With one hand on the trophy, rivals Lancashire were already beginning to congratulate Sussex on a job well done when the Gods intervened.

Perhaps, more accurately, Bryan Hughes intervened. The veteran rammed a 30-foot birdie putt into the cup to beat Colin Jones on the 18^th hole and shatter Sussex’s hopes of a first-ever win in the event.

Hughes’ monster putt secured a vital point for the Northern Champions as they came from behind in the final hour of the final match to pip Sussex to the post.

Without that tramliner dropping, Jones would have earned a half point to hand Sussex the silverware.

As a result Sussex’s Over 55s team have been counting down the minutes to this week’s 2019 finals ever since they qualified through the regional rounds by dominating the South East Group, winning by 26 shots at East Sussex National, in July.

There are some golfing ghosts to be exorcised on the fairways of Effingham GC as the Surrey club hosts the 2019 English Senior County Championshiop decider.

Lancashire have not made it through to the finals to defend their trophy at a course which offers some incredible views of the capital.

Instead, Dorset, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire will battle it out to stop Sussex seeking redemption and being named top dogs on the senior circuit – and at the third time of asking over the last three years.

And the same Sussex squad who have dominated the South East division over the last three years, and – who came agonisingly close to winning their first Senior crown last year – are back as the men on a mission.

“I don’t think about that putt all that often,” said Sussex stalwart Steve Graham.

“It’s only once a day now compared to once an hour!” Graham said, mimicking Doug Sanders’s famous quote some 30 years after missing a short putt to win The Open at St Andrews, and then losing the play-off with Jack Nicklaus.

“It was a bit of a bombshell and I think it’s safe to say that we all have the motivation to go one better this year,” said Graham, who led the individual qualifier at East Sussex by three shots.

“Fair play to Bryan and Lancashire for winning but it was a blow to us after playing so well all week.

“Some of the Lancashire boys were starting to say ‘ah well, it looks as if you’re going to win’. Then came that putt.

“This is the third year in a row that we have reached the finals. The competition will be tougher than ever, but maybe we’ll be the ones to hole a winning putt.”

Irish international Graham – a member at East Sussex National – has enjoyed a fantastic year as an individual winning both his county title and then the champion of champions at Frilford Heath GC.

But he’s not the only player enjoying a good burst of form late in the season.

Yorkshire can boast the talents of Rich Jones and Richard Norton, who both played for England in the Home International win at Alnmouth GC, last month.

Paul Wharton also contributed to the England triumph and will be in the Lincolnshire ranks for three days of competition – alongside four of his fellow members from Woodhall Spa GC. the home of England Golf.

Dorset’s squad is also a talented one having made it to the same stage last season before finishing third behind Lancashire and Sussex.

Of the four counties competing this year, only Yorkshire have previously managed to get their hands on the trophy back in 2017, at Goswick GC.

And given Yorkshire’s record as the most successful county in the English Men’s County Championship, the Northern Division Champions will be keen to become just the fourth county to become multiple winners of the Seniors’ crown.

All three other counties are bidding to win the title – which was first competed for in 2005 at Gloucesterhire’s Minchinhampton GC – for the first time.

Since then the South East Champions have gone on to win the English county crown seven times.

Cheshire won three of the first four finals before Kent won five out of the next six – and remain the most successful county in the competition’s 14-year history.

The only other winners have been B.B.&O. (2015) and Hertfordshire (2012) – with Lancashire claiming three wins in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Effingham should provide a stern test for the seniors after recent renovations to a course regularly used in the past for Regional Qualifying for The Open Championship.

The Surrey downland course, designed by Harry Colt, remains true to the original design with a few modernising tweaks and should test the mettle of the competitors.

The format for the championship is a round-robin with one match per day consisting of three foursomes and six singles games.

For live scoring from Effingham over the three days (October 8-10) click here.

SQUADS:–

SUSSEX: Malcolm Cawte, Martin Galway, Steve Graham, Colin Jones, Martin King, Mark Logan, Doug Park, Paul Plant.

DORSET: David Barton, Ashley Beckett, Philip Bill, Tony Coles, Gary Earl, John Pounder, John Smith, Malcolm Taylor.

LINCOLNSHIRE: Richard Latham, James Lee, Simon Ostrom, Tim Seaton, Les Toyne, Colin Trestrail, Paul Wharton, Jeremy Woodcock.

YORKSHIRE:  Ian Clarke, Rich Jones, Andy King, Johnny Lawrence, Mark Lawson, Stephen Mason, Richard Norton, Alan Wright

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Spot the star …. former Lancashire county player Tommy Fleetwood – now number 14 in the world – with members of the Lancashire boys’ training squads when the Ryder Cup star shared some of his lessons from his formative years as a golfer

Lancashire clubs are hoping their support for the drive to get more people playing golf will help land a prestigious national award.

The Red Rose county has been nominated in the 2019 England Golf awards, sponsored by adidasGolf.

The Lancashire team are bidding to secure a double success, having been crowned County of the Year at the 2017 awards. This time round they will face competition from Wiltshire when the winners are revealed at a gala dinner in London in March.

County golf officials have been delighted by the support shown by the region’s 157 golf-related facilities, which has seen a wide range of projects to grow the game across Lancashire.

As a result, the county is bucking the national trend with a total membership increase in 2017 of just over 1% against a nationwide decline of 2%. This is on the back of a 4% increase in 2016.

And county organisers have praised clubs for being prepared to embrace a new approach to wooing the next generation of golfers.

Projects included a ground-breaking conference looking at increasing the number of girls and women playing golf, which saw industry experts offer advice across a range of subjects including marketing, customer experience, social media and what young women are looking for from golf.

Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs secretary Phil Harvey said: “Lancashire is a county which understands the complex barriers to participating in golf. Combining the strength, skills and experience of its partners it has capitalised on the ‘County of the Year Award’ 2017 to reinforce its position as leader in the quest to tackle those barriers.

“Our successful county conference and follow up initiatives – hailed as the ‘flagship’ for driving participation of women and girls – provided education, motivation and support.”

The award nomination brings together the work of a number of partners, including the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs, the Lancashire Ladies County Golf Association, the Lancashire Golf Development Group, the Golf Foundation and the Professional Golfers Association.

They have set out a vision for the county which pledges “for the golf bodies in Lancashire to strengthen their relationship and play a key role in getting more people playing the game and developing talented individuals.

“The course for action provides a focus for the passion, determination and enthusiasm of the thousands of our paid and unpaid ‘guardians’ of golf to deliver.”

The figures make impressive reading as Lancashire has promoted golf on national TV and radio, as well as at community events, meaning 111 people with disabilities have been helped into golf programmes, while more than 1,200 children have been offered a way into the sport.

New initiatives generated an estimated £190,000 in new business between April and September last year, while clubs have been supported to call on more than £616,000 in investment to secure their long-term futures.

Lancashire has recently appointed a new Director of Coaching to overhaul its entire coaching programme while strengthening its admin team over the past few years, adding experience in key areas such as marketing, finance, business development and club management to the committee structure.

More than 200 boys and 96 girls are on junior talent development programmes.

Other developments included new software to help counties collect fees and membership details, which is now used by 30 of the 34 counties in England, while 5,700 players subscribe to the free Lancashire County Card scheme.

The post Praise For Clubs As Lancashire Nominated For Top Award appeared first on Golf North.

The Red Rose county has posted impressive figures – with club membership rising by 1,636 in 2016.

The 4.2% increase was the best county performance in the country.

Now the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs wants to continue the growth of the sport in the county by supporting a wide range of initiatives designed to encourage more young people to give golf a go.

Action from the first tee at Houghwood Golf Club at the end of season competition for players on the under 14 coaching programme

The LUGC launched a county development plan two years ago and after hitting all their initial targets, the emphasis will now shift to junior golf for 2017.

The county has already developed a junior pathway, which caters for around 250 youngsters from beginner level up to the elite players who are chosen to represent Lancashire in county matches and national competitions.

It has also launched a special programme for under 14s, with coaching provided by PGA professionals and supported by volunteers. This costs just £25 for three days of coaching during the summer based in six regional centres – North Lancashire, East Lancashire, South Lancashire, Bolton and Bury, Southport and Manchester.

Three young players weigh up their options on the practice putting green at Houghwood Golf Club at the end of season competition for players on the under 14 coaching programme

Players take part in a series of skills challenges designed to improve their putting, bunker play and short game, for example, with an end of season competition – at Houghwood Golf Club, near St Helens – giving them chance to put their know-how into practice. It is open to existing club members and entries are still open for this year’s programme with further details from the LUGC website at www.lancashiregolf.org/talent_development_programmes. Closing date is March 1.

The Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs wants to further expand its support of the work going on at club level to bring new, younger players into golf.

Ideas include working with the clubs and their PGA professionals to develop a model for golf camps in the school holidays.

Says county secretary Phil Harvey: “It is something you see in other sports, such as football or rugby, and we are looking to put together a pilot scheme with half a dozen clubs to develop a model that could be used across the county.

“A two or three-day camp, for example, is a good way to introduce beginners to the sport, show them the skills needed to play and how easy it is to make new friends.

“This works well for those who already have an interest in playing the sport, or who want to add to their playing experience. We hope to enthuse, motivate and inspire clubs to get involved in this kind of project.

“We believe there is a variety of ways to attract juniors to the sport, whether that be through the family and friends of existing club members, working with local schools or community groups, by holding family open days or taster sessions or by using social media to promote a club’s activities. The first aim is to get people hitting a golf ball and then to show them how it can become a sport for life.”

The county union will offer support to clubs looking to set up or revitalise their junior section, with Phil adding: “There are great examples of best practice at clubs across Lancashire and we want to share that experience with others. For example, often clubs rely on a single junior organiser who may drop out when their own child has outgrown junior golf, but the successful clubs have a group of people, including the PGA professional, which provides a more robust organisation.”

Phil Harvey, county secretary of the Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs

The Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs, which collects an annual affiliation fee from the 40,000 plus golfers in the region of just £4, delivers a number of benefits for all club members including advice on handicaps, course rating, grant funding, talent development, organising championships and county members events as well as running representative teams.

It offers a free county card to club members, which provides discounted golf at more than 1,400 courses across the UK.

It also works to increase participation in the sport and is an integral part of the Lancashire Golf Development Group – which seeks to attract more players, more members and create stronger clubs – alongside the Lancashire Ladies County Golf Association and the Professional Golfers Association in the region, with the support of two England Golf county development officers.

Phil Harvey,

County Secretary, Lancashire Union of Golf Clubs

Tel: 01772 731 330

Email: secretary@lancashiregolf.org

Website: www.lancashiregolf.org

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