Junior Newsletter 2006

New Under 14’s Short Course “Four Counties” Tournament

This year has seen the introduction of a new event in our “Junior Golfing Calendar” aimed specifically at our younger players. Organised by Derbyshire, this inaugural “Four Counties” 36 Hole Short Course Team Championship for the Under 14’s was played on Friday 2nd June 2006.  The Teams representing Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire and Cheshire, each comprised six boys. The Team score was the aggregate of the best five gross returns for the morning and afternoon rounds. The Tournament was played at “Broughton Heath Golf Club” near Derby, it proved to be an outstanding venue. The Course is 3135 yards long, consisting of 18 challenging par 3 holes, 5 of which exceed 200 yards, it was in first class condition and featured full sized greens, with numerous bunkers and water hazards. A true and demanding test for anyone’s golf.

Cheshire fielded a strong team with five of our six players having single figure handicaps. Our team performed very well, winning the event by a clear six strokes, from Nottinghamshire in second place. Details of our scores are as follows :

The Team are shown on the photograph together with the County President, Malcolm Fitches, Boy’s Team Manager, Bob Meston and Assistant Manager, Mike Jones. Congratulations to our boys, our thanks to Derbyshire for organising a great day and particularly Broughton Heath for the way we were all looked after.

Click photograph to enlarge
 

Cheshire Club Junior Team Finals Competition

There are a number of Club Junior Team Leagues in the County and, this year, there will be an inaugural County Finals Day at Birchwood on Saturday September 23 with a morning start.

This will be an 18 hole gross stroke-play competition comprising teams of 4 players from each Club.

The winners will be the Club with the lowest aggregate of the best 3 scores in each team, so one player’s score will be dropped.

A new trophy will be awarded to the winners by R W Meston, Cheshire’s Boys Team Manager, and there will also be a prize for the team with the best nett score.

Details of this new competition will be circulated shortly to all the Cheshire Junior League Secretaries together with the 2006 Register of Club Junior Organisers.

The intention is that this new Club Junior Team Finals Day will become an annual event with different venues each year.

County Juniors and Boys Championships

The Juniors Championships (under 14s and under 16s) will be held at Lymm on Wednesday July 19th.  Handicap limit 28

Closing date:      Monday June 19th

The Boys Championship will be held at Delamere Forest on Friday July 28th.  Handicap limit 12

Closing date:       Friday June 30th

Entrance forms are under Junior Fixtures

Please encourage your young men to enter.

Over the cold, wet and blustery two days of 12 - 13th April at Hawkstone Park in Shropshire, Cheshire won the prestigious Four Counties Tournament by winning all three of its matches. It was a genuine all-round performance through the competition.

Picture courtesy Tom Ward
Click picture to enlarge

Final positions were:

The team was:
Joe Murray, Captain (Bromborough)
Michael Bedford (Bramall Park)
Iain Davie (Hazel Grove)
Alex Hogben (Ringway)
Liam Hunt (Mere)
Kane McCumskey (Bramall Park)
Josh Sims (Caldy)
Adam Wills (Sandiway)

Cheshire had the upper-hand in its first day matches against both Notts and S & H and ran out comfortable winners.   However, the final day against Lancs (with them still very much in the hunt) was a different story.

Through 9 holes, Cheshire was down in all but one match but a strong recovery, particularly at the tail-end, brought a victory which warmed the hearts of the strong county support on hand.

It is sometimes unfair to pick out individuals in a strong overall team effort but the final day performances of Mike Bedford, Joe Murray, Alex Hogben and Kane McCumskey were excellent.

Of the 34 Tournaments now played, Cheshire maintains its pole position with 12 wins followed by Notts on 9.

Lancashire will host the 2007 event at Fairhaven.

March 2006

Unfortunately, due to a blanket of snow, the Boys pre-season get-together at Frodsham on Sunday 12th March had to be cancelled which was frustrating for the 32 participants who looked forward to showing their skills off on the day.

Over the winter period, almost 150 boys in the age range of 8 through to 17 received junior tuition from the County Coaches, Alan Thompson, Peter Barber, Robin Thompson and Adrian Hill. From this number, 48 were then selected for additional instruction.

Adam Wills (Sandiway) has benefited from EGU coaching as a member of the England U18 Boys Squad. Additionally, Josh Sims (Caldy) and Martin Thomas (Royal Liverpool) have received EGU North West Regional tuition.

Some forthcoming key dates for the diary are:

The Boys Championship has now been moved permanently to a later date in the year to avoid clashes with various national tournaments.

All Cheshire fixtures (Boys, Mens and Seniors) are listed on this Website together with the dates of many Club Junior Opens in the forthcoming season. The first County Boys fixture is against Bromborough on Sunday 4th June with the bulk of the other matches coming later in the year when school holiday time is to hand. This therefore allows the Boys to focus clearly on their academic prowess.

Please ensure your own Club has taken advantage of the various grants available from both the County and the EGU for junior coaching, £75 and £125 respectively.

Junior Golfer Report Forms are on hand for any young man your Club feels would merit the attention of the County. Do please note that these should be received no later than 31st August to allow selection to take place for the 2006-7 winter coaching programme.

January 2006

Junior Golf Seminar

Cheshire is holding its biennial Junior Golf Seminar at Mere Golf & Country Club on Tuesday 21st March.

The Seminar will start promptly at 6.30 and all Club Junior Organisers together with Club Secretaries / Managers are cordially invited. There will be no charge to delegates and refreshments will be provided following completion of the evening’s discussions.

Senior executives from both the EGU and the County will be on hand throughout the event both as speakers and as advisers on Junior matters.

The agenda will cover the following topics:-

• The EGU national golf development plan
• Child protection   -   the EGU and the County’s position
• County junior golf   -   where we are now and future plans
• A structured audience discussion which will include questions on agenda items and any other matters of junior golf interest to Clubs. 

All County Clubs have now been advised of this Seminar and advance questions are welcomed through the County Secretary either by way of e-mail or in writing.

At our last Junior Seminar in 2004, almost 60 Cheshire Clubs provided delegates. We welcomed this excellent response and hope that this year the 2004 number will be exceeded.