Gorleston Golf Club

James Chadd and David James are to fly the Gorleston Golf Club flag in February on the Algarve in Portugal having successfully qualified for the HowDidiDo National Pairs Championship grand final following the regional final at the Hill Valley course in Cheshire.

In tough conditions with the course only just playable following heavy rain, James and David secured second place in the fourball better ball Stableford with 43 points to book their plane tickets and hopefully, an early taste of warm sunshine playing five matches on successive days over five different courses with the overall winners of this prestigious event being decided on a round robin league table basis.

Back at Gorleston the hectic summer schedule is reaching its conclusion with four more competitions being settled in the week. In the Ladies Section the Millichamp Trophy was won by Vicki Peake with an excellent nett 75; enough to beat four other players by a single stroke. Vicki will have the opportunity to be formally presented with the trophy at the annual trophy dinner in November by Ladies’ Captain Christine Knappett who was runner-up on the day.

In the ongoing matchplay finals, Maureen Duckett and Andree Bloomfield received five shots per round from opponents Sue Lyndon and Terrie Collingwood in the Girlie Green Spoons and were disciplined enough to make every one of the five count to secure victory on the 35th hole of the final. The ladies now go forward to represent Gorleston in the Daily Mail Foursomes event in 2013.

They will be joined in next year’s Daily Mail competition by the club’s male representatives Arthur Fellingham and Peter Langford, who successfully overcame last year’s winners Hayden Grand and Andy Patrick in the final of the Spring Foursomes which was neck and neck until Arthur and Peter won three holes in a row to eventually secure a 3 & 2 victory on the 16th hole of the second round.

Due to the Ladies’ Mail on Sunday team’s successful run, the twice- postponed Russell Dellar Salver event was eventually played with the family foursomes contest being won by father and son team Barry and Josh Manser with a nett 70 with Reg and Valerie Cadmore finishing in runners-up spot with a nett 71�.

The playing of the final men’s senior event, the Dennis Orton Cup, seemed to be in jeopardy less than 30 minutes before the scheduled 8am start with fog shrouding the course. Luckily however this cleared sufficiently for the first group to start on time and the subsequent benign conditions led to some very good scores being returned. The best was from Colin Beare recording 43 points with Ed Ogles runner-up with 41 points.

Both ladies and men’s monthly stablefords for October have also been contested. The ladies Division One was won by Pauline Phillips, who was delighted to sign for 39 points with Thelma Evans returning 34 points to secure the Second Division prize.

The men were given a reminder of what winter golf can be like and with many finding the wet and windy conditions enough to not complete their rounds, those who did score 30 points or more deserve commendation. Divisional winners were Les Dukes in Division One with 35 points, while Graham Price recorded a best of the day 36 points to win Division Two with Dan Buckley successful in Division Three with 34 points.

Yarmouth and Caister GC

There was a good turn-out for The Doug Peake Trophy on Sunday.

On a miserable day the early starters seemed to have the advantage before the wind brought in persistent rain from the North Sea. The old Lady of Caister is very able to cope with the wet conditions but the majority of the field were not.

Kelvin Burns, playing off a seven handicap, was on fire and posted a very tidy 35 points. Terry Norman, the godfather of the links, chased Kelvin into second with another steady round only to be beaten on countback. Third place went to Richard Betts, a long-time member at Caister and no stranger to the typical autumnal links weather, with a creditable 33 points.

Next sees the return leg of the annual battle for the Howlett Smith Trophy at Gorleston who hold a tidy lead and will feel confident about retaining the trophy. The Caister side under team captain for the day John Tweed will be looking for a Ryder Cup-style comeback. Winter Am.Am events start at Caister on Wednesday and are open to all golfers. Details: 01493 720421.