Clays launch “just your Putter”
Next Monday Clays golf club open their latest venture at their Golf Union of Wales “Centre of Excellence” in Wrexham when their “Just your Putter” course takes off at a launch which will be attended by local civic and golfing dignitaries alike.
The idea is first class in its simplicity in that the designers have replicated nine of the most famous holes on the most famous courses such as Augusta, Carnoustie,
St. Andrews and Celtic Manor. The composite group have three Welsh courses, two from America and one each from England, Scotland, Ireland and Spain.
The model greens are essentially to attract younger players into the game, and this they will do with the clever introduction of bright colours and striking materials designed to engage with the younger player. Each area is landscaped in the style of where the holes come from and they are anything from a par three to a par five, all designed to be played with “just a Putter”
The holes vary in length from forty to fifty yards in length and the whole venture has been backed by the Ryder Cup Wales Legacy Fund who gave a contribution of £40,000 towards the project.
Fund Chairman, John Jermine of Radyr, himself an ex Welsh International golfer, is pleased with the novel innovation that the venture offers and is looking forwards to trying out the course himself. He will also be presenting a commemorative plaque to the golf club to mark the occasion.
The same day, Wrexham Golf Club host the North Wales Under 13 and Under 15 Boys’ championships which allows for eighteen holes for the younger players and thirty six holes for the older golfers. North Wales secretary Bill Jones of Llangefni, Anglesey, has reported much enthusiasm for the event and we all hope that the weather is more stable than of late.
Last Wednesday the club hosted the annual Nightingale House Hospice Charity Am Am competition with a full field of fourballs contesting the event. Golfers mixed into any combination of players and kept a wary eye out for the sudden squalls that were prevalent throughout the day.
Winners with a very commendable score of 97 Stableford points were M H Financial Planning who won the Thermofix Trophy presnted by Trefor and Alan Roberts of Thermofix. The team was led by club member Mark Holdcroft with his brother Chris included in the fourball.
Second came Bryan Neale’s team with 93 points with R P Williams’s team in third place with 92. Rob Price of Price Bros, Upholsterers, was fourth with 90.
The Ladies team was led by Pam Valentine with 84, and the best score on the par three holes was won by the Ellesmere 41 club with 27 points.
The par five section went to Team Tycon with 19 points, and the nearest the pin competition on the 10th hole was won by Wendy Roberts for the ladies, and Ken Davies for the gentlemen.
The Denbighshire Golfing Union scratch team has experienced mixed fortunes just lately when they halved their first match against Caernarfonshire at St Deiniol golf course in Bangor.
This undulating course is a test in calm weather, but the windy conditions certainly placed the home team in the favorite’s enclosure. They justified this opinion by scoring well in the foursomes to come in 2-2 against a strong Denbighshire team. The visitors played exceptionally well in the afternoon singles, but a combination of local knowledge and steady golf saw the home side hold on for an afternoon score on 4-4 giving a drawn match at 6 points each.
A July visit to Rhosneigr to the Anglesey Golf Club met with the same set of conditions and another home advantage with course knowledge. The golf course is quite unusual in that we play the first few holes on parkland layout and terrain, and then go under a tunnel to the rather less well maintained holes which are affected by the battering of the Irish sea and the one time presence of sheep.
Back through the tunnel for the closing holes and to the sanctuary of the clubhouse.
Anglesey led the morning foursomes by 2 ½ to 1 ½ and maintained their form to ease their way ahead in the afternoon singles to win by 5 games to 3.
The overall score for the day was a win for Anglesey by 7 ½ to 4 ½ and a mere one point out of a possible four for the DGU team as a result of the first two matches.
Last Sunday the team entertained Anglesey at Abergele golf club, but due to my unavoidable absence, the results will have to wait until next week.
The team comprised Alyn Torrence, the County Champion, from the Plassey; Chris Platt, Tom Partridge and Mark Jones from the Vale of Llangollen; Rod Fieldhouse and Kevin Matthias of Wrexham and Josh Lloyd and Iain Hayes, the scratch team manager, of Abergele.
Last year’s Junior captain at Wrexham golf club, Sam Higgins, traveled to Peterstone Lakes in South Wales to take part in the South Wales Boys’ scratch competition. This is a hotly contested event with the majority of the present Welsh Boys team resident in the South Wales counties with Glamorgan especially well represented.
The event requires a thirty six holes qualifying event with the top sixteen playing off in match play. Sam qualified for the match play rounds with a thirty six holes total representing two over par gross. Sailing through the first two rounds, he beat Adam Tuft in the semi finals and just narrowly lost to eventual winner Oliver Lewis in a hotly contested final. He is playing in the Welsh Boys championships at Pyle and Kenfig golf club with results not yet to hand.
The County Boys played their match against Caernarfonshire at Chirk Golf and Country club and held the visitors to a 2-2 morning foursomes before losing the singles by 4 ½ to 3 ½ for a match deficit of 5 ½ to 6 ½ .
The Junior league at present is led by Denbigh with 547 points from Clays on 560; Abergele on 564 with Old Colwyn sharing that score. Wrexham are next with 567 followed by Plassey on 576 and then Llangollen with 594.
The recent round held at Ruthin Pwllglas saw Wrexham lead with 263 from Denbigh on 265; Abergele and Clays level on 272 with Old Colwyn on 275. Plassey recorded 285, Llangollen on 288 and Rhos on Sea on 290.