News Archive 2009

	20.10.2009: PAULA AND ANGIE WIN FOURSOMES FINAL: Back in March it was freezing cold as 41 pairs set out on their quest to become County Foursomes champions. On October 20th it was freezing cold as the last 2 pairs battled it out. In a thrilling final Paula Foot and Angie Tatum-Hume of Beds & County overcame Mary Haseman of The Bedford and Gill Geary from Pavenham. Congratulations to all the players, and to ref Margaret Watchorn, who braved the cold for us.
	08.10.2009: FunD DAY A ROARING SUCCESS: Gorgeous weather prevailed for the 180 ladies who took part in Lelsey's Captain's FunD Day. No, its not a typo, there really were one hundred and eighty ladies with teams from 19 different clubs!! It was a hugely successful day with lots of money raised for County Week funds and also for the County Junior Girls. Well done Lelsey and team - it took a lot of organising. A huge thanks to all the ladies who supported the event. Click here for all prize winners.
	04.10.2009: CLARE & JULIA WIN THE SUE PATERSON SALVER: When Clare Hillier from John O'Gaunt teamed up with immediate Past Ladies Captain Julia Cottenden in the Sue Paterson Salver, the instructions were simple. The pair were so determined to post a score that would beat sister Sophie and mum Carol playing together in the group behind, that they posted a score good enough to beat the entire field. Click here for the full report and prize winners.
	01.10.2009: LIZI CONTINUES HER GOOD FORM IN US: Lizi Sweetnam from Leighton Buzzard is continuing exactly where she left off last year in the US. Representing Seminole State College, Lizi posted a second consecutive 2nd place on the college circuit. Playing in Winfield, Kansas, Lizi's second round 7 shot improvement took her up to 2nd place out of 50 competitors, and helping her team to 3rd place overall.
	29.09.2009: SANDRA AND NIKKI SCOOP AUDREY BRADLEY TROPHIES: Sandra Gardner and Nikki Jackson from The Millbrook are no strangers to pairs success, featuring regularly on our news pages and reaching the final stages of The Daily Mail Foursomes 3 times. Pressure was definitely on the duo at the 18 hole stableford meeting held on their home course. They passed the test with flying colours, taking the title with a superb 42 points. Click here for all the winners.
	22.09.2009: JEAN IS SENIORS 2000 CHAMPION The final of the Seniors 2000 competition was held on Tuesday 22nd September and saw Dawn Marshall from John O'Gaunt and Jean Ross from Pavenham battle it out for the title. In an absolutely cracking final, Dawn played to her handicap, but lost out to Jean, who played several shots below hers. Congratulations.
	21.09.2009: PAST CAPTAINS: HEATHER IS THE HIGHEST OF THE HIGH SCORES: Most of us think John O'Gaunt is a hard course. Well clearly not our Past Captains, who made mincemeat of it with some stunning scores. Maybe they're just better than the rest of us! Heather Nolan from Beds & County won the day with 40 points, Barbara Haughey from John O'Gaunt won division 1 with 38 points, while Nita McArthy took the Carol Rose Trophy with 39 points. Click here for all the winners.
	20.09.2009: MORGAN & LAURA ARE MIXED CHAMPIONS: Morgan Darnell and Laura Collin from John O'Gaunt are a formidable partnership on paper, being afforded just 2 shots at foursomes. They were just as formidable on the course, a quality morning score and a solid afternoon bagging the pair the County Mixed Foursomes Championship. Caddington's Lady Captain, Jacky Levinson found time amid the hosting duties to take the nett prize with husband Bill. Click here for the full results.
	20.09.2009: LIZI BACK IN THE SWING IN THE US: Leighton Buzzard's Lizi Sweetnam returned to Oklahoma and made an encouraging start to her 2nd term in the Central Christian Fall Invitational Tournament held at Turkey Creek GC in McPherson, Kansas. Holding a one shot lead at the halfway stage with an opening 82, she finished second by a single stroke and helped her College to a runners up position too. Lizi came second again in the South Western College Tournament held at Winfield Country Club in Kansas. High scoring with difficult undulating and sloping greens, not to mention an opening round that took a total of 8 hours due to 2 rain delays and thunder! She shot 83 in the 2nd round
	14.09.2009: GLENNIS & KAREN MAKE IT A JOLLY DOUBLE: The Seniors Autumn Jolly at Caddington was won by last year's winners from Aspley Guise - Gleniss Rodwell and Karen Hough. With Kay Annis and Kathy Tabor, from Chalgrave Manor, 2nd and Grace Belcher and Di Crotty, from Bedfordshire, 3rd. The day was very enjoyable and all the ladies received a 'prize' as an enticement to play in the competition again next year! A 'Jolly' day was had by all and Caddington's hospitality was outstanding.
	09.09.2009: SALLY AND LUCINDA TAKE AUTUMN TITLES: The Autumn Silver and Bronze Division meetings were held on the same day this year at Bedfordshire Golf Club, a format which proved very successful. Sally Shayler tamed her home course with a splendid 69 to win the Silver Division gross prize by a comfortable margin, while Lucinda Holden stormed round in 41 points to win the Coronation Medal. Click here for the full results
	06.09.2009: JUNIOR JAMBOREE: The Junior Jamboree was held at Great Yarmouth and Caister, with the Bedfordshire girls playing matches simultaneously against Suffolk and Essex. A tough format that us adults would fail to master, but the girls all took it in their stride. Click here for pictures and the full report.
	07.09.2009: ELAINE WINS AGAIN ON SENIORS TOUR: Congratulations to Elaine James from Aspley Guise and Woburn Sands on her excellent performance in the English Women's North Regional Tournament at Malton & Norton, Yorkshire. In very wet and windy conditions, Elaine posted an impressive 179 gross to take the B Division title. Nice one Elaine!
	06.09.2009: HOLLY LAUNCHES WEBSITE: Holly Aitchison is continuing to perform well on the European Tour, finishing in joint 41st position in her latest event in Finland. Click here for news of Holly, how she is getting on and other news from the European Tour.
	25.08.09: SOPHIE TAKES REGIONAL TITLE: 15-year old Sophie Hillier from John O'Gaunt went to the East Region Junior Championships at Links Newmarket in sparkling form, buoyed by a stunning victory in her Ladies Club Championship. She shot 78 in the morning, 2 under her new 8 handicap and then followed it up with a quality score of 75 in the afternoon, cutting her handicap again to 7, earning her 6th place in the gross competition and bagging her the Nett Championship prize. Fiona Cooper from Beds & County also featured in the prizes, finishing a very creditable 3rd nett. Nice one girls!
	24.08.09: JOC IS SENIORS CHAMPION: County Captain, Lesley, relinquished her crown to her predecessor, Joc Faris. Joc made home advantage tell in her competition debut as she took the Seniors Championship at Beds & County. Click here for all the prize winners.
	13.07.2009: WINTER RULES EXTENSION: Owing to the extremely dry weather lately, Aspley Guise and Woburn Sands has been granted permission to use preferred lies for the period 01.07.2009 through to 16.08.2009 to allow the fairways to recover.
	12.07.2009: KATIE MAKES IT 3 IN A ROW: It is 18 year since Juliette Roberts won 3 consecutive Junior County Championship titles. Katie Burman from John O'Gaunt tried to emulate the feat at Dunstable Downs. She won the title in 2007 and in 2008, but her 2009 season has been interrupted by A-levels and glandular fever. The high wind made the round even more energy sapping, but Katie battled through and held on for an excellent 77 to win by 3 shots from Megan Birdsey, who took the net prize. Sophie Hillier from John O'Gaunt took the Under 16 prize with a gross 92. Click here for the full report.
	05.07.2009: 2 PART FUN FESTIVAL PROVES A GREAT SUCCESS: Over 30 Junior Girls with high or no handicap took part in the Fun Festival at Stockwood Park on 5th July. Congratulations to organisers Dave Sweetnam and Vicky Astley, who put on a great day with help from professional Matt Green and The Golf Foundation. Click here for the full report.
	06.07.2009: SAM & SUE PUT IN A LIGHTNING PERFORMANCE: Sam Turnbull and Sue Cribb from Bedfordshire Golf Club weathered the storm, quite literally when the 36 hole stableford event at Colmworth was hit by thunder and lighting. wet, but happy, their aggregate 62 points earned them the Lannaway Pictures. Click here for all the prize winners.
	01.07.2009: NIKKI AND SANDRA IN 5th ROUND: Over 1600 pairs from all over the country started out. Now we are down to the last 128. Nikki Jackson & Sandra Gardner have won through to round 5 of the Daily Mail foursomes. In a very close match they beat ladies from Lieghton Buzzard 3&2. Their next match is away at Aldwickbury Park on 23rd July. Nikki and Sandra are no strangers to the competition having twice reached the final stages before. Good luck on 23rd!
	29.06.2009: COUNTY WEEK: The results sheets at County Week did not tell the full story of a successful week for Bedfordshire. 4 new players made their debuts in the first team, and there were some stunning individual and team performances. Laura Collin continued her sparkling form, and played the anchor role, quietly going about winning her matches, while new stars, Kate Wright and Lizi Sweetnam stole the limelight. Click here for scoreboard. Full report coming soon...
	29.06.2009: BEDFORD & COUNTY REACH 6th ROUND: The ladies from Bedford & County are through to the 6th round in the national competition, Mail on Sunday Classic. They are playing their 6th round match away against Bourn, Cambridgeshire, on Monday 29 June.
	15.06.2009: LAURA NAMED RESERVE FOR VAGLIANO: On Monday the Ladies Golf Union announced the Vagiliano Trophy team of 9, the cream of the Great Britain and Ireland amateurs selected to play against Contintental Europe. Earlier in the year a provisional squad of 27 had been named with final selection to take place after the British. Laura was not named in the original 27, but so impressed the selectors that she was names 4th reserve. Nice one Laura!
	13.06.09: LAURA GAINS BRONZE MEDAL IN THE TOP EUROPEAN EVENT: Laura Collin from John O'Gaunt celebrated her 22nd birthday with a week to remember by reaching the semi finals in the Ladies British Amateur Open Championships. Click here to read about her momentous achievement
	06.06.2009: HOLLY ACES IN HOLLAND: Holly Aitchison made headlines on the Ladies European Tour again this weekend. A lush 5 iron on the par 3 11th at the ABM AMRO Ladies Open at Eindhovensche Golf Club in Holland gave her a hole in one and a cool €4,000. Nice one Holly!!
	28.05.2009: BRAVE 2ND FOR 2ND TEAM: The County 2nd Team played Cambs & Hunts on 28th May. There were a lot of very close matches, but Cambs & Hunts just snuck the match 6 - 3. Well done to all who played.
	14.05.2009: HOLLY OFF TO A FLYING START: Our own Holly Aitchison made her professional debut this week in the Deutsche Bank Swiss Open. And what a debut it was! Holly shot a 5 under par 68 to place her in the tournament's top 5 after the first round. Fantastic! Unfortunately, she didn't make the cut, but you have to go a long way back in history to find the last player to shoot 5 under in her first ever round on the Ladies European Tour. Highlights of the tournament will be shown on Sky on 19th May.
	09.05.2009: SALLY IS THE NEW COUNTY CHAMPION: It took 21 holes and a specatacular birdie to separate finalists Sally Shayler from Bedfordshire and Laura Collin from John O'Gaunt. After being runner up in a birdie-strewn final last year, Sally went one better and took the 2009 crown. The winning shot was befitting of such a quality final, with both girls playing sublime golf. Click here for the full report
	07.05.2009: LAURA QUALIFIES TOP IN CHAMPIONSHIPS: John O'Gaunt's Laura Collin qualified for the matchplay stages of County Championships as the number 1 seed, with Sally Shayler from Bedfordshire in 2nd place. Scoring was tough in windy conditions, but there were some extremely good performances, particularly from players making their championship debuts. Click here for all the results from the Championship and First Division.
	01.05.2009: SHARON WINS WINTER SCRATCH LADDER: She started on top and 6 months later finished on the top. Sharon Allen from Bedfordshire fended off dozens of challenges over the winter to stay on top an win the first Winter Scratch League. Only Michelle Fontaine-Geary from South Beds was able to beat Sharon at all during the seasin, but Sharon won the crucila league decider at the end of April. Click here for the final ladder positions.
	02.05.2009: GLORY FOR TOP CADDIE: We don't often report on the achievements of our caddies, but when its a caddie who has done more for the county team than any other, and on this occasion, a +1 handicapper carried his bag, its worth a mention. Congratulations to Alistair Collin, who won John O'Gaunt major trophy, the Spring Medal, beating +2 handicapper, Mark Wharton into 2nd place. The Spring medal is a 36 hole medal open only to division 1 players and is one of the club's majors - shame the trophy is so "wee"!!
	29.04.2009: SALLY & BRIDIE SHOW THEIR CLASS: The inaugural East Region Foursomes took place at Thetford on 29th April. With 52 pairs from the 6 counties making up the East Region, competition was fierce. But Sally Shayler from Bedfordshire and Bridie Quinn from South Beds put together 2 quality rounds for an 8 over par total of 156, and scooped the 2nd gross aggregate prize.
	13.04.2009: CONGRATULATIONS MADAM PRESIDENT: Congratulations to Margaret Oldfield of Wyboston Lakes Golf Club, who becomes her club's first ever Lady President, and we believe also the first in Bedfordshire. Good Luck in your new role.
	18.03.2009: LIZI IN ANOTHER TOP 10 FINISH IN AMERICA: Lizi Sweetnam from Leighton Buzzard, a freshman student at Seminole State College, Oklahoma, achieved another top-10 placing at the South Central Kansas Spring Invite at Winfield Country Club. Lizi, who enrolled in January this year, had scores of 91 and 86, which earned her joint seventh place in a field of 44 players. If you think the scores look high, think again. The picture is of the tornado on the horizon as the girls played!!!!...and we think its windy here!
	12.03.2009: THANK-YOU FROM PAVENHAM PARK: Lady Captain, Jean Ross, sends this message: I would like to say thank you to the Lady Captains from many of the County Golf Clubs who have expressed their sympathy to Pavenham Park Golf Club and to Pavenham Park Ladies on the destruction by fire of our Club House in March. I shall be contacting Lady Captains from those Clubs, who will be playing matches at Pavenham Park during the coming months, with an update of our match arrangements during our use of temporary facilities.
	09.03.2009: SPRING 2ND DIVISON MEETING CANCELLED. We are very sorrry to announce the cancellation of the 2nd Division Spring Meeting due to lack of entries. The County Cup will therefore not be played this year.
	09.03.2009: COUNTY COURSE CARDS The County Golf Union have agreed to make the county card available to all members of Bedfordshire golf clubs this year - both men and women. It will be available from club secretary/managers at a cost of £10. It will cover over 700 clubs in 23 counties from Cumbria to Dorset. The current Ladies County course card will still be valid and is available from your county rep for £2
	09.03.2009: ELAINE WINS IN PORTUGAL: Former County Captain, Elaine James from Aspley Guise put in a great performance at the Portugese Senior Women's Open, where she scooped the first nett prize in her division. Nice one, Elaine! Elaine now goes on to play for the English Seniors against Cambridge University.
	06.03.2009: PAVENHAM PARK CLUBHOUSE FIRE: Pavenham Park's clubhouse suffered extensive damage in a fire at the beginning of March. All the club's buggies were damaged, the club house was practically destroyed and the club's computer was lost. However, there is good news: the course was not affected, nor the marquee, the computer records are being restored and Pavenham is back open for business. We send our best wishes to everyone at the club.
	06.03.2009: LIZI OFF TO FLYING START IN THE US: In her first tournament, the Lion Classic, was held at Hardscrabble GC in Fort Smith, Arkansas she had a top 10 finish and was the leading player in the Seminole team finishing 8th. This week she travelled to play in the Tyler Junior College Invitational tournament held on the slick greens at Eagle's Bluff Golf and Country Club in Tyler, Texas. She improved further with a second top ten finish and again led the team home finishing 5th individually, behind another English player, international Katie Mundy, who won the event. The College team have finished 3rd overall in both opening competitions
	24.01.2009: COUNTY GOLF PARTNERSHIP FORMED: We are delighted to announce the formation of our county partnership with BLCGA, CGU and BPGA. Click here for more details.
	19.01.2009: HOLLY TURNS PRO: Congratulations to our very own Holly Aitchison, one of 3 English amateurs to win a full tour card to the Ladies European Tour. Holly's solid scoring for eight rounds in La Manga in January earned her a top 20 spot and one of the 30 coveted full tour cards. Everyone in Bedfordshire wished Holly a very successful debut season, and we'll keep you posted as to how she's getting on. For all the details click here
	09.01.2009: LIZI GAINS AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIP: Congratulations and Good Luck to Lizi Sweetnam from Leighton Buzzard as she starts her golf scholarship in America. Lizi follows in the footsteps of clubmate Heather Mutton, who took her place in the American Collegiate system last year, and is loving it!

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