Ladies do battle in five trophies on the John O'Gaunt greens

John O'Gaunt Ladies competed for five different trophies on a sun-kissed Sunday.
John O'Gaunt Ladies Championship winners. From left, Anna Collis, Sandra Gardner, Chris Darts, Ladies Captain, Sue Bassindale and Di Oliver. PNL-160817-133406002John O'Gaunt Ladies Championship winners. From left, Anna Collis, Sandra Gardner, Chris Darts, Ladies Captain, Sue Bassindale and Di Oliver. PNL-160817-133406002
John O'Gaunt Ladies Championship winners. From left, Anna Collis, Sandra Gardner, Chris Darts, Ladies Captain, Sue Bassindale and Di Oliver. PNL-160817-133406002

The Championship and Handicap Trophy, both being a 36 hole medal, were played over the John O’Gaunt and Carthagena courses.

Meanwhile the Davies Trophy, on the John O’Gaunt course, and Silver Goblet, played on the Carthagena, were 18 hole competitions.

In ideal golfing weather the Championships, starting at 8.30am, remain a tough test and was again this year being reflected in the scores.

Bedfordshire Senior Ladies Champion Nikki Jackson. PNL-160817-133351002Bedfordshire Senior Ladies Champion Nikki Jackson. PNL-160817-133351002
Bedfordshire Senior Ladies Champion Nikki Jackson. PNL-160817-133351002

Ladies Club Championship (36 holes): 1, Anna Collis 151 gross; 2, Laura Collin 152 gross; 3, Sophie Mills 153 gross.

Handicap Trophy (36 holes): 1, Sandra Gardner 144 nett; 2, Joanna Coker 145 nett.

Davies Trophy (18 holes): 1, Sue Bassindale 68 nett; 2, Val Cooper 73 nett.

Silver Goblet (18 holes): 1, Di Oliver 71 nett; 2, Penny Fletcher-Gregory 73 nett

Bedfordshire Senior Ladies Champion Nikki Jackson. PNL-160817-133351002Bedfordshire Senior Ladies Champion Nikki Jackson. PNL-160817-133351002
Bedfordshire Senior Ladies Champion Nikki Jackson. PNL-160817-133351002

It was a successful day for Nikki Jackson on August 9 when she won the Bedfordshire Ladies Senior’s Championship for the second year in a row at Dunstable Downs Golf Club.

Jackson came in with a nett 73 to win by one shot from Alison Kavanagh (The Bedford).

On Thursday, August 11 the ladies competed for the August medal/eclectic on the Carthagena course. There were two divisions being competed for and the results were:

Division One: 1, Marion Farrow 65 nett; 2, Rosemary Kimber 68 nett; 3, Jacqui Bunker-Dare 68 nett.

Division Two: 1, Jean Cobb 68 nett; 2, Hazel House 74 nett; 3, Rhonda Stallard 75 nett.

The John O’Gaunt Cup is a members and guest competition in 4 Ball Better Ball stableford format. In perfect sunny conditions with the John O’Gaunt course dry after the hot weather it was ideal for good scoring for the 52 pairs, with half the field posting 36 points or better.

Result: 1, Clive Smith and Philip Corke 44 points; 2, Malcolm Waters and David Price 42 points on count back; 3, Andrew Florence and Ron Laing 42 points​.

There were 16 members of John O’Gaunt who set forth to Richmond on Friday to do battle with the The Stage Golfing Society in this annual match for the ‘Claret Jug’.

The eight pairs played a 4 Ball Better Ball match play; the contest was nip and tuck with John O’Gaunt winning 4.5 to 3.5 to regain the ‘Claret Jug’. The day concluded with banter, a few drinks and a fine meal.

John O’Gaunt Golf Club provided a beautiful setting for the 10th round of Shires Junior Golf Tour as a field of almost 100 youngsters competed on the Carthagena course on Wednesday, August 10.

The juniors were joined by Curtis Cup player Meghan MacLaren who took part in the event, before passing on her experience to competitors.

Local knowledge proved crucial in the Silver category as home club member Lawrence Jefferys bagged 42 points to finish two in front of Peterborough Milton’s Jacob Williams.

Paul Smith, 14, enjoyed two more opportunities on Shires Junior Golf Tour a few days earlier.

He competed in the Pro-Am, with club-mate Molly Chowings, at Kingsthorpe GC, before taking part in the Charley Hull Day at Kettering GC the next day, when he played the opening hole with the British Olympian.

On a fine day on Monday, August 8, the JOG Seniors team arrived at Wellingborough in fine fettle. The match started with the first drive from Peter ‘Algy’ Grimes straight at the centre window of the gazebo halfway up the first fairway.

Local knowledge proved to be a significant advantage, and slowly the scores started to drift in favour of the home side and the first two matches went to Wellingborough.

Steve Cooper and Bill Walker stopped the rot (and the thought of a whitewash) with a halved match. John O’Gaunt then lost the next three to fairly close results but came home strong by winning their last two to make it a final result of 5.5 to 2.5.

JOG Seniors entertained Letchworth on Tuesday, August 9. Fred Williams, Senior’s Vice Captain, stood in for captain Jim Peacock who is still in recovery mode. The roll call of the sides announced Gerry Gentle on the Letchworth team and this was greeted with ‘rapturous applause’ from both sides, as Gentle is a member at both clubs.

Fred Williams and Peter Jarman got the match off to a good start for the home team with a 5 and 4 victory. However, by the time it came to the last match it was tied at 3.5 all.

Graham McKay made up for his late arrival, having gone to Letchworth, when he and his partner Geoff Beck won 2 and 1 to secure victory by 4.5 to 3.5.