Junior player Harry crowned John O'Gaunt's golfer of year

There were more than 100 people attending this year’s event in the Burgoyne Suite on Friday.

The 2016 winners of trophies, their invited guests and committee members enjoyed a delightful four course meal during the presentation of trophies.

The event was divided into two parts with President Richard Bushell making the first presentations followed by Captain Richard Aubigne concluding the proceedings.

More than 30 trophies were presented. There was a remarkable achievement by members of the Junior section with Harry Warmoth taking the prestigious Golfer of the Year, and Jack Slater a triple winner of the Club Championship, Club Junior Boys Championship and the Division 1 Handicap Trophy.

Special mention was given to Lawrence Jefferys who joined the club at the age of 11, only six months after he first hit a golf ball in the Pee Wee section. Given an initial handicap of 36 rather than the usual 54, he chipped away steadily, entering all the competitions he could.

By early August, he was down to 18 and won the County under-12 Championship and the home leg of the Shires Junior Tour in a matter of six days.

Progress continued to the point where he was playing off 10.6 at the end of 2016, with four Exceptional Scoring reductions on his handicap record. He won the Junior Points Cup by a wide margin for his efforts.

In addition Eleanor Thomas was an excellent Junior’s captain last season. Although her golf didn’t prosper in the role she encouraged others and helped the Junior Organiser to keep up attendance for Junior Competitions. She also acted as non-playing captain for the Tavistock Trophy matches, encouraging team members in qualifying matches.

The following are a selection of the major trophy winners:

Club Juniors Girls Championship – Miss C Thomas; Club Seniors Championship – T McEvoy; Club Championship - S Armitage; Club Ladies Championship – Miss A Collis. There were also County successes in winning the Summer Scratch League, Mid Handicap League, Senior Scratch League and C Walker taking the honours as County Seniors Champion.

Not to be outdone at County level, the ladies had wins with Nikki Jackson, County Seniors Champion, the Sue Patterson Salver being picked up by C Thomas and A Isaacson, Sue Mills taking the Andcliffe Bowl, and the Ladies winning the County Scratch League.