Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Fine finish secures cup
GOLF TENNIS: ACADEMY RECEIVES COACHING FUNDING BOOST FROM CHARITY
An outstanding run of four pars in the closing five holes swept club captain Tony Wenham and Christine Burley to victory in the Browning Cup at Canterbury GC on Sunday.
Playing together for the first time, nine-handicap Wenham and 25-handicap Burley were all square against the course after six holes, losing the first and sixth but winning the third and fifth.
However, pars at the seventh and eighth and a bogey at the ninth saw the pair, who were receiving 18 strokes, turn two-up.
The second nine opened with two halves before Burley sunk a putt from off the green at the 12th for a win.
A loss at the 13th was balanced by a win with a par at the 14th and after a half at the next, Wenham and Burley rounded off their performance with a run of three pars.
Runners-up Peter Johnson (h6) and Mark Lambton (h7) did all their best work on the front nine to go five-up before an eventful inward nine.
The two men, receiving seven strokes, recorded birdies at the first, third and fifth holes and picked up additional wins with pars at the fourth and sixth.
Their only dropped shot in an outward half of 34 strokes came at the seventh, which they halved, along with the eighth and ninth.
A splendid win with a par at the 10th was followed by losses at the 11 and 13 and halves at 12 and 14.
A par for a win at the 15th put Johnson and Lambton five-up again but they suffered a loss at the 16th. A birdie at the 17th and a par at the last failed to repair the damage.
Third place on countback went to Cliff Jamieson (h12) and John Isherwood (h13), who gained the verdict over Stewart White (h5) and Phil Cryer (h8) after both pairs finished four-up.
Jamieson and Isherwood, receiving 13 shots, had three wins and two losses on their first nine but improved with four wins and one loss coming home.
White and Cryer, in receipt of seven strokes, picked up two wins and suffered one loss going out followed by five wins and two losses on their back nine. Shawn Smallman and Tony Grove, both nine-handicappers, also finished four-up signing for plus-three on the first nine but only plus-one on the second.
Guy and Elizabeth Berry were well-placed at halfway after a sequence of five wins from the third helped them to five-up at the turn.
Two wins and two losses in the first four holes on the back nine kept them on course for a shot at the title but four halved holes followed before 14-handicap Guy and 20-handicap Elizabeth lost the 18th to slip back to four-up.
It was a similar story for Peter Soutan (h12) and Annie McLaren (h23) as they built up a promising score of five-up on the first nine only to make a minus-one on the back nine. Leading scores: +6 T Wenham & C Burley (h18); +5 P Johnson & M Lambton (h7); +4 C Jamieson & J Isherwood (h13), S White & P Cryer (h7), S Smallman & T Grove (h9), G & E Berry (h18), P Soutan & A McLaren (h18); +3 D Elliott & J Barons (h15); +2 M Scott & W Pearson (h11), I & S Munday (h12), D & S Williams (h14).
Chestfield GC held two competitions at the weekend.
On Saturday it was the annual Rabbits Cup for players with a handicap of 18 or over.
The winner was Gordon Page with a nett 65, who won on countback from David Giles. David Shaw was third with nett 68. Then, on Sunday, a medal competition was held in testing conditions. Division A, for players with a handicap of 0-12, was won by Gianni Vitiello with a nett 69 and he Canterbury Tennis Academy is being supported by “Give it Your Max” a charity setup to encourage youngsters to take up the sport and receive free coaching. Founded by All England Club member Michael Stotesbury in memory of his son Max, who was involved with the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative, Give It Your Max aims to fund tennis coaches to introduce and teach tennis to youngsters in the state sector. Hundreds of children at the Polo Farm facility are now benefiting from a comprehensive schools programme, offering termtime sessions, in addition to evening, weekend and holiday clinics. Head coach Simon Grieve said: “We used to get funding from the council who then pulled it as did the Lawn Tennis Assoiciation. “The club supported us a little but we only had a small pocket of money. “Give It Your Max has allowed us to put together a professional programme that allows coaches to go in and provide year-onyear coaching, so there is a continual flow of opportunities for children.” Alex de Sousa, coached by Grieve, is one such youngster, now playing at regional level and winning tournaments. The 11-year-old from Littlebourne, who starts at Simon Langton School in September, said: “I’ve won a couple of grade three events and also won a county tournament last week which was a good result. “I do my best in every tournament I go to. Win or lose, I give it my all.” also recorded the best gross score of 74. Runner-up was Steven Harte (nett 70) and third Robert Bailey (nett 71).
Brian Ridsdale came first in Division B (13-28h) with 66 nett. Brian Mankelow was runner-up with nett 67 on countback from Roger Burton.
Thirty-two members of the Mitrebeens section took part in the Peggy Gittings Trophy last Thursday.
First place went to Finola Paul with 38 points on countback from Kay Webber, with Wendy Kefford third on 37.
Two of Faversham Golf Club’s junior girls enjoyed success last week. Nicole Amos (h8) won the Ladies Club Championship, a 36-hole competition held over two days, with scores of gross 81 and gross 76.
Chloe Brown (h28) won the gold medal at the South Kent Cubs Championship, at Weald of Kent Golf Club, with a nett 66.