News

A strong team from EHGC played in the annual Letchworth Salver, a mixed foursomes format over 36 holes.

This prestigious competition is a major fixture for clubs across several counties. Our team came within a whisker of winning it, but we had to settle for the runner-up spot, finishing one point behind Hadley Wood. A fantastic effort!

However, there was success for a new pairing of Jackie Reeve and Mark Lewis, who played brilliantly and were the best pair overall with 77 points from the two rounds.

Four intrepid members participated in the National Club Golfer Top 100 Event at the beautiful Walton Heath Golf Club, Old Course.

Phil Swan took third place with an impressive 36 points, and Duncan Woodcock, with 35 points, managed fourth. Congratulations, and it’s great to see EHGC members flying the flag in events like these.

Photo from left to right: Trevor Hoppitt, Phil Swan, Andy Kendrick & Duncan Woodcock

The journey to winning the Club Championship started in June with the Tiger Trophy, as the club’s most talented golfers compete for a top-15 place from a field of 100. Once this has been achieved, there is the small matter of a straight knockout competition before a 36-matchplay final.

This year’s final was between Ethan Vater and Harry Bennett. The course was in great shape, the weather was perfect, and everything was set for an epic final!

With two fairway splitting drives off the first, the entourage of spectators, caddies and referee Richard Fenn set off for a head-to-head over 36 holes.  It was Ethan who came out strongest taking a big lead of 6up into the afternoon round.

Harry tried to fight back but only managed to make a small inroad into Ethan’s lead, finishing at the turn five down.  With nine holes to play, the challenge facing Harry looked almost impossible. A quick win on the 10th reduced the lead to 4, but Ethan made a solid birdie down 11 to regain a lead of 5, and he could smell victory!

Harry wasn’t giving up, and with a run of wins, both players found themselves going down the 17th, with Ethan leading 2 up. Harry had a chance for birdie but missed it, leaving Ethan with a short putt to secure a well-deserved victory!

Club Captain Michael Johnson presented the trophy, and Ethan, at the age of 19, was crowned Club Champion.

Congratulations to both players on reaching the final. With an ever-growing pool of talented golfers, Ethan will be pushed all the way if he wants to retain his title next year!

The Senior Scratch League has concluded, and EHGC were narrowly beaten to the top spot, missing out by just four points to Brocket Hall.  As you can see from the table below, the top two were well clear of the rest of the field.

As runners-up, our Super Senior Scratch team will be promoted to Division Two. Based on their form this season, they can confidently make the step up and, who knows, perhaps make it back-to-back promotions!

A total of 15 players contributed to this hugely successful campaign, skilfully led by Team Captain Byron Jones. Below is a photo of the team at Hadley Wood for Finals Day.

Report  from Louis Matamala County Secretary, on the East Herts Junior team representing the County in the Junior Champion Club Final:

Three juniors from East Herts recently had a great experience when they travelled up to Lincolnshire to the home of England Golf, Woodhall Spa GC, to play in the Junior Champion Club final event. East Herts won the County Junior Champion Club event earlier in the year at Harpenden Common GC which enabled them to progress to the National Final.

Marcus Karim, Alfie Moy, and Dylan Hayes’ team finished 20th out of 32 competing clubs.

The event was played on the newer Bracken course, which has treacherously challenging green complexes. A very gusting wind made it even harder.

The East Herts team were a credit to themselves, their club and their county throughout the event.

All those who came to the Staff Summer Social enjoyed a taste of driving a Rally Car. It was a great evening, with plenty of smiles….especially after the high-speed passenger lap!

These events are about coming together as a team and spending time away from the club to have some well-deserved fun. They are also a thank you for the hard work the team put in over the busy summer and the valuable contribution they all make.We are blessed with a fantastic team that makes East Herts such a special place to work or visit.

While it’s not about winning, it would be wrong of me not to recognise our fastest team members on the night!  Usually, only the top three would get a mention, but I thought we would go from fourth spot this time 🙂

4th Place  – Tim 2:50.05
3rd Place – Neil 2:50
Runner Up – Phoebe 2:47.82
Winner  – Rory 2:31.02

Thanks to everyone who took part.

Marcus is having a busy season, representing EHGC in a number of prestigious competitions.

The Reid Trophy is England Golf’s flagship under-14s boys competition, attracting some of the best talent from across Europe and beyond. Marcus, aged 10, competed as the youngest player in a field of 144 boys at West Sussex Golf Club.

With a fantastic opening round of 76 in tough weather conditions, he couldn’t quite follow it up on day two and narrowly missed the cut by a few shots.  Marcus received a special mention in the article below:

https://www.englandgolf.org/news-detail?newsarticleid=888

He recently had success at the Douglas Johns Trophy at Harewood Downs GC, an Under 15s competition, where he managed 3rd place with a score of 70 (+1!) off the white tees.

Marcus pictured above, played in the North of England Championship, finishing in the top 15 overall and 1st in the U12s!

12-year-old Ava Gadsby Wins the Under 18 Royal Birkdale Junior Open Championships

History was made after a breathtaking performance from Ava at the prestigious Royal Birkdale Mixed Junior Open Championships, where over 80 players from all over the country competed.

Dominated by all of the top Lancashire golfers, to everyone’s surprise, Ava showed her tenacity and was victorious to be crowned champion of the Royal Birkdale Junior Open 2024.

Ava Gadsby said, “I am beyond thrilled and honoured to have won this competition. It’s been a course I’ve had my eye on for a while now as my Grandad said it’s one of the toughest courses in the country”

Congratulations to John Aldridge, who won the R & A Quaich Cup for the best total score over the Captain’s Day & President’s Day of the Herts Society Of Golf Captains.

The annual staff vs. members match resulted in a convincing 4-1 win for the members, who continue to dominate this fixture.

The only point for the staff came from an emphatic win for the pairing of Rory Jamieson, our newest member of the greenkeeping team, and General Manager Tim Hudson. They proved too strong for the pairing of Gavin Edwards and Club Captain Michael Johnson.

Needless to say, the staff team will be looking to reverse the result in 2025!